Unleashing Readers

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 2/6/17

February 6, 2017 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.

Last Week’s Posts

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

Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books that were Honored at the ALA Youth Media Awards

Wednesday: National Geographic’s The Book of Heroines and The Book of Heroes

Thursday: Paper Animals from Kane Miller Books

Friday: Ellie Ultra: An Extra-Ordinary Girl by Gina Bellisario

Sunday: Author Guest Post: Imagination by A.H. Richardson, Author of Jorie and the Magic Stones

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee

Well . . . I didn’t finish anything this week. But I’m reading a few different books at once–see below 🙂

Ricki

Oh, darn. It’s happened. Kellee’s and my bad reading weeks have aligned. I apologize that I didn’t stop by everyone’s blogs on Monday. We had a family emergency this week, and it has taken up a good portion of my week. Thanks for understanding!

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee

I have only 3 of our state list books left, so I hope to finish them by the end of February or mid-March. The Luck Uglies is an interesting fantasy novel though it is taking me a bit to get into it. Right now, something crazy happened, so I assume I’ll finish soon!

I don’t know much about settling of the West, so I look forward to going on Jane’s adventures with her.

Ricki

This week, I started Pose, Wobble, Flow by Antero Garcia and Cindy O’Donnell-Allen. It is really, really good. I highly recommend this book, particularly for teacher education. The concept is spot on, and it has invigorated me!

Upcoming Week’s Posts

Tuesday: Books to Deepen Our Understanding of the Countries on the #MuslimBan List

Wednesday: Sea Otter Heroes by Patricia Newman

Thursday: Ghost by Jason Reynolds

Friday: An Alphabet in Bloom by Nathalie Trovato

Sunday: Author Guest Post

So, what are you reading?

Link up below and go check out what everyone else is reading. Please support other bloggers by viewing and commenting on at least 3 other blogs. If you tweet about your Monday post, tag the tweet with #IMWAYR!

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Author Guest Post: “Imagination” by A.H. Richardson, Author of Jorie and the Magic Stones

April 1, 2017February 5, 2017 by Kellee

“Imagination”

Perhaps the greatest tangible gift that we can give to a child comes in the form of a book. Let us consider, for a moment, the wonderful mind of a child, bearing in mind also that the attention span for many youngsters is short-lived. How do we keep their young minds involved right from the get-go? How do we keep them from staring out of the window momentarily distracted by a cute puppy, an ice-cream vendor’s ringing bell or a friend they have seen passing by?

How do we do this? We fire up the magical imagination, for imagination by its very nature is a sort of magic. Someone once said, and I’ll paraphrase here, that imagination is more important than knowledge… it may have been Einstein — rest assured it was a very smart cookie! My personal belief is that many good things stem from, what Henry the Fifth referred to as ‘imaginary forces.’

I wrote the first Jorie story, Jorie and the Magic Stones because it had frolicked and played around in my head for a long time, and I just had to put it down into the pages of a book. Being an ‘only child’ or ‘fille unique’, as the French would say, I think I understood Jorie feeling so alone, and her subsequent reaching out to her best friend Rufus, a young boy, also very much alone. Further, the appeal of enchanted cities below a deep body of water, had always intrigued me since I was a young child.

I believe this story, the first in the trilogy, teaches children about those noble attributes of friendship, courage, loyalty, and standing up for what you believe in, in a unique and exciting way. In spite of all their hair-raising adventures, and somewhat scary exploits, Jorie and Rufus come to realize that good will always vanquish evil… it is the stronger of the two in the final analysis, and these two extraordinary children still manage to separate their ‘magical world’ beneath the Tarn, from the world of reality, with their grandfather and great aunt in the world above the Tarn. Perhaps this book will fire up our children, and create more desire to read… creating more understanding, and more learning. This is the author’s profound wish… and hope.

About the Book: Jorie and the Magic Stones is the first book in a new chapter book series by A. H. Richardson. Children everywhere will love this adventurous fantasy of Jorie and Rufus, two orphans from very different walks of life, who meet by chance, find a mystic book with four magical Druidic words that provide the key to an astonishing adventure that will plunge them, quite (literally) into another world beneath the dark waters of the Tarn.

When Marjorie went to live with her frosty maiden aunt, she couldn’t imagine the adventures she would have with dragons — good and bad — and all the strange creatures that live in a mysterious land beneath the Tarn. The spunky 9-year-old redhead forges an unlikely friendship with an insecure young boy named Rufus who lives with his crusty grandfather next door. When Jorie — for that is what she prefers to be called — finds a dusty ancient book about dragons, she learns four strange words that will send the two of them into a mysterious land beneath the Tarn, riddled with enchantment and danger. Hungry for adventure, the children take the plunge, quite literally, and find themselves in the magic land of Cabrynthius.

Upon meeting the good dragon, the Great Grootmonya, Jorie and Rufus are given a quest to find the three Stones of Maalog — stones of enormous power — and return them to their rightful place in Cabrynthius. Their mission is neither easy nor safe, and is peppered with perils in the form of the evil black half-dragon who rules the shadowy side of the land. They have to deal with a wicked and greedy professor, the tragic daughter of the bad dragon, caves of fire, rocky mountainous climbs, and a deadly poisonous butterfly.

Jorie must rely on her wits and courage to win the day? Can she do this? Can she find all three Stones? Can she save Rufus when disaster befalls him? Can she emerge victorious? She and Rufus have some hair-raising challenges, in which they learn valuable lessons about loyalty, bravery, and friendship.

About the Author: A.H. Richardson was born in London England and is the daughter of famous pianist and composer Clive Richardson. She studied drama and acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She was an actress, a musician, a painter and sculptor, and now an author.

She published her first book, Jorie and the Magic Stones, in December 2014, and has written a sequel to it titled Jorie and the Gold Key at the request of those who loved the first ‘Jorie’ story. She is currently working on the third book in the series.

She is also the author of Murder in Little Shendon, a thriller murder mystery which takes place in a quaint little village in England after World War Two, and introduces two sleuths, Sir Victor Hazlitt and his sidekick, Beresford Brandon, a noted Shakespearian actor. She has more ‘who-dun-its’ planned for this clever and interesting duo… watch for them!

A.H. Richardson lives happily in East Tennessee, her adopted state, and has three sons, three grandchildren, and two pugs. She speaks four languages and loves to do voiceovers. She plans on writing many more books and hopes to delight her readers further with her British twist, which all her books have.

To learn more, go to https://ahrichardson.com/

Thank you for reminding us about the importance of imagination!

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Ellie Ultra: An Extra-Ordinary Girl by Gina Bellisario

March 13, 2017February 3, 2017 by Kellee

Ellie Ultra: An Extra-Ordinary Girl
Author: Gina Bellisario
Illustrator: Jessika von Innerebner
Published September 1st, 2016 by Stone Arch Books

Summary: Ellie is super excited for first day at Winkopolis Elementary School. After spending her whole life being homeschooled by super-genius inventor parents, she can’t wait to hang out with normal kids and learn normal things. But Ellie soon learns that her super powers make her stand out in a not-so-super way. Can she save the world and fit in with her new friends? Or is blending in the one thing this superhero can’t do?

Review: What a fun new early chapter book! I am so happy to see that group of books expanding to include so many diverse types of stories, diverse genres, and diverse characters. Ellie Ultra is just one of a few early readers with POC as protagonists that I’ve read recently (Juana & Medina and Bea Garcia are the others). And, especially right now, it is so important to have a diverse selection of characters for readers to relate to! Ellie is also different because it is sci-fi! It is a wonderful intro to the world of superheroes mixed with the widely understood topic of starting new things. This, and its sequels!, are going to be a book that many young readers are going to enjoy!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Ellie Ultra is going to be a wonderful addition to any early ed classroom library and as a read aloud. The after back matter of Ellie Ultra has a glossary, discussion questions, and writing activities for the classroom (more below).

Teacher and library section on Gina Bellisario’s website: http://www.ginabellisario.com/for-teachers-and-librarians.html

Discussion Questions: When was a time you had to do something new that you were worried about? What did you do to overcome your worry?; When was a time that something didn’t go as well as you’d hope? How did it turn out?

Two examples from the back matter:

-Ellie’s superhero cape is super special to her–she had to wait months to get it. Talk about an object that is special to you, What makes it so important?

-Ellie is worried that she wont fit in at her new school because her superpowers make her different, but our differences are what make us unique! Write a paragraph about what makes you special and unique.

Flagged Passages: “She [Ellie] had been counting the minutes until she could attend Winkopolis Elementary School for as long as she could remember. But first, she’d had some important things to learn at home, with her parents as her teachers.

In kindergarten, they’d taught her death-ray safety. In first grade, she’d learn how to stump an evil mastermind. And in second grade? That year they’d quizzed her on every super-villain in Winkopolis. Naming their weaknesses counted for extra credit.

It hadn’t been ordinary school, but Ellie’s parents weren’t exactly ordinary. They were super-genius scientists who worked for a special group called B.R.A.I.N. Ellie wasn’t sure what B.R.A.I.N. stood for–only the actual members knew that–but she knew the group squashed super-villains, just like she did. After all, Ellie was a superhero!” (p. 10-11)

Read This If You Love: Superheroes, Princess in Black series by Shannon Hale, Lola series by Christine Pakkala

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Gina for providing a copy for review!**

Paper Animals by Kane Miller Books

February 2, 2017 by Ricki

Paper Animals
Published: December 5, 2016 by Kane Miller Books

Goodreads Summary: In this book there are 14 different animals, with step-by-step instructions and different levels of difficulty, which will help you become an origami expert. Once you have all the animals ready, fold the giant boat at the end of the book and take all the passengers on board! Included are thirty pages of patterned paper, with printed fold lines. Develops hand eye co-ordination. Learn a form of communication without language. Focuses patience and increases self-esteem. Well-suited to a classroom of 30 or more students. Creates and manipulates basic geometric shapes such as squares, rectangles, and triangles. Reflects the ingenuity and aesthetics of Japanese culture; children gain appreciation of a different culture, opening a doorway to exploration and increased tolerance. Learn the ancient art of origami! In this book there are 14 different animals, with step-by-step instructions and different levels of difficulty.

My Review: I have always enjoyed origami, so this book made me feel a bit nostalgic. The first half of the book features pictures of the finished products and directions. The second half of the book includes origami paper that is tailored to each of the animals in the front of the book. So, for example, there is a lion instruction page in the first half of the book, and there is a page of lion origami paper at the end of the book that includes dotted lines for folds and a lion face! My three-year-old is absolutely obsessed with this book. We do one paper animal per day, and we put the animal inside of the giant book (included in the back of the book). He is too young to do the folding himself, but he cheers me on as I fold the paper. I would recommend this book to upper elementary schoolers through adults. Even as an adult, I found some of the paper animals to be very tricky.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: In high school, we were required to give a speech that included very specific instructions for participants. I made an origami crane and my peers followed my instructions at their seats. It would be fun to use this as a model for the speech activity. As an alternative, students might create their own origami animal with instructions! This would be hard to do, but it would be great fun!

Discussion Questions: What aspects are important when we give instructions? How did the authors of this book make the instructions easier to follow?; Which animals proved more difficult to make, and why?

Flagged Spread:

Read This If You Loved: Activity Books; Origami

Recommended For:

The Book of Heroines: Tales of History’s Gutsiest Gals & The Book of Heroes: Tales of History’s Most Daring Dudes from National Geographic Kids

February 12, 2017February 1, 2017 by Kellee

Nonfiction Wednesday

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

The Book of Heroines: Tales of History’s Gutsiest Gals
Author: Stephanie Warren Drimmer
Published November 8th, 2016 by National Geographic Children’s Books

The Book of Heroes: Tales of History’s Most Daring Guys
Author: Cristpin Boyer
Published November 8th, 2016 by National Geographic Children’s Books

The Book of Heroines Summary: Everybody needs a role model! Discover true stories of superstars, war heroes, world leaders, gusty gals, and everyday girls who changed the world.

From Sacagawea to Mother Teresa, Annie Oakley to Malala Yousafzai, these famous females hiked up their pants and petticoats or charged full-speed ahead to prove that girls are just as tough as boys…maybe even tougher. Complete with amazing images and a fun design, this is the book that every kid with a goal, hope, or dream will want to own.

The Book of Heroes Summary: Everybody needs a role model! Discover the true stories of superheroes, rebels, world leaders, action heroes, sports legends, and many more daring dudes, all of whom played their part to make their mark, make a contribution, and make the world a better place.

From Abraham Lincoln to Sitting Bull, Stephen Hawking to Galileo, these cool guys had the boldness, bravery, and brains to meet the challenges of their day. With a fun design, engaging text, and high-quality photographs, this is ultimate hero guide and keepsake for 21st century kids .

Review: As I’ve stated over and over, I am so impressed with all the new National Geographic Kids books that I have encountered over the last couple of years. With this text, I specifically found the way that the publisher/authors structure the texts makes them so thematic-based thus accessible and informative. The books also have something for everyone as so many different types of heroines/heroes are featured from scientists, historical heroes, political heroes, and more! I cannot wait to put these in my classroom and find out how to use them with students!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Teachers will find this book irreplaceable! It has so much information to fit into so many different units, connect with so many different texts, and relates to so many parts of history. These texts could also be used as the basis of a inquiry project where students use these texts as previews and they choose a theme or a hero/heroine and complete a research/inquiry project around it or maybe even create a text set around the theme or the person.

Discussion Questions: Which heroine/hero do you think changed history the most?; If you were to take part in an inquiry project about one hero/heroine, who would you like to learn more about?; Why did the author/publisher choose to structure the text in the way they did? What other structures could they have chosen? Which do you feel would have had a bigger impact?

Flagged Passages:

Read This If You Love: Biographies, History, Women’s Rights, Science, Animals, Mythology

Recommended For:

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

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books that Were Honored in the ALA Awards

January 31, 2017 by Kellee

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.

Today’s Topic: Ten Favorite Books that Were Honored in the ALA Awards

Ricki

1. They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel

Caldecott Honor

I absolutely love this book. I just recently shared it with my students, so we cheered when it was honored.

2. The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Printz Honor

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award

This is a beautiful book that is meant to be shared.

3. Ghost by Jason Reynolds (Narrated by Guy Lockard)

Odyssey Honor

I read this book on paper, so I was excited to hear that it won the Odyssey Award. I am excited to listen to it!

4. The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

Morris Award

YES! I am halfway through this audiobook, and I am so excited that it won!

5. The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

Morris Honor

This is one of the books I am reading right now, too! I am only a quarter of the way into it, and I can absolutely see why it was honored. It’s incredibly well-written.

Kellee

Like Ricki, I read Ghost by Jason Reynolds, loved it, and it was my #1 pick for the Newbery, so I was excited to see it honored at the awards.

1. Juana & Lucas by Juana Medina

Pura Belpré Author Award

Juana’s story is a perfect, funny, and sweet book about a young girl who has to learn that working hard to learn or be able to do something new is worth the work. This theme will definitely resonate with so many readers!

2. Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

Newbery Honor

This is a beautiful book that reminded me a bit of To Kill a Mockingbird and definitely earned the honor it received.

3. Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe

Caldecott Medal

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award

I loved this book so much when I read it that I made sure to share it with my dad in hopes that his art museum would put it in their gift shop. I feel like it beautifully celebrates art and creativity. (And it reminds me that I need to read Life Doesn’t Frighten Me by Maya Angelou and illustrated by Basquiat more often.)

4. Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Caldecott Honor

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Honor

I found this book to be touching and beautiful and sad. Books about slavery always make me so ashamed of our past, so they are hard to read yet so important. I think Weatherford’s story really captures the brutal conditions of slavery in the South but also the freedom that was felt on the one free day in Louisiana

5. Giant Squid by Candace Fleming, Illustrated by Eric Rohmann

Sibert Honor

I’m so glad I read Giant Squid when I was cramming for the Sibert right before the awards. I am always impressed by Fleming’s ability to entrance the reader and submerge them in the facts she is sharing.

Honorable Mention. Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (narrated by Rebecca Soler)

Odyssey Honor

I loved this graphic novel so much for its humor and epicness, but I am so interested in seeing how it was put together as an audiobook.

Which books did you love that were honored?

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 1/30/17

January 30, 2017 by Kellee

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

We encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

Last Week’s Posts

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

Tuesday: 2017 New Year’s Book Resolution

Wednesday: Kellee’s Mock Newbery Experience

Thursday: Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanakia

Friday: Blog Tour with Review and Teaching Guide!: Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson

Sunday: Author Guest Post: “Survival Stories for Tweens and Teens” by Yvonne Ventresca, author of Pandemic and Black Flowers, White Lies

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee

Now that the ALA Youth Media Awards have been announced, (CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners! We’ll celebrate our favorites tomorrow. The awards always make me so happy for the books I have read and love; makes me want to read a million more books; and makes me sad for those that weren’t honored.) I am now working on finishing the Sunshine State Young Reader Award nominees. This week, I read Nickel Bay Nick by Dean Pitchford which i son the list. I can see why my students like the book–it is an interesting look at motives, happiness, and personality.

I also finished Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson, and it is the PERFECT finale to the Seeds of America series. Isabel and Curzon went through so much, and it was an honor being part of their journey. And yes, this one made me cry.

Ricki

$math curse$

This week, I asked my preservice elementary education students to bring in their favorite picture books. We took thirty minutes to read and enjoy each other’s books. It was a marvelous time! During their breaks, I continued to read their favorite books, and I was struck by how varied and different our tastes can be. I enjoyed them all for different reasons.

Math Curse by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, I Will Take a Nap! by Mo Willems, A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead, All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan, Henry’s Important Date by Robert Quackenbush, The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield, A Penquin Pup for Pinkerton by Steven Kellogg, The Dark by Lemony Snicket, Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen, and Imaginary Fred by Eoin Colfer and Oliver Jeffers

Out of all of the books, if I had to pick a favorite, I really enjoyed A Sick Day for Amos McGee. It hit me in the gut, and it moved me to tears. I also thought The Dark would be a great book to talk about fear and Imaginary Fred does a wonderful job in its portrayal of our imaginations. I will certainly be gifting Math Curse to a few friends, too. The Bear and the Piano reminded me that we can never forget our roots, and All the Places to Love was brimming with beautiful paintings and love. Guji Guji is a silly but important story of identity. Not all of these books are new, but they all touch my students in some way. Sharing this experience with them brought us together as a group.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee

I am currently reading another SSYRA nominee: Turn Left at the Cow by Lisa Bullard. I really hope to finish the nominees soon! I do have some review books to read but they are for late February and March, so I am trying to finish the SSYRAs before starting them 🙂

Ricki

I hope to finish this book this week. It has been a great text to learn from. Fiction has pulled me away a few times, and I look forward to getting back to this text!

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday

Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books that were Honored at the ALA Youth Media Awards

Wednesday: National Geographic’s The Book of Heroines and The Book of Heroes

Thursday: Paper Animals from Kane Miller Books

Friday: Ellie Ultra: An Extra-Ordinary Girl by Gina Bellisario

Sunday: Author Guest Post

So, what are you reading?

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