It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? Weekend Bookstore Bliss!

It’s Monday and I’m happy to be participating in a weekly event with a community of bloggers who post reviews of books that they have read the previous week. Check out more IMWAYR posts here: Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers

My husband:  How’s the beer on the deck?

Me:  I’m still in the book store.

My husband:  You are a nerd.

Me:  And proud of it.

I experienced book bliss this weekend when I spent over two blissful hours in Mosaic Books in Kelowna.   From the fiction, to the bargain tables, to the travel biographies, and ending with the children’s section – I was in book heaven!

Here are just a few of the books that caught my eye (and some I had to buy!)

The Toad – Elise Gravel

I squealed with delight when I saw that Elise Gravel had added another book to her ever-so-popular-cannot-keep-these-books-on-the-book-shelf Disgusting Critter series.  A perfect balance between information and humour with a splash of gross topped off with delightful illustrations!  LOVE!

School’s First Day of School – Adam Rex

Charming and whimsical, mark this as a wonderful new back to school read-aloud.   Told from the point of view of the school, this is a fresh perspective on first day jitters!  Delightful illustrations by Christian Robinson (Last Stop on Market Street)

Circle – Jeannie Baker

With a wheelchaired-boy’s wish to fly as the starting point, we follow the incredible journey of godwits as they travel from Australia and New Zealand to the Arctic where they look for places to eat and breed.  Jeannie Baker’s collage illustrations are stunning and I was happy to find more detailed information about the birds at the back of the book.

Lion Lessons – Jon Agee

Witty and charming book that teaches you the seven steps to becoming a great lion and earning a lion diploma!   This would make an excellent participation read-aloud, as younger readers can practice the steps of ‘looking fierce’ and ‘pouncing around’!  What fun!

Douglas, You Need Glasses! – Ged Adamson

Adorable story about a near-sighted dog who needs glasses.  Gentle and humorous, children will laugh when Douglas mistakes leaves for squirrels and steps in the wet cement because he couldn’t read the sign.  And yes, the print on the cover is blurry!

Let Me Finish! – Minh Le

Adorable book about a little boy who can’t read a book without someone spoiling the ending for him. Sparse text and lively illustrations – this book will make a wonderful read-aloud for younger students and a good reminder for older students of how NOT to give a book talk!  

Louise and Andie and the Art of Friendship – Kelly Light

In this follow-up to Louise Loves Art, this book explores making new friends, and the challenges friends face when they don’t see things in quite the same way.   I appreciated the realistic approach to their friendship fight and the hurt feelings that many students will connect to. I also liked that Andie was an Andy Warhol fan!

Ideas Are All Around Us – Philip C. Stead

The latest from one of my favorite authors, this book is inspiring and beautiful.  In it, an author and his dog go for a walk and discover stories everywhere.  This would make an excellent anchor book for writing workshop and discussing where ideas for writing come from.

Be Frank With Me – Julia Clairborne Johnson

Our last book club read of the summer was  a delightful read, with quirky, charming characters.  I fell in love with young Frank, an eccentric,on-the-spectrum, friendless 9-year old boy who has very little connection with his grade four classmates because he dresses in 1930’s movie star costumes and has the wit and sophistication of an adult.  Frank is being looked after by a young publisher’s assistant while his reclusive mother, the once famous Mimi Banning, completes her first book in decades.   This book is light-hearted, touching and thoroughly entertaining.  A wonderful debut novel and a perfect summer read.

The Book of Speculation – Erika Swyler

And from the bargain fiction table at Mosaic, I picked up this 2015 release.  I was drawn in by the cover and started making connections to  The Night Circus  when I read...”A wonderful tale of mystery, magic, carnivals, mermaids, tarot and through it all is the book of speculation linking the lives of two families.”  Sounds intriguing, I loved Night Circus – and it was on sale!  I’ll keep you posted!

Thanks for stopping by!  Which book has caught your eye?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – New for Spring Part 2!

It’s Monday and I’m happy to be participating in a weekly event with a community of bloggers who post reviews of books that they have read the previous week. Check out more IMWAYR posts here: Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers

Wolfie, the Bunny – Ame Dyckman

I have heard a lot of positive things about this book since its release in February but I had not read it.  Now I know why everyone loves it so much!  It is a charming tale of a family of bunnies who discover a wolf on their doorstep.  While the parents are overjoyed and welcome the new baby, Dot, their only daughter, is more than a little skeptical about her new sibling and fears they will all soon be eaten!  This book is so much fun to read, full of wonderful illustrations and hilarious lines. Dot is a great character – full of spunk and insight.   I love the way she keeps shouting about how Wolfie’s going to eat them with slight variations, finally just giving up.  “Oh, skip it!”   A brilliant book about new babies, sibling rivalry and unconditional love.  Laughs, surprises, suspense – this book has it all!  Perfect read-aloud and would also make a fantastic Reader’s Theater!

Zoo – Suzy Lee

This is an interesting almost wordless picture book about a girl visiting the zoo with her parents and ends up getting lost.  The two parallel stories, one told in words from the girl’s perspective, the other totally different story is told through the pictures from the parents’ perspective.   Reminiscent of “Voices in the Park” by Anthony Browne,  there is distinct contrast of the cooler tones for the parents’ perspective and the warmer, brighter, more energetic tones for the girl’s perspective.  I would definitely recommend this book to use with older students to practice inferring.

By Mouse and Frog – Deborah Freedman

This charming story is about two friends who co-write a book together.  Thoughtful Mouse has his quiet ideas for writing, while exuberant Frog has his own great ideas he wants to include.  This is a wonderful book to teach kids about working together and the importance of listening and valuing others’ opinions.  The illustrations are adorable.  This is definitely a book for sharing with a class.   

Fisherman Through and Through – Colleen Sydor

This was a book that stayed with me after I finished with it.  (Always a good sign for me that there was some “transformed thinking” occurring!)  It tells the tale of three dedicated fisherman – Peter, Santiago and Ahab – who fish the waters every day but long for a more interesting life.  During their long days, they share their dreams of better days.  One day, they catch an extraordinary and unusual fish they have never seen before – a lobster.   The lobster attracts much attention and soon they are surrounded by photographers and are offered a great sum of money for it, enough money to fulfill all their dreams.  (major connections to John Steinbeck’s The Pearl)   But the fisherman realize it is impossible to imagine their life without the water, their fishing rods and each other — and return their special catch back to the sea.  Whimsical illustrations, rhythmical text and for older students, could be the starting point for discussion on sustainability and human interaction with the environment. 

 Outstanding in the Rain – Frank Viva

Oh!  The creative cleverness of this book!  The story of a young boy and his mother spending the day at an amusement park is told through a series of die-cut “holes”.  As you turn the pages, different cut shapes reveal different scenes and different words.  Balloons become frozen treats, for example.  Clever word play and crafted illustrations.  Lots of fun to read and re-read!

Prickly Jenny – Sibylle Delacroix

This book is a perfect “connect” book for younger children.  We have all had “prickly” days – when we just can’t make up our minds what we want!  Jenny wants to be left alone, but she cries when her mom goes away; she wants to wear her old T-shirt instead of her new dress, and that’s that.  Jenny wants things her way, but she’s not always sure what her way is.  I loved the small format of this book and the lovely chalk pastel illustrations focusing on Jenny’s expressive face. And my new favorite word for grumpy is “prickly”!

Welcome to the Neighborwood – Shawn Sheehy

Oooooo – you must see this stunning pop-up book that focuses on the interconnectedness of animal homes.  (Hummingbird builds a nest with Spider’s webs, Spider eats Honeybee, etc).   This is an impressive debut picture book with dramatic pop-up paper-collage illustrations,  similar to Steve Jenkins.  Readers are introduced to seven woodland animals, each of whom uses unique construction to build their home independently, yet live together as part of an ecosystem.  This one is a show-stopper!

Math at the Art Museum – Group Majoongmul (author’s collaborative)

Math concepts can sometimes be difficult to explain or illustrate to young children. This is a charming and very clever picture book that introduces math concepts through concrete examples found in art. Two children and their parents are viewing famous artwork (including Picasso, Kandinsky and Seurat) in a museum. Their father explains that there is math, both hidden and visible, in works of art. While at first the young boy doesn’t believe him, as he begins to look at the art in a new way, he begins to discover the “hidden” math. Hands-on activities and elementary mathematical concepts that relate to perspective, composition, symmetry, patterns are included. This is certainly a book that can be used for both Art and Math lessons – a “2 for 1 text”! Love it!

Tell the Wolves I’m Home – Carol Rifka Brunt

For Book Club this month, we are reading this debut novel by Carol Rifka Brunt.  The story is set in 1987 and is told through the voice of June, a 14 year old girl who has just lost her favorite uncle to AIDS.  Her uncle was an artist and right before he dies, he paints a portrait of June and her older sister, Greta.  Her uncle leaves behind his partner, Toby, who forms an unlikely friendship with June after Finn’s death.  Together they find comfort in sharing their grief for the person they each loved most in the world.  There is also a story line of June’s fractured relationship with her troubled sister Greta.   The book kind of snuck up on me – I wasn’t expecting to feel so much when I first started reading it.  At times, it was difficult to read and I felt overwhelmed with emotion.  This book is haunting, beautiful, tragic, powerful, gut-wrenching, complex, poignant.  The writing is achingly beautiful – with so many lines and quotes I marked as I read.  This book has earned a coveted place on the “top shelf” of my book club collection.

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Please let me know which book caught your eye!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – Boats, a moose and a panda!

It’s Monday and I’m happy to be participating in a weekly event with a community of bloggers who post reviews of books that they have read the previous week.  Check out more IMWAYR posts here: Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers

Toy Boat – Randall de Seve

I love Loren Long’s illustrations so was immediately drawn to this new book.  It is the story of a little boy and his beloved homemade toy boat.  The boy and his boat are inseparable until a storm comes up and the boat blows away.  We then follow the boat as it begins its own adventure alone  excited at first to be “free” but encounters some dangerous situations and eventually is reunited with the boy.  The illustrations and colors are amazing – I loved the “face” on the boat!    This would be a great book for making connections to favorite toys for younger students and but older students may infer that the boy and boat could be a metaphor for a parent and child relationship.

Three Bears in a Boat – David Soman

WOW!  I am IN LOVE with this book!  And quite a shift from Soman’s previous Ladybug Girl!  This story has it all – breathtaking illustrations an epic adventure and a subtle message.  Three sibling bears accidently break their mother’s favorite blue seashell.  So, rather than telling her, they set off to try to find her a new one.  Their search brings them adventure but they cannot find any blue seashells.  A rather unpredictable ending but a very forgiving mother makes everything right in the end.  A great book for questioning and predicting with a  few fun literary devises thrown in for adults!  I predict this will be the buzz book of the summer!

Once Upon a Balloon – Bree Galbraith

Last week, I was “gifted” with a brand new picture book written by first time local Vancouver author Bree Galbraith.  Bree is graphic designer and a graduate from Emily Carr University.  Have you ever wondered where balloons go when they float away?  Theo does, when he accidently lets go of the string of his party balloon.  His older brother, Zeke, luckily knows everything about the land of lost balloons – they are collected by “Frank” and end up in the windy city of Chicago. After learning about what Frank does, Theo decides to send him a message of thanks. This story is whimsical and imaginative and the illustrations by Isabelle Malenfant are delightful.  A great book to celebrate gratitude and acts of kindness.

This is a Moose – Richard T. Morris

The setting of this hilarious story is a movie set where Director Duck is making a documentary about Moose.  But the Moose who is staring in the movie does not, in fact, want to be an actor, or a moose – he wants to be an astronaut!  Enter Moose’s zany forest friends to help him including a superhero chipmunk a lacrosse-playing grandma!  Lots of action, fantastic illustrations by Tom Lichtenheld and great message of following your dreams!

Chengdu Could Not, Would Not Fall Asleep– Barney Saltzberg

This book is adorable!  Poor Chengdu!  He cannot fall asleep no matter how hard he tries!  This book is adorable – and includes innovative, interactive fold out pages with wonderful artwork.  A great book for connecting and a perfect book for panda lovers!

Help!  We Need a Title!  – Herve Tullet

The basic steps in writing a story is the premise of this book as quirky characters are about to go through their day but need help because their story hasn’t been written yet!  I really liked how the story was a “work in progress” and the readers interact with the characters to write the book.  Clever and cute!

The Boys in the Boat – Daniel James Brown

And now in keeping with my “boat” theme – I am currently reading the nonfiction book The Boys in the Boat.  Our book club pick for this month is the true story of University of Washington’s eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal in 1936.  I am only about 1/3 of the way through but am loving it!  It is the story of undeniable courage and a shared dream that 9 working class boys from the United States had.  Many of the stories came from the boys’ diaries and journals and the book includes real photographs.  The main  focus is Joe Rantz, a teenager without family who is not rowing for glory or fame but to regain his shattered self.  This is, by far, one of the best nonfiction books I have read in a long time.  Emotional, interesting, inspiring!

Thanks for stopping by!  What have you been reading this week!