It’s Monday! What are you reading?
I have been sharing a reading photo of the week each week. This week because it has been a while, I have more than one. And not all are reading related but humour me please, I am in a sharing mood 🙂
First – I invite you to enjoy our mural homage to “Shh! We have a plan.” by Chris Haughton. Mini trees and birds by my class. Mural design courtesy of my husband. .
We read some fantastic titles during the week before Halloween for #classroombookaday. Bone Dog squeaked in with the most love.
This art has nothing to do with any book but I just had to share – the colour, the light, the vibrancy and the joy . . . .
And finally my favourite “reading photo” of the week is all about the giggles. Happy, happy, happy.
Join Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers and share all of the reading you have done over the week from picture books to young adult novels. Follow the links to read about all of the amazing books the #IMWAYR community has read. It’s the best way to discover what to read next.
I am committed to a return to my blog and a sharing of my reading and teaching life.
I credit Marla Frazee for this as I shared in this post: Sunday Reflections: Honest Truths, Metaphorical whales and the “in between” place
Also on my blog:
Wrapped up in shades of black and grey (in honour of Picture Book Month)
I haven’t shared a Monday post in two weeks so I have a number of titles that I am excited to highlight here!
Lenny and Lucy written by Philip C. Stead and illustrated by Erin E. Stead
Oh my, my, my, my. And, well, wow. You might have noticed I am slightly speechless over this one. It is moody. Lonely. Emotional. Sweet. Lovely. Sigh. Of course, I had to buy it.
Shoe Dog by Megan Mcdonald
I don’t have a dog. I am not that attached to my shoes. But still – if I had a dog and if it chewed up all of my shoes, well, I am not so sure . . . This is book is about some serious pet love. And patience. And it is pretty darn cute.
A Dance Like Starlight: One Ballerina’s Dream written by Kristy Dempsey and illustrated by Floyd Cooper
Gorgeous and inspiring historical fiction. A must read.
The Color Monster by Anna Llenas
A pop up title that is all kinds of amazing. The perfect book to pair with My Blue is Happy and to break out the coloured pencils and start some really wonderful conversations.
The Hueys in None the Number by Oliver Jeffers
A Hueys tour of counting and numbers and the concept of zero. Quirky and wonderfully odd.
Mouse’s First Night at Moonlight School by Simon Puttock and Ali Pye
Shy little Mouse is always somewhere but where? Endearing.
Katie Woo No More Teasing written by Fran Amnushkin and illustrated by Tammie Lyon
I bought five of these Katie Woo titles the other day. Ideal additions to my early readers collection.
The Story of Diva and Flea written by Mo Willems and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi
Yep, all kinds of charming. A seriously winning author/illustrator combination. Paris! Incredible characters. Lots to love here in this illustrated chapter book. Would make a perfect read aloud in a primary classroom.
I’ll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Fast paced, impossible to put down.
Just Call My Name by Holly Goldberg Sloan
And then there was a sequel. I had a Goldberg Sloan marathon. If you are in a reading slump, these YA novels are the perfect books to pick up. Personally I was looking for serious escapism and these dramatic stories and wonderful writing fit the bill perfectly!
Updates on my 2015 Reading Goals:
2015 Chapter Book Challenge: 59/80 complete
Goodreads Challenge: 363/415 books read
#MustReadin2015: 16/24 complete
Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: 64/100 titles
Diverse Books in 2015: 43/50 books read
Up next? I am reading to escape so The Husband’s Secret by Lianne Moriarty is an ideal story. When do I ever ever read adult fiction? Usually never. It is wonderfully ridiculous and like zone out T.V. Perfect.
There's a Book for That 
Loved Lenny and Lucy. I didn’t know what to expect, so when it took my breath away I was happily surprised!
Diva and Flea was fun too. I liked it more than I thought I would. And I loved the 2 cameos in it 🙂
Those cameos are great agreed! And those Steads. Wow. Incredible. They give me the shivers.
What great picture books. The Hueys looks interesting. Oliver Jeffers stories are usually unique. The Husband’s Secret was a book that kept me reading – good adult fiction choice. I just started a book for myself to – Alice Hoffman’s Marriage of Opposites.
Jeffers really is delightful. I love his signature style.
I envy you in reading not one but TWO Holly Goldber Sloan novels! Whoa indeed! I absolutely loved Counting by 7s, and I am sure I would fall in love with these two novels as well. I am looking forward to finding Lenny and Lucy.
It was really wonderful to read these novels by Sloan! I too am a HUGE fan of Counting by 7s!
Hi Carrie, Just a quick note to say that I always love your recommendations. I teach 6th and use picture books as mentor texts, but after reading this decided why not just have a picture book day for read aloud? Everyone enjoys just listening to great stories and I know my 6th graders will too. Oh, and thanks for the heads up on the follow-up to I’ll Be There; can’t wait to read Just Call My Name! Happy Monday!
Enjoy the Sloan title! Everyone loves picture books and needs more of them in their life! I believe this fully!
The giggle photo!! 😀
I know! 🙂
Though I’m no longer teaching fulltime, I am thoroughly enjoying your recommendations, for personal pleasure, as mentor texts for my own PB writing, to share with my grandchildren (which I OFTEN) do, and to recommend to colleagues still in the classroom. I especially love debkrygeris’ comment suggesting the idea of a read-aloud picture book day for sixth graders! I wish I’d done that with my fifth grade students….super motivation for their own generation of picture book ideas and dummies…maybe even planting seeds for future children’s authors!
Thanks so much for this feedback! Means a lot to me! Happy reading!
Many wonderful things here, but loved the giggle photo most! I’m glad you share those moments from the class!
Thank you Linda. Watching it in real life was pretty hilarious!
I just found I’ll Be There a few weeks ago and LOVED it. I must read Just Call My Name. A Dance Like Starlight has been on my pile for a long time. And I still haven’t gotten to Lenny and Lucy yet either. Thanks for sharing all your book love.
Lenny and Lucy is kind of divine. I must say. It was so much fun to read both of these Sloan titles back to back.
That giggle/reading pic is priceless! Great books. I didn’t realize Sloan had other books. I’ll have to track down I’ll Be There.
These Sloan titles are very dramatic. Great to read back to back!
Great assortment of books. You can see what I read here. Happy reading!
Thanks Kathy!
Love the variety of these features. I’ve met Eric Rohmann several times and the last time he used BONE DOG as an example of matching a concept to the best possible picture book structures to overcome the editorial resistance to publishing a book about a dead dog! (He didn’t call it the “best”, that’s from me! He modestly described his process, which succeeded so well. thanks for another outstanding post.
Thanks Sandy. The children LOVED this book. In fact I had to read certain parts multiple times. It has great kid appeal – dead dog and all!
Love Lenny & Lucy so much! Definitely on my top 10 of the year. I just got Diva & Flea last week and started it this weekend but then got lured by Bird & Squirrel and the grown-up book I’m reading right now (Sorcerer and Crown) so put it down. But will get back to it very soon. Perfect author-illustrator combo! I’m not familiar with the Katie Woo books but am always looking for more good series to add to my little (well, not so little!) lending library so will have to add one of these to the cart. Glad to see you back blogging! Have missed you terribly!
And I have missed being here terribly! A definite big hole in my life. so very thrilled to be back in the swing of things! And yes, Lenny and Lucy. Well . . .
Diva and Flea!! I can’t wait to try it out as a read aloud, it sounds wonderful. Thank you for another great week of suggestions.
A pleasure Jane! Enjoy Diva and Flea.
The photo of the two girls reading is absolutely priceless – It captures how much they love books – Thanks for sharing your classroom with all of us.
It is such a delight for me to do so. I can’t resist!
Love the homage to Shh! We Have a Plan – so true to the story!
Wow, do we love this book! And yes, thanks to my husband this worked out pretty wonderfully.
What a splendid collection of books. It sounds like your Holly Sloan binge, and these other novels were exactly what you needed. I loved looking at your collection of Halloween themed books – some oldies and new ones – all wonderful. Bone Dog is one of my all time favourite books for this season. I have added many of these picture books to The List! I too adore Katie Woo and Diva and Flea.
Isn’t Bone Dog great? What I love is how much the kids loved it. When the dog runs across the page with bone in mouth, they just went crazy!
That picture of the girl holding her chest and laughing is priceless. It made me so happy! I love the Sloan marathon! I enjoyed both books and am glad you did, too. I agree that the Color Monster is quite inspirational in regards to creativity. That is one book that I’m glad I own! Enjoy your week, Carrie!
Thanks Ricki! I loved The Color Monster too and can’t wait to share it. Thinking a writing/art piece . . . And yes, I too love this photo. Pure delight and reading joy.
The buddy reading photo is to die for! Today when I was teaching (girl on left), I had this image in my mind!
Thanks for always sharing so openly, truthfully, and for showing these kids how much they matter.
🙂 Many thanks. They matter most of all!
Love your mural and your giggling girls! Looks like you’re having such a wonderful year. You’ve got lots of good books for me to check out as well.
Hi Jana – thanks for the comment. The year has had some challenges. I am trying to celebrate the happy! Happy reading.
So glad to have your weekly picture back! Your photo broke me with its cuteness!!!
Love the 1,2,3; Lenny and Lucy; The Color Monster; and I’ll Be There as well. And I had no idea there was a sequel to I’ll Be There!
Happy everything this week! 🙂
It is pretty adorable isn’t it? Great to capture that moment!
So many awesome books! I love Lenny & Lucy and several more here. I’m so glad you had that boost from Marla Frazee. 🙂
Yes, Marla Frazee was certainly very important inspiration!