It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I need to do better with updating blog posts on the classroom site!  BOTH parents and students, please leave a comment about what you're reading, too!

This is a meme started by Teach Mentor Texts , and I participate every week, along with many other bloggers, in reviewing kids' books I read the previous week. 
  

 

PICTURE BOOK

 

 

Baby Penguins Love Their Mama by Melissa Guion

2014-book, animals, family, picture-book   Aw! Such a sweet book about the love a mother has for her children. Even when they grow up, she's still a mom! Guion's penguin illustrations are so cute! I won a signed copy from Kid Lit Frenzy.  It appeared at my front door in a pile of snow.  How apropos!  I'll share this book with my 5th graders since it will go perfectly with our family/home unit.   MIDDLE GRADE/YA BOOKS     Almost Home by Joan Bauer   2012-book, adopted-foster-child, bebrave, character-traits, character-who-writes, divorce-or-separation, dogs, family, home, homelessness, intermediate-kids-book, strong-girl-character,survival, teachers-who-inspire     (You have to read the book to know why I wrote this review as a thank you note!)   Dear Maggie, I want to thank you for lending me this book because you thought it connected to our family/home literacy contract. You were so right, and I LOVED it! Sugar Mae Cole was so brave and saw beauty in everything. She had gratitude for even the small things in life, and that saved her. Didn't you just love Shush? I loved how Shush found purpose and courage after being so afraid. I marked this line from Sugar: "I've learned something about sadness this last year. Sometimes the best thing you can do is just sit with someone who's hurting; you don't have to say anything or offer advice, you just sit there. I think dogs understand this better than people." I also thought Mr. Bennett was inspirational. I sure hope I am or can become a teacher like him. I thought the things he said and wrote to Sugar were awesome. He believed in her, and that made a huge difference in her life. Maybe I should paint one of my classroom walls red! It was so sad when Reba lost her way, but thank goodness for Lexie and Mac, and finally, Helen. I'm so happy Reba finally stood up to Mr. Leeland. Sugar's "Almost Home" poem at the end was beautiful and explained the concept of home perfectly. This book would be great to pair with Hold Fast by Blue Balliett and also reminds me of our read aloud now,  How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor.  I can also connect it to One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. Thanks, again, Maggie, for introducing me to this book! Sincerely, Mrs. Mueller   Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle   2013-book, award-winner, bebrave, bullying, character-motivation, character-traits, coming-of-age, family, friendship, humor, individuality, intermediate-kids-book, journey, lgbt,performance-art, point-of-view,  theater

 

Lots of people have recommended this book, and it was an award winner at the ALA Youth Media Awards, and now I know why! The humor, courage, and resiliency of the narrator, 13-yr-old Nate Foster, make you cheer for him all the way through the story. It takes a lot of hutzpah to run away to Broadway all by yourself, but Nate chases the dream of landing a part in a musical in the Big Apple by doing just that. He tries out for E.T.: The Musical, and his best friend, Libby, always in his corner, covers for him back home. There are some mature themes, so this book isn't for everybody, but it addresses things like bullying.  He shows us how people can hurt each other, but he also shows us how people can be strong and forgiving. Beware - you'll need to go out and get Five, Six, Seven, Nate right away because it ends on a cliffhanger!  You should have seen the look on Paige's when I handed the second one to her last week.  She couldn't wait to read what happened!

 

CURRENTLY READING

 

 

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO

 

 

Now comment below to tell me what YOU'RE reading!