#IMWAYR 8/22/22

This is the start of my last full week off. I have a three days of professional development sessions starting on Monday, next week and then the following week it is the start of another school year for me, with students in session. I have continued to focus on previewing books that I might purchase in the next few months for my school library with a couple that I just obtained thrown in. This week I noticed that I read a lot more picture books than usual.

I am happy to link my collection of books read this week with those of other bloggers at Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers, thanks to our hosts once again for setting us up this week. While I haven’t read as many books as normal this year, I have really enjoyed re-entering this community of bloggers and seeing lots of different viewpoints on books (some new to me, and some not).

Books I Enjoyed This Week

4.5 stars. I have read reviews, and promotional material suggesting this would be great for fans of DiCamillo or Applegate and I can see that. This is a warm hearted friendship story that takes place in a bizzare, colourful town. It’s a hopeful story. Things can change, they can get better, not everything, but even things that have been one way for a long time or seem inevitable. It also has one of the best exchanges between a father and a son, particular given that this relationship is not the focus on the story. I didn’t love the setting, when you read this one, you will know what I mean. But there are several passages that have really stuck with me since I finished it, parts that you will want to share with those people in your life that you immediately read to when you love something and want their opinion. I was able to read this through Edelweiss at it publishes on August 30.

More fun in the sequel to this new series from the author of Bird and Squirrel. Will Agent 9 succeed in his next mission and become Spy of the Month? Will his new partner spoil it for him or will he learn to work as part of a team? This is another book that I accessed through Edelweiss that is available on August 30.

Cute early reader, very early. These types of books tend to look a little like a graphic novel. This one is in a series and kids have loved the one that I had gifted to me last year. Over the summer I bought the first four and have read this one. It has full page colour art and a short story format.

Slight spoiler alert here. Kindness mattered but it seemed the egg only learned part of a lesson that helping, and organizing were his talents and he didn’t need an act at the next talent show. Not everyone has to be in a talent show. If you love the larger picture books in this series, there is more of the same here. Solid word play and humor leading to a message at the end. The art is always cute too.

If you love hockey and/or cliches on Canadian culture (pigs are referred to as Canadian Bacon and there is the obligatory poutine reference) this might be the one for you. The titular pigs avoid a more typical face-off with the Big Bad Wolf in favour of a hockey game against him, a bear and a moose. There are lots of hockey references mixed in like, “not by the (helmet) strap of my chinny-chin-chin,” Canadian food references in the art work as well. I accessed this one through Edelweiss but it already in stores.

The follow-up to The Most Magnificent Thing feels like it’s more suited to creators, I think it is dedicated to anyone who has had to look at an empty page, but the idea is one that I am sure I will be discussing with kids in the next few weeks. What to do when you do not have an idea. The young creator and her pet in this one certainly engage in a number of different strategies. This is a solid follow-up, but its also okay if you haven’t read the earlier story. This was another picture book I accessed through Edelweiss at is scheduled for release on my first day of school with students, September 6.

Ever since I started to work in the K-7 library, I have had lots of kids who declare David Shannon their favourite picture book author. One of the teachers at my school reads a lot of his stuff and that helps. So do pictures of kids running around in their underwear and/or involved in mayhem. They have made me familiar with his work and they are usually quite funny. His newest book is a spin on the tale of Midas. Max Midas is a kid who really only cares about gold. He gets very good at making money and acquiring more of it at pretty much any cost. He even sabotages another kids lemonade stand that was raising money for charity. When his love for gold goes too far, he is able to see what else he has been missing in life. I also obtained this from Edelweiss and it is also scheduled to be released on September 6.

Currently Reading/On Deck Reads

This is the book that I am about half finished as I write this. Kenneth Oppel’s newest arrives on September 6 and the cover tells a lot about the premise. That first sentence, “Rebecca Strand was sixteen the first time she saw her father kill a ghost…” kind of pulled me in.

I have some more e-ARCs in my options pile that come out in about two weeks…

And some physical books that I would love to preview before passing them to kids soon…

Thanks for stopping by to look at what I have been reading. Let me know if you have some ideas about what needs to be pulled off the options pile and into my hands. Hope you all had a great week and if you posted, I hope to see what you have read very soon.