Taken from a painting of Kapiti Island at Sunset.
by Sonia Savage.

Monday, January 16, 2012

A Born Again Reader.

I have always been a reader, but not of children's literature.  Since exiting childhood I left that genre of books behind.  In fact as a child I was often mystified by my best friend's mother enjoying reading children's books. I have of course over the years of teaching read aloud many books to my class and have been touched by most of them.  There is nothing better than to share a book with a class where everyone is totally engaged.

Last year I was introduced to The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller through twitter.  It was then than I decided I could read at least one children's book a week, and set out to do so.   I am pleased to say since about September last year I have honoured that commitment to myself.  I began to read some of the books my students were reading, and I was able to share some suggestions of ones I had read as well.  A whole new world began to open up for me and I became 'converted'.

During our summer break I have begun to follow the #nerdybookclub on twitter, and that has introduced me to wonderful possibilities in the world of book reading.  These people are really dedicated readers and have a wealth of knowledge between them, I sit as a novice at their feet and soak in as much as I can.  I have chosen to take part in the Newbery Challenge - see the link on the side bar.  I am going to take it slowly, and I have decided that rather than begin with the first book, I will begin with the later books and work backwards.  Not in order though, as I await books from the library I will take whatever comes first.

So each week I hope to take part in the What are You Reading Monday over at the blog Mentor Texts.


Last week I  read Flying Solo by Ralph Fletcher.  This is about a class of students and how they act and interact when their substitute teacher does not show up for the day.  They decide to run the class themselves and do so rather ably until there is a crisis.  As it turns out they handle this well, and change happens.

I think readers in my class will enjoy this one.






Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt was definitely my favourite of the week.  I read this as an e-book on my Kobo ereader, borrowed from our town library. That was a first for me too, as it is only very recently that our library has had this facility available.

This is the story of a middle grade boy who belongs to a poor family and has moved to a new area and school.  Doug Swieter will remain with me as a favourite character of all time.  I loved him and the book so much I have purchased it and intend it to be my first read aloud of the year to the class when we go back in two weeks. One small detail that entertained me was that the class at one time are set a project to do on New Zealand!

I loved this video which I watched after reading the book of Gary Schmidt talking about this book. He explains it far better than I could.




A Nest for Celeste by Henry Cole.  This is the story of a mouse and her search for a home and her friendships and challenges along the way. I had borrowed it from our local library via my Smartcard, again a new experience for me.  Some of our local libraries have teamed up and books can be reserved and send to the library of your choice for no cost.

Needless to say I have since bought the book.  There are students in my class who will love this book.  Again here follows a short video that will show you some of the art work in this wonderful book.




The last book that I read this week was a first as well.  My first graphic novel. Sure I have read plenty of comics in my time but no comic novel.  Although that reminds me I have a Diana Gabaldon graphic novel sitting on my shelf that I must read.  The book I did read was Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol.

Anya is a Russian American and struggles with who she is and how she is perceived.  Falling down a hole she meets up with a ghost from over ninety years back who also fell down the hole.

They escape the hole and over time form a bond, until things turn somewhat black and dark.  Finding her way through this darkness Anna also finds herself.

The art work is wonderful and the whole novel is well done.  I am not sure if I should release it into my classroom, I think perhaps Year 8 girls would benefit from it with discussion.  I have decided to ask our local town children's librarian to read it and give me her opinion.  She knows my class well as we visit there once a fortnight.

So that was my reading last week.  This week I have books on order for the Newbery challenge, but my experience is now that they take about a week to arrive.  In the meantime I will read Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan.  The boys in my class have been fans of these books and I have heard them discussing them often.  I have read the first two in the second series but now feel compelled to go back and explore the first series.  

14 comments:

  1. Kathryn,
    Thanks again for these topics. Literacy is definitely the area I need to focus attention on as although I read a several books a week they are almost always non-fiction! Thanks for giving me some great starters.

    Stephanie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stephanie
      And I need to read more non fiction! I usually only read professional non fiction which soaks up my non fiction allowance!
      Kathryn

      Delete
  2. Enjoy the Lightning Thief series- they are AMAZING! One of my favorite series ever.
    I teach 7th grade (12-13 year olds) and Anya's Ghost is appropriate for them. It is one of my favorite graphic novels.

    Have a good week :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kellee
      Thank you, I can see now why some of the boys in my class the last few years have talked Greek gods and the books to each other so much.
      Thank you for your reference to Anya's Ghost, re suitability, as I would like to share it with my 12 year olds.
      Kathryn

      Delete
  3. How exciting. I was a few years into my teaching career when I really started to read more and more kidlit/young adult books. It has made such a difference in my teaching. Then a few years ago I found Donalyn's book, too and I started reading even more. I love being part of an amazing group of readers on Twitter. I love Okay for Now. Have you read Wednesday Wars? I loved that book, too...both are great. I just got Anya's Ghost from the library. I'm excited to read it! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jen
      Thank you for calling. No I haven't read The Wednesday Wars, but I do know it will be one that I read this year!
      Twitter is like the best staff room, with teachers all sharing such inspiration and enthusiasm.
      Kathryn

      Delete
  4. I love Flying Solo. Well, I love everything Ralph Fletcher writes. My first read aloud every year is his MG novel Fig Pudding.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Colby
    Thank you for calling. I haven't read Fig Pudding but I must. I was just going through our school library today and seeing what Newbery books I could find. (2!)
    I am so delighted to have linked into the nerdybookclubs sharings and discussions. Its great.
    Kathryn

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have Anya's Ghost checked out now, but haven't gotten to it yet. I love Percy Jackson, I am glad you are going back to where all the magic began!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I tried watching the movie, which was good but never the same as the written word! Hope you enjoy Anya's Ghost.
      Kathryn

      Delete
  7. Hey!

    I saw where you visited my reading blog. Thanks! I loved Flying Solo, too. It's so neat that you teach in New Zealand! New Zealand and Finland are the only 2 countries I have ever wanted to visit outside of the US because of great things I have heard about your education systems. :)

    Shannon
    http://www.extremereadingandwriting.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shannon
      Thanks for calling in and I hope that one day you get to visit both countries.
      Kathryn

      Delete
  8. Hi Kathryn,

    I wished I were a born again reader! I love reading but seldom do it... and if I do, I rarely finish the book. Here are the books I am currently reading:
    1) John Maxwell's The 5 Levels of Leadership;
    2) my daughter got an anthology of Eloise books, so I'm reading them to her;
    3) and there's a plethora of unfinished books or books that I want to read but haven't started yet.

    I typically don't open a book on my own just because I let 10,000 reasons take priority over it. I do, however, read aloud to my daughter and sometimes even my son. My daughter has great taste in books, and brings home some of the most fabulous books that I had never heard of, but fall in love with. She wanted to make a blog page with all her favorite books, but I forgot to help her start that, so maybe I'll ask her if she still wanted to do that. If so, then I'll share her list with you.

    Kind regards,
    Tracy

    ReplyDelete
  9. I tried to find you last week, but never could through your profile. I have read all the books you talked about-all good books. I loved A Nest For Celeste, but also, I like Henry Cole-tells a sweet story. Gary D. Schmidt's books are all great, and Fletcher's too. I don't know the author of Anya's Ghost, but loved the illustrations there. Looking forward to seeing what other books you choose.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...