It’s Monday! What are you reading?
Each week I share a reading photo of the week. During the summer, these photos will be about getting my classroom library up and running for a room full of readers in September.
Still adding to the shelves. More titles have since been labelled and are out on the shelves. I will be bringing in some more titles once I have a better sense of who my students are as readers. And I meet them (finally) this week!
I was away last week on Vancouver Island and did lots of great reading and lots of fantastic walks and hikes with my family. A few pictures below.
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.
On the blog:
We updated our #MustReadin2016 lists. Here is mine
For #nfpb2016: First Read Alouds in a Grade 4 & 5 classroom
Books I enjoyed:
Bring Me a Rock by Daniel Miyares
I so love Miyares’ illustrations. The expressions on the faces of these insects! Rich material here to talk about power, community and contributions.
Wolf Camp by Andrea Zuill
One little dog with wolfish aspirations heads to camp to be transformed.
Monsters Go Night-Night by Aaron Zenz
Oh this is the perfect gift for little ones – bed time is a big event! It is super cute. I read this in the bookstore and there was a toddler there with his grandmother. I kind of wanted to ask if I could read it aloud to him. I think it would have been a big hit.
Inspector Flytrap #1 by Tom Angleberger and Cece Bell
Seriously silly and spirited. Part of a new series about A Venus flytrap whois a detective. He solves BIG DEAL mysteries with the help of Nina the Goat, his assistant. An illustrated chapter book.
Stinky Cecil in Operation Pond Rescue by Paige Braddock
Cecil is a toad who utilizes his stink power when necessary. Can he and his friends save their pond from development? I bought this one for my new class.
The Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Entrada Kelly
Soledad lives with her little sister Ming and their nasty step-mother in a run down apartment in small town Louisiana. Life is nothing like it was in the Philippines. The girls miss their father who went back to the Philippines and has never returned. They mourn their mother and sister who have passed away. They manage their grief over what they have lost and their anger over their present circumstances in a variety of ways. Both rely heavily on imagination and pieces of the stories that their mother once gave them. A story of family and new lives. A fantastic main character.
Counting Thyme by Melanie Conklin
Reading a book like this reminds me that books like this are my kind of books. Achy and real. Books that squeeze my heart. Characters I want to know. An emotional ride. A beautiful, teary emotional ride. But full of hope, not sad. At least not too much sad. The hope wins.
How to Speak Dolphin by Ginny Rorby
Whoa this book. Lily has lost her mother. She lives with her step father and her little brother Adam. Adam has autism and while his father can’t face the reality of Adam’s needs and struggles, Lily is fully entrenched in the day-to-day care of Adam. This story tackles many themes – family, friendships, animal rights and boundaries. An excellent middle grade novel.
Reading Progress updates:
2016 Chapter Book Challenge: 37/75 complete
Goodreads Challenge: 241/400 books read
#MustReadin2016: 20/30 complete
Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: 32/100 titles
Diverse Books in 2016: 30/50 books read
Up next? I am reading The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
There's a Book for That 
The castaways
By elin hilderbrand
Are you enjoying it?
Yes ! So good
Had to add the last three to my next shopping cart for the library! Thanks for the recommendations!
All are fantastic. Happy reading!
I have those middle grade books on my list, yet still haven’t read them, know I would like them too. Will look for Bring Me A Rock, looks fun, Carrie. Happy you had some time away, the pictures are lovely. Have a marvelous first week with your class! Will send good thoughts your way!
Many thanks Linda. I will be updating, I hope, via twitter or on the blog in the next week.
Bring Me a Rock! and Wolf Camp are both fun books! Hope that you have a great start to the school year in your new classroom. Your book shelf looks awesome.
Thanks Jana!
Lots of new books for me to check out this week, Carrie! Bring me a Rock looks great and I like Stinky Cecil as it would be a great tie in to studying pond life. Also How to Speak Dolphin looks like it would be very appealing to many kids at my school. Thank you! Can you believe we are back at it tomorrow? Will be thinking of you as you venture into your new school and grade. I said good-bye to my eldest this week. Lots of tears as he starts his first year at U of C. Proud of him but missing him terribly!
Oh, my, sigh, I can’t even imagine sending kids off to University. Time sure flies! He will be wonderful. How to Speak Dolphin would be great for any reader who loved Rules.
I also love Daniel Miyares work. I’m going to have to find that book and read it. Counting Thyme has been on my want to read list for ages and ages. Have fun back at school this week. I will be thinking of you.
Thanks Cheriee. Counting Thyme is really special. Emotional but special.
All of your books I’ve read or are on my TBR list! Counting Thyme is one I would like to get to before the end of this year.
I read Monsters Go Night Night and immediately ordered a copy for my young nephew, it’s just so fun!
Inspector Flytrap is on my list for this week. I’ve read the first chapter in the first book and I think it’s going to be a hit with young readers.
Counting Thyme is a must read. Can’t wait to hear what you think.
Vancouver Island is stunning! I don’t know how you managed to get so much reading done with those breathtaking views! I’ve heard so many good things about Counting Thyme that I’m moving it to the top of my list. I got an ARC of Inspector Flytrap at ILA, but you other titles are new to me. The list grows ever longer… Thanks for sharing, Carrie!
It was a beautiful place to be – gorgeous views. Counting Thyme is really an incredible read. Highly recommend it.
Yay! I am so glad you liked Dolphin! I am friends with Ginny, and I love her work!
I have Inspector Flytrap to read, but I didn’t know the others. Thank you for introducing them to me 🙂
Happy reading this week!
It was fantastic. She handles so many things in a book but totally pulls it off! Wow.
My copy of Counting Thyme has been stuck in shipping limbo for too long! Perils of living in a town with no bookstore. Thanks for the recommendation, and for How to Speak Dolphin as well, I have had more than a few go through Rules (most seem to also Rain, Rain and Mockingbird) I had planned to have read Thyme by now but will sub in All-American Boys which I think will be emotional as well. Good luck on your first day in your new school (with students of course).
Thanks for the wishes Aaron. I think after meeting some students, it is going to feel really real. All American Boys is fantastic. Enjoy.
Loved The Land of Forgotten Girls – definitely one of my loveliest reads from last year. 🙂 The hiking photos look beautiful. Have fun with your new readers!
Erin Kelly has a new book out next year which I’m excited to read because I hardly read about Filipino characters.