#IMWAYR April 18, 2016

Here we are. #IMWAYR time again. Thanks to Jen at Mentor Text and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers for hosting this weekly event where readers of kidlit get together to share what we have been reading in the previous week.

I have had a truly delightful reading week. It's been all over the place from poetry, to picture books, to novels, to information books and back to poetry again. It has just been perfect. 

INFORMATION BOOKS

Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor by Robert Burleigh & Raúl Colón (Illustrations)

5 stars

This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of how Marie Tharp, a female scientist, struggled to be accepted in a man's world. It shows how she was able to create a map of the Atlantic ocean floor that revealed its landforms, and provided evidence of the theory of plate tectonics and continental drift. In one section Robert Burleigh articulates the way scientists work:

"As I continued working, others wandered in and out of my room, arguing about continental drift. Was it true? Yes, no, yes, no. (Scientists are like that. They question everything. Nothing is for sure -- until it's really for sure)"

I appreciated the section at the end of the work that includes additional biographical information as well as a glossary. 

I loved quote at the end of the endnotes. "Marie didn't just make maps. She understood how the earth works."

Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah by Laurie Ann Thompson & Sean Qualls (Illustrations)

5 stars

To say the least, this book is inspirational. It's the story of a young man who overcame a handicap and ended up making changes in his world. Emmanuel was born with only "one leg that could kick." His Mama Comfort supported him and made sure that he was able to do whatever he wanted with his good leg. It wasn't easy, but Emmanual made his way to school, came up with a plan to earn the respect and friendship of his peers. He even learned to ride a bike. Eventually it was this skill that helped him make a difference in his world.
Sean Qualls' expressive illustrations add depth and emotion to this true story.

4 stars

My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem & Debra Winger (narrator)

I started out writing a few words about this book, and it became a blog post on it's own. I enjoyed listening to it as much for the information about Steinem's life as for the many connections to my own life that I made while reading it. 

NOVELS

Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell

4 stars

This book is a beautiful as Carrie Gelson said it is. I loved this look at Russia on the cusp of revolution. Rundell's words capture the essence of winter and put readers there in that place with Feo, Ilya and the wolves as they flee from the psychopathic General Rakov.  One of my favourite characters is Alexie, the young man who won't accept that he is powerless. As he enlists Feo to help him foment a revolution among the villagers, this just be might my favourite quote from the book:

"People say we can't do anything about the way the world is; they say it's set in stone. I say it looks like stone, but it's mostly paint and cardboard." 

PICTURE BOOKS

3 stars

If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't! by Elise Parsley

This is a fun book that warns readers about the pitfalls of bringing an Alligator for show and tell. Fans of Dory Fantasmagory will enjoy reading about Magnolia's adventures and how she learned her lesson. 

It would be interesting to pair this book up with Linda Bailey's If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur.

3 stars

Time to Say "Please"! by Mo Willems

I wanted to love this book. It's Mo Willems for Pete's sake! I liked it, but it just wasn't up to what I expect expect from him. However, there are some fun aspects to this book and I can see that this will be useful for those teaching children manners.

POETRY

In preparation for A Poem in Your Pocket Day, coming up this Thursday, I went through poetry collections in search of poetry to print out and put in paper 'pockets' around the school. I'm looking forward to sparking this event at our whole school morning assembly this coming week. While I did peruse books I've read before, I also made time to read some I hadn't read before. There might have been more, but I didn't record them....

5 stars

If I Had a Million Onions by Sheree Fitch

I remember meeting Sheree Fitch at an author event a few years ago. Her repetitious  poetry is full of joy and fun. The illustrations emphasize the playfulness of them. This is a book that students check out on their own! 

4 stars

See Saw Saskatchewan by Robert Heidbreder & Scot Ritchie (Illustrator)

Bob Heidbreder, a former Vancouver kindergarten teachers, is one of the kindest and most creative people I know. I love to read nearly everything he writes out loud to children because they are just so much fun. However, since I didn't want to include such a long poem in the pocket, I went to this book which includes many delightful poems about different places in Canada. 

4 stars

Hypnotize a Tiger: Poems About Just About Everything by Calef Brown

I enjoyed many of these poems, but context is everything. I read it following reading poetry by Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein. Brown's poems just didn't connect with me in the same we these other masters did. That said, I did include one or two into my pocket collection. 

CURRENTLY

I'm still reading What Have You Lost a poetry collection collated by Naomi Shihab Nye. Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo was delivered to our library on Thursday. I have just started it! I'm listening to Mr Lemoncello's Library Olympics by Chris Grabenstein.

UP NEXT

I still have all those books on coding for kids that I should get to...

You know those people who get stuff accomplished, only it's not what they have on their list? I'm one of those.