J. Anderson Coats | There's a Book for That

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

Each week I share a reading photo of the week. I have no students to celebrate during the summer so I searched back through the archives to find a buddy reading moment. A room full of reading together is always my favourite!

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.

Books I enjoyed:

Little One by Jo Weaver

Gentle with amazing illustrations. A mama bear shows her cub the world and then they find their den to hibernate for the winter. Seasons. Nature. Connection.

World Pizza by Cece Meng with illustrations by Ellen Shi

Don’t wish for world peace when you might sneeze! What happens when everyone in the world shares the gift of food? (in the form of tasty pizza) Great conversation starter in the classroom. How do we connect? What makes us happy? How can we share?

The Infamous Ratsos Are Not Afraid written by Kara Lareau and illustrated by Matt Myers

Perfect transitional reader. I want to get this series for my Grade 3 classroom this fall. Themes of friendship, bravery and taking responsibility.Blooming at the Texas Sunrise Motel by Kimberly Willis Holt

This novel has so many elements I love – a connection between the generations, interesting family dynamics, introspective musings. Well written, emotional realistic fiction for MG readers.
The Many Reflections of Miss Jane Deming by J. Anderson Coats

Fantastic historical fiction set in the Pacific Northwest. The Mercer expedition brings war widows and young women west and Jane comes along with her father’s young widow and her younger brother. Washington is vastly different than what was expected. Adventure, a strong female character and lots of interesting history!

the-many-reflections-of-miss-jane-deming

Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar

Based on the author’s childhood. One of the best MG titles I have read this year! Ruthie Mizrahi and her family have come to New York from Cuba and slowly Ruthie is adjusting. Then a car accident lands her in a body cast and isolates her from her new world. Full of poetry, art and beautiful relationships.Highly recommended.

lucky-broken-girl

I read One Crazy Summer when it first came out and was delighted to read the next two books in the trilogy back to back. I adore Delphine, Vonetta and Fern and learning more about their family was an absolute treat. I loved both books!

P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia

Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia

Reading Progress updates:

2017 Chapter Book Challenge: 37/75 complete

Goodreads Challenge: 150/365 books read

Progress on challenge: 39 books behind schedule (This hasn’t changed in a week! But it hasn’t got worse. All the novel reading means no picture books!)

#MustReadin2017: 18/30 complete

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: 21/50 titles

Diverse Books in 2016: 27/50 books read

Up next? I am reading What Elephants Know by Eric Dinerstein

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

Ring in the new year with books! Link up with Jen and Kellee and participate in this weekly meme that celebrates reading (from picture books to young adult titles).

Of course the best thing about the holidays for a book lover is . . . books and the time to read them! I enjoyed lots of late night page turning and even better, early morning caffeine fuelled reading marathons while the rest of the house slept.

This week I will start with the novels I completed:

I finished Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein just in time to name it one of my 12 favourites of 2012. I am so reluctant to write anything about this book for fear of giving anything away. It’s a story of storytellers and oh, what stories. . . Stories that shock, that crush you in one moment and fill you with hope in another, stories about friendship that will make you rethink what it means to be a friend. An amazing read. If you haven’t read it yet, put it to the top of your must read list.

Words that Start with B by Vikki VanSickle This book was passed to me by the Teacher Librarian at my children’s school who happens to have an amazing blog (check it out for a variety of great book recommendations/many Canadian titles) I tried to capture my thoughts about this book and inspired by VanSickle, started them with B . . .

Best friends that make one smile just to know that friends like that matter
Bullies and some bystanders that in the end, don’t stand by
Bumps of the health and growing up kind that are so well handled
Believable characters that could just as well live down the road or around the corner

I am now on the lookout for the next title in this eventual trilogy.

Divergent by Veronica Roth So I was ready for this book to be fast paced and carved out a good chunk of reading time so that I didn’t really need to put it down for long. It certainly was an adventure. I liked it. I fell right in to the world Roth delivers. I’m sure I will go on to read Insurgent. There are certainly characters I want to follow. It filled my dystopian craving (haven’t read a dystopian title lately) But . . . it’s a few days later and . . . it’s not totally sticking with me. I wrote on my Goodreads review that I felt like I was reading a movie and that is still how it feels. Much of it just did not go deep enough for me. I found the reviews on this book really extreme. People loved it or really didn’t and I can kind of see why.

The Wicked and the Just by J. Anderson Coats Fantastic historical fiction in a time and a place I knew little of – Wales in the late 1200s. Two girls with very different lives yet who share much of the same day to day experiences while Gwenhwyfar works in Cecily’s home. Narrated in turn by these two characters with very distinct voices and struggles. Gripping. Brace yourself for the end. Highly recommended.

Picture Books:

It seems I have a thing for books with bears or there are so many books out there that feature bears in starring roles that I just cannot help coming across them . . . Not sure. What do people think? Regardless, again I found some lovely books with bears!

Leaves by David Ezra Stein This is a wonderful book that reminds us how amazing nature is as it takes us through the changing seasons from the perspective of a young bear who marvels and worries over the falling leaves.

Little Bear’s Little Boat written by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Nancy Carpenter I have been on the lookout for some more board books ideal for sharing when our kindergarten reading buddies come to read with us each week. This title is so sweet with themes of growing up, being kind and accepting change.

Big Bear Hug by Nicholas Oldland Saving the forest one hug and one tree at a time. You’ve got to meet this bear.

Then I went on a bit of an Elephant and Piggie reading spree. Mo Willems can do no wrong. I read Should I share my ice cream?, Listen to my Trumpet, Elephants Cannot Dance and I Broke my Trunk. All wonderful. No wonder these are consistent favourites in my class always!

I loved this title in particular – as always it is an ode to friendship but I love also how it exposed the anxiety of indecision. And melting ice cream just can’t wait . . .

My children and I read many of our favourite holiday picture books leading up to Christmas. A new one for us this year?

A Christmas Tree for Pyn by Olivier Dunrea We loved how Pyn decorated her tree with found objects from nature and how the finding and setting up the tree linked the little girl and her father even in their sadness of a missing Mama.

A beautiful non-fiction title my family enjoyed was Island: A Story of the Galapagos by Jason Chin A simply gorgeous book detailing the birth of the Galapagos islands over millions of years and the fascinating creatures that inhabit them. This is a book we will return to often to further study the illustrations and explanations.