It’s Monday! What are you Reading? Celebrate your weekly reading by joining Jen and Kellee’s meme and link up with other reading enthusiasts sharing their reads from picture books to young adult reads.
I enjoyed many great books during this past week and tried to fit in some last minute Nerdy Book Club nominations 🙂
Picture Books I loved:
Neville written by Norman Juster and illustrated by G. Brian Karas I read this book with my reading group and we shared questions we had before, during and after the story. An amazing book to inspire questions and discussion. A boy moves to a new town and heads out for a walk, unhappy about his move and convinced he will be friendless. When he begins to yell the name “Neville!” interesting things begin to happen. I adored this book.
Jangles, a BIG fish story by David Shannon Part folklore, part mystery, part adventure – all good 🙂 Gorgeous oil paintings give this book an eerie aura.
Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills I agree, of course, with many other readers that this book is an ideal story to share when highlighting the writing process. Love the little yellow bird and the big tree of inspiration.
Little Owl’s Night by Divya Srinivasan Stunning art helps narrate this story of a nighttime adventure in the forest. Perfect for teaching about nocturnal animals.
Chopsticks Amy Krause Rosenthal Scott Magoon A fun story about friendship, independence and loyalty with just the right dose of humour “mixed in.”
A few holiday stories shared with my class:
Home for Christmas by Jan Brett My students loved paying attention to the detailed illustrations for hints of what was coming up next in the story. I have many holiday books by Jan Brett on my bookshelf. Always so festive and sweet.
Just Right For Christmas by Birdie Black and Rosalind Beardshaw This book was shared in my class this week, more details here. A story with elements of Phoebe Gilman‘s Something from Nothing or Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback.
Some non-fiction themed books:
The Journey: Stories of Migration written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Lambert Davis I have been sharing sections of this book all term with my class as we learn about migration. The illustrations were vivid and detailed and the stories very easy to follow for my Grade 2/3 students. Lots of learning!
A Strange Places to Call Home written by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Ed Young The pictures in this book are incredible and I really enjoyed reading more about each creature and their strange habitats at the back of the book. Did I love all of the poems? Some more than others . . .
The novel I finished this week was a young adult read called Ask the Passengers by A.S. King. Great characters and beautiful writing. I quickly requested other titles by this author from the library. Astrid Jones holds her feelings and questions close as she tries to navigate small town life and big world questions with a family not really along for the ride. Everyone in her two parent, two kid family feels very much on their own and so Astrid connects with the unknown passengers on the planes that fly overhead. A story that explores love, friendship and family dynamics.
There's a Book for That 
I read Ask the Passengers last week too! Loved it! I also loved Please Ignore Vera Dietz. I still need to read her other two, but I’ll get there. What are you working on now?
I am actually reading an adult novel now. A rarity but happens every so often!
I loved Little Owl’s Night – the illustrations were amazing! Neville is so fun. I still need to read Ask the Passengers. I’m wondering about the author’s name A.S. King = asking.
Little Owl’s Night is delightful I shared it with my students and they were thrilled to learn about nocturnal animals!
Little Owl’s Night looks just great, as does Ask The Passengers, both of which I’ll look for, Carrie. I love the Rocket book & have shared it with all the primary teachers. Thanks for your good books, every single week!
Thank you Linda! I really enjoyed Ask the Passengers. A.S. King had been on my radar and I’m really glad I read this one!
Carrie,
You’ve given me some great titles here!
I love Jangles! I heard David Shannon talk about it at NCTE, and it’s awesome! Now I’m off to look for Neville. I’ve seen the tweets about Ask the Passengers, and now I’ve added it to my TBR pile for holiday break. Hope my library has these!
Neville is just fabulous! My students were totally enthralled. A great title. And Jangles, wow! So much to wonder about with that book!
Ooooh! A David Shannon and Cynthia Rylant books I don’t know!! Hope you enjoy Code Name Verity . . . I’ve been thinking about it all day. Just Right for Christmas looks too sweet and reminds me visually of Amy Hest/Anita Jeram’s Kiss Good Night (and others in that series). Neville and Chopsticks are two favorite picture book reads for me this year.
You need to find Jangles! A great title! And yes, I am really excited to begin Code Name Verity. Thanks!