Summer Reading, Week Three

I'm rather behind in posting these, so no pictures. (I'm trying to keep my library fines under control this summer.) For some of the books, I'm not providing much of an explanation, either. You'll just have to check them out for yourself.


Picture Books
*Uncle Jed's Barbershop by Margaret Mitchell. Story of sacrifice and perseverance.

***What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. I drool over Steve Jenkins' paper-collage illustrations. They are unbelievable. There's a lot of interesting information packed into this book, too.


*Stellaluna  by Janell Cannon. Cute tale of a bat who is raised by birds.


Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs. An original tall tale.


 **Diary of a Fly by Doreen Cronin. Utterly delightful. Quite comical. And even educational. Three words I never thought I would use to describe a book about a fly.


***Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin. I read this book to a college rhetoric and research class when I was a TA. They loved it as much as small children do. Perfect illustration of the adage, "Never underestimate the power of the written word."


*Dandelions by Eve Bunting. Poignant story about a pioneer family going west.


Things That are Most in the World by Judi Barrett. The best book in the world to use for teaching superlatives. Also good if you just need a book to make your first graders laugh.

*A Drop of Water by Walter Wick (who is the photographer from the I SPY books). Beautiful non-fiction picture book using up-close photographs to teach about the properties of water.

Intermediate Literature

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Connelly. Sweet, happy, beautiful -- but not sappy. A book that I will be recommending to every elementary-age girl I know. (Not as much as The Penderwicks, but along those lines.)

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook by David Borgenicht and Joshua Piven. The authors did all kinds of research for this fascinating book. I now want to buy it for myself, just in case I ever need to escape from quicksand, jump from a building into a Dumpster, or tell if a package is actually a mail bomb. It's also very quotable.

Teen/Young Adult Literature
**First Part Last by Angela Johnson. An urban teenage boy deals with becoming a father.

***Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. One of the best books of the summer so far. Powerful, and incredibly well-written.

Page count this week: 1,024