It's Monday! What are YOU reading? (9)

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!  is a meme hosted by Jen and Kellee at Teach.Mentor.Texts

 Another great week of reading! 

Here are some of my favorites, this week:

Leaves by David Ezra Stein

Really simple, really cute. Bear notices changes around him in nature. Leaves has few words, with a lot of meaning.  Perfect for Pre-K to 1st Grade.   

4 stars on goodreads

On a suggestion from Marie at Once Upon a Story (see her post about Maisy HERE) , I read a few Maisy books by Lucy Cousins with my Lil Guy.  She was right, these books are perfect for preschoolers.  I love how the graphic illustrations are great helpers for retelling.  We read about Maisy’s visit to the museum and her trip to the city.  We’ll get more next visit to the library!  4 stars each on goodreads

Blackout by John Rocco

Blackout was a Caldecott Honor winner from last year.  This was my first time reading the book.  I enjoyed the story, illustrations, and theme.  I especially liked the style with graphic panels and dramatic spreads featured throughout the book.  5 stars on goodreads

 

 I also read and enjoyed: 

A Is for Musk Ox

by Erin Cabatingan

Review coming soon

Fortune Cookies

by Albert Bitterman

4 stars on goodreads

All the Awake Animals Are Almost Asleep

by Crescent Dragonwagon

4 stars on goodreads

In other book related news, I am busy making my three year old Lil Guy's Halloween costume.  It's a favorite picture book character.  I've mentioned this book on the blog and on twitter.  I will give you a few clues ... (leave me a message in the comments if you can guess which character I am making!)  The picture book character always talks with a fun voice when we read it at our house.  His personality is quite magnetic.  His best friend is a BOY.  Hoping the costume comes together before storytime tomorrow.   : )

Machines @ Work

Machines Go to Work in the City

My Lil Guy loves looking out the windows as we are driving around together.  In the country he finds cows and goats, but in the city it’s all about the cars and trucks, big machines and construction.  While orange barrels mean using caution and traffic for me, Lil Guy can’t wait to see workers and machinery.  It’s this love of big machines that is celebrated in author/illustrator William Low’s new book Machines Go to Work in the City.  Low had previous success with his beautiful Old Penn Station and his latest book has much to enjoy as well. 

Machines Go to Work in the City takes readers on a trip through the city showing many city workers.  Each page spread also features a fold out page with an oversized picture of workers using each machine.   One of my favorite things about the book is the urban scenes showing diversity in workers.  We see female police officers and many different cultural groups represented in the many roles.  The machines themselves are also accurately drawn with many details such as the hydraulic lift on the utilities truck and the tool compartment on the vacuum truck.  Little details like this are also diagramed on the last few pages of the book giving older readers much wanted facts.

This book has a lot to like from high interest machines to beautiful drawings.  I can’t say that I will be excited about reading and rereading this book, but I know that Lil Guy enjoyed it and learned about machines too.  Recommended for interested non-fiction readers, ages 3 to 8.

No Two Persons ...

No two persons ever read the same book. 

~Edmund Wilson 

I recently saw this quote on Twitter and had to retweet because it’s so true.  Readers bring a bit of themselves to each book and take in the story or information in a different way too.  Many non-fiction books capitalize on this truth by offering levels of reading within a book.  Since we read a non-fiction books on a variety of topics at my house I’ve seen many book that offer in-depth captions next to short large font paragraphs or sidebars offering more details.  Many young ‘readers’ experience books without the words.  At our house we’ve been encouraging 3 yr old Lil Guy to tell us the story using the pictures as a guide.  It’s an important step in becoming an independent reader. 

 

One book that epitomizes levels of reading within a book is An Edible Alphabet, 26 Reasons to Love the Farm by Carol Watterson.  This picture book illustrated by  Michela Sorrentino is a traditional alphabet book offering many levels of text within the page.  Readers at the letter recognition stage will easily find the bright letters, but older readers can find alliteration, information, and even folktales and trivia.  All of this pushed into one books is a bit much but we still enjoyed the book.  For the quick before bed read, we only looked at pictures and read the header phrase, “Uu - Udders Under Umbrellas”.  Yes, this illustration did show a farmer and cow walking in the rain.   For a longer on the lap cuddly read, I added in a few details, “Wild Salmon live in both fresh and saltwater.”  I don’t think I would read the book from beginning to end, but farm enthusiast might do so.  Recommended for preschoolers to grade 4, non-fiction readers, and readers who love the farm.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (8)

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!  is a meme hosted by Jen and Kellee at Teach.Mentor.Texts

This week’s favorite re-read was: Crocodaddy by Kim Norman.  We can’t resist this fun story about a little boy who searches for a ‘crocodaddy’ on the edge of the pond.  Loud giggles and splashing make the book extra fun.  We especially love this book when it’s read by Daddy.

This week was a great week for reading.  I read a few graphic novels which are a change for me, but I found I really enjoyed them.  (Thanks to all of you that really have inspired me to give graphic novels a chance!)  I also read some anticipated picture books that were sequels or part of a series.  Even at the picture book level, it’s always nice to revisit favorite characters or stories.  Looking ahead, I am still maintaining my goal of reading one YA or MG book per week and I am still 19 books behind on my goal of reading 300 books in 2012.  Here are the books I read this week:

Page by Paige

by Laura Lee Gulledge

Review coming soon

Black Dog 

by Levi Pinfold

This was such a different book!  It’s a little scary, yet leads readers on an adventure ending with a happy and cozy ending.  Beautiful illustrations too! 

 4 stars on goodreads

Drama

by Raina Telgemeier

I loved Telgemeier’s latest graphic novel featuring middle school drama about friendship and love.  This one is a just right fit for upper middle school readers.

 5 stars on goodreads

Daddy Christmas and Hanukkah Mama

by Selina Alko

Since I am the Christmas Mama and my Husband is the Hanukkah Daddy, I thought this might be one I’d add to my holiday reads.  3 stars on goodreads

 

Backseat A-B-See

by Maria van Lieshout

4 stars on goodreads

This is Not My Hat

by Jon Klassen

#teamfish

4 stars on goodreads

 

Bear Says Thanks

by Karma Wilson

Love this bear and his friends!

4 stars on goodreads

 

The Reader

by Amy Hest (author)

and Lauren Castillo (illustrator)

4 stars on goodreads

 

This week, I reviewed The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson. The more I read from Karma Wilson, the more I enjoy her stories.  Her bear books are a favorite, but this farm based one and our recent read, Lil Pip, featuring a penguin were a lot of fun too.  Check the review here.

I also reviewed Monty and Milli by Tracy Corderoy and Tim Warnes and Flabbersmashed about You by Rachel Vail, illustrated by Yumi Heo. Both books were about family and friends. Monty and Milli is about siblings and Flabbersmashed is about friendship. Check the reviews here.