It's Monday, What are you Reading?

It is Monday and again I am joining in the meme over at Mentor Texts.

Hop on over and join in over at the Mentor Text Blog. Just click on the picture 
                                                 
This past couple of weeks I didn't get a lot of reading done for children's literature, slowed down as term has gone into busy mode.

I read Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder and then I moved on to .....

Farmer Boy by the same author.  I know most people read these books when they were children, however they weren't in any libraries near me, so I didn't get to read them.  What hard working people these pioneers were and what an insight into life in those times.  It didn't seem to do them any harm because I notice that both Laura and Almanzo lived to a very old age.






Next up for reading is Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell as part of the Newbery challenge, perhaps Julie of the Wolves as well, will have to see how I go!

For professional reading I am reading 10 Things Every Writing Needs to Know by Jeff Anderson. Only read Chapter 1 so far and that was very good.

Happy reading everyone.

It's Monday. What are You Reading?

It is Monday and again I am joining in the meme over at Mentor Texts.
Hop on over and join in over at the Mentor Text Blog. Just click on the picture below.

Gifts by Ursula Le Guin is the first in a trilogy, and is about Orrec and Gry, who live in the Uplands. The different clans have gifts that they pass on through father/son, mother/daughter. These gifts are to be used in the service of their community.  

As Orrec and Gyr grow they learn about their gifts and they come to realise that their gifts can be viewed in a different light. Gry has the gift of calling - animals - so that they come for the hunters.  Orrec supposedly has  the gift of unmaking - with a glance of his eye he can unmake (kill) a person. As they learn about and wrestle with their gifts they grow in their understanding of who they are and who they want to become.

It took me awhile to get into the book, but at some point I slipped into it, and lost myself to the world around me and entered the world of Orrec and Gry.  For some reason I always thought Ursula Le Guin was British, but I see I am wrong and she is an American.  This book has made me want to go back and reacquaint myself with the Earthsea books as it is at least twenty if not thirty years since I read them!

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Newbery Award Winner 1977, by Mildred D. Taylor was my other read for this week.  I really loved this book with the delightful Cassie and the rest of her family.  This family never lost their dignity and humaneness in spite of the injustice and prejudices of those around them.  

I borrowed this from The Stack at our public library - hardcover and well read, almost at that level where I go -" ew! too yucky dirty to read!"  I want this to be available to my class so I have ordered a class copy and the next two that follow as well.  I remember reading Black Like Me as an 11 or 12 year old and it opened my reader eyes to another world. I had the same kind of awakening when I read Kathryn Stockett's The Help, when it came out,  it was set in a time when I was growing up in another part of the world, I kept thinking this was happening when I was alive.  While it's easy to relegate these books and the issue of racism to the south in North America, yet these books ask us to examine our own treatment of the people around us, wherever we live.

This week I plan to read Voices by Ursula Le Guin, the book that comes after Gifts, and I will also make a trip to the library to see if I can pick up another Newbery book to read for the challenge. A couple of Lunch Lady books have arrived so will probably read them as well.

Happy reading everyone!

Monday Again! What are you Reading?

Monday has come around again and I am joining in the meme over at Mentor Texts.
Hop on over and join in at the Mentor Text Blog.

This last week I read:  Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli.   This book certainly had points of difference and explored the idea of being yourself versus fitting in with the crowd.  When you decide to fit into the crowd there is a cost, and when you decide not to fit into the crowd there is a cost also.  I believe this book would make my students think and explore their own lives - as indeed it made me do.  Sign of a good book!  I liked it enough to want to search out the sequel to this book.

What am I reading this week?  The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan, the first book in the Kane Chronicles.

I have just started to listen to Insurgent by Virginia Roth. This will take me a few weeks to listen through as I only listen while out walking mainly.  Roth doesn't do any recapping of the previous book, Divergent,  and I found myself a little hazy on the characters, so I read a blog post she had written helping her readers refresh their minds on the story - so now I think  I am good to go!

I'ts Monday, What are you Reading?

Monday has come around again and I am joining in the meme over at Mentor Texts.
Hop on over and join in at the Mentor Text Blog.

This last week I have read and enjoyed:

The Flying Beaver Brothers and The Fishy Business by Maxwell Eaton 111. A graphic novel for approximately 8 to 11 year olds. I enjoyed it and think some of the students will too.

Babymouse and Puppy Love another graphic novel by Jennifer and Matthew Holm.  I know the Babymouse fans and animal lovers in the class will like this one.

Marty Mcguire by Kate Messner and Brian Floca.  I really enjoyed this one and will be looking forward to reading about her digging worms!  This book will be enjoyed by the younger readers in my class and I intend matching them up with Marty.

As I am learning to work with iMovie on my iPad I made a little book trailer for Marty Mcguire, nothing special but gave me the sense of how iMovie on my iPad can work for students making book trailers.  Once I mastered the ability to put the music I wanted onto my iPad I was happy!  Sometimes small things take a bit of time.

This week I am reading:

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Writing about Reading by Janet Angelillo  (this will be ongoing as I want to absorb it - so into slow reading.)

Archive of this months #titletalk.  Not being in class these times I was able to attend this month, it was fantastic but so fast, I need to go back and glean all the pearls.  

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Monday has come around again and I am joining in the meme over at Mentor Texts.
Hop on over and join in at the Mentor Text Blog.

In the past week I read Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu.  I wasn't sure if I would like it as I was not a fan of the story The Snow Queen growing up.  It was just a distant memory and I couldn't even recall the plot, just the distaste.

Breadcrumbs starts out as a realistic fiction novel but then becomes fantasy as it almost retells the story of the Snow Queen using the characters Jack and Hazel. I fell in love with both of them, so I was soon hooked into the story.  About half way through I had to stop and go look up the story of the Snow Queen.

On page 45 - 46 Jack talks about his drawing of a simple palace.  "There's a boy," Jack said.  "He's a normal boy.  Until one day he wakes up and no one can see him.  He's turned invisible.  And he tries everything, but nothing works.  So he goes there.......There's no one to look at him, and no one will ever come."  Jack has a hard time at home, his mother has gone into a depression - where she is not available to Jack.  He is an easy target for the Snow Queen.  Hazel too has her troubles with a father who really does not care about her and has to see a counsellor when she acts out at school.  At the end of the visit "He dismissed her, and Hazel poured concrete into the hollow parts.  Now she would be part girl,  part hardening gray sludge.  And no one would know the difference."  No "plastic flowers of words" really made a difference.

Yet it is Hazel who courageously goes after Jack and saves him and brings him back.  Her strong friendship with him matters.  As he turns to go home, "Jack hesitated still and Hazel wanted to say something comforting, give him some bright plastic flowers of words, but Jack would see them for what they were. Jack know how to see things."

To me the second part of the story was like a journey made within.  It is as if Jack has gone into inner territory of coldness and ugliness.  Hazel seeks him out there, bringing him back to reality, with no promise that all would now be okay.  Yet there is that strong bond of friendship that has broken through.  Hazel did come.

For the coming week I plan to read The Mighty Miss Malone by C P Curtis.  Looking forward to it.

It's Monday. What are you Reading?

The Monday meme has come around very fast this week!  We are returning to a new school year here in New Zealand and suddenly the time allotted to reading has dwindled.  However every little counts and as my goal is generally one children's book a week I am meeting my quota.
Hop on over and join in at the Mentor Text Blog.

I read Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool.  This is the 2011 Newbery Award book.  I read this as an e-book borrowed from the library.  I won't be buying it for my class, while I enjoyed it I found it just didn't call to me to pick it up every spare moment.  I liked the main character Abilene, her story was interesting. I found a few unexpected surprises at the end and some expected. As an adult I liked the book, however I cannot muster up the energy to 'sell it' to my class.

I also started to listen to Divergent by Veronica Roth. This is a new genre for me, and a little challenge to be divergent in my reading! This will take me awhile and will update when read! I also read another 15% of the The Story of Mankind. 

Plans for the week coming.

15% more of The Story of Mankind.

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron.

Continue listening to Divergent.

and all going well even might get to begin...

Bud not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Happy reading week.

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.  

Read the Book before the Movie.

Today I finished the book War Horse by Michael Morpurgo. I have had it sitting on my table to read for a couple of months.  One of my goals has been to read more books that my students are reading or might read. I have been aiming for one a week.  With the holidays I want to increase that a little more.

It was a wonderful and touching story. It explored the relationship between horse and master, horse and horse.  Morpurgo tells the story through the eyes of the horse in a way that reminds me of Black Beauty.  It is a story of strong bonds, friendship, loyalty, commitment and kindness. And the futility and mindlessness of war. The main backdrop is World War 1.  I loved it and found I needed to reach for the tissues a few times.

As I placed the book on my Goodreads page I noticed people talking about the movie that is due to come out.  What a coincidence.  I bought this book because I thought it would appeal to the boys in my class. Now I know after reading it,it may appeal to the girls as well.  I do regret not reading it earlier so that they might read it before the movie comes out.  It is due out in the USA this month, and if online sources are correct it is due to come out in New Zealand on January 12th 2012.  I hope it carries the essence of the book.  Get the book out of your library, read it and then go see the movie!  You can also get it on Kindle, but this is one you will want to share.