Unleashing Readers

Student Voices!: Short Essays on Reading and Books by Luis, Star, Paola, Amy, Alex, Maya, Axel, Cooper, & Jacob

April 22, 2023July 23, 2019 by Kellee

The best way to learn what kids are thinking & feeling is by listening to them, so I am happy to share my students’ voices!

Why Teachers Should Let Students Read Manga by Luis, 8th Grade

Mrs. Moye let me read manga for most of the year. I read a huge variety of awesome mangas, but some teachers don’t like manga for different reasons. But I feel like I have the right to read whatever I want. Manga isn’t just fighting cartoons, some of them have a better plot than books. For example, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure has a better vampire plot than other vampire books out there. Some have great love stories or more realistic action. Manga is truly something that teachers should let their students read and enjoy. And who knows–they may even learn Japanese!

Why 6th Graders Should Be Allowed to Read More Mature Books If They Want by Star, 6th Grade

I believe 6th graders should be allowed to read more mature books. It allows the kids to venture into a world they still have a while to actually enter. They allow kids to feel more emotions, such as sadness in love. For example, in the book The Fault in our Stars by John Green, Hazel and Augustus express such love for each other despite their differences. And when something sad happens at the end of the book, it causes the reader to be sad. Another reason 6th graders should be allowed to read more mature books is because they get kids into more real world situations before they have to experience it themselves. For example, in the book Orbiting Jupiter the author throws the reader into a real life situation.

Why We Shouldn’t Ban Books by Paola & Amy, 7th Grade

Book banning: The horrible act of taking a book deemed “inappropriate” for students and then restricting access to that book. This has been done for years and many people actually think that this helps keep children from certain material. While it actually causes problems.

It Keeps Important Topics Away From Kids

The biggest problem with banning books is that most of the banned books talk about very important social topics. While many people think that exposing kids to these topics will hurt them, the opposite can actually be said. The more kids learn about these topics, the better educated they are. They could then form their own opinions and even come up with ideas to help other people. Additionally, by keeping these materials away from teens and kids, they might make bad decisions because they’ve never thought about it. And by banning the books, people are making the topics more intriguing.

Why I Like Books About Social Justice by Alex, 8th Grade

I think that social justice books are the best to read for multiple reaasons. One big reason is that social justice is a very relevant topic that goes on daily, whether between a cop and an unarmed man or people of different races experiencing racial tension. I think that no matter what the situation is, it’s always interesting to see it unfold. After reading a book that deals with heavy teantion, I like to put myself in that persn’s shoes and think about how I would have handled the situation. Another reason why I believe that social justice books are interesting is because I have never had to deal with much oppression in my life which is why I think it is good to learn about other people that have dealt with oppression beacuse it makes me feel like I am not ignorant about the situations in our society. Just because I don’t deal with them, doesn’t mean I should know about them.

My top social justice books:

Ghost by Jason Renolds
I Am Alfonso Jones
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Yummy by G. Neri
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Why I Like K.A. Holt Books by Maya, 6th Grade

My first ever K.A. Holt book that I read was House Arrest, and ever since then, I have fallen in love with her writing. After I read House Arrest, I read Knockout, Redwood & Ponytail, and Rhyme Schemer. I love how her books are written like a verse of a poem because not many authors write the way she does and it captures emotions. I also love how in House Arrest she wrote the book over weeks to follow along. Also, I love that House Arrest, Knockout, and Redwood & Ponytail are in a series but you don’t have to read them in a certain order. Redwood & Ponytail was an amazing book to me; it has an important message which is never be afraid to show who you are no matter what others think. Thank you, K.A. Holt, for writing amazing books!

Reasons Why I Like Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Axel, 6th Grade

I like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series because it is fun to know how Greg lives his life and learn about him. It also includes comedy which makes me laugh time to time while reading it. Greg’s family is really funny and weird and sometimes do embarrassing things which is fun to read about. Greg and Rowley do funny things too–usually activities for their own purposes that always end up as a disaster because Greg tries to imagine how to make everything perfect for him and when he tries to make it perfect, something goes wrong. All of these are why I like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series. Oh! And every year a new book comes out, and so far each one I’ve read is great!

Book Stereotypes That Are NOT TRUE! by Cooper & Jacob, 6th Grade and Mrs. Moye

There are girl and boy books.
- This stereotype has lasted for many years and is still believed vy people. There is no such thing as a girl or a boy book.
Long books are boring
- Long books are not boring because a long book just has more action and fun in it.
Graphic novels are for children.
- Graphic novels are for everyone. They have life lessons and the images bring it all together.
Books are the same as movies.
- Movies have to cut things out because of time. To get the full story, you have to read the book.
Cool kids don’t read/Only nerds read.
- Smart people read.
Judge books by their cover.
- The cover isn’t even chosen by the author and sometimes covers are so misleading!
Non-fiction books are boring.
- Then you aren’t reading the right nonfiction books for you! Try a different kind.
“I don’t have time to read.”
- Yes you do. You aren’t making time to read. Just 20 minutes a day can impact your life in such a positive way!
Children’s books aren’t good.
- Any children’s book will prove this wrong because they have a huge impact on the reader.
Independent reading doesn’t help you learn anything./Books are a waste of money.
- Books can help the reader learn! Instead of playing and buying video games, buy books!

Thank you everyone for your great essays!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 7/22/19

July 22, 2019 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.

Tuesday: Student Voices!: Inspirational Female Characters by Vanessa, Angelina, Georgia, & Natalie

Friday: Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Celebration!: Space Book Roundup and Reaching for the Moon Giveaway
**Giveaway open until Thursday!**

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

Kellee

We are moving homes here in Orlando, so I am going to take off about 6 weeks to get my family moved and settled. I’ll be back early August.

Ricki

We went on vacation with relatives this week, and you bet we brought a huge stack of new books. Below, I share our favorites within the stack. 🙂

Both the kids and adults enjoyed Bug Off!: A Story of Fireflies and Friendship by Cari Best. One of the main characters within the book is very mean, and I loved watching the adults crinkle their noses as they read her mean comments. This is a great book to talk about bugs, friendship, and inclusion/exclusion.

Go For the Moon: A Rocket, A Boy, and the First Moon Landing by Chris Gall is a wonderful book that integrates narrative and nonfiction. The main character learns about the first moon landing as he builds his own rocketship at home. This is a great book for space lovers!

My family has a special place in our hearts for Sara Varon’s books. We were thrilled to see her new picture book called Hold Hands. We read this book a few dozen times this week, and it was a huge hit. My mom said it was her favorite of the bunch.

Horse Meets Dog by Elliott Kalan and Tim Miller is not a brand new book (it came out last year), but it slipped into our stack. This has been a great book to practice reading with my older son, and it is very funny!

James Yang, please do not stop writing these books. We LOVE Bus! Stop! and we also fell in love with Stop! Bot! These two books are among my favorite read-alouds. We have made many predictions about what he might write about next.

This book (The Great Gran Plan by Elli Woollard) was definitely one of my sons’ favorites of the week. Halfway through the week, we swapped out half of the books with a stack that I’d been saving in my car, and my middle son begged me to “keep the piggy book upstairs.” It is a very fun fractured fairytale.

We were lucky to receive a F&G of The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes, but the finished copy is even more beautiful. I love this book, and it has been great to discuss my oldest son’s imminent entrance to kindergarten. All week, my brother kept asking him if he’d be the “king of kindergarten.”

Ricki

I am not sure what the week brings. I’ve got a few audiobooks rolling that aren’t enticing me, and I am wondering if I should switch gears to different audiobooks. I am finding it tricky to balance two young kids, a newborn, work, and reading at the moment, so you might be seeing predominantly new YA texts for the next few weeks.

Tuesday: Student Voices!: Short Essays on Reading and Books by Luis, Star, Paola, Amy, Alex, Maya, Axel, Cooper, & Jacob

Friday: 5 Worlds: The Red Maze by Mark Siegel and Alexis Siegel

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

Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Celebration!: Space Book Roundup and Reaching for the Moon Giveaway

July 19, 2019 by Kellee

Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking Apollo 11 mission. To celebrate this momentous celebration, I am happy to share some fantastic space books! (And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!)

Reaching for the Moon: The Autobiography of NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson
Author: Katherine Johnson
Published July 2nd, 2019 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

The inspiring autobiography of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, who helped launch Apollo 11.

As a young girl, Katherine Johnson showed an exceptional aptitude for math. In school she quickly skipped ahead several grades and was soon studying complex equations with the support of a professor who saw great promise in her. But ability and opportunity did not always go hand in hand. As an African American and a girl growing up in an era of brutal racism and sexism, Katherine faced daily challenges. Still, she lived her life with her father’s words in mind: “You are no better than anyone else, and nobody else is better than you.”

In the early 1950s, Katherine was thrilled to join the organization that would become NASA. She worked on many of NASA’s biggest projects including the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first men on the moon.

Katherine Johnson’s story was made famous in the bestselling book and Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures. Now in Reaching for the Moon she tells her own story for the first time, in a lively autobiography that will inspire young readers everywhere.

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11
Author: Brian Floca
Originally Published April 9th, 2019 by Richard Jackson Books

Brian Floca explores Apollo 11’s famed moon landing with this newly expanded edition of Moonshot!

Simply told, grandly shown, and now with eight additional pages of brand-new art and more in-depth information about the historic moon landing, here is the flight of Apollo 11. Here for a new generation of readers and explorers are the steady astronauts clicking themselves into gloves and helmets, strapping themselves into sideways seats. Here are their great machines in all their detail and monumentality, the ROAR of rockets, and the silence of the Moon. Here is a story of adventure and discovery—a story of leaving and returning during the summer of 1969, and a story of home, seen whole, from far away.

Hidden Figures: Young Readers’ Edition
Author: Margot Lee Shetterly
Published November 29th, 2016 by HarperCollins

This edition of Margot Lee Shetterly’s acclaimed book is perfect for young readers. It is the powerful story of four African-American female mathematicians at NASA who helped achieve some of the greatest moments in our space program.

Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space.

This book brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, who lived through the Civil Rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality, and whose work forever changed the face of NASA and the country.

Moon’s First Friends: One Giant Leap for Friendship
Author: Susanna Leonard Hill
Illustrator: Elisa Paganelli
Published May 7th, 2019 by Sourcebook Jabberwocky

A heartwarming story of a friendship-seeking moon that also celebrates the extraordinary 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing!

From high up in the sky, the Moon has spent her whole life watching Earth and hoping for someone to visit. Dinosaurs roam, pyramids are built, and boats are made, but still no one comes. Will friends ever come visit her?

One day a spaceship soars from Earth…and so does her heart.

Includes bonus educational pages about the moon mission!

One Giant Leap: The Story of Neil Armstrong
Author: Don Brown
Published September 24th, 2001 by HMH Books for Young Readers

As a young boy, Neil Armstrong had a recurring dream in which he held his breath and floated high above the people, houses, and cars. He spent his free time reading stacks of flying magazines, building model airplanes, and staring through the homemade telescope mounted on the roof of his neighbor’s garage. As a teenager, Neil became obsessed with the idea of flight, working odd jobs to pay for flying lessons at a nearby airport. He earned his student pilot’s license on his sixteenth birthday. But who was to know that this shy boy, who also loved books and music, would become the first person to set foot on the moon, on July 20, 1969. Here is the inspiring story of one boy’s dream – a dream of flying that landed him more than 200,000 miles away in space, gazing upon the awesome sight of a tiny earth hanging suspended in a perfectly black sky. On the thirtieth anniversary of the moon landing, Don Brown’s expressive story reveals the achievement of this American legend, Neil Armstrong.

Previously Reviewed and Recommended:

Giveaway!

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**Thank you to Milena at Simon & Schuster for providing the books for giveaway!**

Student Voices!: Inspirational Female Characters by Vanessa, Angelina, Georgia, & Natalie

April 22, 2023July 16, 2019 by Kellee

The best way to learn what kids are thinking & feeling is by listening to them, so I am happy to share my students’ voices!

Strong Women Characters by Vanessa & Angelina, 8th and 7th Grade

Sophie Quire (from Sophie Quire) is strong even though her mother passed away. She stands up for what she believes in and adventures off to attempt to ave what she finds important.
Grace Blakely (from All Fall Down) is a brave girl who lost her mother at a young age. She stands up for what she believes is right even when nobody trusts her.
Maddie Manchester (from Not If I Save You First) is torn from her past, but she follows her beliefs and stands up for herself. She discovers the truth, stands up to assassins, and protect what’s important.
Linh Cinder (from Cinder) is living a normal life until she discovers new truths. Finding companions along the way, she attempts to fight evil and bring them to justice.
Agatha (from School for Good and Evil) overcomes her doubts and discovers her own dreams and beliefs.
Kestra Dallisor (from The Traitor’s Game) is a runaway princess who tries to escape her present and figure out her past. She protects those who are innocent and close to her.
Other favorites:
- Chaya Lindner (from Resistance)
- Cammie Morgan (from Gallagher Girls)
- Alex Bailey (from Land of Stories)
- Katarina Bishop (from Heist Society)

Most Inspirational Women in Books by Georgia & Natalie, 6th Grade

Cassie Sullivan (from The 5th Wave) spent the whole span of The Fifth Wave trying to protect her brother. Even in great sorrow and loss, she made the ultimate sacrifice so her brother could grow up in a safe world.
Mare (from The Red Queen) was put in a castle of danger where one wrong move could get her killed. She has to act like a princess to save her family while also being an advocate for a “red”volution.
Alyssa (from Dry) is the perfect big sister. She went through hell and back to protect her little brother and was prepared to do the unthinkable to keep her brother from suffering.
Cleo (from A Death-Struck Year) risked her life to help the sick. In the midst of an epidemic with no parents or family, 17 year old Cleo went houst to house saving people and risking her life.
SPOILERS!!!
Mallory (from Sword of Summer) sacrificed herself. During a war, a bus was dropping off more soldiers when Loki took control of her body and made her set a bomb on the bus. When she took control back of her body, she deactivated the bomb saving 72 people but died in the process.
SPOILERS!!!
Cinderpelt (from Warriors: The Fourth Apprentice) protects those around her. When every other cat is out of camp, a badger attacks the medicine den. Cinderpelt protects the kittens inside with the cost of her life.
Gerta (from A Night Divided) is a 12 year old from East Berlin who got caught between a rock and a hard place when in the middle of the night the Berlin wall was built up around her side of town. In order to protect her family, she faces betrayal, spies, and possibly death. All of this just to save her family.
Imogen (from The False Prince) seems like just a common servant but risks her life numerous times to protect someone she cares about.
Gina (from The Summer I Saved the World in 65 Days) is focused on doing helpful things around her neighborhood at night during the summer. She is spending her time trying to make others’ lives better.
Molly (from Castle Hangnail) is the only person that can save Castle Hangnail!

Thank you everyone for your great lists!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 7/15/19

July 15, 2019 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.

Tuesday: Student Voices!: Focus on Villains by Diego, Luis, Elsa, Kaley, Max, Mariana, & Daniela

Friday: National Geographic Kids: Little Kids First Big Book of Science by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Sunday: Blog Tour with Author Guest Post: “Creating Words and Pictures: How Authors and Illustrators Work Together” by Alison Donald and Ariel Landy, Creators of The Spacesuit: How a Seamstress Helped Put Man on the Moon

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

Kellee

We are moving homes here in Orlando, so I am going to take off about 6 weeks to get my family moved and settled. I’ll be back early August.

Ricki

I am also away this week! I have many extended relatives in town. I hope you all had a great reading week!

Tuesday: Student Voices!: Inspirational Female Characters by Vanessa, Angelina, Georgia, & Natalie

Friday: Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Celebration!: Space Book Roundup and Reaching for the Moon Giveaway

and

Blog Tour with Author Guest Post: “Creating Words and Pictures: How Authors and Illustrators Work Together” by Alison Donald and Ariel Landy, Creators of The Spacesuit: How a Seamstress Helped Put Man on the Moon

July 14, 2019 by Kellee

“Creating Words and Pictures for The Spacesuit – How Authors and Illustrators Work Together”

Alison Donald: Just like the Apollo program, a book is a product of a collaboration of a team. I’ve always wished I could draw. I can see parts of my story unfold vividly in my head. But I don’t have the necessary skills or talent to actually draw what I want to the quality that I want.

Thank goodness for illustrators. Illustrators can read a text and bring it to life. I was lucky to have Ariel Landy illustrate my latest book: ‘The Spacesuit – How a Seamstress Helped put Man on the moon”. But, do we actually work together? The answer is yes, but indirectly though illustration notes.

Illustration notes:

When I submitted ‘Spacesuit’ to my publisher Maverick Arts, I included a few illustration notes. I really wanted a 1960’s feel to book. I also wanted it to be fashionable. Afterall, it’s about seamstresses who were fashioning one of the most important garments in world history!

I identified when sewing machines and spacesuits needed to be in the text and I asked for the seamstresses to be crowded around the tv watching Neil Armstrong on the moon (spoiler alert! Sorry!).

I researched the A7L spacesuit and provided diagrams. I also provided photographs of the actual seamstresses at the factory of Playtex / ILC dover for reference.

Then, I sat back while Kim, my fabulous editor / designer found an illustrator.

It’s an exciting day when a sample spread arrives in my inbox. Here was Ariel’s sample spread for the Spacesuit:

Just perfect!

The editor:

Editors / designers have a much better sense of layout, how much text should be on a page, and they know more about colour palettes than I do. Kim worked with Ariel and then shared Ariel’s sketches with me.

I acted as another pair of eyes to make sure the pictures were factually correct.

It’s a just right fit when authors can weigh in on visual details that are relevant to the story (thanks Kim!).

Otherwise, it’s nice to leave it to the illustrator to create her own magic.

And as you can see, Ariel certainly did!

Ariel Landy: Happily, for me, by the time I got the story so much research for The Spacesuit had already been done, both by Alison and the editing team at Maverick. When I read the story for the first time, I had a briefing from our editors complete with photographs of Ellie and the talented ladies who actually worked on the spacesuit in various stages. I relied heavily on these primary sources to draw many elements of the story such as the pink factory coat that Ellie wears while working on a small sewing machine, and ‘Sweet Sue’ and ‘Big Moe’, the giant sewing machines brought in to help the seamstresses sew the many, many layers of the spacesuit! Also, fortunately for me, I had fact-checkers at Maverick to catch some of my anachronisms, such as coloring in the TV screen that shows the moon landing, when it likely would have been in black and white.

Of course, the internet is the ultimate research tool! There were so many accessible photos of the spacesuit at my fingertips, both on its own and adorning the astronauts. I was also fortunate to see the documentary Apollo 11, which happened to have a limited run in New York City just as I was working on the coloring stage of the illustrations. The film is all real color footage from the launching of the rocket that brought the brave astronauts to the moon. It was chock full of real spectators sporting the most wonderful 60s clothing and hairstyles. After seeing it I couldn’t wait to go back and tweak my characters!

I feel really lucky to have had such a great writing and editing team collaborating at different stages to make such a special book! Thanks team!

The Spacesuit: How a Seamstress Helped Put Man on the Moon
Author: Alison Donald
Illustrator: Ariel Landy
Published June 18th, 2019 by Maverick Arts

About the Book:There is a competition to make the spacesuit for the first moon landing! Ellie, an ordinary woman, is asked to lead a team of other talented seamstresses. No one believes they can win, but they are determined to try.

Based on the incredible true story behind the spacesuit that astronauts wore on the first moon walk and the team of women who sewed it together.

Don’t miss the other Blog Tour stops!

Monday, July 15th: Publisher Spotlight Blog
http://www.publisherspotlight.com/blog/

Tuesday, July 16th: YA Books Central
https://www.yabookscentral.com/

Wednesday, July 17th: Randomly Reading
https://randomlyreading.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much for this guest post about this incredible true story!

National Geographic Kids: Little Kids First Big Book of Science by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

October 27, 2019July 12, 2019 by Kellee

National Geographic Kids: Little Kids First Big Book of Science
Author: Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Published April 4th, 2019 by National Geographic Kids

Summary: What is science? What do scientists do? This lively reference book answers these questions and many more, all while introducing kids to the amazing things that scientists study: animals and plants, oceans and space, earthquakes and volcanoes, sound and light, inventions, and more!

Make sure kids’ first experience of the wonders of science is a thrilling eye-opener with this fun reference book. Fun activities, games, and simple experiments encourage interactive learning, showing kids that anyone can use scientific observation and experimentation to be a scientist and discover new things. With bright images and age-appropriate text, this book inspires kids to be curious, ask questions, and explore the world around them. And, maybe even grow up to be a scientist one day, too! Topics touched on include astronomy, botany, paleontology, malacology (that’s the science of clams, snails, and other animals with shells!), zoology, and more.

Inside you’ll find:

More than 200 incredible photos
Age-appropriate explanations of the things that scientists wonder about and learn
Questions and activities in each chapter that encourage interactive learning
Simple text for reading aloud or for beginning readers, and fun facts on every page
Parent tips that extend the experience beyond the book

About the Author: Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld was a children’s book editor for more than 10 years before becoming a full-time writer. She has published more than 60 books for children, most about animals and natural history.

Other National Geographic Kids Little Kids First Big Books:

Review: National Geographic Kids books are such amazing resources for kids and adults! I just love reading through the books because I always learn something, too, and the images are beautiful. And as a mom, I love reading it with Trent because he adores science and the books are such an inquisitive conversation starter. As a teacher, I can see so many ways that this book could be used in an elementary classroom. It is just a perfect triad!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: The book is made to be used with children when discussing science. There are a plethora of ways to use it! The book speaks for itself:

Additionally, the parent resources in the back are amazing for home and classroom! Here are some examples of the hands-on science discussions/activities for adults to do with kids in the “Parent Tips” section (just a summary):

Egg, Plus Heat (Chemistry): Looks at how heat changes the egg.
Moon Shapes (Astronomy): Lunar calendar
House of Blocks (Engineering): Make the most stable structures.

Discussion Questions: