Reread in April!

 

This week, I reread novels in verse because my fourth graders are reading them in partners and because the Sharp-Schu Book Club will be reading Love That Dog by Sharon Creech and May B. by Caroline Starr Rose on April 24th.  I've read both of these wonderful books before, and I was very much looking forward to reading them again.  Both these titles got snatched up right away in my classroom after I booktalked them!

 

 

 

My Goodreads review:

 

audio-book, books-for-children-about-reading, books-for-children-about-writing, character-development, character-motivation, dogs, great-read-aloud, loss, novel-in-verse, paired-texts, realistic-fiction, reread, sharpschu, teachers-who-inspire

  I'm not sure when I first read this book - probably about when it came out - I know I read it for school to see if I would want to use it in my classroom or recommend it to kids. I remember where I read it - in the corner chair of the family room. I remember because it made such an impact on me, and I sat there crying as I finished it. Well, the same thing happened again - in my car on my way to school, listening to it this time on audio. What a masterpiece this book is. I don't know how Sharon Creech makes such an emotional story with so few words. It takes less than an hour to listen to the audio. I'm so glad I listened to it, though. The narrator was perfect, and the poetry was beautifully read. I love all the poems in it (pair this book up with poetry anthologies of the featured poets). Just be careful, readers, if you're driving when you listen to this!

character-development, characters-with-disabilities, historical-fiction, home, intermediate-kids-book, journey, loss, mock-newbery-2013, mood-tone, novel-in-verse,  reread, setting, sharpschu, social-studies-connections, strong-girl-character, theme
This time around I appreciated the internal struggle May B. went through, trying to figure out what she was going to do. I was also more aware of how awful Teacher was this time! This would be a good novel to pair up with Hattie Big Sky. ORIGINALLY READ FEB. 2012, ORIGINAL REVIEW: This is Little House on the Prairie meets Hatchet. Told in verse, May is sent away from her family to help at a neighbor's homestead 15 miles away. Mrs. Oblinger is ill-suited for the prairie and sod house. May observes the Oblingers' strained relationship until one day Mrs. Oblinger sets out on a supposed day trip, but May finds a note she's left behind that tells her husband she is actually leaving for home in Ohio. Mr. Oblinger sets out after her, leaving May B. alone. As May tries to survive, we also learn of her learning problems and thwarted dreams of becoming a teacher. She has dyslexia. Winter comes and May wonders if it is close to Christmas when her father is supposed to come get her. The setting descriptions are amazing. I liked the choice of telling it in verse. It seems to go with the desolation and quiet of the prairie.

I love that Caroline Starr Rose wrote a poem about Love That Dog:

Words count.

All words,

and giving voice to those children

who don’t yet know their power

is to open the world.

For more of the poem, please go to her blog, Caroline By Line . She's writing wonderful things about poetry this month!  Then read the poem in its entirety on Mr. Schu's blog, Watch. Connect. Read. This link will also take you to all the information about the Sharp-Schu Book Club.  Make sure you join in on Wednesday to Tweet about these wonderful books!