Summer Reading, Week Four

My reading list was much shorter this past week, so you get an image for every one!

Picture Books

*Splash! by Ann Jonas. If you have kids who are learning to count, I highly recommend this book. Animals sliding, falling, and splashing in and out of the pond make the count different on every page.












That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Crowell. I brought this book along while nannying this week, and we read it several times amidst much laughter.

Intermediate Literature

**One-Handed Catch by Mary Jane Auch. Great story. Set just after WWII, it's the story of Norman, a sixth-grader who loses his hand in an accident. I particularly enjoyed the tone and voice of this book. A bit smart-alecky, but not too much.

***Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool. This is one of my three favorites so far! Best Newbery winner I've read this summer. Vanderpool weaves two story lines together in a way that made me feel like I was a part of the community she wrote about. Reminded me of Holes -- perhaps as good, even. (Coming from me, that's high praise!)






Teen / Young Adult Literature

**The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang, who lives in Minnesota! Excellent memoir of life as a refugee, first in Thailand and then here in Minnesota. I learned much about the Hmong people from this book.








Page count this week: 1,144. Eight fewer books than last week, but 120 pages more. They were some big books...

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

Summer Reading, Week Two

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
 Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx

This past two weeks, I haven't traveled anywhere without a book in my bag, just in case I get stranded with a few spare minutes. Waiting rooms are my new favorite places. And my workout routine has become even more boring than it was (did not know this was possible), as I now head for the stationary bike the second I walk through the door of the gym and read the entire time I'm there.

This binge (sanctioned, but a binge, nonetheless) has been bringing back memories of my childhood, when I spent most of my free time with my nose in a book. When I got in trouble, the consequence -almost always- was being grounded from reading. No books, no newspaper, no mail, no cereal box at the breakfast table, even. Since I was usually disciplined for reading instead of washing dishes or doing my homework, I guess the punishment fit the crime.

Not grounded yet (I'm trying to keep up with other aspects of life in a fairly adult fashion), but I'm looking over my shoulder, still. Didn't make it through quite as many this week, though my page count is similar to last weeks. Oh, and click here for a refresher on my starring rationale.

Picture books:

**The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin. Grace Lin is one of my new favorite children's authors. My class loved all her stuff this year. I think The Ugly Vegetables is one of her first books.

*Betsy Who Cried Wolf by Gail Carson Levine. This will be a fun read-aloud. Twist on the original fable, of course.

Intermediate books:

**Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry. Very cute. Set entirely in a second-grade classroom, and not too far off from reality. I've had students who could probably give Gooney Bird a run for her money. Would connect well to a unit on story writing.

Mercy Watson, Princess in Disguise by Kate DiCamillo. Beginner-level "chapter" book with lots of pictures. A five-year-old I know loves all the Mercy Watson books. Compared to anything else by DiCamillo, it's disappointing...but it was cute, I guess.

Teen/Young Adult Books:

** The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My favorite read so far. I was mesmerized by the story.

** Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. Not at all as fluffy as it sounds, though it still would be categorized as a girl read. A great girl read.

* Deadline by Chris Crutcher. Eighteen year old boy (who's 5'3", 123#)  finds out he has a terminal illness and decides to live his senior year to the fullest, going out for football, dating a girl who's eight inches taller than him, etc. There's a decided political undertone which I didn't love (didn't love the language, either), but the idea is interesting, and Crutcher makes it work.

Page count this week: 1,162 (not counting the picture books)

Summer Reading: Books I Hope to Finish

I'm plowing through my literature assignments, but I have other books I'm crawling my way through, hoping to give them decent attention throughout the summer. Heart-related books, the kind you have to chew (no snarfing allowed). A feast, just in these three:

Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson. Need to give this one its own blog post soon. It is transforming the way I see the gospel, which is transforming the way I see lots of other things. You want to read this.

How People Grow by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. I've been working on this one for a couple of years. Bottom line: how all growth is spiritual growth. Good stuff. 

Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I never quite feel ready to engage with this book at the level I think it deserves, so I'll read a few pages and put it down. It's a dangerous message, and I don't dare zip through it without letting the Holy Spirit talk to me about it. 

Summer Reading, Part One: Best Homework I've Ever Had

This summer, I'm taking a grad class on K-12 literature requiring me to read well over 50 books. I'm in bookworm heaven, mostly. The gritty part of writing bibliography entries and pulling out themes, well, that still feels like work. But mowing through the pile of books on the coffee table (currently, there are 41)? This is homework?! 

For all you fellow bibliophiles, here's what I read the past week. Stars (*) denote my personal level of recommendation. One: worth your time. Two: excellent and moving. Three: stunning (or I somehow just read it on a really good day).

How week one stacked up...

Picture Books
**The yellow star: the legend of King Christian X of Denmark by Carmen Agra Deedy. Story isn't exactly true, but inspiring nonetheless. And beautiful. Would be great to include in teaching about WWII at any age level.   
 
*The lion and the mouse by Jerry Pinkney. One of the most gorgeous, engaging wordless picture books I've seen.


Zarafa: the giraffe who walked to the king by Judith St. George. True story; the title says it all. Lovely illustrations.


The windigo’s return: a north woods story by Douglas Wood. Native American legend; Minnesotans could appreciate it on a few levels...


Snoring Beauty by Bruce Hale. Humorous, irreverent retelling of Sleeping Beauty. 

***The cats in Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse. Another powerful picture book relating to WWII. Would be excellent for older kids.


**Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming. Yet another view on WWII and its aftermath. Based on a true story.


Why kings and queens don't wear crowns by Princess Martha Louise. Cute...


**Flotsam by David Wiesner. Wiesner is one of my favorite illustrators. This smirky, off-beat wordless book is a reason why. I can look at these pictures for hours.


Children's Literature
**Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. Well-written story about a settlement in Canada of escaped or freed slaves. I really liked the interaction between the narrator, an eleven-year-old boy, with the adults of his community. Touches on difficult themes relating to slavery and freedom, but overall, hopeful and full of life.





Nory Ryan’s song by Patricia Reilly Giff. Intermediate-level book about the Potato Famine in Ireland. Sweet characters, sober plot, lots of historical connections to pull in.

*The lightning thief by Rick Riordian. Engaging story. Interesting twist related to Greek mythology. Lots of good action and characters I cared about. And though I predicted some of it (a knowledge of mythology "sets up" some of the scenes, making it more interesting), I didn't see it all. Will probably read the rest of the series...

**When you reach me by Rebecca Stead. Apparently, lots of people hate this book. I was not one of them. Was fascinated from the beginning.



Young Adult Literature
**I am the messenger by Markus Zusak. There's plenty of colorful language throughout the book that I could do without, but the story drew me in right away. Loved the plot and the characters.


**Out of the dust by Karen Hesse. Novel set in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl, narrated in poetry. The sparse, rich text mirrors the setting and struggle of the characters. Quick read, but certainly worthwhile.


Page count this week: 1280, not counting the picture books or the 500 page Zusak book (since I read it a month ago).