It’s Monday! What are you Reading?
Join Jen and Kellee for their weekly meme and share all of your reading from picture books to young adult novels. The #IMWAYR community is always an amazing source of book ideas and inspiration!
I had a lot of fun with picture books this week. Here are my favourites:
A Girl and her Gator written by Sean Bryan and illustrated by Tom Murphy So what might happen really if you went through your day with a gator on your head? Well . . . this book makes it very clear! Written completely in quite sophisticated rhyme, this book is rather delightful!
Skunkdog written by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Pierre Pratt I found the fact that this dog with such a very pronounced snout was absolutely lacking in the “sniff it out” department to be wonderfully ironic and silly. Skunkdog cannot smell. Smells just don’t impact him. And so when he tries to befriend a skunk who doesn’t hesitate to spray him repeatedly, he is not at all bothered. His owners, on the other hand, have a different opinion about his association with a skunk! Lots of tomato juice, held noses and questions about what it is to be lonely.
Me and Mr. Mah written by Andrea Spalding and illustrated by Janet Wilson This title was originally published in 1999 and while I had seen it often in our school library, I just finally pulled it off the shelf and read it. It turns out to have many elements that I love in a story – a wonderful intergenerational relationship between young Ian and his new neighbour Mr.Mah who teaches him, via gardening, about patience, holding memories close and new growth. Themes of divorce, moving and making friends.
The Worst Princess written by Anna Kemp and illustrated by Sara Ogilvie This book arrived home in my daughter’s backpack with an excited explanation that her Teacher Librarian had sent it on to me to read as she thought I might like it. Thank you to the wonderful Cheriee! Because like it I did! And how . . .
First of all, within the first few pages of reading this book aloud to my class, a spontaneous debate arose between the boys in my room. It sounded something like this:
E: “This is a girl book!”
K: “I have books about princesses and dragons at my house. I read them. I’m a boy.”
P: “There’s no such thing as a girl book. All books are for everyone.”
K: “Can you read the book now Ms. Gelson?”
After that debate settled itself (love when I just get to sit back and bear witness), we all settled into a charming story about a princess who was expecting much more from life once her Prince Charming finally arrived. And it certainly did not involve weary pouffy dresses and sitting around while her Prince had all of the adventures. One of my students summed this story up best:
“It started out and you thought it would be a Prince and Princess vs The Dragon story but it ended up being The Princess and the Dragon vs. The Prince and everyone else!”
One might describe this title as a modern Paperbag Princess in yellow hightops! My students certainly connected this book to the Munsch classic.
The Highway Rat by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Well, simply summarized this story is about a thieving rat who gets his just desserts. My students wrote wonderful reviews that tell it much better than me. Please take a moment and enjoy 🙂
City Dog Country Frog written by Mo Willems and illustrated by Jon J Muth. I have actually read this title before but had yet to read it aloud to a class until this week. I confessed to my students that I had originally bypassed this book because of the cover. While I love frog books, I don’t adore dog books. But of course, this book is so so much more. I had originally (back in 2011) blogged:
“Something about the cover picture spoke dog to me and I kept missing the frog, even when I eyed the title I saw dog instead of frog. Finally, I looked a little closer and spotted the frog so perfectly plopped on the dog’s head and I pulled the book off the shelf. How could I have missed this? I was missing so much! Inside illustrations are mellow, gentle and ahh, what greens. Together with Willems’ simple text, pictures and words tell the tender story of friendship, the passage of time, young curiousity and calm wisdom. To make up for the months I haven’t been reading this book, I need to read it over and over and over again.”
So . . . I have been rereading this book over time and am now blogging about it again because it is truly special. One of my favourite book bloggers, Donna McKinnon from 32 Pages, seems to have felt something similar. A must read post from her about this wonderful title.
“I Have a Little Problem,” said the Bear written by Heinz Janisch and illustrated by Silke Leffler Sometimes, we might have a problem and everyone wants to help yet nobody truly slows down enough to listen clearly to exactly what the problem might be. This book is about exactly that – the challenges of really being heard.
Miss Maple’s Seeds written and illustrated by Eliza Wheeler There is something tender and sweet about the care that Miss Maple delivers to the seeds she collects. She nestles them in straw baskets and takes them soaring on the wind in floral “air balloons.” She reads them stories by firefly light and takes them dancing in rainstorms. Each image is magical and delightful and at the other end of this charming book, we are delivered – wiser about seeds and the seasons and content that Miss Maple is a special nature caretaker.
I was able to finish reading Requiem this week and then started and finished The Water Castle.
Requiem written by Lauren Oliver While I definitely enjoyed this final book in the Delirium trilogy, I wouldn’t rate it as highly as the first two books. Delirium absolutely captured me and I found Pandemonium to be fast paced and full of unexpected drama. This book was clearly meant to wrap things up, which, while on the one hand, I do appreciate, I felt that the whole book was geared towards an ending that was actually not as tightly woven as I was expecting. I did enjoy Hana’s story and everything going on for her inside Portland and on route to a matched marriage that seems scarier than the “on the run life” that Lena has. Maybe I just felt that this book needed more Lena. Still not sure. But – would definitely recommend reading the trilogy to fans of dystopian fantasy.
The Water Castle written by Megan Frazer Blakemore Thanks to a wonderful community of readers that I am connected with – I have heard many rave reviews of this middle grade title. And now I clearly see why . . . This is an excellent mix of mystery and adventure that would have wide appeal with middle grade readers. In fact, I have just placed it up high on the list as a possibility for my student book club. And, I want to read it aloud to my own children. This book has such wide kid appeal. It is one part science, one part mystery/adventure, one part fantasy/science fiction and one stabilizing part of family/friendship dynamics to make the unreal, part of the very real, world. There is so much I loved about this title – the relationships between the characters, the mystery that permeates everything, the fact that not everything is solved and yet, one isn’t left disappointed. And best of all, the myriad of stories that are woven together across time. Highly recommended.
Next up? I have just started Beholding Bee by Kimberly Newton Fusco.
What are you reading?
Holy-moly, Carrie, I’m a little worried about your reading list next week when you are unplugged! I just clipped this whole page to my Evernote and I’ll pull it out when I’m at the bookstore. Thank you for so many recommendations that I have not already read!
i am so pleased that you found some new to you titles! I have a presentation I am preparing for so my reading may not be that over the top this week 🙂 Hope it is though!
Thanks for all the great recommendations and including your students’ reviews! Can’t wait to see if some of these are in my library.
It is fun to include student perspective – I always say some books really need to be “test driven” on children to know how great or not they are!
I have not heard of Me and Mr. Mah, and I’m looking for books about divorce. Putting that one on my list! Love the cover.
It is a lovely book. It will be ideal for books on that theme.
You are my go-to #IMWAYR person for picture books. I always end up loading up my Goodreads list after visiting your blog. 🙂
I agree with your assessment of Requiem, though I think I did like it a little more than Pandemonium. Nothing can ever be better than the first book though. It was amazing.
Agreed. Delerium was certainly the stand out! I am so happy to hear that you can consistently find picture book ideas here Beth!
Just bookmarked so, so many, including The Water Castle & Me And Mr. Mah. I like the looks of the others, too, but these really sound special. thanks Carrie!
Absolutely special. You have good taste 🙂 Me and Mr.Mah is definitely a book I will look to to share in the future.
A Girl and her Gator looks so cute! Love the sweet illustrations. I grabbed Requiem to read, too. And I have heard awesome stuff about Water Castle! Definitely looking forward to it.
I kept hearing the rave reviews about Water Castle and didn’t take me long to see why! A Girl and her Gator is one of 3 titles that connect – also A Bear and his Boy and A Boy and his Bunny – I would like to have all three!
What a lovely selection of picture books this week! I was excited to add a few new titles to my TBR list, really curious to read The Water Castle… heard about it numerous times now… Thanks for the inspiration! Happy reading this week!
I think you will love The Water Castle! Pleased to hear that you found some titles new to you! So lucky to have this #IMWAYR community to share with 🙂
I’m now eagerly looking forward to The Highway Rat. I loved City Dog, Country Frog. I had so much fun reading The Worst Princess to groups this week. I started out with asking them what they new about princesses. It was all pretty much the standard stuff.
We stopped during the reading to ask for predictions and they were still pretty stereotypical. In the end, everyone loved the happy ending. In fact a number of kids commented that it still had a happy ending. My favorite comment though was from a little guy sitting near the front who enthusiastically stated. “That’s the kind of princess I like!”
Next on my reading list: The Water Castle.
I think you will really like The Water Castle and will then be recommending it to many young eager readers who love mystery and fantasy!
Hoorah for the fans of “that kind of princess”!