Mark Fearing | There's a Book for That

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

Each week I share a reading photo of the week. Here are three.

Early morning and my room fills up with students reading books with each other. How I love this!

Student led conferences often included a read aloud from a favourite one or two Mock Caldecott titles. The Night Gardener is being shared here.

Finding a reading nook 🙂

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:

For Nonfiction 10 for 10: Dive Down Deep

Books I enjoyed:

The Tree: A Fable by Neal Layton

There is something wonderfully powerful about this title. Powerful and refreshing. How do we share a natural space? Would pair perfectly with Where’s the Elephant? by Barroux

Tony by Ed Galing and illustrated by Erin E Stead

Oh these illustrations. Gentle. Lovely.

I Am Not a Chair! by Ross Burach

Wonderfully hilarious. A book about being who you are and being courageous enough to make sure others know it.

Nope! A Tale of First Flight by Drew Sheneman

Basically wordless. First flight can seem terrifying and a well executed “nope” should be respected, shouldn’t it?

The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! by Carmen Agra Deedy and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

So if you are going picture book shopping, this title needs to go on the top of your list. Don’t leave the store without it. I couldn’t. An allegorical tale that will make you giggle and nod vigorously and leap up and shout in agreement. Our voices cannot be silenced. Oh, this book is timely. Cannot recommend it enough.

Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima

Who we are, where we belong, how big all of this can be. Lovely little book.

A Greyhound, a Groundhog written by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Chris Appelhans

A beautiful book. Wonderfully playful illustrations. Wonderfully playful word play. Find a group of little ones and read this aloud!

Earthling by Mark Fearing

Don’t get on the wrong bus! What a fun graphic novel! This will be a well read, well loved title in my classroom.

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Wow. Yes, this is a YA love story but it’s more than that. Love stories don’t often hold my interest. This book is a story of being ridiculously human. About hope and faith and choices and kindness. About family and responsibility and dreams.

I have also been reading a lot for the Cybils awards (nonfiction category) Winners will be announced tomorrow!

Reading Progress updates:

2017 Chapter Book Challenge: 8/75 complete

Goodreads Challenge: 44/365 books read

Progress on challenge: 2 books ahead of schedule

#MustReadin2017: 5/30 complete

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: 10/50 titles

Diverse Books in 2016: 6/50 books read

U next>I am reading Finding Perfect by Elly Swartz

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

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. One of the very best ways to discover what to read next!

Picture books I enjoyed this week:

How to Hide a Lion by Helen Stephens

I found this picture book so endearing. It is truly about a little girl attempting to hide a lion in her house. The lion’s expressions are hilarious. Love the old fashioned feeling of the illustrations. Would be the perfect book for story time.

Bits & Pieces by Judy Schachner

Shhh. Confession: I am not a fan of Schachner’s popular Skippyjon Jones series. I love the illustrations but the stories just don’t do it for me. So I went into this book with some skepticism. I was quite pleasantly surprised. The illustrations are lovely and the story is ideal for cat lovers everywhere. It really speaks to the eccentricities of animals and the absolute love their owners have for them. Sweet.

Aviary Wonders Inc. Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual by Kate Samworth

I think this book is a must own. I featured it in my Nonfiction Wednesday post this past week. Gorgeous art. Odd in the most delightful ways.

If You Hold a Seed by Elly MacKay

Travel time and various seasons with a little boy who plants a seed. Soon that seed is a tree. The light in these illustrations is incredible.

How Martha Saved her Parents From Green Beans written by David LaRochelle and illustrated by Mark Fearing

Lots of silly. Ideal for children who love drama, clear bad guys and big doses of humour. Martha must save her green-bean-consumping-pushy parents from a wild band of green bean hooligans who have captured them. Maybe just too silly. Maybe not.

How Big Were Dinosaurs? by Lita Judge

I am in such awe of Lita Judge. She delivers information about dinosaurs through beautiful illustrations and interesting facts. Each dinosaur featured here is drawn next to something that children already know to allow them to imagine the exact size of the dinosaur. For example, the velociraptor was only the size of a modern day dog. The image shown is of a velociraptor on a leash near by a dog also out for a walk. Engaging and endearing.

Other reading? After reading an impressive seven novels last week, I only finished one this week. Basically, this is because I have been healthy (nothing like being sick in bed to get lots of reading finished) and busy with parent teacher conferences and my children’s events. But, if I could only read one novel, this was a fantastic read!

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

I am quite hooked on these Lunar Chronicles and look forward to getting my hands on Cress, the final book in the trilogy. I was impressed how both Cinder and Scarlet played key roles in this novel. Like the first in the series, it was highly entertaining – full of dramatic twists, lots of action and fascinating characters. All of the characters link together beautifully.

*Updated: I just discovered that there is actually going to be a fourth title in this series called Winter to be released in 2015! Excited!

Next up? I have just started Allegiant and another wonderful stack of #MustReadin2014 titles including Better Nate than Ever in my pile of reads for this break.

Reading Goal updates:

2014 Chapter Book Challenge: 20/100 novels complete

Goodeads Challenge: 133/650 books read

#MustReadin2014: 9/30 complete

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: 42/65 complete