Kellee – Page 260 – Unleashing Readers

A Big Guy Took My Ball! & I’m a Frog! by Mo Willems

January 10, 2014 by Kellee

A Big Guy Took My Ball!
Author and Illustrator: Mo Willems
Published May 21st, 2013 by Disney-Hyperion

I’m a Frog!
Author and Illustrator: Mo Willems
Published October 15th, 2013 by Disney-Hyperion

A Big Guy Took My Ball! Goodreads Summary: Gerald is careful. Piggie is not.
Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can.
Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to.

Gerald and Piggie are best friends.

In A Big Guy Took My Ball! Piggie is devastated when a big guy takes her ball! Gerald is big, too…but is he big enough to help his best friend?

I’m a Frog! Goodreads Summary: In I’m a Frog! Piggie has some ribbiting news! Can Gerald make the leap required to accept Piggie’s new identity?

Review: I love Elephant and Piggie. They are such amazing friends through all sorts of scenarios. Elephant keeps Piggie grounded and Piggie helps Elephant think/move outside of his box. Just a wonderful combination of character traits and they make for such funny books. And you know that they are good, they both won 2013 Early Reader Nerdy Awards!!!

Teacher’s Tools For Navigation: Elephant and Piggie books are, of course, amazing for read alouds and will be loved by everyone who reads them. However, the books also have very few words and it is up to the reader to use inference (using the illustrations) to read even deeper into the story.

Discussion Questions: In A Big Guy Took My Ball! what did Elephant assume about the guy Piggie was talking about?; In I’m a Frog! how does Piggie help Elephant?

We Flagged:

Read This If You Loved: Any of the Elephant and Piggie books, Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel

Recommended For:

Strange Mysteries From Around the World by Seymour Simon

February 9, 2014January 8, 2014 by Kellee

Nonfiction Picture Book 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!

Strange Mysteries From Around the World
Author: Seymour Simon
Published May 1st, 1997 by HarperTrophy

Goodreads Summary: Describes ten strange natural phenomena and possible explanations for them, including the day it rained frogs, an atomic explosion that occurred forty years before the atom bomb, and an eerie crystal skull.

My Review and Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: These mysteries are so fascinating to read about and they are real! Although this book is a bit older, because the topic is strange mysteries it mostly doesn’t matter. It wold be interesting to read this aloud and then do research and see if anything has changed about the mysteries. I can also see this book being used as an opening of the day/class just to get kids focused. The mysteries intrigued me, so I really think kids would find them interesting as well.

Discussion Questions: What do you think happened at _____?; Which theory do you believe?

We Flagged: “When it’s raining heavily, some people say it’s ‘pouring cats and dogs.’ Of course, that only an expression. Cats and dogs really don’t rain down from the sky. (Although there may be poodles in the street.) But don’t be too sure that it never rains animals. Here is a quote from July 12, 1873, issue of the magazine Scientific American: ‘A shower of frogs, which darkened the air and covered the ground for a long distance, is the reported result of a recent rainstorm at Kansas City, Mo.'” (It’s Raining Frogs and Fish p. 1)

Read This If You Loved: Jane Yolen’s Unsolved Mysteries in History, Encyclopedia Horrifica by Joshua Gee, Alien Investigation by Kelly Milner Hall

Recommended For:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 1/6/14

July 27, 2015January 6, 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

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

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: Happy new year!! I read two very different yet very good novels this week and I definitely recommend them both. First was Period 8 by Chris Crutcher which is… well, a Chris Crutcher novel! They are always winners. I’ll be reviewing it here for you later. Next, I read Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein which was a middle grade novel paying homage to Willy Wonka with so many book allusions throughout. It was such a fun book! I actually am not planning on reviewing it because I read it in bed in one sitting, so I didn’t take any review notes on it—oops!

Ricki: This week, I took it back a few decades and read Experience & Education by John Dewey. This book was published in 1938, but boy was John Dewey on the mark. He was ahead of his time in his progressive thoughts, and I can understand why scholars always refer to his writings. I also read the YA book, The Living by Matt de la Peña. I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait for the sequel. I will read anything by this man. He is such an incredible writer. This book was much different from his other works, and I think students who love action-packed books like The Maze Runner by James Dashner will love it. The children’s books I read to Henry this week are: Boy and Bot by Ame Dyckman, Love You Forever by Robert Munsch (sobbed through this one), Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems (nice illustrations and photography), Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson, and Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle (this one was adorable).

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I just started Sometimes Always, Sometimes Never by Elissa Janine Hoole yesterday, but did not get very far–we’ll see! After Sometimes Always, I’ll be reading Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil. I also will continue Ocean at the End of the Lane tomorrow when I go back to driving to work.

Ricki: This week, I am starting Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Friere as part of my independent study for my doctoral degree. I am trying to read books by all of the big names in education. I also plan to read Winger by Andrew Smith while nursing. Additionally, I will be reading as many children’s books as I can to Henry each night. 🙂

Upcoming Week’s Posts

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

Kellee’s 26 (+20) Top 2013 Reads

March 29, 2014January 3, 2014 by Kellee

This is one of my favorite posts every year!

Welcome to: Kellee’s Favorite Reads of the Year!!!!
**Click on any book title to go to its Goodreads page or Unleashing Readers review**

Favorite Young Adult Realistic Fiction Novels of 2013

Favorite Young Adult Realistic Fiction Novels Read in 2013 (Not from 2013)

Favorite Young Adult Realistic Fiction Novels Read in 2013 (Coming 2014!)

Favorite Young Adult Fantasy Novel Read in 2013 (Not from 2013)

Favorite Young Adult Science Fiction Novel Read in 2013 (Not from 2013)

Favorite Middle Grade/Young Adult Historical Fiction of 2013

Favorite Young Adult Historical Fiction Novel Read in 2013 (Not from 2013)

Favorite Middle Grade Fantasy Novels of 2013

Favorite Middle Grade Short Story Collection of 2013

Favorite Middle Grade Realistic Fiction Novel of 2013

Favorite Middle Grade Realistic Fiction Novel Read in 2013 (Not from 2013)

Favorite Nonfiction Graphic Novels of 2013

Favorite Nonfiction Graphic Novels Read in 2013 (Not from 2013)

Favorite Graphic Novels of 2013

Favorite Graphic Novel Read in 2013 (Not from 2013)

Favorite Nonfiction Picture Books of 2013

Favorite Nonfiction Picture Books Read in 2013 (Not from 2013)

Favorite Picture Books of 2013

Favorite Picture Books Read in 2013 (Not from 2013)

What were your favorites from this year?
Now onto a new set of amazing books!

Past lists:
Favorite Non-2012 Books Read in 2012
(59) Favorite 2012 Books
42 (+15) Best Books of 2011

Kellee’s 2013 Reflection

January 8, 2014January 1, 2014 by Kellee

2013 was a life-changing year for me.
The biggest, and most exciting, change was that I am pregnant with my first child (cannot wait for Baby Boy Moye!). Right after finding out I was pregnant, I was given the opportunity to be the reading coach at my middle school and knew that I couldn’t turn down this opportunity to at least try it. This may not be life-changing permanently, but it definitely was present life-changing. Both of these changes had a major impact on my reading life.

First, pregnancy. If you have been pregnant then you know what I mean when I saw I was tired for 4 months. More tired than I ever could imagine being. And when I was awake, I was not feeling well or just wanted to veg. These first 4 months of pregnancy were June, July, August, and September–right through summer #bookaday!! This really cut into my summer reading. I actually would find myself on Sunday nights about to do my IMWAYR post and realizing I hadn’t read at all so I’d grab a couple of picture books just to have some numbers. This happened more than I let on (mostly because my pregnancy was a secret at this time too!). And to be honest, even after I got almost back to my normal self, reading was out of my routine (and I still need extra sleep than I used to). I am still working on getting it back; however, I know all of that will change when the baby arrives though I am really going to push myself to keep my reading part of my life.

Second, reading coach. I was wary of this change. My love of education is 99% because I love impacting students’ lives and being part of their life daily. Being a reading coach is impacting students in a different way and it has been a struggle for me. I miss my students; however, I try so hard every day to make sure that through my coaching, interventions, and classroom library that I am reaching as many of them still even though they are not in my classroom. I wish that I had had a coach to help me through becoming a coach because it is such a huge change. I’m not sure how long I’ll be out of the classroom, but I am still trying to grow and make an impact daily and I hope to find a nice balance. I think, though, without the pressure of book talks and conferencing and being with students daily, I let my reading slide even more than it would have had I been in the classroom.

Both of these things, unfortunately, made 2013 the lowest reading numbers I’ve had since 2010. (Since 2010 I’ve been blogging, been on twitter regularly, been part of FB’s centurion group, and on a book award committee–all things that have impacted my reading goal and my expectations for myself.) Now, I will say that I am not embarrassed of what I did read in 2013. I am actually very proud based on everything I went through. I just think I had very high expectations for myself this year because I had an amazing reading year in 2012 (I read over 400 books).

For 2013, I originally set my Goodreads goal at 333 books. This was a big under what I read in 2012, but I like reaching my goal so I try to make it realistic. However, in about October or November I realized that there was no way I was going to reach this goal and I knew that not reaching my goal would be devastating to me. So, I reevaluated and set a new goal: 225. This one I did meet- YAY!

In 2013 I read:

79 middle grade/young adult novels
12 early chapter books
25 graphic novels
53 picture books
9 adult novels
5 nonfiction graphic novels
36 nonfiction picture books
9 nonfiction books
8 poetry collections
3 interactive/game/novelty books
4 professional books
8 reread young adult novels

Totaling: 251 books!

Overall, I am very proud of my year and am very much looking forward to my even more life-changing 2014! For more reflections, check out my favorite 2013 reads and my 2014 reading goals.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 12/30/13

July 27, 2015December 30, 2013 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 to view the post**

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: I was doing so well with Winter Break #bookaday and then Christmas happened! It is so hard to just excuse yourself from all of the family fun to go read and with people from out of town visiting, it was even harder. With that being said, I did read 5 books over this week.

The first 4 were graphic novels: Romeo and Juliet by Gareth Hinds, The Great American Dust Bowl by Don Brown, Bluffton by Matt Phelan, and Lost Boy by Greg Ruth. They were all VERY different yet I enjoyed them all in a different way. I’ll be reviewing Dust Bowl and Romeo later in the winter.

The 5th book I read was Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and OMG! I read it all in one sitting and I loved every second of it! If you have been following my pregnancy reading at all, you know that sitting down and reading a novel in one sitting has been something that has become hard for me, so I was so proud of finishing Fangirl in one night!

Ricki: This week, I finished The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher. This was quite different from her other book, Stolen. It is a mystery/thriller, and I really enjoyed the way she depicted the setting. I also read several books to baby Henry. We started with a few classics: The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper, Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle (I loved this board book—the see-through sections are beautiful!) and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle. Then, we read some new picture books that were both fantastic! Both were based on true stories. The Man with the Violin is based on a true story and has a wonderful lesson for children (and adults)—to stop and admire the beauty in the world. We also finished On the Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne. This was really fun. I can’t wait to read it to Henry when he is older. I love how it teaches children to be curious.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I am still listening to Neil Gaiman’s Ocean at the End of the Lane, but I am not getting much reading done during the break without the commute. I love what I’ve read so far, but I don’t know how much I’ll get read this week either. I also started reading You Look Different in Real Life by Jennifer Castle and thus far I am really connect with the narrator and I look forward to reading more of it.

Ricki: I am almost finished with The Living by Matt de la Peña. The only reason I haven’t finished it is because I have it in actual book form, and I can only read e-books while nursing. It is very, very good. I am losing some sleep over it because I read it when I should really be sleeping. I also downloaded Winger by Andrew Smith on my Kindle. So far, I am loving it. It is reminding me a bit of John Green’s Looking for Alaska so far.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

So, what are you reading?

and

Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

December 27, 2013 by Kellee

Let it Snow
Authors: John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle
Published October 2nd, 2008 by Speak

Goodreads Summary: Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks. Thanks to three of today’s bestselling teen authors—John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle—the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses.

My Review: You cannot go wrong with those authors! What I found was not only a romantic, funny book, but a perfect holiday read! Let it Snow is like those movies where you follow three very different stories and then eventually they intertwine and everything seems to follow into place. I loved reading each story, wanting to learn more about a certain character and then realizing the next story was about them! The authors also did a fantastic job throwing in aspects of Christmas and pushing the holiday cheer without shoving it down your throat. Let is Snow is one of those books that I want to curl up and read by the fire while it snows outside.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: I would love to read this book in its entirety with students and then try to make a timeline of the three stories and how they overlap. It would be a great discussion of connections and sequence. Also, you could look at the voice of characters and how each author made theirs distinct (and how the others authors kept them distinct in their sections). This could also lead to a great discussion about style.

This book is also loved by students and should definitely be in teen libraries.

Discussion Questions: Think of a time when you were stuck somewhere that you didn’t want to be and couldn’t really do anything about it, how did you feel? What did you do to keep yourself busy? Did something happen that you would not have expected or that wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t stuck or stranded?

We Flagged:
From “The Jubilee Express” by Maureen Johnson

“‘Oh my god!’ said one of the Ambers. ‘Is this not the worst trip ever? Did you see the snow?’
She was a sharp one, this Amber. What would she notice next? The train? The moon? The hilarious vagaries of human existence? Her own head?
I didn’t say any of that, because death by cheerleader is not really the way I want to go.” p. 22

From “A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle” by John Green

“I dashed upstairs, my socks sliding on the hardwood floor in the kitchen, and stumbled into my bedroom. I tore open the closet door and began feverishly sorting through the shirts piled on the floor in the vain hope that inside that pile there might be some wondrously perfect shirt down there, a nice striped button-down with no wrinkles that said, ‘I’m strong and tough but I’m also a surprisingly good listener with a true and abiding passion for cheers and those who lead them.’ Unfortunately, there was no such shirt to be found. I quickly settled on a dirty but cool yellow Threadless T-shirt under a black v-neck sweater. I kicked off my watching-James-Bond-movies-with-the-Duke-and-JP jeans and hurriedly wiggled into my pair of nice, dark jeans.” p. 131-132

From “The Patron Saint of Pigs” by Lauren Myracle

“Being me sucked. Being me on this supposedly gorgeous night, with the supposedly gorgeous snow looming in five-foot drifts outside my bedroom window, double-sucked. Add the fact that today was Christmas, and my score was up to triple-suck. And add in the sad, aching, devastating lack of Jeb, and ding-ding-ding! The bell at the top of the Suckage Meter couldn’t ring any louder. Instead of jingle bells, I had suckage bells. Lovely.” p. 215

Read This If You Loved:

Recommended For: