It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 2/1/16

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme started by Sheila at Book Journeys and now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It’s also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…you just might discover the next “must-read” book!

Kellee and Jen, of Teach Mentor Texts, decided to give It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit – join us! We love this meme and think you will, too.

We encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

Last Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday sibert Say No to Lexiles and Reading Levels perfect tree

Tuesday: Books that Were Honored at the ALA Youth Media Awards that We Want to Read

Wednesday: Mock Sibert Book Club

Thursday: Lexiles and Reading Levels: Just Say No.

Friday: The Perfect Tree by Chloe Bonfield

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: I finished Rescued by Eliot Schrefer this week!! Oh, you need to preorder this one! Although it is very different than the first two in the Ape Quartet series, it is just as powerful. I am a sucker for ape books and for Schrefer’s writing, but with the first two being National Book Award finalists, I am not alone.

I also read Kid Athletes: True Tales of Childhood from Sports Legends by David Stabler for Wednesday’s review. It has big ideas such as overcoming adversity, trying your best, and standing up to bullies. It was great to read stories of so many athletes as kids.

Trent has been pretty stuck on two books this week (Don’t Push the Button! by Bill Cotter and his play-a-sound Disney book); however, he has been picked up more and more books independently and begun “reading” to himself. He specifically loves his two truck picture encyclopedias.

Ricki: I went on a bit of a picture book binge this week because I’ve been hanging with K-6 teachers. I absolutely recommend The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein. I missed this book because I wasn’t avidly reading children’s literature in 2003, and I am really glad someone recommended it to me. This is a fabulous story that is very well-written. I finally read Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla by Katherine Applegate. This is a wonderful picture book that pairs well with her novel (which I LOVE). I also read Uncle Andy’s: A Faabbbulous Visit with Andy Warhol by James Warhola. I loved the illustrations and enjoyed learning more about Andy Warhol. I didn’t love the writing, but the content and artwork made up for this concern. 

Uncle Shelby’s ABZ Book by Shel Silverstein is a bizarre, adult picture book. It made me laugh, but I admit it disturbed me a bit. The White Book: A Minibombo Book by Silvia Borando was adorable, and if I hadn’t read books like it, I think I would have been even more impressed. I suspect many people will enjoy this book very much. Lastly, I read The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster. Grandparents will enjoy reading this book to their grandchildren.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I have a few novels to read for reviews coming up, so I plan on reading them this week. I also have a pile of picture books I want to tackle–we’ll see what I get to! I am trying to limit my TV to ensure I don’t have a week like the one I had a couple of weeks ago!

Ricki: Besides picture books, I read a lot of articles this week, so I didn’t get a chance to continue The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin. I think I’m going to get an overdue notice because it is one of those 14-day-only books from the library…and it is due tomorrow. I need to get cracking!

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday kid athlete more happy than not

recite-7g2gyc WarriorKids-FRONT COVER

Tuesday: Top Historical Settings We Love

Wednesday: Kid Athletes: by David Stabler

Thursday: More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

Friday: Unleash Your (and your students’) Inner Reader

Sunday: Author Guest Post!: “Cross Curricular Integration of Climate Change Education Using Middle Grade Fiction” by Michael J. Bowler, Author of Warrior Kids

 So, what are you reading?

Link up below and go check out what everyone else is reading. Please support other bloggers by viewing and commenting on at least 3 other blogs. If you tweet about your Monday post, tag the tweet with #IMWAYR!

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21 thoughts on “It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 2/1/16”

  1. I’m sure I will love Rescued, Kellee. Glad you hear that you did. And Ricki The Hello, Goodbye Window is a favorite at my house. I actually have a window that works for the girls to peek in when they arrive! Have a great week!

    Reply
  2. Kellee, I will be looking forward to Rescued, and I also need to catch up on his second book since I loved Endangered.
    Rikki, I love the sound of the picture books. I want to read more picture books. These sound like good ones to get me inspired!

    Reply
  3. Ricki, thank you again for writing that anti-lexile post. Such an important topic. Just out of curiosity, does that have anything to do with your dissertation topic, or were you just feeling particularly motivated to talk about that topic?

    Reply
    • I thank Ricki, too!
      I cannot completely speak for her, but I know she talks about Lexile and reading levels in the class she teaches. Also, she and I have been chatting about it because I have been facing some opposing viewpoints. So either of those might have gotten her going 🙂

      Reply
    • Hi! Kellee is right. I actually use a lot of the content of that post in a short lesson I do about reading levels and lexiles. Kellee and I were chatting about it, and she asked if I could share the info with her, and I thought I might as well write a post! My dissertation is about the challenges teachers face when they teach multicultural young adult literature.

      Reply
  4. Kellee – Glad to hear Rescued was so good! Not that I’m surprised. You’ve reminded me I have Endangered here – hoping to plow through some of this TBR shelf this month!

    Ricki – I haven’t seen the picture book but I LOVED the middle-grade Ivan novel on audio – wonderful!

    Hope you both enjoy your books this week –

    Sue

    Book By Book

    Reply
  5. Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla by Katherine Applegate is awesome! A lot of my students like it a lot, even if they haven’t read the fiction novel. The ones who have read the novel, love seeing that it was based on a real gorilla. Have a terrific week!

    Reply
  6. Kellee, sports books are one of my bookgaps. I should take a look at Kid Athletes. Ricki, I really appreciated the lexile post. It will be a good one to refer others to. Thanks! Good luck getting the Jellyfish book finished quickly. 😉

    Reply
  7. I really am looking forward to seeing what you think of More Happy Than Not. Considered to be a highly controversial book here in Singapore and was even banned in one of the international schools here. Have a great reading week, you two!

    Reply
  8. I’m late to this party, but I think it is a good thing as I enjoyed looking at your history books. There are some of them that are absolute favorites of mine.
    Kellee, I’ve only read the first of Eliot Schrefer’s series, but we do have the first two here in the library. I need to get to Endangered.
    Ricki, I read van: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla after doing lit circles with a group where most of them had read The One and Only Ivan. All of us were fascinated and invested in the picture book in a way we wouldn’t have been had we not read the novel. After work today I’m dropping of library books and just discovered that The Man Who Walked Between the Towers is available there! I’m a bit excited.

    Reply

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