#IMWAYR May 11, 2015

I love Mondays. I love reading other bloggers posts about what they have been reading. I enjoy reading their comments on my reading life. If you want to join in, check out Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Rickie from Unleashing Readers who host this weekly event.

I contemplated writing a post this weekend focused on my favourite Mother's Day books, but then I started thinking about my mother. I ended up with this post for her. A Few Important Things I Learned From My Mother & Why She's My Hero

Our recent book fair was successful so I finally sent off the book order that has been accumulating for ages. Here are a few of these titles that have arrived and are on display this week

What Forest Knows by George Ella Lyon & August Hall (Illustrator)
I purchased this book because the cover is so beautiful. (and it got rave reviews) Inside is even more stunning as text and images combine to celebrate the seasons in a forest. This is a book to savour, to read the text and pour over the images. And then to do it all again and marvel at how perfectly it all comes together.

The Iridescence of Birds: a book about Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLachlan & Hadley Hooper (Illustrator)
As a young boy Matisse lived in a dreary town with grey sky and grey buildings.  His mother surrounded him with colour and encouraged him to play with colour in many ways. Sometimes with paint, but also in more concrete ways, like arranging fruit and flowers. There are so many connections for students to make in this book. I'm planning on showing this to my primary teachers in hopes of encouraging them to do more artist studies next year.

Neighbourhood Sharks by Katherine Roy
I was expecting more from this book. It's beautifully illustrated and I was completely sucked into the beginning narrative. It's when the book switched from this into an older style non-fiction format that it lost me. I'm not saying that I don't think there are good things about it. The labeled diagrams are brilliantly done and provide accessible information to the reader. It's just, my older readers tend to do more and more research online, and there is too much information on the pages for my younger readers to get into independently. Perhaps it's my aging eyes, but I also found the font against the coloured pages challenging to read. On top of all this, there is no index or other kinds of text features. I wish this had been presented in a different layout.

Raindrops Roll by April Pulley Sayre
Oh My Goodness! Sayre's photography is glorious. This is the kind of book that makes time stop as it pulls you into these captured moments. I loved that the end of the book has condensed text full of science about rain. It's there if you want to read it, but doesn't interfere with the pure poetic beauty of text and images together. This is a stellar book for those primary weather units or for older students who want to know more about rain and like to read information books.

I've managed to finish a few novels this week.

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black & narrated by Lauren Fortgang
I enjoyed this story of a smart strong young woman who makes a deal with the fairy folk to help her brother. I was beguiled by Black's world building and character development. Fortgang's narration fit the story perfectly. Carrie Gelson if you are reading this, I want you to know that this Holly Black title was just right for me, and not too scary at all. After hearing Black speak at Serendipity, it's easy to understand how she came up with this magnificent creation. Unfortunately, it's one of those YA titles that I have to put on the grade seen shelf.



After reading so many fabulous posts about Rebecca Stead's new book, and being a serious fan, and realizing it was going to take a very long time before I actually got a hard copy in my hands, I joined NetGalley in hopes that I would get a copy to read. I'm not sure it was a good idea as I tend to load up on too much to read already. So far I've read a couple of books and started another, but now Stead's newest is there waiting for me.


A Wolf At the Gate by Mark Van Steenwyk (from Netgalley)
I liked the illustrations. In fact this is why I chose it, but the text is preachy and filled with too much telling and not enough showing. The only reason I finished it is because it is short. I wouldn't bring it into my library, but catholic schools might like it.


A Day in Canada by Per-Henrik Gurth (from Netgalley)
I like these bright illustrations, and that it shows the different kinds of activities people are involved in in different parts of the county. What I would have liked to have seen is these places identified on the map either at the front or back or even as an inset on each page.

Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick Narrated by Adam Verner
War stories aren't my favourite genre, but I listened to this because I like McCormick's work generally, and this deals with someone with a head injury. I am close to someone who has had a TBI and go to a support group with her for people like her. While I know that each TBI is unique, there are some aspects I've come to see as universal. So I paid close attention to Matt, her character's symptoms. There were times when I thought McCormick's portrayal was realistic, but from what I have seen, individuals with TBI are exhausted and tire much faster than is shown here. If the military actually returns soldiers like Matt to the field before they are improved, this is dangerously unfair to them and to their companions. 

I just discovered that I have The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart at home from the library and it is due on Tuesday. I have to get reading that. 

To make matters worse, I'm already in the middle of a number of books. 

I'm about halfway into Winger by Andrew Smith. I'm enjoying it, but it isn't gripping me like Grasshopper Jungle did. 
I've started reading The Entirely True Story of the Unbelievable FIB by Adam Shaughnessy, another title that I got from Netgalley. I love the cover and the story sounds promising. I'm reading it at school on my school iPad (when/if I get time)

Coming up, when I'm done everything else, as as incentive to read fast, I've got Goodbye Stranger. I've also got The Case of the Mistaken Identity by Mac Barnett cued up to listen to. I'm ready for something light and fun. 



22 comments:

  1. I saw the Stead title on Netgalley, but like you, I need to wrok through some other books first before I read it! Curious to see what you think of The Honest Truth.

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    1. I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets too many books on the go! I'll have to check out your comments on The Honest Truth.

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  2. Great books, I love Rebecca Stead and Holly Black's books, thought Raindrops Roll was beautiful, but I haven't read the others, though I have an old arc of The Honest Truth to read. I also love Mondays, even if I don't post every time, I like to read everyone else's posts.

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    1. I know! It's so much fun. My first Holly Black book was Doll Bones which was way too creepy for me, but I loved this one so I'll try some of her other works.

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  3. Thanks for sharing all of these great titles! I'm intrigued by the beautiful cover of What Forest Knows. The Iridescence of Birds was strongly recommended at Nerd Camp Bellingham, so it's a good reminder to see it again and put it on my TBR pile. I read Goodbye Stranger on my iPad from Netgalley. I don't enjoy reading on a device, but in this case, I couldn't wait for the hard copy. It's worth all the finger swiping!

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    1. Laura, What Forest Knows is gorgeous and so is Iridescence. I've actually come to enjoy reading on my iPad because I can make the font bigger!

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  4. Loved reading all your reviews this week. I'm going to have to get What Forest Knows. The title alone makes me want to start writing! I'm always looking for mentor PBs that I can use in my freshman comp courses to get students writing. I loved Iridescence of Birds. I totally agree with you about Neighborhood Sharks. The layout and fonts and amount of information was confusing to me--not sure about the audience. But the art.... wow!

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    1. You will love What the Forest Knows. It will make great mentor text I think. I'm kind of sad about Neighourhood Sharks. I think there are two books there, but the editor/author tried to take on too much.

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  5. Ah! I have so many comments here. I will try to limit myself. Raindrops Roll looks phenomenal. I love, love, love photography, so I want to read it! I really enjoyed Purple Heart. I didn't know that about TBI, so thank you for filling me in about it. Overall, the story pulled me in. I loved Winger. I have yet (embarrassingly) to read Grasshopper Jungle. It is in my soon-to-be-read stack, though. We will have to compare notes when we both finish them both!

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    1. The photography in Raindrops roll is phenomenal (and since my partner makes his living taking video and stills, I figure that says a lot) I was pulled into the story, just really freaked out by the whole scenario. It will be interesting to compare notes!

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  6. Love your post about your mom!!!! <3
    I love McCormick's work. Was the Purple Heart audio good? I loved Never Fall Down audio by her.
    I need to read the Matisse book! Thank you for sharing it with me.

    Happy reading this week! :)

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    1. Thanks for that about my mom. I also listened to Never Fall Down. Such a powerful story!! I felt like I was bearing witness as I listened to it. Purple Heart was good, I just have some quibbles with it.

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  7. Off to read your post about your Mom. I love her daughter and her grandson so I have a feeling I am already a fan! I really loved Winger. I hope in the end you adore it. And yes, I did read that about this Holly Black title :-) I will be reading this one this summer. We are reading Doll Bones with our student book club and I just may have told them about a librarian I know . . . One girl visited me today to tell me "It's getting creepy!"

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    1. I'm enjoying Winger so far - love the characters, but it doesn't have the bite of GJ. I love this comment about Doll Bones. I'm with that girl! Its creepy!

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  8. Hi there Cheriee, I just gave one of my former university students a copy of Grasshopper Jungle - I have a feeling it would resonate with him. I haven't read Winger yet, but I'm looking forward to reading Alex Crow which I received for review a few months back. I will have to get to that soon. Holly Black is a bit hit-or-miss for me, since I wasn't that riveted with Doll Bones, but I know that Spiderwick Chronicles is awesome. I'd be intrigued to know how you found The Honest Truth. :)

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    1. Hi Myra, I couldn't read Dollbones, but I liked the fairytaleness of this one. I haven't read one of the Spiderwick Chronicles so I'll have to have a go at that series. Grasshopper Jungle was one of my top 5 books last year so it's going to hard for anything Smith writes to top that.

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  9. Oh, you're going to LOVE The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity! Especially on audiobook with the terrific Arte Johnson. Would like to know what you think of it.

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    1. I am already loving it! I can't wait to read more this series! I've just ordered 2 copies cause I know my readers will love it too!

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  10. I enjoyed Goodbye Stranger--possibly my favorite Stead title. I'm glad you'll get to read it soon. And Neighborhood Sharks? Quickly became a classroom favorite. You reminded me of a lot of books that have been on my radar but I keep putting off. I hope I can oogle over the art in Raindrops Roll soon!

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    1. It is always interesting how different adult and student perceptions vary. i can see that some kids will love this book. I'm looking forward to reading Goodbye Stranger this weekend!

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  11. I really want to read Winger. I read Alex Crow this year and I really wasn't impressed. I have Grasshopper Jungle to get to at some point, too.
    Loved Neighborhood Sharks. So glad it got some recognition this year!

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    1. Hi Michele, I have Alex Crow waiting for me. Winger is ok. My problem is that Grasshopper Jungle is so stunning, everything else of Smith's feels mundane afterwards. I'm waiting to see what my readers think of Neighbourhood Sharks.

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