Kellee – Page 247 – Unleashing Readers

Trent and Kellee’s Favorite Picture Books: Three to Six Months

February 14, 2021August 22, 2014 by Kellee

I am so proud to say that Trent already loves books! He grabs them from me, holds them, stares at them as we read, points at them, and overall enjoys our reading time. It is so special to me!

Through these three months, Trent and I have continued our picture #bookaday. So far we have read 182 titles (91 in the first 3 months then 91 these last three months)!!! Three months ago, I shared our favorites from those months, and today I am so happy to share our top fifteen favorites from these last three months with you.

Favorite Elephant & Piggie
We read a ton of Mo Willems books! I am such a fan! Though I love Pigeon, Cat the Cat, and Knuffle Bunny, E&P are still my favorite.

Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems

Favorite Oliver Jeffers Books
We went on an Oliver Jeffers readathon, and these are our favorites that we read during these months (Lost and Found is probably still my favorite.) He is such a superb author!

Stuck and The Incredible Book Eating Boy

Favorite Dan Santat Illustrated Book
We also read a bunch of books that were illustrated by Dan Santat. He is so talented!

Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds

Favorite Bedtime Story
This book is beautiful! Lyrical and great artwork.

A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na

Funniest Book
Laugh out loud funny.

Naked by Michael Ian Black

Favorite “Full of Truth” Book
Giving Tree-esque, but without as much of the selfishness controversy aspect.

Stick Kid by Peter Holwitz

Favorite Repetitive Book
These will be so much fun to read aloud with Trent when he gets older!

Oh No! by Candace Fleming

Honorary: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin
(I cannot get the song out of my head!)

Favorite Nonfiction Animal Book
Great photographs of these animals, and I liked that some lesser known animals were featured (Oh No! has some unique animals as well).

Baby Animals at Night by Kingfisher

Favorite Theme
Some things are more important than finishing first.

Number One Sam by Greg Pizzoli

Favorite “I Love You” Book
So sweet!

Two Hands To Love You by Diane Adams

Favorite Cause-and-Effect Book
Laura Joffe Numeroff’s books are so quirky and funny!

If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff

A Kids’ Dream Come True Book
Well, an anyone dream come true book actually.

Yes Day! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Favorite Art (& Color) Book
So happy that I got to read these to Trent at the Hunter Museum of Art. I love that these books teach color through pieces of art.

My First Palette: Six Little Books by The Metropolitan Museum of Art

There are some amazing picture books out there for children, and I am always learning about more that I want to read with Trent! What books should I make sure to read with him? I cannot wait to see what the next three months hold?!

Review and Teaching Guide!: Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor by Jon Scieszka, Illustrated by Brian Biggs

August 13, 2023August 20, 2014 by Kellee

Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor
Author: Jon Sciezska
Illustrator: Brian Biggs
Published August 19, 2014 by Amulet Books

Goodreads Summary: Frank Einstein loves figuring out how the world works by creating household contraptions that are part science, part imagination, and definitely unusual. After an uneventful experiment in his garage-lab, a lightning storm and flash of electricity bring Frank’s inventions—the robots Klink and Klank—to life! Not exactly the ideal lab partners, the wisecracking Klink and the overly expressive Klank nonetheless help Frank attempt to perfect his Antimatter Motor . . . until Frank’s archnemesis, T. Edison, steals Klink and Klank for his evil doomsday plan! Using real science, Jon Scieszka has created a unique world of adventure and science fiction—an irresistible chemical reaction for middle-grade readers.

My Review: In the world of illustrated novels, we have many a class clown: Greg, Nate, George & Harold. But now we have our very own genius, and he is a genius that kids are going to love! This book combines the humor and fun plot that Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Big Nate, and Captain Underpants have, but adds in science (though the kids reading it will be none the wiser). The way that Sciezska combines humor, adventure, twists & turns, and science is perfection that will have a whole slew of readers waiting for the next Frank Einstein book.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This book has so much that a teacher could touch on while reading it. It would be a perfect book for a read aloud in reading with cross-curricular activities based on the book in science. I was very lucky to once again be able to write a teaching guide, this time for Frank Einstein. To see more specific class activities and discussion questions, view my teaching guide at the Abrams website. (I also wrote the teaching guide for Frank Einstein and the Electro-Finger!)

Discussion Questions:

Frank has a double helix DNA slide. What would this look like?; Grandpa Al uses the phrase “Blow this pop stand” (p. 112). This is an idiom meaning “Let’s get out of here.”
What are idioms? What are some idioms you use in your daily life?
Frank’s parents are in Antarctica, where the ozone is getting a hole in it (p. 110). What is causing this hole? Frank mentions CFCs. What are they? How do they affect the ozone?
In Fig 1.1, Frank shows us that every second between light and sound equals 1/5 of a mile, because of the difference between the speed of light and the speed of sound. So, if there are 5 seconds between thunder and lightning, that means the storm is 1 mile away. What if there are 10 seconds between? 15 seconds? 12 seconds? 100 seconds?; On page 109, we learn that corn flakes were an accidental invention. Are there other accidental inventions?

We Flagged: “Night. Darkness. Flash! A bright bolt of lightning splits the dark and flickers over the skylight. Frank Einstein looks up from his work. He counts out loud, “One thousand one. One thousand two. One thousand three. One thousand four. One thousand five–” Craack boom! The sound-wave vibration of the thunder rattles the old iron-framed windows of Frank’s workshop and science laboratory. “Five seconds between light and sound for every mile. . . One mile away,” Frank calculates, using the difference between the almost-instant speed of light and the much slower speed of sound. “Right on time.”

Read This If You Loved: Series: Frankie Pickle by Eric Wight, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey, Big Nate by Lincoln Peirce

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Abrams Books for providing a copy for review**

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 8/18/14

July 27, 2015August 18, 2014 by Kellee

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

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. 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!

Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee 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

Tuesday: Top Ten Books We’re Not Sure We Want to Read

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

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: This week, I was lucky enough to read a manuscript of one of my friend’s novel. It is a wonderful middle grade book that I know will be published, and I cannot wait to share it with you!

Trent and I read some amazing picture books this week. We continued our Oliver Jeffers readathon with The Hueyrs in…It Wasn’t Me, Stuck, and The Incredible Book Eating Boy. Stuck and The Incredible Book Eating Boy, along with Lost and Found are probably my favorites of his.

We also read two amazing, but different, nonfiction books. First was Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya by Donna Jo Napoli was a beautiful story (with amazing illustrations!) of an inspirational woman who I truly want to learn more about. We also read Best Foot Forward by Ingo Arndt which is a fun Q&A nonfiction books with such realistic photographs.

Ricki: This week, I enjoyed Just Call My Name by Holly Goldberg Sloan. This was an excellent sequel to I’ll Be There, and I enjoyed it very much. Sloan plays with literary elements in ways that are both innovative and brave. It is a very suspenseful book, and I had difficulty putting it down! Henry and I enjoyed some great picture books this week. We laughed as we read Naked by Michael Ian Black, admired the artwork in Oh No, George by Chris Haughton, enjoyed the adventurous boy in The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, lived through history with Smoky Night by Eve Bunting, and loved the retelling of Rumpelstiltskin by Paul O. Zelinsky. This isn’t my favorite fairy tale (but Zelinsky does it very well), and my husband and I spent a long time trying to figure out the moral of the tale. We’d love to hear your thoughts!

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I started In Real Life by Cory Doctorow yesterday, and so far I am truly enjoying it. I especially love how real the protagonist is. After IRL I am going to read El Deafo by Cece Bell and reread Jellaby by Kean Soo. Trent and I still have the huge pile of picture books from the library to read that includes many picture books I learned about on your IMWAYR posts.

Ricki: My second Ph.D. year at UConn starts next week, so I am reading twice as many PD texts as usual. Once teaching and classes start, I lose a lot of time, so I am trying to devote most of my free time to reading. I started Teaching Young Adult Literature Today: Insights, Considerations, and Perspectives for the Classroom Teacher, which is edited by Judith A. Hayn and Jeffrey S. Kaplan. I really like the way the book is organized and find myself nodding my head quite frequently. I will share more when I am a bit further in the book. I also started The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. To be honest, I don’t love it yet, but I am very curious to see where it goes.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday

Tuesday: Top Ten Books People Have Been Telling Us We Must Read

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

The Milk of Birds by Sylvia Whitman

August 15, 2014 by Kellee

The Milk of Birds
Author: Sylvia Whitman
Published April 16th, 2013 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Summary: This timely, heartrending novel tells the moving story of a friendship between two girls: one an American teen, one a victim of the crisis in Darfur.

Know that there are many words behind the few on this paper…

Fifteen-year-old Nawra lives in Darfur, Sudan, in a camp for refugees displaced by the Janjaweed’s trail of murder and destruction. Nawra cannot read or write, but when a nonprofit organization called Save the Girls pairs her with an American donor, Nawra dictates her thank-you letters. Putting her experiences into words begins to free her from her devastating past—and to brighten the path to her future.

K. C. is an American teenager from Richmond, Virginia, who hates reading and writing—or anything that smacks of school. But as Nawra pours grief and joy into her letters, she inspires K. C. to see beyond her own struggles. And as K. C. opens her heart in her responses to Nawra, she becomes both a dedicated friend and a passionate activist for Darfur.

In this poetic tale of unlikely sisterhood, debut author Sylvia Whitman captures the friendship between two girls who teach each other compassion and share a remarkable bond that bridges two continents.

My Review: This is a special book. First, because of the characters who tell the story. K.C. is a young girl with learning disabilities which have caused her to hate reading, writing, and school. Nawra is a refugee in Darfur who continues to have an optimistic view of the world even after she has been surrounded by horrors that I can’t even imagine. Both of these girls are not represented very often in books, and they are both so important to know. Through this book, the reader gets to see the intensity of the situation in Sudan and refugees’ power in overcoming however they can. They also get to see the brilliance of students with learning disabilities. There are so many students in our school just like K.C., and too many of their peers would judge them by their struggles instead of by their heart and soul.

Second, this book is special because of the way the author is able to intertwine these two stories in a flawless way, and a way that keeps the reader engaged in both stories simultaneously. Third, the lyrical writing of Whitman makes this story not only interesting and important, but also beautiful to read. Last, the power of this book lies in the book, and how the book will change those who read it.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This book has some incredibly lyrical aspects which would be perfect for mentor texts for imagery and other descriptive language. I also love the idea of written pen pals, and I would love to see this book being used to start pen pals in a classroom. Finally, K.C.’s friendship with Nawra helps her become an advocate for refugees in Darfur. This would be a great way to talk about ways to make a difference in the world. I would pair it with A Long Walk to Water which shows the same thing. Powerful.

Discussion Questions: What does K.C. teach us about students with learning disabilities?; What does Nawra teach us about Sudanese refugees?; What is your favorite Nawra saying? Why?; How does life here compare to life in the Sudan?; What is a way you could help the refugees in Sudan?; What is another cause in the world that you could help?

We Flagged: “My mother is sitting on the mat where I left her. She shows no surprise that Adeeba and I return so soon with nothing but more words from the khawaja. She does not protest when I lift her.

I carry my mother as I used to carry wounded animals from pasture, arms on one side, legs on the other, her body draped behind my neck and across my shoulders. She is not much heavier than a goat.” (Nawra, p. 3)

“When she explains things, they make sense, for a while. Who cares about the area of a trapezoid, though? That question stumped my teacher for a minute, and then he launched into this spiel about geometry in everyday life, and if I were someone with a trapezoidal yard, I might need to figure out how much fertilizer to spread. As if. Hook up your hose to a bottle of Miracle-Gro, point, and shoot.” (K.C., p. 12)

Read This If You Love: A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, Golden Boy by Tara Sullivan, Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian

Recommended For:

Winger by Andrew Smith (Kellee’s Review)

August 13, 2014 by Kellee

Winger
Author: Andrew Smith
Published May 14th, 2013 by Simon & Schuster

Goodreads Summary: Ryan Dean West is a fourteen-year-old junior at a boarding school for rich kids. He’s living in Opportunity Hall, the dorm for troublemakers, and rooming with the biggest bully on the rugby team. And he’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, who thinks of him as a little boy.

With the help of his sense of humor, rugby buddies, and his penchant for doodling comics, Ryan Dean manages to survive life’s complications and even find some happiness along the way. But when the unthinkable happens, he has to figure out how to hold on to what’s important, even when it feels like everything has fallen apart.

Filled with hand-drawn info-graphics and illustrations and told in a pitch-perfect voice, this realistic depiction of a teen’s experience strikes an exceptional balance of hilarious and heartbreaking.

My Review: Andrew Smith sure knows how to write a teenage boy’s voice. He gets inside of adolescent male’s mind, and puts it all on paper for us. (It probably has something to do with teaching high school.) Ryan Dean’s voice and his story are so authentic. This book will make you cringe, laugh out loud, shake your head, and cry. I am also so impressed with all of the themes that are dealt with in this book without ever feeling over done. These themes include bullying, absent parents, peer pressure, identity, sexuality, prejudice, and friendship. In addition, Smith builds his characters, setting, and plot seamlessly. You fall in love with all of the characters, main and secondary. Even the antagonist. The setting itself is a character. And finally the plot arc was perfectly done, and was so unpredictable all the way to the end.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: First and foremost, this book needs to read by teens. However that happens, it is the right thing. The easiest way would be to get it into libraries and classrooms. There are also parts of the book that could definitely be pulled out to be used in the classroom in may different ways. On that junps to mind right away is using Ryan Dean’s comics as mentor texts for writing comics to write narratives of everyday events. Ricki also has some great ideas for Winger in the classroom in her review.

Discussion Questions: What kind of social challenges does Ryan Dean have to overcome since he is 14 but a junior?; Were you able to predict the end of the book?; What are some traits about Ryan Dean that made him easy to connect to?; How does Opportunity Hall and the rest of the school become a character in Winger?

We Flagged:

(p. 21)

Read This If You Loved: Looking for Alaska by John Green, Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

Recommended For:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 8/11/14

July 27, 2015August 11, 2014 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

Tuesday: Top Ten Books We’d Give To Readers Who Have Never Read Historical Fiction

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

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: This week I read brown girl dreaming, and I loved it. See our review last Thursday. I then completely switched gears and read the newest Captain Underpants–Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000 which, although it has a HORRIBLE cliffhanger, was just as funny as the others. I then read Bird and Squirrel on Ice by James Burks, and I just think they are such a funny duo–reminds me of Abbott and Costello. I also was able to read The Angry Little Puffin by Timothy Young (hilarious!!!) and Bug on a Bike by Chris Monroe (reminds me of Richard Scarry). Finally, when waiting for a doctor’s appointment on Friday, I read A Timeline History of the Thirteen Colonies which was a nice concise view of the start of America with very informative timelines.

With Trent, we read 11 picture books this week filled with farm animals, zoo animals, and Sesame Street. Oliver Jeffers’s Up and Down was probably my favorite, but it was not as good as Lost and Found. Elmo is Red, Cookie is Blue!, a Sesame Street beginner reader, had a nice rhythm and opposites lesson.

Ricki: I had a very productive week! I finished brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson and enjoyed joining forces with Kellee to review this beautiful book in verse. I also finished Gabrielle Zevin’s The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. This is a book that is written for readers. I loved the cerebral bookstore setting and the depth of characters. It is marketed as an adult book, but I think teens would enjoy it, too. Lastly, I finished The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson. This is a phenomenal memoir that depicts Leon’s experiences as one of Schindler’s Children. While I could most see it in a middle school classroom, readers of all ages will love it.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: This week I am reading a manuscript for one of my friends. I am very excited and honored to be reading it! Trent and I have some more Oliver Jeffers books we may read. I also got a HUGE delivery of books from the library that I’ve been requesting during IMWAYR, so we may delve into those as well.

Ricki: This week, I plan to complete Just Call my Name by Holly Goldberg Sloan. I am liking it even more than the first book, I’ll Be There. I am also hoping to finish the textbook, Young Adult Literature in the 21st Century by Pam B. Cole. I enjoy all of the background it has provided about the field of YAL. Henry and I are headed to the library tomorrow, so we are excited to find some new treasures.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday

Tuesday: Top Ten Books We’re Not Sure We Want to Read

So, what are you reading?

and

Jumped In by Patrick Flores-Scott

August 31, 2014August 8, 2014 by Kellee

Jumped In
Author: Patrick Flores-Scott
Published August 27, 2013 by Henry Holt and Co.

Goodreads Summary: Sam has the rules of slackerhood down: Don’t be late to class. Don’t ever look the teacher in the eye. Develop your blank stare. Since his mom left, he has become an expert in the art of slacking, especially since no one at his new school gets his intense passion for the music of the Pacific Northwest—Nirvana, Hole, Sleater-Kinney. Then his English teacher begins a slam poetry unit and Sam gets paired up with the daunting, scarred, clearly-a-gang-member Luis, who happens to sit next to him in every one of his classes. Slacking is no longer an option—Luis will destroy him. Told in Sam’s raw voice and interspersed with vivid poems, Jumped In by Patrick Flores-Scott is a stunning debut novel about differences, friendship, loss, and the power of words

My Review: This book is about depression, friendship, poetry, music, loyalty, teachers, and family.. It is amazing that through Sam’s interactions with Luis and introduction to poetry, he goes from trying to be invisible on purpose to having a whole different view of his surroundings. Luis changes how he sees the world because Luis ends up being everything he thought he wasn’t.

This book surprised me. I didn’t know what it was about when I started, so I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into. At first Sam seems to just be a slacker that is hard to connect with, and I thought it was going to be similar to many other books with a bully that I’ve read. But it ended up being like Luis was to Sam–everything I thought it wasn’t going to be, and it was so unpredictable. From page 1, the author had me. The images just jumped out at me. And that was just the beginning of me being thoroughly impressed with the book. Both of the voices in this book resonated with me for a long time after (As much as I end up liking Sam in this book, I think Luis may be one of my favorite characters ever. He has a beautiful voice, and I felt privileged to meet him.). It was one of those books that I had to let marinate before I could pick up another one because it was still banging around inside of my head (and I couldn’t stop hearing Sam and Luis’s voices).

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This is a poetry-friendly book. First, although Sam is telling the story, throughout Luis’s voice is shared through his poetry. Beautiful poetry. Also, one of the main settings of the book is an English classroom with a pretty awesome English teacher talking about poetry. There are even examples of poems that she asks her students to write such as diamantes and nonets. All of her poetry unit (and writing process) activities would be perfect to use in the classroom.

Discussion Questions: Was there ever someone you judged by looking at them, but later learned that they were not what you thought?; Have you ever just tried to be invisible? Why?; Do you ever have “brain movies” like Sam when your brain just won’t stop thinking?; How does Luis’s friendship change Sam?; How is Luis different than what Sam assumed he would be?; How does Gilbert affect Sam?

We Flagged: “I pull away from everyone, and after a while, I pretty much quit talking altogether. It’s been two years. I’m a sophmore. I shouldn’t still be stuck like this. But the pit I’ve dug for myself feels so deep, I can’t climb out of it. I want to. I want to climb out and join the world. But I can’t. I don’t know how.” (Sam, p. 32)

“Callado

I’m Callado
Still waters, aguas quietas

But in school you have to speak
To be seen as running deep

To be thought of as more than
The tragic mask
I wear to put you off
I don’t know why, so don’t ask

Someday I’ll scrap the mask
I’ll let loose my new, crazy words
I’ll speak my piece
Without ceasing till you’ve learned…

That I’m as deep
As Everest is voluminous

I’m as thoughtful
As the sun is luminous

As lucid
As Casanova is amorous

As passionate
As a grizzly is carnivorous…” (Luis, p. 51)

Read This If You Loved: Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets by Evan Roskos, Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein, Reality Boy by A.S. King, Wine Young Fool by Sean Beaudoin

Recommended For: