Unleashing Readers

Strange Mysteries From Around the World by Seymour Simon

February 9, 2014January 8, 2014 by Kellee

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recommended For:

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals and Resolutions for 2014

January 7, 2014 by Ricki

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 Bookish Goals and Resolutions for 2014

Forget the weight-loss. We are going bookish on you!

Ricki

1. 114 Books

Every year, I increase my goal by one book. I always match the year. Because it is 2014, I am aiming for 114. This might be impossible with a new baby, but I will be reading more picture books.

2. Children’s Book All-Star

I want to become a children’s book all-star. I want to get the nostalgia of old books and jump into the fun of new releases.

3. To learn to love more middle grade novels

Some of my favorite books are middle grade books. That said, I don’t tend to love novels directed to this age group. This year, I am going to aim to change that by reading more widely within the field.

4. To keep up with new YA releases

I will devote everything to my new baby, but I don’t want to neglect my love of YA books, so I want to try to keep up with the best new releases.

5. To read to my new baby every night

I haven’t had a baby (obviously), so I am not sure if this is a lofty goal. Are there going to be some nights where I can’t read to him because I am so tired from breastfeeding? I have no clue how my life is going to be this year, but this is my goal!

Kellee

1. 275 books in 2014

In 2012 I read 397 books, which is crazy!, so for 2013 I set my goal for 300 thinking it’d be no problem… well, I have not been reading like I did in the past. I ended up lowering my goal to 225 because I knew that I was not reading like I used to. During 2014, I’d like to push myself more and try to get close to that 300 again—I’m going to aim for 275. This may be crazy with a new baby at home, but I guess we’ll find out!

2. Get more book reviews up on my teacher website

My teacher website is being used more than ever now that we are an iPad school, but I haven’t updated the book reviews on there all year. I hope to get more up there.

3. Get into classes more often to book talk

This year I took a job as a reading coach and found myself all caught up in logistics, observations, and intervention. I want to go back to the basics and get into classes more often to book talk and to do book passes.

4. Get back into the reading groove

Like my #1 says, I really want to try to get back into the reading groove of reading every night. Right now, there are nights where I do not touch a book. I know it has been a combination of my new job and the pregnancy making me super tired, so I hope I can overcome it in 2014 (I know, I know… a new baby will make it very hard, but it doesn’t hurt to try.)

5. Read to my new baby every night

One thing that will definitely help is reading to baby Boy Moye every night. I want him to be a reader and I cannot wait to share with him all of my favorite picture books and I cannot wait to find out what his favorites are.

What are your bookish goals?

RickiSig and

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

July 27, 2015January 6, 2014 by Kellee

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

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It’s also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…you just might discover the next “must-read” book!

Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee decided to give It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit – join us! We love this meme and think you will, too.

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

Last Week’s Posts

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

Last Week’s Journeys

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

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

This Week’s Expeditions

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

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

Upcoming Week’s Posts

So, what are you reading?

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

and

Kellee’s 26 (+20) Top 2013 Reads

March 29, 2014January 3, 2014 by Kellee

This is one of my favorite posts every year!

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

Favorite Young Adult Realistic Fiction Novels of 2013

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

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

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

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

Favorite Middle Grade/Young Adult Historical Fiction of 2013

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

Favorite Middle Grade Fantasy Novels of 2013

Favorite Middle Grade Short Story Collection of 2013

Favorite Middle Grade Realistic Fiction Novel of 2013

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

Favorite Nonfiction Graphic Novels of 2013

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

Favorite Graphic Novels of 2013

Favorite Graphic Novel Read in 2013 (Not from 2013)

Favorite Nonfiction Picture Books of 2013

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

Favorite Picture Books of 2013

Favorite Picture Books Read in 2013 (Not from 2013)

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

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

Thrice Told Tales: Three Mice Full of Writing Advice by Catherine Lewis

February 9, 2014January 2, 2014 by Ricki

Thrice Told Tales: Three Mice Full of Writing Advice
Author: Catherine Lewis
Published: August 27th, 2013 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

GoodReads Summary: Three Blind Mice. Three Blind Mice. See how they run? No. See how they can make all sorts of useful literary elements colorful and easy to understand! Can one nursery rhyme explain the secrets of the universe? Well, not exactly—but it can help you understand the difference between bildungsroman, epigram, and epistolary.

From the absurd to the wish-I’d-thought-of-that clever, writing professor Catherine Lewis blends Mother Goose with Edward Gorey and Queneau, and the result is learning a whole lot more about three not so helplessmice, and how to fine tune your own writing, bildungsroman and all.

If your writing is your air, this is your laughing gas.*

*That’s a metaphor, friends.

Review: This is one of those books that is so clever, I am depressed that I didn’t come up with the idea myself. Reading and writing teachers will adore the way this book is constructed and be excited to use it in their classrooms. A different writing term is creatively interpreted on each page within the context of the Three Blind Mice nursery rhyme. At the bottom of each page, Lewis gives an explanation of the writing term and how it can be employed in writing (see the flagged passage below). I loved the ways Lewis humorously portrayed each term. For example, on the page about style, she takes a line from the nursery rhyme and rewrites it in the style of famous authors like Dickens and Hemingway. As a bonus, I learned about a few literary terms that I didn’t know! It was so fun to read. I shared it with my pre-service teachers, and they also adored it and were excited to use it in their own classrooms.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: Teachers can hand-pick terms they want to teach to their students. I wish this book was published when I was teaching because it makes the literary terms very accessible. Teachers can take the terms and ask students to reinterpret them within the context of a different nursery rhyme (or even within the context of a song or movie).

Discussion Questions: How can I rewrite a nursery rhyme to show a literary term?; How can I employ these literary/writing terms to make me a better writer?

We Flagged: “Developing one’s style is like developing a sense of fashion. You may start off by trying on a lot of costume jewelry; big showy ten-dollar words. They’ll get attention all right, but maybe you’ll discover there’s something better out there for you. Perhaps you’ll try a charm bracelet full of dangling modifiers. Or a simple silver bracelet and an onyx ring. Keep experimenting for pleasant combinations, and a truer picture of yourself and your work will begin to emerge” (p. 134).

Read This If You Loved: In the Middle by Nancie Atwell, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Writing Workshop by Ralph Fletcher, Celebrating Writers by Ruth Ayres with Christi Overman

Recommended for:

What is your favorite book for teaching writing? Can you think of creative ways to use this in the classroom?

Kellee’s 2013 Reflection

January 8, 2014January 1, 2014 by Kellee

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

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

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

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

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

In 2013 I read:

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

Totaling: 251 books!

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

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read in 2013

July 27, 2015December 31, 2013 by Ricki

Today’s Topic: Top Ten Books I Read in 2013

Kellee and I had difficulty splitting our top ten for this one, so she is going to share hers on Friday and Saturday, and I get to hog today all to myself! Wohoo!

1. Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

This ranks in my all-time favorite YA books. The story is powerful, and I can’t stop thinking about the characters.

2. Into that Forest by Louis Nowra

I loved this beautiful story because it made me contemplate what it truly means to be human. This is one of my favorite survival stories that I have read.

3. Black Ants and Buddhists by Mary Cowhey

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Even though this book is directed to teachers of grades K-6, I find I am using its lessons and ideas in all of my doctoral classes. This book does an incredible job teaching readers about how to enact social justice in the classroom.

4. When Kids Can’t Read by Kylene Beers

When a student used to come to me and say he/she “didn’t get” the reading, I often wanted to just tell him/her to read it again. But when that doesn’t work, what do we do? This book does a great job detailing how to diagnose and work with struggling readers (and all readers!).

5. Just One Day by Gayle Forman

This beautiful story took me back to Europe. Often, love stories can feel generic and typical, but this tells a story that is much different. I loved it!

6. Endangered by Eliot Schrefer

endangered

I can’t say enough good things about this book. I was sucked into the story, and I don’t feel as if I’ve fully left. Kellee and I are in love with this book, so if you’ve seen our blog, you know our feelings toward it. 🙂

7. Wonder by R.J. Palacio

I used to only read high school YA books. When I read this one at the very beginning of this world, it opened my world to the wonders (get it? wonders?) of middle grade YA books. I haven’t been able to stop reading them since. Thus far, this is my favorite middle grade YA book of all time. I think readers of all ages and levels with love it (my high schoolers did!).

8. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

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I loved this book because it took me back to college. I was thrown into the whirlwind of emotions I felt as a beginning college student. Rowell is an incredible author. I fell in love with this story.

9. Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher

This book was certainly worth the hype. Kelly Gallagher is eloquent, direct, and articulate. I found myself quietly whispering, “YES!” as I read this one.

10. If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

This is a beautiful identity and survival story that would pair well with many classics. Readers will contemplate humanity and practices in our modern world as these girls come to learn about it. I liked this book because it really made me think!

What were your favorite books in 2013?