IMWAYR

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: Ten Books For Readers Who Like Character Driven Novels

Thursday: Ricki’s Road to a Dissertation

Friday: Author’s Guest Post: Julie Sternberg’s The Top-Secret Diary of Celie Valentine: Friendship Over

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

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee:  This week I was able to finish The Mutts Diaries which is a wonderful collection of the Mutts comics. I’m glad they put it into a graphic novel to spread the Mutts love. I also read some picture books this week. First, I read the superb Three Bears in a Boat by David Soman. The illustrations were beautiful, and I enjoyed the Max-ish journey the bears went on. In preparation for some future reviews, I read Noodles & Albie by Eric Bennett and My Yellow Balloon by Tiffany Papageorge. I look forward to sharing both of these with you all. Additionally, I read 4 baseball biographies by Matt Tavares: There Goes Ted Williams, Growing Up Pedro, Becoming Babe Ruth, and Henry Aaron’s Dream. They are so well done!

With Trent, we continued to reread. I have been letting him choose the book from our shelf because that helps him keep engaged. I currently have a nonstop moving child so the reading to him is sometimes quite difficult, but I’ve found the letting him choose helps. We did read two new books: Thomas the Tank Engine Shapes and Sizes and Penguin and Pumpkin. I just adore Salina Yoon’s stories and illustrations. Although this isn’t my favorite Penguin book, it is going to be loved by Penguin fans.

Ricki: This week, I read Jessie Haas’ three Bramble and Maggie books. Each of the books was delightful. They are the perfect books for kids transitioning from picture books to chapter books because the illustrations are delightful and the repetition of words will make readers feel satisfied and challenged.

Henry, my husband, and I went to New Jersey this weekend and stayed in a hotel room. Henry (my 10-month-old) wasn’t pleased with my reading light and wouldn’t go to bed, so I sat on the bathroom floor and read a good chunk of Louise Rosenblatt’s Literature as Exploration. Last week, Elisabeth Ellington commented that this book, is “one of the most important books ever written about what we do when we read.” I kept thinking about her comment as I read, and I think she is spot on. I am about halfway through, and I love it.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I am currently reading This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki during my advanced reading class at school. We’ll see how much I get through today. Reading time is split between my reading and conferencing. I STILL have that pile of library picture books with some amazing books in them. I will get to them very, very soon! My other reading is going to be full of preparation for NCTE and ALAN. At NCTE I am part of the Abrams “Teaching Graphic Novels in the Classroom” with Cece Bell, Frank Cammuso, Nathan Hale, and Trevor Pryce. I wrote the teaching guide for Cece’s, Frank’s, and Nathan’s books, but I haven’t had the pleasure of reading An Army of Frogs by Trevor Pryce yet, so I have them to read. I also want to reread the Walden winner and finalists as I am chairing the Walden panel during ALAN and need to come up with questions for the authors. I also have a couple graphic novels from Netgalley on my phone that I may read if I don’t have a book with me.

Ricki: I plan to finish Rosenblatt’s Literature as Exploration. I also want to read Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch in preparation for Halloween!

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Place We Want To Visit (After Reading a Book)

Thursday: Guest Post “Five Ways to Bring MG Books into the Classroom” by Fleur Bradley, author of Double Vision

 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

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.

Congratulations to MARY H. for winning a copy of Rory’s Promise!

Last Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Were Hard For Us To Read

Wednesday: Recent Nonfiction (Mostly) Picture Books Part Two: Biographies

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

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: We had a rough week at the Moye house filled with illnesses (both Trent and I are still sick) and loss (we said good bye to our beautiful cat, Bella, on Friday) AND we also went away for the weekend to Disney so my husband, Jim, could run in the Tower of Terror 10 miler, so Trent’s reading really took a hit. Although we did reread a few favorites including The Going to Bed Book by Boynton, The Pigeon Has Feelings Too by Willems, and I Love You Through and Through by Rossetti-Shustak and we were able to read the super-cute You Are (Not) Small by Anna Kang today, we definitely didn’t hit our #bookaday quota this week. But sometimes life overrides reading…

I actually was able to read three books this week. First, I needed something light, so I read a collection of Big Nate comics called The Crowd Goes Wild!. I really like the Nate stories. I know that Wimpy Kid is the favorite, but Nate is just so much more likable! I then read a phenomenal book by Ann M. Martin, Rain Reign. Once I started reading this one, I couldn’t stop. I fell asleep with it and my glasses on on Saturday night and jumped right back into it on Sunday so I could finish it. I cannot wait to share it with you–I will review it soon. And this week I am so excited to share with you Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett. You will all want to get this one.

Ricki: This week, I finished Shirley Brice Heath’s Ways with Words. This ethnographic book is a classic study about Heath’s research in two neighboring towns—both mill towns, but one predominantly White and one predominantly Black—next to Appalachia in the Piedmont Carolinas during the Civil Rights Era. She studied the ways the people (and primarily the children) use words and how that might impact the youngsters when they start schooling. I often see this study cited, so I was interested to read Heath’s work directly. Her methodology is admirable, and I think this is a very important study for every teacher to read, primarily elementary school teachers and English/language arts teachers.

Henry and I read some puppet books this week. H.A. Rey’s Curious George Pat-a-Cake is not the most unique book I’ve ever read, but the giant Curious George puppet that peeks through every page made him laugh hysterically all week. We read it about forty times. We also read a Mary had a Little Lamb puppet book, but I can’t remember the title. Neither of these books is one I would recommend to use in the classroom, but they are both great for parents. 🙂

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I started reading The Mutts Diaries by Patrick McDonnell, so I will probably finish that. I have a HUGE pile of picture books from the library for me to read, so I will most likely sit down and read most of them this week because they are due soon. I also have Trevor Pryce’s An Army of Frogs and all of the Walden books to read in preparation for NCTE/ALAN, so I am going to read those soon. With Trent, we are going to continue rereading and working on finding favorites. We’ll see where the week takes us!

Ricki: This week, I think I will read Rosenblatt’s Literature for Exploration. Has anyone read it? I know it is cited everywhere. I am trying to read all of the books that are consistently cited in education. I also want to read Jessie Haas’s Bramble and Maggie series.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Ten Books For Readers Who Like Character Driven Novels

Thursday: Ricki’s Road to a Dissertation

Friday: Author’s Guest Post and Giveaway of Julie Sternberg’s The Top-Secret Diary of Celie Valentine: Friendship Over

 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

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 On My Fall To-Be-Read List

Wednesday: Recent Nonfiction (Mostly) Picture Books Part One: Informational

Friday: Rory’s Promise Blog Tour with Book Trailer and Author Q&A

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

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: This week wasn’t as successful reading-wise as last week, but I did read a really good book in celebration of Banned Books Week–Cleopatra in Space by Mike Maihack. It is a super fun graphic novel! I cannot wait for more in the series. Love the inclusion of Egyptian history in a sci-fi world.

On the other hand, Trent and I read some board books that are definitely going to be some of our favorites and will be read over and over again including the classics The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown, The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, Five Little Monkeys by Eileen Christelow, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton. But my favorite this week was Your Personal Penguin by Sandra Boynton. It is just as good as her others, but what made me love it even more is the song that you can get off of her website. I have been singing it to Trent all week! It is wonderful!

Ricki: This week, I finished listening to Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. This popular adult fiction made me laugh and made me cry. It is a very touching, British story about a young woman in her 20s who becomes caregiver to a paralyzed man in his 30s. At one point, I texted my husband that I would be in the house soon. I couldn’t leave my car because I didn’t want to stop listening.

Henry and I received some great, new picture books from one of our best friends. We started reading them this week, but some are holiday-themed, so we hold off on sharing them until we get closer to the holidays! We enjoyed I Know a Bear by Mariana Ruiz Johnson and discussed its beautiful message. I taught (10-month-old) Henry all about implicit themes as his father chuckled in the next room.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I started The Secret Diary of Celie Valentine: Friendship Over by Julie Sternberg, and I will definitely finish it this week in preparation for our blog tour stop on October 10th. I also cannot wait to read Mac Barnett’s newest Sam & Dave Dig A Hole which I recently got.  And if I have time, I have 4 baseball biographies by Matt Tavares I cannot wait to read (and I have the honor of writing a teaching guide for them).

Trent and I are going to do some rereads of favorites this week because it has been a ton of fun reading 210 books in 219 days of his life, but I feel like we need to revisit some of the ones I really love.

Ricki: As much as I love reading the same five board books over and over again with Henry because they are staples in my living room and his nursery, I will be branching out and exploring the new picture books we received this week. I also received two great ARCs from Penguin Random House this week, so I will be sharing and reviewing both of those soon.

If you are a middle or high school English language arts teacher, I would greatly appreciate your help distributing the message below for my dissertation study! Thank you!!!

We are seeking middle/high school English teachers for a brief research survey. For more information, click: https://uconn.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_7U0gerNF8XslNpH. We would greatly appreciate it if you shared this post with other teachers!

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Were Hard For Us To Read

Wednesday: Recent Nonfiction (Mostly) Picture Books Part Two: Biographies

 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

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 Authors We’ve Only Read One Book From But Need To Read More

Friday: My Time on the Walden Committee and Call for Applications

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

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: I had quite a good reading week! I made time for a bunch of smaller texts I needed to read and truly enjoyed them.

First, I had a 3 books from Cinco Puntos Press to read: Conspiracy Girl by Karen Chacek, The Lovesick Skunk by Joe Hayes, and Festival of Bones by Luis San Vincente. All three of these books were so unique! I would love to talk to someone else who has read Conspiracy Girl, so if you do, contact me! The Lovesick Skunk was NOT what I thought it was going to be, and ended up being a quite funny nonfiction picture book which I will most likely review in the future. Festival of the Bones is a great celebration of the Day of the Dead, and I look forward to sharing it.

I also read 3 Netgalley books: Stubby the Dog Soldier: World War I Hero by Blake Hoena, A Tale of Two Daddies by Vanita Oelschlager, and The Zoo Box by Ariel Cohn. All three of these were wonderful in different ways. Stubby told a story of a true hero, Two Daddies introduces the idea of LBGTQ families, and The Zoo Box is a Jumanji-esque graphic novel that was a lot of fun.

Additionally, I read Bramble and Maggie books 1-3 by Jessie Haas and The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers. Bramble and Maggie books are wonderful early reader chapter books about a girl and her horse. The Way Back Home is probably in my top 5 favorite Oliver Jeffers books now. He is so quirky!

Trent and I also read quite a few wonderful books: Frank! by Connah Brecon, Baby Beluga by Raffi, The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper, Goodnight, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann, and Guess How Much I Love You? by Sam McBratney.  Frank! we will review later this week. I could not believe I hadn’t read Goodnight, Gorilla before! What a fun almost wordless book. Perfect for bedtime. I also LOVED reading Baby Beluga because I listened to that song so much when I was a kid. The others are just great board books!

Ricki: This week, I enjoyed reading Rory’s Promise by Michaela MacColl and Rosemary Nichols. It was an interesting historical fiction that reads more like a creative nonfiction due to the depictions of real-life people. I learned a lot about orphan trains and enjoyed this new information about history. I also read a great nonfiction picture book called Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas written by Lynne Cox and illustrated by Brian Floca. I loved learning about the elephant seal who refused to leave her home in Christchurch, New Zealand and think kids will love this story, too!

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: In my advanced reading class, I give my students 10-20 minutes a day to read and some days I get to read with them. Last week I started Cleopatra in Space and plan to finish it this week. My plan includes The Top-Secret Diary of Celie Valentine: Friendship Over by Julie Sternberg and another graphic novel that is at school and its name I can’t remember.

Ricki: Unfortunately, there will be no pleasure reading this week. I have chapters upon chapters of textbooks I have to read for my doctoral studies. I’ll be reading several chapters in Creswell’s and Maxwell’s books about Qualitative Methods. I will also be reading Shirley Brice Heath’s Ways with Words. So far, I enjoy this last one. I’ve mentioned it in previous posts, but in case you missed it, it is a foundational ethnography about the ways children learn to use language in the 1970s southeastern United States.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

   

Tuesday: Top Ten Books On My Fall To-Be-Read List

Friday: Rory’s Promise Blog Tour with Book Trailer, and Author Q&A

 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

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 Underrated Books

Wednesday: Be A Changemaker blog tour and author guest post

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

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: This week, I read Rory’s Promise by Michaela MacColl and Rosemary Nichols. It was so fascinating! Filled with interesting topics such as orphans, mining, race relations, religion, kidnapping, building of the west, and The Foundling Hospital of NYC. I cannot wait to share this book, its book trailer, and a Q&A with authors with you all! With Trent, my favorite reads this week were some Winnie-the-Pooh board books about opposites and colors. I loved being able to expose Trent to “old school” Pooh.

Ricki: Happy Monday! This week, I read a fantastic, adult nonfiction text On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City by Alice Goffman. A white, college-aged girl lived with a group of African American boys in inner-city Philadelphia. Adults and teens will be inspired by the truth this book brings about the mass incarceration of African American males. I have a full review coming on October 2 because I ran out of blog space in the calendar. Henry and I have been rereading a lot of our favorite board books now that he is tearing pages. We did read a new picture book, Frank! by Connah Brecon. Kellee and I review this one next Thursday.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I am very ambitious about this week! First, I want to read Frank! with Trent. Also, I have three Maggie and Bramble books by Jessie Haas I hope to get to. Finally, I am so happy to have Julie Sternberg’s newest The Top-Secret Diary of Celie Valentine which I am so excited to read! I adore Julie’s Eleanor books (such a great voice!), so I know I will like this one as well. I also have An Army of Frogs books by Trevor Pryce and Joel Naftali to read, but I don’t know if I’ll get to those this week. Finally, if there is a break between students reading it, I hope to read Amulet #6 by Kazu Kibuishi. We’ll see how it goes!

Ricki: I didn’t get to Rory’s Promise by Michaela MacColl and Rosemary Nichols this week, but Kellee has been saying great things, so I am excited to read it. I am also doing a lot of scholarly reading for classes that will probably bore you. As always, I will keep you posted if I come across a great book! I have some great PD texts coming up for my independent study, so I am excited to get to those.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

   

Tuesday: Top Ten Authors We’ve Only Read One Book From But Need To Read More

Friday: My Time on the Walden Committee and Call for Applications

 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

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 Book Characters That Would Be Sitting At My Lunch Table

Friday: Laurie Calkhoven Guest Post

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

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: This last week seemed to be filled to the brim for us! I know I have the same time in the evenings as I did a few weeks ago, but they seem to go by so quickly, and I feel like I am busy every second. Hopefully it will slow down soon! Luckily, I was able to finish Be a Changemaker by Laurie Ann Thompson which we will share with you this week. So inspiring.

Trent and I read some fun picture books this week as well. Our favorites were:

• We watched Pete the Cat on YouTube, and I’ve had the song in my head ever since.
• I read Trent Green Eggs and Ham for the first time. I’ve been waiting to read it to him until he could fit into his Green Eggs and Ham shirt. I loved reading it! What fun rhyming and rhythm.
• At school, I found a book, You are my Work of Art, at school that I bought years ago for my future child, so I brought it home and read it to him. What a great way to introduce young children to art, and it is so sweet as well.
• Based off of recommendations, we got Ninja! by Arree Chung. What a fun imagination book!

Ricki: I turned thirty this week. Ahh! Luckily, Henry kept me distracted, so I didn’t have to worry about my age. I am embarrassed that I didn’t read much YA this week. I read about 30 scholarly articles and chapters for my classes. Henry and I read Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young and enjoyed it. And there are four board books on my living room floor that I must have read with Henry close to sixty times this week. Our favorite board book (which we have read hundreds of times now) is Mem Fox’s Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes. Those of you who follow the blog might remember this is one of my favorites to read with him.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: This week I am going to start Rory’s Promise by Michaela MacColl in preparation for a future blog post, and I will continue to read Allie Gator and the Seven Stones on my phone (though admittedly, I didn’t get to read any last week!). Hopefully this upcoming week is a bit slower, so I can find more reading time in my days.

Ricki: Like Kellee, I am hoping to start Rory’s Promise and also Allie Condie’s Atlantia. I don’t suspect I will have much time to read others. As it is, I read from 7pm-2am each night to keep up with my coursework. I am not complaining! It is all very interesting. 🙂

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Underrated Books

 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

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’ve Owned for a Long Time but Haven’t Read

Wednesday: How Being a Mom Has Changed My Identity (Kellee)

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

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: School is taking up a bit more of my time than I anticipated (I was just told I was teaching a new class a week ago, so I am working on building a curriculum for the class in addition to my journalism class and being reading coach), so I am not having as much reading time as I’d like. During my week, though, I was able to read a phenomenal graphic novel El Deafo by Cece Bell. I loved it, and my students are going to love it. When reading it it automatically connected to Smile and Hurt Go Happy in my brain. I also read 3 picture books that I really liked: How Big Were Dinosaurs? by Lita Judge, Manfish by Jennifer Berne, and The New Girl…and Me by Jacqui Robbins.

Trent and I read some awesome picture books this week. The most important one we read this week was a photo book that my mom made of Trent’s first visit to Chattanooga. It is in chronological order and chronicles his time there. I love how she put it together, and I love that Trent and I can revisit any time we want!

Our other favorites were:

• Pardon Me by Daniel Miayres is a book that reminds me a bit of Hat Back, but not so much that it didn’t seem unique. Cracked me up!
• Oliver by Brigitta Sif is a new empathy book for me. It was great and I LOVE Oliver.
• The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett is a beautiful wordless picture book that I loved sharing with Trent. The ending was superb.
• Big Bug by Henry Cole gives a great introduction to perspective.

We also read Gravity by Jason Chin and Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan, which were both recommended, but I just didn’t love them as much as I wanted to. Jim really liked Summer, but I just didn’t connect with it.

Ricki: First of all, I want to publicly apologize for not visiting more blogs this week. Reading other educators’ blogs is one of the highlights of my week. I don’t always comment, but I am constantly perusing, and I love learning from you all. Last week, I started school, and I was overwhelmed by the massive amount of work on the syllabi I received. I am back on the wagon, and I am sorry!

I will be sneaking YAL into my coursework, but please expect to see a lot of PD texts. I will post reviews highlighting the best PD texts I find. Of course, you can expect to see the usual YAL in reviews, as well. This week, I read Judith A Hayn and Jeffrey S. Kaplan’s Teaching Young Adult Literature Today. I have a review scheduled for next Thursday, September 11th because there was no space in the blog this week. This text highlights the great things that are happening in the field. Some good friends for the ALAN Workshop are featured authors, and I learned much from them. This is a must-read for scholars and educators in the field.

Henry and I read two phenomenal picture books. I bet some of you have read them, too! We fell into Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles. My husband and I loved this book and plan to purchase it. This is the best picture book I have read that addresses racism and discrimination. It is also a tale of friendship. We also loved the duality that existed in The Letter Home by Timothy Decker. If you haven’t read either of these books, I can’t recommend them highly enough.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I am currently reading Be a Changemaker by Lauria Ann Thompson, and I am finding it very inspiring and well done. I will finish it this week. I also am reading Allie Gator and the Seven Stones by Sean Eckenrod on my phone, so it may take a while to finish it because it isn’t an every day book. Trent and I are going to continue working through the picture books I got from the library after reading IMWAYR posts.

Ricki: I was fortunate to receive a copy of Atlantia by Ally Condie. I am excited to read this one. I will also be reading qualitative research methods texts. I was thinking about trying Rosenblatt’s Literature as Exploration this week, too. It is very widely cited, and I want to learn more from this great text. Reader Response is awesome, no? 🙂

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Book Characters That Would Be Sitting At My Lunch Table

Friday: Laurie Calkhoven 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!

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