It’s the last day of Summer, what have you been reading?

Today is, I believe, the last official day of summer. I missed writing last week about my reading and last night (when I would normally have queued up this post) but wanted to note my last few books of the summer here. Summer reading kind of ends when school begins, which for me was right after Labour Day and that kind of explains why I did not post last week and nearly missed this week, but I have read a few books that I would love to share with others. Thanks, as usual, to the Kellee, and Ricki at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts for providing a link-up for It’s Monday posts.

Books I Enjoyed Over the Last Two Weeks

This one is for more developed early chapter readers. It is the kind of book that sometimes gets missed in my library. I have students that are not up for reading slightly longer early chapter books when they are the right age from an interest perspective. When their reading skills are sufficient, they sometimes don’t have the interest in reading “animal stories.” But for those that do, I think they will enjoy this story, which I have seen compared to things like Winnie the Pooh. For me, it made me think of Kate DiCamillo’s Deckawoo Drive series. It wasn’t as humorous to me, but the interplay between Skunk and Badger reminded me a little of Eugenia and Baby Lincoln in that they have very different world views. There is a similar sense of whimsy as well. I am a big fan of Deckawoo Drive, and I am not saying I enjoyed this as much, but young readers that are fans of DiCamillo, might also enjoy this book.

This is the second book in a spin-off of John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice (RA) series. I have loved sharing that series with a few books and also with my own kids. It takes place in an author created world that resembles our own during medieval times. Rangers are kind of like a combination of the FBI and the CIA. This series takes place about 20 years after the original RA series and features a female main character, Maddie, who is the daughter of two characters from RA. Maddie gets pulled into a situation that someone of her age and experience shouldn’t really be getting into. A political group called The Red Fox Clan opposes females having the right to succession to the throne. When The Red Fox Clan gets more aggressive about creating change in Araluen they become a threat to the monarchy, and Rangers need to get involved.

Another really funny picture book from a team that I hope continues to collaborate. This book, along with You Don’t Want a Unicorn, pulls kids in quickly and forces out lots of giggles and belly laughs in my library. With the destruction of a pet unicorn still evident, our little friend decides he really needs to switch things up and get a pet dragon. This is, of course, a very bad and dangerous idea.

One of the best first week of school books I have ever read. Lots to unpack for groups of students trying to build community, be brave, try new things, and work together. Great humour in the words and illustrations.

A great addition to the series, I think fans will love being back in the mind of Jaron (I did). His defiant sense of humour shines again as he begins a battle with new enemies and some old friends. This is a fast paced thrill ride. This is exactly the escapist read I needed right now.

I think a lot of hockey fans, like me, will relate to this story of a boy who is initially disappointed with his “new” hand me down skates. Eventually, little Bobby (widely regarded as one of the all-time greatest hockey players) learns to love his skates and there is a great moment when he passes them on to someone else. The illustrations makes the book feel older, which kind of fits the subject matter with kids skating on frozen ponds. I enjoyed this, not sure people who are not hockey fans would though.

Currently Reading

I just started an ARC of Above All Else and I honestly haven’t gotten very far to describe it other than to say it is about mountain climbing which is clear from the title. My family and I are wrapping up our read of First Light this week. I started The False Prince with my grade 5/6 class today.

On Deck Reading

I would likely be reading Hatch but I lent it to someone (given how badly I want to read that book, you know it must be someone special- yes it is my wife). Hopefully, I get to start and read it this week and I have several new picture books to read while I (im)patiently wait. Thanks for reading my very late post for the week, and I hope to see what many others have been reading this week.