It’s Monday What are you Reading- July 10, 2017

This weekly meme with a kidlit theme is hosted each week at teachmentortexts.com and unleashingreaders.com. Many of us are either at or thinking about the fun of events like Nerdcamp Michigan (certainly a bucket list item for a book person as far away as I. I know people will have fun and I hope to see those pics as well), but my thought are also with all of the people impacted by the insanely high number of forest fires in BC this week. A number of towns around the province have been evacuated and I find myself jumping over to Twitter looking for updates when I would prefer to be reading. That being said, I started a very long book for adults this week, and read some shorter kidlit when I did not want to lug around this large hardcover.

 

All finished these books!

I saw this book on few lists last week (or maybe it was just one- I should remember so that I can thank that person) and it reminded me of a few other picture books I have been seeing that have English and Cree words, as well as a YA novel called Lightfinder that I read last summer. I enjoyed the simple text and colourful pictures. I couldn’t help but think of my own summers picking berries with my Mom where I employed the mantra of one for the bucket and one for me. This is a much more beautiful story, well written and illustrated with a useful Cree glossary at the end. More for a single reader in size than a large group story time format. A good addition to a school library.

A fresh take on the classic Jack and the Beanstalk, this Jack and his family are going through a rough time. Bills are adding up, Mom is working more, and Jack has to be more responsible and look after his younger sister, Maddy, who has special needs of her own. A trade that Jack makes for some magic seeds (here is one Jack and the Beanstalk like moment) changes his and Maddy’s life forever in this gripping graphic novel that will have young readers requesting the second installment which is arriving soon. I couldn’t read this during the year because it was always out, as Ben Hatke’s books got very popular last year (we have his Zita and the Spacegirl series, and Little Robot as well). This one really connected with grades four and up, with Jack seeming to be a middle school aged early teen. If you don’t have this one, go ahead and pre-order the second at the same time (Sept. 5 is when Mighty Jack and the Goblin King arrives) because you and your students will need both.

Cute western tale set in a world where dinosaurs are used similar to how horses are used in the Old West. Some funny parts leading to a predictable but pleasant conclusion. Emerging readers may enjoy this series. Some potty style humor that I might have said was geared to boys until my daughter turned six and started loving that same brand of comedy.

Maybe not everyone will find this one funny, but I found the quirky characters enjoyable, and the toilet humour worked for me. Silly, enjoyable fun for kids that like Diary of a Wimpy Kid (aren’t teachers, librarians, and Jeff Kinney tired of reading that! Can’t believed I just wrote these words). If you were a fan of the Disgusting Critter series that Elise Gravel wrote, this deserves a look as well.

Currently Reading:

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. is the book that has taken most of my reading time this week. Its by one of my favourite writers, Neal Stephenson along with Nicole Galland, whose work I am unfamiliar with. Stephenson is a guy who can write historical fiction and speculative fiction kind of at the same time. I know that doesn’t really sound like it makes sense but I think it would if you were familiar with his other works such as Cryptonomicon or Seveneves. This one involves time travel, which makes my statement much easier to comprehend. In this book a linguist from Harvard begins work with a “shadowy government entity” type to form the Department of Diachronic Operations in order to try to revive magic, the death of which is attributed to developments in science and technology. That might sound like a spoiler but its on the flap and the book is about 750 pages so that is really just a jumping off point. I think I will finish this book this week and then move back into more kidlit.

The Adventurers Guide to Successful Escapes is our family read and still working very well for us. We will finish this week. Its a very funny, light fantasy quest novel. Its working for a seven year old and a ten year old. Kids who read Percy Jackson and Harry Potter novels whenever possible.

The Spell Thief is the book I am reading with my seven year old. It is a good level for her, so I think a lot of mid-primary students could read it. The story has us intrigued so far, a lot of familiar fairy tale characters have appeared with a boy named Anansi being the most interesting. The bookmark has not moved as far on this one as we have been concentrating more on The Adventurer’s Guide…

On deck books:

I checked out a few at the library, which I really did not need to. Swarmed, the second in the Zeroes series by Scott Westerfeld, Deborah Biancotti, and Margo Lanagan. I enjoyed the first one, although I thought it dragged on bit. I wasn’t sure I was going to get this one when it came out, but it popped in front of me at the library. I also grabbed Posted by John David Anderson and Restart by Gordon Korman so I may pick up any of these three. However, I ordered some books and they arrived to, including Orphan Island which I have been waiting to read. So, you should expect to read about one of those books if you are here next week. Thanks for popping by my blog, and happy reading to you this week!