Veera Hiranandani | There's a Book for That

While January 1st is all about looking ahead to a new year, it is also a day to gaze back. I am celebrating a year of reading that was not as vast as usual but full of quality and meaningful reads.

Which books stand out? Which titles still enter my thoughts? Which books would I consider rereading? Which books have I read to multiple audiences? What are the books that spoke to me the loudest? Books full of wonder. Inspiration. Humanity. Sorrow and hope. Books I recommend highly. Books I am pleased to celebrate here.

The 18 books that made the final cut? I chose across multiple genres.

18 books and no more than 18 words of raving. This was my challenge last year with my Favourites of 2017. Each year it has been the same: Favourites of 2016 (16 books, 16 words) Favourites of 2015 (15 books, 15 words), Favourites of 2014 (14 books, 14 words), Favourites of 2013 (13 books, 13 words) and (12 books, 12 words) with my 2012 Favourites. Each year, I get one more book and one more word to play with!

Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal

“Where did your name come from?” A wonderful way to learn so much.

A House That Once Was written by Julie Fogliano with illustrations by Lane Smith

No longer a home but definitely a house full of secrets, stories and imagined memories.

I Walk with Vanessa: A Story about a Simple Act of Kindness by Kerascoët

Witness what it is to be an upstander. There are all kinds of ways to respond.

Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love

Be who you are. Find your community. Feel loved. All the feels.

Julian is a mermaid

The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld

Sometimes it is all about being heard.

Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli written by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Julie Morstad

A fantastic biography of a wonderfully creative individual and how she perceived the world.

Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World written by Susan Hood and illustrated by 13 extraordinary female illustrators

Nonfiction perfection – inspired poetry, additional information and incredible illustrations. Introducing readers to inspiring female role models.

The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor

Root for Mason Buttle as every kind of grief soaked kind of bad luck gets thrown at him.

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

Just a beautiful, heart wrenching title. Written as a diary to a mother that died in childbirth.

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh

Find hope, courage and an important reminder of what it is to be a citizen of the world. Outstanding.

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Immigration. The sacrifices of immigrant parents. Poverty. Discrimination. And the will and spirit of a one young girl.

Lousiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo

Take an emotional walk alongside Louisiana Elefante as she tells her story. Served with chocolate marble cake please.

Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake

Ivy’s family survives a hurricane but that’s just the beginning. Family. Loss. New love. Amazing!

Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

A testament to a racist & troubled history. Family ties. Beginning friendships. Modern day mystery is woven through history.

Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Chaya is a courier in the Jewish ghettos. Everything is about danger, life and death and unthinkable choices.

Resistance

No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen

Such a story of friendship and family dynamics is told while exploring aspects of poverty, mental health & homelessness.

No Fixed Address

In Sight of Stars by Gae Polisner

Beautiful writing takes us through the hard and heartbreak of the grieving process – sometimes overwhelmingly muddled.

In Sight of Stars

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

When first love is complicated by the rest of the world and their racist and stereoptypical perspectives.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea

Please share your own favourites of the year . . .

Wishing everyone a 2019 full of new favourites and lots of reading!

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

Some reading photos to share:

This one is of a very devoted little reader who had a captive audience well before 9 a.m.

Love that the books being shared during buddy reading were books our class had written!

#classroombookaday titles from the last month have included many themes.

Gardens.

Spooky stories.

Talking about peace and the impact of war.

Refugees and seeking peace and a new home.

Classroom Highlights

Follow along with us through our classroom twitter account @CuriosityRacers

Some highlights from our last month of learning:

We have loved learning about the brain and each drew a labelled diagram.

Busy drawing in the Art and Discovery studio after we finished our prints.

The printmaking process was incredible and the insect prints turned out to be truly amazing!

Story Workshop continues to be a highlight of our week with so many incredible stories being shared!

A large part of math exploring has been around larger numbers – building and stretching numbers into the hundreds.

We are well on our way to creating our second “published” books – monster handbooks called The Monstore. Some incredible monsters are on display inside these pages!

Students have been discussing, drawing about and writing about peace.

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 read:

I Am Human: A Book of Empathy by Susan Verde with illustrations by Peter H. Reynolds

Another incredible collaboration between Verde and Reynolds. I love the emphasis on compassion, celebrating mistakes and being wonderfully imperfect.

Carmela Full of Wishes written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson

Carmella wants to be big enough to follow her big brother on his daily errands and chores. Finally she is! A story of siblings family and community. Quite lovely.

The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson with illustrations by Rafael López

Ah this book! The power of our differences and individuality and the worry that we aren’t going to be included when we feel different from others. All of these feelings are celebrated, honoured and explored in this title.

Boo Who? by Ben Clanton

Awfully cute for Halloween.

Misunderstood Shark written by Ame Dyckman and illustrated by Scott Magoon

Wonderfully amusing! Prepare for lots of giggles.

Polar Bear Island written by Lindsay Bonilla and illustrated by Cinta Villalobos

What happens when a little penguin arrives on an island exclusive to polar bears? A cute little story celebrating new friendships.

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

Just a beautiful, heart wrenching title. Written as a diary to a mother that died in childbirth. A must read title.

Where the Watermelons Grow by Cindy Baldwin

A tough story about a young girl trying to manage at home with a tiresome but loveable little sibling, a father overwhelmed by a failing farm in a hot, dry summer and a mother with mental illness that is getting worse and nowhere close to better. Della’s feelings of responsibility make it all too much. An amazing read for middle grade students.

Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh

In this beautifully written story find hope, courage and an important reminder of what it is to be a citizen of the world . Highly recommended. An absolutely incredible read. I cried through the last 20 minutes of reading this book.

Up next? I am reading Sunny by Jason Reynolds