It’s Monday, March 11, what are you reading?

 

I am trying to cram in my first Monday reading update for a while. Weekends and Mondays have seemed to fly by without these posts writing themselves. I am posting on a few of the books I have enjoyed (but not all) since my last update three weeks ago. Thanks to Jen V. at teachmentortexts.com and Kellee and Ricki at unleashingreaders.com for their continued hosting of this great weekly kidlit roundup.

Books I Enjoyed Lately

Seeing as this one is currently on the New York Times’ best-sellers list it might not need much an introduction, but it is one of my favourite books of the year. Kids loving picking out the little details in the illustrations and that is getting it re-reads much the same way as Josh Funk and Brendan Kearney’s Lady Pancake books do in my library. The story is also phenomenal and readers get different things from it. It has been a picture book that teachers want to read for themselves and their classes in much the same way as Dan Santat’s After the Fall. Following up on their earlier hit, The Bad Seed, Jory John and Pete Oswald have a huge hit in this story about a good egg in a carton full of flawed characters that learns how to look after others and most importantly, itself.

This series is proving to be a lot of fun to read. It is the light, fun read that a lot of kids and adults need. The introduction of a female character was interesting. There were lots of laughs in the plot that picked up where the first one left off. I need to be adding this to my library.

This was a really funny picture book about a caterpillar that simply can’t wait patiently to become a butterfly. It needs to happen, right now! Lots of kids will be able to relate to this one, and they will love the colourful drawings too. My students really enjoy I Am Not a Chair by Ross Burach and we have to get this one, and maybe some of his older books as well.

I can’t say enough good things about this series. I really enjoyed it from the first book Last Day on Mars, through The Oceans Between Stars, and finally with this last installment. It is one of my favourite MG sci-fi series ever. This was a very satisfying conclusion to the Chronicle of the Dark Star series. I find that most science fiction that I enjoy address some of the big questions about life and humanity. This is a challenging task for a middle grade author but Kevin Emerson was up for it. His series has the right mix of action, humor and moments in which characters are considering things much bigger than themselves, or their families

I first read this as an ARC in the summer, and we picked it for our Battle of the Books this year in my district. I just read it again to refresh before my class does Literature Circles and to write questions for the district event. I really enjoy the humour and the great characters. Inkling is a creature that literally flies right off the page of the sketchbook of Ethan’s graphic novel writing father. The creature enters this family’s life at a challenging time as they are still mourning the death of Ethan’s mother and trying to make things work in their complicated family. Inkling provides support, comic relief and we knows what this family needs to get it moving forward again. This is a clever, quirky tale.

I was pleased to get this ARC from a member of Book Portage, the ARC sharing group I am fortunate to be a part of. This story takes place in Jakarta and like Inkling, also tells a story of a family that is missing a mother. There are some similarities, struggling fathers, and older children doing their best to take on roles they should not have to carry, but this is a far more gritty and realistic book. It has many of the qualities that I enjoyed about Amal Unbound when I read that book as part of Global Read Aloud. This is a great tale to help students see how someone far away might live a very different life from their own, although there may be some similarities as well. I will being seeking to add this to either my library or classroom library. This short, well written story is released on May 23.

Currently Reading:

I am reading lots of novels right now for a variety of purposes. Between Heaven and Earth is a novel my eight year old wanted to read with me. Truth be told, we have read some of it together, but she went ahead and finished it at school today, so I will be doing the same later tonight. OCDaniel is also part of my Battle of the Books and Literature Circles this year. The Son of Neptune is the second Heroes of Olympus book and some call it the seventh Percy Jackson book. It is our family read aloud. The Ruins of Gorlan is the start of one of my favourite action series, and I am reading it with my grade 6 students right now. Elements of Genius is my latest Book Portage title, and I have only read two chapters so far. It seems funny, and clever.

On deck

I just got Josh Funk’s It’s Not Hansel and Gretl and will be reading it tonight. I have been really looking forward to this one, and impatiently waiting for my pre-order to arrive. I making a list of books I can have over Spring Break based on when students are finished them. The Deciever’s Heart by Jennifer Nielsen is high on that list right now.

Thanks for stopping by here and I look forward to seeing what many of you have been reading lately.