#IMWAYR JANUARY 11, 2015


It's time for #IMWAYR again. Thanks ever so much to our marvelous hosts, Jen at Mentor Texts and Kellee and Rickie at Unleashing Readers for hosting this weekly event. It is a time to find out what others are reading in the world of kid lit (and adult stuff sometimes too) and come up with new ideas for yourself. 

Well it was a week of frenzied picture book reading for me although I did manage to finish up three novels and a couple of nonfiction titles. I also managed to get a couple of reviews posted and am working on another.

 

PICTURE BOOKS


I spent a lot of time this week going through our collection of picture books that present vignettes of Canadian history. While there are some jewels there, there are some that just need to be weeded. I'm working on a post to pick out and talk about the best of them.

Aside from those I finished reading:

Tommy Can't Stop! by Tim Federle & Mark Fearing (Illustrations)

4 stars

Tommy is one of those wild kids. His family comes up with all kinds of plans to try and help him find control. It isn't until he discovers tap dancing that his energy finds a focus. In fact, it turns out that Tommy has talent! I suspect that this book resonated for me since I was a kid like Tommy. Anyone who really knows me will tell you I'm still kind of hyperactive....



I'm New Here by by Anne Sibley O'Brien


4 stars
This is the perfect book to read when a new student from a different culture with a different language enters a classroom. It brilliantly provides insight into what it feels like to be that child and will help other students be more compassionate. It tracks three new students, one from Guatemala, one from Korea, and one from Somalia as they learn to survive in a new country.
After reading this book, I pulled one of our new students into the library to ask for his feedback. (His family arrived here last fall) With a huge smile, he told me this is how it was for him too.



3 stars
The Full Moon at the Napping House by Audrey Wood & Don Wood (Illustrations)

This just didn’t work for me in the same way as the original did. I can see how it is a wonderful book for new readers because of the pattern language though. 






4 stars
Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast by Josh Funk & Brendan Kearney (Illustrations)

This book didn't quite live up to my expectations for it. I guess it is because I have heard so much about it, I just expected more. It is humorous. I appreciated the message at the end. Maybe if I hadn't read it Friday afternoon I might have had more energy to enjoy it more? Anyway, I'll have to try this out on a group of kids to see what happens.



4 stars
Orion and the Dark by Emma Yarlett

This is a beautiful book about making friends with what you fear the most. (But I'm still not making friends with a spider - except for maybe Charlotte) For Orian, this would be the dark. It is beautifully illustrated. I can see children getting lost in all the little details in this book

 


NONFICTION 



Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick, Sophie Blackall (Illustrations)

4 stars
This nonfiction narrative is brilliantly done. It begins with the mother telling her young child a story about a bear. This narrative is interspersed with the mother's telling about Harry Colebourn and how he found and kept The baby bear who came to be known as Winnie the Pooh. Sophie Blackwell's illustrations are just bloody gorgeous. I also enjoyed the photographs at the end of the book.



5 stars



This is such a gorgeous book! You can read more of my thoughts on it by clicking on the link. The most important thing I have to say about it is that if this book isn't on your want to read list by now, it should be. Actually, whether it is or not, you should go right out and get a copy and read it.


NOVELS


The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud


3.5 stars
This isn't my favorite book in this series. I didn't like this ending and I wasn't comfortable with the relationship between the two girls in this novel. It was too stereotypically antagonist. Other than this, it was another exciting, slightly scary, adventure. However, I really hate novels that end on a cliffhanger, and this one does. Not good! If I were not already addicted to this series I would quit.



4 stars
Amanda in Alberta by Darlene Foster

This was one of my #mustreadin2015 titles. It is also part of my goal to read more Canadian fiction. I've now become a fan of Amanda. Amanda is a spunky Canadian girl who lives in Alberta, but ends up traveling around the world solving mysteries. In this one in the series, she stays at home. I particularly enjoyed revisiting familiar Alberta places along with Amanda and her friend, Leah, from England.


Poached by Stuart Gibbs

3 stars
I'm not going to sugar coat this. I was glad when this book was over. I listened to it because my readers are into this series, but it was just a bit too macho and even misogynist for me. I wasn't comfortable with how women and girls were portrayed even though Teddy Fitzroy's mother is a scientist.



CURRENTLY


I didn't finished The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer because when I went to finish it, the ebook had already expired. This is also what happened to Jellicoe Road. I've asked for both of them back, but in the meantime, I've got a whole mess of books from the public library to finish. I'm in the process of listening to The Ember In the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir.


UP NEXT


I have a lot of audiobooks and hardcovers checked out from the public library! Why is it that everything I put on hold arrives at once? The next book due back is The Pirate Code by Heidi Schulz so I'll be getting to that I think.



24 comments:

  1. Interested to see what you think of The Pirate Code. I enjoyed it, but my students will not pick up books about pirates! Arrrrr!

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    1. There are so many books that I really enjoy, but students don't get into them. So sad...

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  2. I totally agree with you about The Full Moon at the Napping House. I finished reading it and didn't have the same warm fuzzy feeling as with the original. Can't wait to read Finding Winnie. Happy Reading!!

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  3. I loved both of your nonfiction choices, and want to read I'm New Here. I got a copy of Tommy Can't Stop at the last BEA but I haven't read it yet. I was iffy about it, but since you gave it 4 stars I think I'll give it a read soon. Thanks for sharing your books and Happy Reading Week.

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    1. I see a lot of kids as active as Tommy and I can relate to that crazy energy so the book resonated with me. It might not do that for everyone...

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  4. Now you know that you read some of the award-winning books this week, wonderful books! Thanks for the honest reviews, Cheriee. There are so many good books so I like hearing when some just don't work, & why. I loved I'm New Here!

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    1. It was very exciting this morning to realize that I had bathed in greatness this week. I agree that I'm New Here is a fabulous book.

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  5. I probably should add Enchanted Air to my unofficial books to read. I've only heard good things of it.

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    1. It really is stunning Earl. I opened it up and couldn't stop reading till I was finished. (except to copy out some sections that blew my mind)

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  6. It's really interesting to hear student feedback about I'm New Here. I thought it was a great book, but I'm glad to know it works for kids who have much more knowledge about the subject than I do! I can certainly commiserate with you about ebooks expiring and not being able to immediately check them out again. That's why I'm in the middle of 5 audiobooks (one of which is The Ember in the Ashes)!

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    1. I suspect I got the notion to read The Ember in the Ashes from you. I know I got the idea to read it from the IMWAYR community!

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  7. Lots of good books here! I do want to read Finding Winnie to learn more about the story behind the story.

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    1. both this title and Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh by Sally M. Walker & Jonathan D. Voss were amazing nonfiction titles. I actually thought Walkers book was better, but then, Sophie Blackall's illustrations are exceptional.

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  8. It seems like the Caldecott committee loved Finding Winnie as much as you did! This was quite the year for Winnie the Pooh origin stories, and I loved both titles. I often feel a bit of letdown when I've read a title that's just been hyped on every blog as far as the eye can see, so I like to give myself some space and reread a title like that, just to see if my assessment has changed the further away I am from all the hype!

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    1. I agree with you Jane. In fact, I gave Sally Walker's version 5 stars while this version I only gave 4 too. It is how the photographs are used in Walker's version that make the difference for me.

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  9. You have a few picture books that I loved - Orion and Lady Pancake. Tommy Can't Stop sounds like a book many kids could relate to. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. You are welcome Lisa. I think it is a book that will help parents understand their very active children.

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  10. I just ordered Enchanted Air - it sounds marvelous.

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  11. I just got I'm New Here this afternoon. I've heard wonderful things about it. Finding Winnie was my fifth graders' choice for the Caldecott. They were super excited that it won. Tommy Can't Stop makes me giggle. There are several students that it brought to mind. I thoroughly enjoyed Enchanted Air. Funny, I thought the first Lockwood & Co was good, but it didn't make me want to read more.

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  12. I caved and bought Lady Pancake last week. I don't generally like rhyming books, but I'm hoping this one will work ok for me. I'm sure my students will like it in any case. I had bought Finding Winnie but hadn't read it yet. My son and I remedied that at breakfast right after the announcements. A couple of spreads dazzled me, but overall, I was a little perplexed about the Caldecott choice. I did love the writing, though.

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  13. Lots of great books this week! I enjoyed Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast. I read it to my 5th grade students and we had fun with it. And I actually purchased Enchanted Air a while back, it's on my shelf, and then I got busy and the book got pushed aside by other books, and I STILL haven't read it. I really need too!

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  14. I am addicted to the Lockwood and Company series as well and I really am avidly looking forward to the next instalment in the series. I have I'm New Here from my library stack and really looking forward to getting to it this weekend.

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