Monday, May 9, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?



Thanks to Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers for hosting this meme!

Favorite Book of the Week!
Grace and I are huge fans of Elephant and Piggie!  We own about half of the books in the series, so of course, we had to preorder the final book!  I think the final page is the perfect conclusion to this incredible collection!  Thank you, Elephant and Piggie, for helping my daughter to fall in love with reading!

New Middle Grade Novels

I agree with all of the book buzz on Twitter - I loved Raymie Nightingale!  The characters reminded me of India Opal and her friends in Because of Winn Dixie.  Everyone needs friends like the Rancheros!  Kate DiCamillo's character development is beautiful as the story evolves. I would highly recommend this book as a read aloud!  

I enjoyed Maybe A Fox, especially the alternating perspectives between Jules and the fox.  This book was a page turner for me!
I love Fenway and Hattie!  I've been recommending it to all of our third grade teachers as a read aloud for next year.  I think it would be a wonderful read aloud in any grade, especially as an introduction to an alternate perspective.  One of my favorite elements of this adorable book is that it is narrated by Fenway, the energetic Jack Russell terrier!  Thank you to Kali Wallace @kaliphyte for sharing the book love!

New Picture Books
I love the message of this beautifully designed picture book!  Ideas Are All Around is the perfect title to share in writing workshop to encourage students to open their eyes to the ideas surrounding them everyday.  

Hermelin is an adorable mouse detective, who solves mysteries in his neighborhood.  I love the design of the picture book, which is perfectly narrated by Hermelin.  Students will love this book!


Currently Reading
Grace and I are enjoying the adventures of Red Riding Hood in this true story by the amazing Liesl Shurtliff.  This book may be my favorite in the collection!  

Jacob is just starting the Mystery of the Missing Fox by Maine author Tamra Wight.  I can't wait to get my hands on it when he's finished!  If you have not checked out the Cooper and Packrat series, I highly recommend it!  I have my fingers crossed that we can arrange an author visit with Tamra to our school next year!

Jacob recently finished A Whole New Ballgame by Phil Bildner.  He would highly recommend that teachers include this title in their classroom libraries, especially for sports fans!  I'm looking forward to reading this book this summer.

Professional Reading

Yesterday I started Who's Doing the Work? after reading all the excitement on Twitter about this new book by Burkins and Yaris.  After chapter 1, I am hooked! This book is stretching my thinking and confirming my beliefs about scaffolding.  I agree this book should be in the hands of all elementary teachers!  I'm looking forward to sharing more about it when I am finished.

Next in my stack is DIY Literacy which I hope to start later this week!



Currently Reading
Thank you to Susan Dee @literacydocent for sending me a copy of this incredible book!  I read half of it this weekend and wish I didn't have to put it down to go to school today.  My heart is breaking for Annabelle and I can't wait to find out how her problem with Betty is resolved.  Thank you for sharing this book love!  I will be passing this book on to fifth grade teachers when I am finished.