Kellee

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 9/5/16

September 5, 2016 by Kellee

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.

CONGRATULATIONS
Amanda S.
FOR WINNING A COPY OF BUSY BUILDERS, BUSY WEEK!

Interested in being a Cybils judge? Visit the Call for Judges Post!!!!

Last Week’s Posts

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

Tuesday: Back to School Picture Books

Wednesday: Pirasaurs! by Josh Funk

Thursday: #MustReadin2016 Fall Update

Friday: Risking Exposure by Jeanne Moran

Sunday: Author Guest Post! by Martellus Bennett, Author of Hey A.J., It’s Saturday

Last Week’s Journeys

Olivia Decoded is the second book in the Olivia Twisted series, and I read it in one sitting! I am so glad that we get to take part in the blog tour for the book–look forward my review later this month!

Insignia is the first faculty book club choice of the year, and it is also one of our Sunshine State Books. It is a pretty epic story that takes place during World War III that is taking place in space!

This book was a pretty great premise, and it kept me reading and reading. And man! The ending was so good, but definitely a cliffhanger that made me grab the sequel right away!

I can definitely tell why this book inspired Ricki to want to look more into the erasures of identity in literature which is the topic of our NCTE presentation.

Trent finally wants to read Elephant and Piggie books! I love them, and I am so glad that he is finally interested in them. I bought 9 of them, and I hope to get them all! My favorite memory from this week was reading We Are In a Book and when Piggie says BANANA and laughs, Trent LOST IT!

Ricki

It turns out preparing for a new baby (25 days left!) and moving your toddler to a new room take up a lot of time. I am sorry I am falling behind a bit!

I finished Shooting Kabul by N. H. Senzai. This is a wonderful, wonderful book. I plan to use it in a future research project, and I am really looking forward to seeing how students respond to it. There are so many things to discuss with regards to this book, so it is a great classroom text.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee

Like I said above, I picked up the sequel of All Fall Down as soon as I was done! I am so excited to listen to the sequel!

I was so thankful to get approved for some graphic novels from Netgalley, so I plan on reading them. Then I am going to either pick up something for review or for NCTE/ALAN. We’ll see where the week goes!

Ricki

It is a another week that I haven’t made progress in John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me, and it is most certainly NOT because it isn’t an excellent text. I am hoping to read and finish it this week.

I read another big chunk of Jo Knowles’ See You at Harry’s last night, and I still love it. With my giant baby in my belly (yes, he is giant, apparently), I can’t help but be really exhausted at the end of each night. I know I would be done with this book if it weren’t for the baby. It is excellent.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday

Tuesday: Top Ten Board Books According to our Toddlers

Wednesday: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

Thursday: Blog Tour and Review: Race Car Dreams by Sharon Chriscoe

Friday: Emma G. Loves Boyz: A True Love Journal Volume One by Taro Meyer

Sunday: Author Guest Post!

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!

and

Blog Tour with Author’s Guest Post!: Hey A.J., It’s Saturday! by Martellus Bennett

September 4, 2016 by Kellee

Title: Hey A.J., It’s Saturday!
Author: Martellus Bennett

Summary: A.J. Is an imaginative girl who finds another world that is strangely right downstairs in her kitchen. So strange there’s already a feast, breakfast being served by creatures and beasts.

Oh! What is going in this kitchen of hers? Pancakes! Waffles! Scrambled eggs! And a Jamaican Giraffe?

Breakfast will never be the same. Ever!

About the Author: Martellus aka The Black Unicorn is a BIG dreamer. He lives in a magical house with his wife Siggi and daughter Jett in where everything comes to life when it gets dark or there’s food on the table ( which is pretty much all the time). He’s usually a bit overwhelmed by all of the creatures bouncing around knocking things over in his head and in his house, but that’s nothing a creative ninja can’t handle. Marty received his PhD in awesomeness from the highly prestigious Orange Dinosaur University where his focus was coloring outside of the lines and making stuff with his creative and funny bones. The A.J series is inspired by his daughter Austyn Jett (A.J.) and their adventures together.

Oh yea, He’s a Pro Bowl Tight End for your favorite NFL team.

Learn More about Marty and A.J.:

www.heyaj.com

Twitter

Instagram

And find the app on iTunes and the Google Play Store.

Author’s Guest Post!: It was a hot fall day, early September in Houston, Texas, and I could hear my friends having a wonderful time through my bedroom window. I couldn’t see what they were doing because my view was blocked by the large tree that stood at attention in our front yard, but I didn’t need to see them to know they were having an awesome time. There was laughter, the sounds of high fives, and some loud arguing over who was out and who was cheating.

I knew those arguments all too well. I was known to talk myself out of all types of situations and into the championship game of whatever it was that we were playing on any given day. I was known as the boy with the gift of gab. But on this bright, sunny fall afternoon, I wasn’t talking my way into any championships. In fact, I wasn’t talking to anyone outside of my bedroom. I was grounded! And what I had done was something I couldn’t talk myself out of. I had the gift of ‎gab, but my mom had the gift of punishment‎.

I was on lockdown—no TV, no hide and go seek, no tag, no catch. I couldn’t even leave my room. Mom made my brother deliver my food to my bedroom like I was a prison inmate. The nerve of this lady! “Is this what a mother’s love was?” is what I thought to myself. ‎I mean, all I had done was set off enough stink bombs in the school’s cafeteria to make a skunk faint.

Seriously, did I the 12-year-old Martellus Bennett really deserve to be under house arrest for that? No one was hurt, no animals were harmed, there was just a stench that quickly spread through the entire school. No huge deal.

The worst part was that I realized it had to have been my arch nemesis Jimmy Carter who ratted me out, because no one else saw me do it. I was actually grounded because of Jimmy Carter, not the stink bombs. It was Jimmy’s fault.

So there I sat, trapped in my room with no video games and nothing fun to occupy my time. I had to make do. After finishing up about 4 sets of 15 prison-style push ups,‎ I was burnt out. I laid back and stretched across my bed, arms and legs spread, making a giant X on the bed as if I was marking the spot where the treasure of my boredom could be found. I stared at the spinning ceiling fan, letting it hypnotize me until my head rolled back and my eyes found the decorative bookshelf against the wall full of old books, dust and creepy China dolls. Upside down, I read the green spine of a book. It read Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.

I had read books before, ‎but those were school assignments. I was always a pretty good student. English and creative writing were my best subjects, followed by P.E and science. So I was a good athlete and a good student. In all honesty, it was partly because I had to earn good grades in order to play sports, since the state of Texas had just created a “no pass no play” rule. If you didn’t pass your classes, you didn’t get to play any sports.

I rolled over backwards and did a backflip out of my bed, but I missed my landing and fell back into the wall, shaking the bookshelf and causing dust flakes to fall like snow on a nice winter day. I grabbed the shelf by its rails to stop it from falling over, then I quickly grabbed the book Hatchet. It had an image of a hatchet over a forest with a small shadow of a wolf in the bottom right-hand corner. It also had a medal on it, which meant it was a winner of some award. I jumped into the bed and cracked it open.

I heard my Mom yell: “Martellus, you better not be having fun up there! You’re grounded!”

I rolled my eyes.

Then I heard my mom say, “Don’t you roll your damn eyes at me.”

How did she know?

I looked around to see if Jimmy Carter was in my room‎, snitching again. “Can’t trust nobody,” I thought to myself. Then I said quietly: “Me, roll my eyes at you, my beautiful and talented mother? I would never do such a thing.”

My mom replied with a southern woman’s “Mmhmmm!”

I turned the first page and began to read. Before I knew it, I was on page 30, then page 75, and so on. The sun had turned into the moon in the sky. I was in the forest, with Brian Robeson trying to survive. I too panicked when the plane crashed, and I felt the water as I, well, Brian swam to shore. Stranded. Alone in the forest with a Hatchet. I only made my way back into the real world when I heard a knock at my bedroom door.

It was the prison guard, my brother Mike delivering my dinner. I had forgotten to eat in the real world, but I do remember the first true meal I celebrated with Brian when we caught our first fish. It was delicious. Ironically, we were having catfish for dinner at my house, how fitting. I wish I could have shared my meal with Brian. I just knew he was hungry. I was a part of the world Gary Paulsen created, and it was amazing.

That was the day I discovered that I could never truly be grounded. I could travel anywhere in the universe with books. People actually created places that I could only go to in stories—what a wonderful concept!

I was no longer trapped in my bedroom. I was stranded on in a forest with a hatchet, learning to survive in a room with no friends or games to play. This was the first time I went on a great adventure without ever leaving the house.

Needless to say, as I got older I fell in love with the places authors could take us to, and the adventures they could take us on. And I wanted create those worlds for others, too. I had so many ideas, so many stories to tell—which is why I am here today writing this blog. That 12-year-old boy who was grounded has written his first book. It’s called, Hey A.J It’s Saturday!

I hope that it takes you on a great adventure and ‎inspires you all to dream bigger and imagine more!

Make sure to go visit other stops on the blog tour!

Jen at Teach Mentor Texts – 8/16

Niki at Daydream Reader – 8/17

Michele at Mrs. Knott’s Book Nook – 8/18

Jessica at Little Lake County – 8/19

Linda at Teacher Dance – 8/20

Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers – 8/21

Risking Exposure by Jeanne Moran

September 2, 2016 by Kellee

Risking Exposure
Author: Jeanne Moran
Published September 13th, 2013 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Summary: Munich, Germany, 1938. The Nazis are in power and war is on the horizon.

Timid Sophie Adler is a member of Hitler Youth and a talented amateur photographer. When she contracts polio, her Youth leader supplies her with film. Photographs she takes of fellow polio patients are turned into propaganda, mocking people with disabilities, people just like her.

Sophie’s new disability has changed her status. She has joined the ranks of the outsiders, targets of Nazi scorn and possible persecution.

Her only weapon is her camera.

Review: Sophie’s story is one that is not often told. World War II stories often focus on the impact of the Holocaust on the Jewish population of Europe; however, what happened to those in Germany who weren’t Jewish yet the Nazis felt were useless? This story looks at one girls’ version of a story, but Sophie still is “useful” to the Nazis because she is a photographer, but she has to make a choice between taking photographs of what she is told or photographs of the truth about what is going on in Germany.

Much of Sophie’s story is universal: bullying, friendship, family issues, etc., but readers will also learn about the Hitler Youth and the beginning of Hitler’s rise in Germany.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: In addition to being a book that should definitely be in classroom libraries, I could also see Risking Exposure being a perfect addition to World War II lit circles/text sets. Since Sophie’s story is so unique, it will make any set of books include more diverse stories about WWII.

Discussion Questions: If you were Sophie, would you go with what she knew was right or would you do what was ordered of you?; How did contracting polio change Sophie’s life?; How did being a photographer potentially save Sophie’s life?; How did Sophie’s kindness cause her to contract polio?; How is Sophie’s story different than other WWII stories you’ve read?; How do you think Sophie’s decision is going to affect her life?

Flagged Passages: “When Werner ordered me to grab my camera and follow him into the woods, I obeyed. He was the Scharfuhrer, the Master Sergeant. What else could I do?

My best friend Ronnie bolted to her feet alongside me. ‘You don’t need to go everywhere Sophie does, Renate,’ Wener said to her in his usual high-pitched whine. But she ignored him and winked at me as we crashed through the underbrush. Rennie got away with a certain level of disobedience. Younger sisters can.

But I wasn’t Werner’s sister. I couldn’t risk it.” (p. 3)

Read This If You Loved: The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Hitler Youth by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Recommended For:

Pirasaurs! by Josh Funk

August 31, 2016 by Kellee

Pirasaurs!
Author: Josh Funk
Illustrator: Michael Slack
Published August 30th, 2016

Summary: We’re Pirasaurs! We’re Pirasaurs!
We rule the open seas!
We’ll cannon-blast you to the past!
We do just what we please!

Meet the Pirasaurs, a ragtag team of seasoned pirate dinosaurs looking for adventure and treasure! There’s fearsome Captain Rex, golden-toothed Velocimate, one-eyed Bronto Beard, and more fearsome, buccaneering beasts….as well as one new recruit who may be small, but who’s eager to prove he can learn the ropes and find his place on the team.

But when a trap is set upon the Pirasaurs while looking for buried treasure, it’s up to the littlest recruit to show the team that there’s more to a Pirasaur than meets the eye patch!

“We’re Pirasaurs! We’re Pirasaurs!
We grunt and roar and sneer!
We’ll steal your books with tails and hooks
And own the blogosphere!

We’re Pirasaurs! We’re Pirasaurs!
We pose a giant threat!
We’ll slash and duel and soon we’ll rule
The world-wide internet!

We’re Pirasaurs! We’re Pirasaurs!
Our story is fantastic!
This grand hardback by Funk & Slack
Is published by Scholastic!

… and will be available on August 30th wherever books are sold!”

-Funk, 2016

Kellee’s Review: Pirate dinosaurs?! I am so glad that Josh Funk thought of this because it makes a perfect picture book! Who doesn’t like dinosaurs or pirates or both?! I will tell you that my son definitely does! I mean, look at that face!

But in addition to how much we like the premise, it is done so well. Josh Funk must think in rhyme because his books rhyme so seamlessly, and it is so impressive. I also liked the characterization within the book because there are some wonderful pirasaur characters that each have such fun personality. And all of this isn’t even mentioning the colorful, beautiful illustrations!

Ricki’s Review: The concept! Ahhhh, the concept! This book had my son RAWGHing for days. It is books like Pirasaurs! that make readers. It shows kids that reading can be really fun and engaging, and I am grateful to have this book in my collection. The words flow beautifully, and the rhymes rolled off of my tongue as I read them. The illustrations pop, and I couldn’t stop smiling as I turned each page. The book takes readers for an adventure that they will remember long after the book ends. Each of the pirasaurs has a different, cooky personality—and my goodness are they hilarious! I highly recommend you get your hands on this book. It’s a winner.

Teachers’ Tools of Navigation: Pirasaurs! would be a perfect mentor text to discuss prediction, rhyme/rhythm, and characterization. First, while reading, stop just when the battle is beginning and have your students predict what they think is going to happen next. Remind them to use prior knowledge or text evidence to support their prediction. Then at the end of the book, students can check their predictions. When finished, the text can be used to analyze rhyme scheme and rhythm. Finally, students can analyze the character traits of each character and look for descriptive language that shows each character’s personality.

Discussion Questions: What are the character traits of each pirasaur?; What rhyme scheme does the book follow?; What do you think is going to happen after the battle?; What jobs do each pirasaur have? How can you tell?; What is the theme of the story?

Book Trailer:

Read This If You Loved: How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long; How Big Were Dinosaurs? by Lita Judge; Ladder to: The Pirate Pig by Cornelia Funke, The High Skies Adventures of Blue Jay the Pirate by Scott Nash, Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow (series) by Rob Kidd

Recommended For:

and

**Thank you to Josh Funk for everything!**

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 8/29/16

August 29, 2016 by Kellee

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

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

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

Tuesday: Ten Books that Have Been on our TBR Shelf Since Before we Started Blogging

Wednesday: National Geographic’s Real or Fake

Thursday: Dear Dragon by Josh Funk

Friday: Blog Tour with Author Guest Post, Review, and Giveaway!: Busy Builders, Busy Week! by Jean Reidy
**Giveaway open until Thursday!**

Sunday: Author Guest Post!: “Courting the Reluctant Writer” by Michele Bacon, Author of Life Before

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee

A fun A-Z book focused around wacky science fair experiments and real science. I’ll be reviewing this one because it is a great buy for the classroom.

A Child of Books

Wow. I am a huge fan of Jeffers’ work, and this one is one of his best. It is a book that readers will love because it is a love letter to books and reading and imagination and childhood and art and life. I look forward to reading this one to my students and reviewing it.

This is a new favorite graphic novel, and I cannot wait to read the sequel! The setting is perfect–I love the premise that surrounds the Nameless City. I’m also fascinated by the two main characters–two opposites that should be enemies but instead work together.

I love Andrea Beaty’s other two books in this series, so I am so happy to finally get to read Iggy’s story. I love Beaty’s focus on intelligence, creativity, and individuality.

Ricki

It’s been a busy week in my house between attending doctors’ appointments, preparing to teach for the Fall semester (which starts today!), and attending a bunch of events to gear my son up for pre-k. I definitely feel nine months pregnant because I can’t seem to keep my eyes open to read at night. I am in the midst of three incredible books which I share in my next section below. 🙂

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee

Ricki and I, with our other NCTE presentation member, Wendy, are working on finishing our NCTE presentation on Erasing Identities before my dear friend goes on maternity leave, so More Happy Than Not jumped to the top of my need-to-read list because it is the anchor text for our presentation. What a fascinating premise. We look forward to sharing our presentation to you in November.

I’m still listening to All Fall Down which has gotten to a point where I don’t want to get out of my car or talk to anyone on the phone because that means I have to stop listening. I really like how different this book is (though I don’t like how the cover makes it seem more generic than it is).

After More Happy Than Not, I have to decide if I’m going to read something for the blog or something for NCTE/ALAN. We’ll see next week!

Ricki

I haven’t made progress in this book this week, but I am really looking forward to getting back to it. John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me is referenced often, and I know it used to be required reading in schools in the 60s. I am halfway through and really enjoy it.

I am also a bit more than halfway through Jo Knowles’ See You at Harry’s, and I love it. Last week, many of you shared that I better buy some tissues. I am prepared! I am very glad I put this on my #mustreadin2016 list!

I started Shooting Kabul by N. H. Senzai last night. MY GOODNESS. I could not put it down. At one o’clock in the morning, my husband rolled over and said, “It is so bright in here!” So I decided to be a good wife and turn out the light. I will definitely be finished with this book by next week.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday

Tuesday: Back to School Picture Books

Wednesday: Pirasaurs! by Josh Funk

Thursday: #MustReadin2016 Fall Update

Friday: Risking Exposure by Jeanne Moran

Sunday: Author Guest Post

So, what are you reading?

and

Blog Tour with Reviews, Author Guest Post, and Giveaway!: Busy Builders, Busy Week by Jean Reidy

August 27, 2016August 26, 2016 by Kellee

Busy Builders, Busy Week!
Author: Jean Reidy
Illustrator: Leo Timmers
Published June 14th, 2016 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Summary: In this bright, bold picture book, a cast of animal characters are building a brand-new playground in a local park for their community! Each day of the week contains a different construction plan as the steam-rolling, digging, and planting gets underway.

Tuesday! Mix day!
Pipe and boards and bricks day.
Stack, spin, pour it in.
Give the fence a fix day.

Wednesday! Load day!
Take it on the road day.
Hoist, haul, pull it all.
Something being towed day!

The construction project comes together for a joyful, rhyming walking tour of a neighborhood, where young readers can learn the days of the week while watching everyone work as a team!

Kellee’s Review: This book is more than you would guess from the synopsis and title. It is a story of hard work and team work told with fun rhyming text and silly animals which makes it a book that kids will want to read and adults will want to share with them. And the fun of this rhyming text is multiplied significantly because of the realistic-looking, yet super-silly illustrations. After reading each page, you have to spend extra time looking at everything that is going on in the illustrations. For example, on Tuesday (see the poem in the summary), the giraffe is carrying bricks to an elephant who is building something, but he is in mid-trip. What is going to happen?! You don’t completely know because the next page jumps to the next day, so it would be so much fun to predict with young readers.

Ricki’s Review: As a mom, I get a bit tired of the repetition within concept picture books, so I was really excited that this book was different! I have dozens of ABC/Count to Ten books, and my son knows the basic animals on a farm, but he doesn’t know the days of the week very well! After we read this book, I was able to talk to my son about some of the regular things that we do on different days of the week, and he’s started to use their names more regularly. This book would be a great addition to classrooms as teachers introduce calendars. It is fun, engaging, and silly, and we have a lot of fun reading it. The illustrations add a lot of energy to the text, and I couldn’t help but smile as I read it. This book will keep us busy for quite a long time!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: In addition to a fun read aloud and a book that students will want to read over and over again, Busy Builders, Busy Week would make a fun writing mentor text for students to wrote their own rhyming text about what they do during their week. They can use the rhyme scheme of the text to emulate the rhythm of text.

Click here for a free classroom curriculum guide and storytime kit!

Discussion Questions: What is the rhyme scheme of the text?; What could you learn from the Busy Builder’s collaboration to help you with successful group work in class?; How did the Busy Builders work together to be successful?

Flagged Passages:

Read This If You Loved: Dump Truck Duck by Megan E. Bryant, How to Track a Truck by Jason Carter Eaton, With Any Luck I’ll Drive a Truck by David Friend

Recommended For:

Author Guest Post: “ENGAGING THE PICTURE BOOK CROWD” by Jean Reidy

Whether it’s through quiet cuddle time, conversation, or comic relief, engaging the picture book crowd is a delightful task. I like to tell young readers that when we read a picture book, we don’t just decipher the words. We talk about it. We explore it. We discover it. We relate to it. We might move to it. We might even make a little noise. Because picture books aren’t just about words on a page. They’re about sounds and rhythms and poetry and language and voice and life and … pictures!

I love to stress, with kids, the importance of reading the pictures. After all, the illustrations in a picture book tell over half of the story. It’s a skill that very young children can master and feel proud of. It’s also art appreciation 101. When you ask a group of young kids, “How many of you are artists?” almost every hand goes up. So when they see picture book illustration as art, they’re introduced to the stories—including their own—that art can tell. I explore with kids the details of an illustration that might tell us more about the central story or a side story or, perhaps, even a different story, than the text reveals.

I rarely read a picture book straight through. I ask a lot of questions. I ask kids to predict what comes after a page turn. I ask them to look for clues as to how the story might end. And, most importantly, I ask them questions that might help them connect a book, in a personal way, to what they know, what they’ve experienced and the world they live in.

Young readers can feel empowered when they contribute to the conversation about a book. By showing them that I value their discoveries, they not only learn that reading a picture book is rewarding, but that they are valued as well.

About the Author: Jean Reidy is the author of All Through My Town, Too Purpley!, Too Pickley!, and Too Princessy!, among many other books for children. She writes from her home in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Visit her online at www.jeanreidy.com and @JeanReidy.

Don’t Miss the Other Busy Builders Blog Tour Stops!

Mon, Aug 22	Cracking the Cover
Tues, Aug 23	Literary Hoots
Wed, Aug 24	NC Teacher Stuff
Thurs, Aug 25	Mom Read It
Fri, Aug 26	Unleashing Readers
Sat, Aug 27	Booking Mama
Mon, Aug 29	Bluestocking Thinking
Tues, Aug 30	Jean Little Library
Wed, Aug 31	Geo Librarian
Thurs, Sept 1	Mrs. O Reads Books
Fri, Sept 2	Where Imagination Grows

Enter to Win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

and

**Thank you to Barbara from Blue Slip Media for providing copies for review!**

National Geographic Kids: Real or Fake? Far-Out Figs, Fishy Facts, and Phony Photos to Test for the Truth by Emily Krieger

September 10, 2016August 24, 2016 by Kellee

Nonfiction Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and was started to help promote the reading of nonfiction texts. Most Wednesdays, we will be participating and will review a nonfiction text (though it may not always be a picture book).
Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other nonfiction books are shared this week!

Reeal or Fake? Far-Out Fibs, Fishy Facts, and Phony Photos to Test for the Truth
Author: Emily Krieger
Illustrator: Tom Nick Cocotos
Published May 10th, 2016 by National Geographic Children’s Books

Goodreads Summary: Can you tell the truth from a tall tale? Spot a phony photo a mile away? Figure out a fib in five second flat? Then Real or Fake? is the book for you! Put your amateur detective skills to work in this fun and wacky book and see if the truth triumphs as you encounter suspicious stories, fishy facts, lying lists, and more. You’ll even play interactive games that will leave you second-guessing everything you’ve ever read. Complete with awesome photos and hilarious collage art, this is one book that you have to read to believe . . . or disbelieve.

Kellee’s Review: This National Geographic text was really fascinating! I loved reading the little synopsis then trying to guess if the scenario is true or not. Although some were quite obvious to me, I best many of them will trick students! As a teacher, I also think this book will be a great addition to research units because it will begin a discussion about reliability and validity.

Ricki’s Review: This book would be a fabulous choice for a road trip. I can imagine reading the pages aloud to my kids as they guessed “Real!” or “Fake!” I also like how the facts aren’t all silly and pointless. There is a lot of good learning that happens in these pages–and as an adult, the facts weren’t obvious to me, either, so I would have fun on the car ride, too! I completely agree with Kellee’s smart suggestion that this would be a great book to introduce reliability and validity. With the political campaigning and the sharing of memes that are completely false (from both sides), I have been thinking about reliability and validity a lot lately!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: In addition to being an instant favorite in classrooms, Real or Fake? will definitely make anyone who reads it want to either research some of the real/fake information shared (Was Teddy Roosevelt shot but continued with his speech? and Did a chimp’s song became #19 on the European billboard charts?) or want to go research things they think they know! Real or Fake? will be a great book to use when talking about research and would be a fun introduction to Snopes.

We Flagged: “Plants make music: Real or Fake? It may sound crazy, but plants can play tunes. A new device converts electrical currents moving across a plant’s surface into synthesizer sound in real time. (Though the sound of the converted currents may not be music to your ears.) The device works in much the same way a lit-detector test does, only the probes are placed on leaves instead of on skin and the currents are translated into audio. What does this ‘music’ tell us about the secret life of plants? The inventors aren’t quite sure yet. They are, however, hoping the ‘biofeedback’ will eventually be revealing an help us learn more about the natural world. In the meantime, rest easy knowing that one day soon your houseplants could play a tune: An online fund-raising campaign to make the device available to people interested in purchasing it has reached its goal.”

Real! With its far-out sounds, the MIDI-sprout (‘MIDI’ stands for ‘musical instrument digital interface’) is changing the way people perceive plants. Scientists have known that plants send chemical and light signals to one another. Plants can even send chemical distress signals to get insects to come to their rescue! A study published in 2012 suggests that plants also may be able to use sound to communicate with one another, so why not talk to their human caretakers.

Fun Fact!: The MIDI Sprout can even be hooked up to humans! The electrical signals humans give off reportedly tell a lot about emotional states.” (p. 82-83)

*Disclosure: This quote cannot share the entire feeling of the book without the illustrations/photos. See the published book to see the complete experience.

Read This If You Loved: National Geographic’s 100 Things to Know Before You Grow Up, Mastermind by National Geographic, Weird but T rue series by National Geographic, National Geographic’s Awesome 8

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**Thank you to Karen at Media Masters Publicity for providing copies for review!**