It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

These are memes started by Teach Mentor Texts and Book Journey, and I'm excited to participate, along with many other bloggers, in reviewing books I read the previous week. I'll be reviewing picture books through adult books.

 

 

PICTURE BOOKS

 

 

I Scream Ice Cream! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Serge Bloch

 

	2013-book, humor, picture-book, play-on-words, predicting

 

 

 

This is a fun book playing with wordles, which are groups of words that sound exactly the same but mean different things. Example:  Me, cloud. with a picture of a smiling cloud, becomes Meek. Loud. with a picture of a shy boy peeking behind a boisterous boy playing the drums. Kids will get a kick out of the funny illustrations and trying to guess the wordle that comes next. They may even try writing some of their own.     Bear and Bee by Sergio Ruzzier 2013-book, animals, bookaday2013, character-development, fears, friendship, humor, picture-book, theme   This is a cute story about a bear who's hungry and happens upon a bee offering him some honey. However, Bear has heard terrible things about bees and is afraid of them even though he's never seen one. He describes them as being big with large teeth and sharp claws. Bee gently points out that HE is big with large teeth and sharp claws. After a funny scene with Bear thinking he is actually a bee, Bee reassures him and introduces himself. A friendship results. There's a sweet silhouette at the end...more This is a cute story about a bear who's hungry and happens upon a bee offering him some honey. However, Bear has heard terrible things about bees and is afraid of them even though he's never seen one. He describes them as being big with large teeth and sharp claws. Bee gently points out that HE is big with large teeth and sharp claws. After a funny scene with Bear thinking he is actually a bee, Bee reassures him and introduces himself. A friendship results. There's a sweet silhouette at the end of Bear and Bee sitting side by side eating honey. This would be a good book to talk about stereotypes and misunderstandings about people.     The Longest Night by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Catia Chien 2013-book, bookaday2013, holidays, mood-tone, picture-book, poetry, point-of-view, spiritual     This is a wonderful story told in verse and from a young slave girl's point of view about the Passover. The illustrations and power of Snyder's words weave together beautifully to depict what it must have been like to be part of the Exodus from Egypt. I loved the repetition of the line "Till the sea was ripped in two" and the joyful ending.   MIDDLE GRADE     Paperboy by Vince Vawter     2013-book, bookaday2013, character-development, character-who-writes, characters-with-disabilities, civil-rights, coming-of-age, drug-and-alcohol-use, family, fears, friendship, historical-fiction, intermediate-kids-book, journey, mock-newbery-2014, point-of-view, setting, social-studies-connections, spiritual, theme         This is a special book. Vawter has created an unforgettable character in lonely, 11-year-old Victor (a.k.a. "Little Man"). He is a boy who stutters and tells us in the beginning that he is typing up this story because talking is so hard for him. He calls his best friend, Art, "Rat," because he couldn't make the "A" sound when he first met him. Victor lives in Memphis in 1959. He loves his family's housekeeper, Mam, who always has time to talk to him and teach him about God. In July, he takes ove...more This is a special book. Vawter has created an unforgettable character in lonely, 11-year-old Victor (a.k.a. "Little Man"). He is a boy who stutters and tells us in the beginning that he is typing up this story because talking is so hard for him. He calls his best friend, Art, "Rat," because he couldn't make the "A" sound when he first met him. Victor lives in Memphis in 1959. He loves his family's housekeeper, Mam, who always has time to talk to him and teach him about God. In July, he takes over Rat's paper route, and that's when his life starts to change. Through colorful characters like Mr. Spiro, TVBoy, and Mrs. Worthington, all customers he meets on his route, he learns a lot about himself and life. He also learns that he has a lot more strength than he realizes when has to intervene to save Mam's life. One of the first things my Mock Newbery Club kids noticed when they were describing this book was that it has no quotation marks for dialogue. We know from Victor that he doesn't like commas because he's got enough pauses in his life. This book will make a great addition to civil rights movement units and to your classroom library in general. I wish The King's Speech wasn't rated R because it would be the perfect movie to recommend to my 5th/6th graders after they read this book.   PROFESSIONAL BOOKS     Real Revision by Kate Messner   bookaday2013, profressional-book, writing-connections     Kate Messner has written a fantastic practical book on teaching kids to revise their writing. She cautions that many of us are only teaching kids to edit instead of the big stuff - theme, organization, and content. Start with those revisions first, and then narrow it down to things like word choice and mechanics. I love the number of middle grade authors she's included - Linda Urban, Rebecca Stead, Tom Angleberger, Jennifer and Matthew Holm, to name a few - telling anecdotes about their own writ...more Kate Messner has written a fantastic practical book on teaching kids to revise their writing. She cautions that many of us are only teaching kids to edit instead of the big stuff - theme, organization, and content. Start with those revisions first, and then narrow it down to things like word choice and mechanics. I love the number of middle grade authors she's included - Linda Urban, Rebecca Stead, Tom Angleberger, Jennifer and Matthew Holm, to name a few - telling anecdotes about their own writing processes and challenges. There are ready-to-use ideas throughout with an appendix at the end, full of wonderful activities. I love Kate's conversational, accessible tone. Everyone who teaches writing needs this book!     The Joy of Planning by Franki Sibberson 2012-book, professional-book   I love Franki Sibberson's writing style - it's friendly and thought-provoking. She shares her planning processes and gives us great ideas for minilesson cycles. I like the practical ways she designs her cycles and how she incorporates short texts to help teach the learning goals. I'm always inspired by the amount of thinking she puts into her teaching.    CURRENTLY LISTENING TO       CURRENTLY READING       ON DECK     I've been sharing what my family is reading and readers seem to enjoy this new feature, so I will keep it up!   My 17-year-old is still reading her AP Government summer assignment (she's not reading her required reading quite as fast as her YA romance novels she enjoyed in June):     My 20-year-old has one more week in Ecuador.  She's been reading:     My husband isn't reading a book right now - still reading internet news and magazines.   My mom:     My dad:     What are YOU reading this week?