Unleashing Readers

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/17/14

June 26, 2018March 17, 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

Top Ten Tuesday Topic: Our favorite books in different genres
Thursday: We’d Love Your Opinion

Congratulations to

MEGAN F.

for winning a copy of Weeds Find a Way

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

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: Our picture book #bookaday is going so well! We’ve read 25 picture books in 24 days of his life. I hope this helps build a strong lifetime of book love. This week we read:

Bert and Ernie’s First Book of Opposites by Heather Au (I loved introducing Trent to some of my favorite Sesame Street characters. I CANNOT wait to start watching the show with him.)
Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae (I love Tacky the Penguin because of its message about being happy with who you are, and Giraffes Can’t Dance gives a similar message that makes me automatically love it.)
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen (Watching my sister read this for the first time to Trent was PRICELESS! What a joy to see someone find the amazingness of Hat Back.)
Press Here by Herve Tullet (Ever since I read this book, I have wanted to read it with a kid. Watching my sister read this with Trent was so much fun, and I know he will love it when he is older.)
If I Were A Penguin… by Anne Wilkinson (Cute book about penguins that I read to Trent while he was wearing a penguin outfit.)
Trucks: Baby Touch and Feel by DK Publishing & Animals: Baby Touch and Feel by DK Publishing (Both very simple books introducing baby animals and trucks, but they have some great opportunities for tacticle exploration.)

I’ve also continued working on The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider and I am really enjoying it. The reading is going slower than it went before Trent, but I did find time to read 2 days this week. I hope to finish it ASAP.

Ricki: First of all, thank you all for sharing your interests with us last week. If anyone else would like to give suggestions for our blog, please visit this link. This week, I read a picture book to Henry: Here Comes Grandma by Janet Lord (in preparation for his grandma’s visit) I absolutely love this Little House picture book series. I am not so sure if Henry will like them when he is old enough to understand them, so I am going to read the whole series beforehand, just in case! I also finished Ideology and Curriculum by Michael Apple. It is one of those PD books that is very important but quite boring. Apple is very articulate and has a lot to say, but the text is highly political, and it felt like it took me forever to finish it.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: Our picture book #bookaday is going to continue. This week I plan on reading some rocker books to Trent that was given to me by my friend Jill as well as some Dr. Seuss. I hope to finish The Beginning of Everything and then start Bruised by Sarah Skilton.

Ricki: Henry and I started The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis tonight. I have never read it, and his uncle saw this on one of my blog posts, and he sent us a copy! We started it tonight, but Henry fell asleep when Lucy was in the wardrobe, so I thought it might be best to wait until he is awake to continue. 🙂 I am also starting Life in Schools by Peter McLaren. He, supposedly, has a sociocultural view of schools, so I am interested to learn more about what he has to say. I am sure we will also dive into a few more picture books this week. We picked up some of the books that a few of you recommended, so I am excited to read them. I will be honest—our library is modest, so many of the books on my list of blogger recommendations aren’t in the library!

Upcoming Week’s Posts

Top Ten Tuesday: Books On Our Spring TBR Lists

So, what are you reading?

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

and

The Adventures of Arnie the Doughnut: Bowling Alley Bandit by Laurie Keller

March 14, 2014March 14, 2014 by Kellee

Bowling Alley Bandit
Author and Illustrator: Laurie Keller
Published June 4th, 2013 by Henry Holt and Co.

Goodreads Summary: As Mr. Bing’s new pet “doughnut dog,” Arnie couldn’t be happier. When Mr. Bing joins a bowling league, Arnie gets to go along to practices and competitions. But then Mr. Bing starts rolling gutter balls. Someone or something is behind the madness. Arnie, together with his team of goofball friends, must sort through the shenanigans and solve the mystery. Get ready for some sleuthing and even some magic.

Full of Laurie Keller’s winning charm and silly humor, this chapter book—the first in the series—is sure to please her many fans.

My Review and Teacher’s Tools For Navigation: This book is going to be loved by kids. It is hilarious and is one rung below Big Nate on the humor, illustrated novel ladder. It is a great book to help readers get from early readers to middle grade illustrated novels. In the classroom, it would be a great book to use to practice prediction as the reader is given clues throughout the book to figure out who the bowling alley bandit is. Also, as a teacher, I personally loved all of the wit, puns, and funny similes in the book! These would be great to read with kids.

Discussion Questions: What other doughnut songs could Arnie sing at karaoke? Think of famous songs and tweak their title or lyrics to make them about doughnuts.

We Flagged: “But of all the great things about the bowling alley, my favorite is that there’s a restaurant inside called the Bowl-o’-Chow and they have a KARAOKE MACHINE! I usually watch Mr. Bing bowl for a while, and then I wander over to the Bowl-o’-Chow to sing a few songs. I was scared to try it at first, but now I’m a regular.

Here are a few of my old standbys:
Living’ la vi-DOUGH loca!
You ain’t nothin’ but a DOUGHNUT-DOG cryin’ all the time.
Fried in the U.S.A.!

And I always end with my signature song:
DOUGHNUT make my brown eyes blue.”

Book Trailer:

Read This If You Loved: Big Nate series by Lincoln Peirce, Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey, Frankie Pickle series by Eric Wight

Recommended For:

We’d Love to Hear Your Interests!

March 13, 2014 by Ricki

We want to cater our blog to our readers’ interests. We would love to hear your preferences! If you have a minute, could you please visit the link below? We would really appreciate your help!

Feedback Form

Thank you!

The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny) by Kathleen Krull & Paul Brewer

March 14, 2014March 12, 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!

The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny)
Authors: Kathleen Krull & Paul Brewer
Illustrator: Stacy Innerst
Published March 19th, 2013 by HMH Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Summary: Q: How do you find all this business of having screaming girls following you all over the place?
George: Well, we feel flattered . . .
John: . . . and flattened.
When the Beatles burst onto the music scene in the early 1960s, they were just four unknown lads from Liverpool. But soon their off-the-charts talent and offbeat humor made them the most famous band on both sides of the Atlantic. Lively, informative text and expressive, quirky paintings chronicle the phenomenal rise of Beatlemania, showing how the Fab Four’s sense of humor helped the lads weather everything that was thrown their way—including jelly beans.

My Review and Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: I love The Beatles. There has never been anyone like them and that is what this book is about. It is about their popularity, their brilliance, and their humor. I liked how although the book is nonfiction and a biography of the Fab Four, it was about more than that. It was about how they changed over time and how they changed us over time. It was also quite funny to read some of their interviews and see how they dealt with the fame that enveloped them so quickly. All with illustrations that were a bit zany and like caricatures, but were so well done. This picture book is definitely an excellent introduction to The Beatles for our 21st century kids.

Discussion Questions: How did The Beatles deal with all of the fame when they first became famous? How did their reaction to the fame change over time?; How did their favorite candy cause them trouble in the end?; Which Beatle do you think was the funniest?

We Flagged: “From the time they got together as lads until they became superstars, the Fab Four made music, made history, and made people laugh.”

Read This If You Loved: When Bob Met Woody by Gary Colio, John’s Secret Dreams by Doreen Rappaport, The Beatles by Jeremy Roberts

Recommended For:

Top Ten Tuesday: Our All-Time Favorites by Genre

July 27, 2015March 11, 2014 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: Top Ten Favorites in ____ Genre

Instead of picking one genre, we decided to share our favorites in 5 different genres.

Ricki

Realistic/Contemporary Fiction

I just want to give a shout-out to To Kill a Mockingbird and Endangered. I am not a cheater who posts more than one book cover like Kellee (Love you, Kel.)!

Fantasy

I love, love, love this book (as you might know, if you follow this blog).

Science Fiction

Every time I read this book, I remember how much I absolutely love it.

Historical Fiction

This is my favorite genre, so this was a toughie. This book takes the cake because it taught me a lot about a time and place I thought I knew so much about…and it made me cry.

Nonfiction

I picked Tree Girl because it is such a phenomenal book to teach. My students absolutely love it, and I think it teaches incredible lessons about strength and resilience.

Kellee

These are my favorites as of the minute I did this post. Some where very hard to choose, so if you ask me at a different time, I may say something else. However, these are all definitely amazing books.

Realistic/Contemporary Fiction

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I know I cheated a bit, but I just cannot choose! Hurt Go Happy affected me in a major way, so much so that I share it with as many people as I can, and I may not have loved Endangered with out it; however, I had to choose Endangered because it is just such an important book. (Wait until you read Threatened too!) I also almost chose Walk Two Moons, Shine, something by John Green, or A Long Walk to Water.

Fantasy

I went with The BFG because it was my favorite book when I was younger and I am feeling nostalgic today. I almost chose Harry Potter, Lightning Thief, or Graceling.

Science Fiction

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Been my favorite book since 1993. Perfection in my mind. The only title I could have chosen even though I love many other science fiction titles.

Historical Fiction

This book left a huge impact on me when I read it and has been a favorite for years. I almost chose Between Shades of Gray or The Watch That Ends the Night–both also amazing books.

Nonfiction

Smile is just so engaging and I love how much my students love it as well. This genre was tough too! I almost went with An American Plague, Me…Jane, Faithful Elephants, or On a Beam of Light.

What are your favorites?

and

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/10/14

July 27, 2015March 10, 2014 by Kellee

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

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

Last Week’s Posts

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

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: This week, Trent and I continued our #bookaday reading and I am really enjoying it (I need to really set aside some time to write some posts about these great books we are reading). This week we read:

Rainbow Rob by Roger Priddy (What a fun rhyming book about animals, colors, identity, and feels.)
Do Cows Meow? by Salina Yoon (Another fun animal book–this one with flaps! The rhyming really makes books so much more fun to read aloud.)
Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers (This is a new favorite of mine. Oliver Jeffers’s illustrations are haunting yet beautiful and the story was just perfect. This one is definitely one we’ll reread.)
Daddy Kisses by Anne Gutman (Jim read this one to Trent. It is all about kids and their dads. Very sweet.)
How Do Dinosuars Count to Ten? by Jane Yolen (I had to read a Yolen Dinosaur book after hearing so much about them from Ricki, and they didn’t disappoint. I love how it mixes dinosaurs, math, reading, and humor.)
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. (This classic is so much fun to sing.)
Never Too Little To Love by Jeanne Willis (I reviewed this book on Valentine’s Day and had to read it to Trent because it is just so sweet. He’ll love the flaps and the story when he gets older.)

Ricki: This week, Henry, Dad, and I read Easy as Pie by Cari Best, which was a cute cooking store. I love cooking, and I love pie, so this was a great one! It teaches some nice lessons to kids (including cleaning the kitchen!). I also read Robert McCloskey’s One Morning in Maine. I didn’t like this one as much as the others I read, but it was a good story to read to a child with a loose tooth. We read There’s a Wocket in my Pocket by Dr. Seuss. Oh, this one was quite fun! All of the other children’s books we read to Henry were repeats. We need to go back to the library!

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: Week three with Trent will consist of more picture book #bookaday with him. It is always fun to look through his books and decide what we are going to read that day–he already has such a wonderful library, but there is always more I want to get! I am going to try and read some of my novel this week (though I am not sure where I am going to fit it in yet). Before I had him I was reading The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider and was really enjoying it–we’ll see!!!

Ricki: I am forging on with Michael Apple’s Ideology and Curriculum. It still makes me sleepy. I have been working on writing a research article about my Young Adult Literature elective with my advisor, Wendy Glenn, so that has taken much of my time. My brother-in-law bought me a copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis after reading Tuesday’s post that I have seen the movie but never read the book. It looks like Henry and I will be enjoying that one.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

Top Ten Tuesday Topic: Our favorite books in different genres
and on Thursday, please stop by to complete a feedback survey.

So, what are you reading?

and

Period 8 by Chris Crutcher

March 7, 2014 by Kellee

Period 8
Author: Chris Crutcher
Published March 26th, 2013 by Harper Collins

Goodreads Summary: In this full-length novel from Chris Crutcher, his first since the best-selling Deadline, the ultimate bully and the ultimate good guy tangle during Period 8.

Paul “the Bomb” Baum tells the truth. No matter what. It was something he learned at Sunday School. But telling the truth can cause problems, and not minor ones. And as Paulie discovers, finding the truth can be even more problematic. Period 8 is supposed to be that one period in high school where the truth can shine, a safe haven. Only what Paulie and Hannah (his ex-girlfriend, unfortunately) and his other classmates don’t know is that the ultimate bully, the ultimate liar, is in their midst.

Terrifying, thought-provoking, and original, this novel combines all the qualities of a great thriller with the controversy, ethics, and raw emotion of a classic Crutcher story.

My Review: Now, this is not a “normal” Chris Crutcher book, but like all of his books, it is raw, true, and sports plays a role of some sort. And this one is SO full of suspense for the last 25%. It is a hold your breath, read as quickly as you can kind of book there at the end. (I do wish that this suspense had been spread out to 50% of the book. This would have helped the pacing a bit and I think it would have given Crutcher more time to give information into the crime. Although the quick pacing at the end adds to the suspense, I think spreading it out a bit would have kept the suspense and given more time to delve further into the bad guys and the mystery.)

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: I, personally, really loved how he chose to tell the story in 3rd person. Although it doesn’t give as much insight into one character, it gives you a little bit of insight into each one, and as you are trying to figure out what is going one, it is really fun to hear from all the different characters. (Some readers and reviewers have stated that having the multiple 3rd person point of views made it so the reader didn’t really know anyone, but I think it actually helped me get to know everyone a little bit. It also allows for the reader to get snippets of not just the mystery but of the characters allowing you to build the complete character in your head.)

Another brilliant think Crutcher did was include foreshadowing scenes right at the beginning of the novel that did not make sense until the end and then I had to go back and read it. Well done!

Also, if you ever need a mentor text on complex sentence structure or descriptive language–Crutcher is for you!

Mostly, though, this book will find its home in teens’ hands. It will be as loved as other Crutcher books.

Discussion Questions: How does swimming help Paulie deal with his problems?; At what point did you figure out who the “bad guy” in the group was?

We Flagged: “He hits the water, involuntarily sucking air as the cold leaks in. The colder the better. He deserves this. Even so, he pees in self-defense, his only means to counter the ice-watery fingers creeping around his ribcage and into his crotch. He swims away from shore for about a hundred yards as his body heat warms the water inside the suit. He turns parallel to the shore and strokes, finding a candence he can hold over the next two hours. He knows how to play games to allay the monotony; fifty stroke hard, fifty strokes easy; a hundred strokes hard, fifty easy; a hundred-fifty hard, fifty easy, and on and on. An hour up and an hour back. He has taught himself to breathe on either side in order to keep the shore in sight and swim a relatively straight line. On this morning, working on zero sleep, he holds an even pace; no intervals. Just his sweet Hannah wedged in his frontal lobe. His gone Hannah.” (p. 3-4)

Read This If You Loved: Any other Chris Crutcher book, Shine by Lauren Myracle, Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings

Recommended For: