#IMWAYR February 5, 2018

#IMWAYR time again, when readers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to in the past week. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. Whatever you are looking forward to in your next great read, these are fabulous places to start your search.

Last week when I went to pick up a graphic novel from a different library branch, I wandered over into the baby book section. The area was teeming with moms and tots. While looking for Jane Whittingham's book, (see below) I overheard a conversation between two moms. One was going through a pile of books that her little person was bringing to her. She confessed to the other mom that she only brought home books that she could stand to read over and over again. I think this is an important aspect in any book for children.

I am hosting book club Monday afternoon. I will get around to reading and responding to everyone's posts, but it might not be right away!

BABY BOARD BOOKS

I read a lot of books with my seven month old grandbabies, but will try to just highlight what is new or if the reaction is exceptional. 

Wild One by Jane Whittingham & Noel Tuazon (Illustrator)

Jane at Raincity Librarian, is one of our fellow bloggers from my home town of Vancouver BC. This isn't strictly a board book, but it is constructed to be very durable. It didn't quite work for my darling little girl, but she loved the noise flapping these pages makes. I can imagine my grandchildren being wild like this when they are a bit older.

Dance Baby Dance by Andrea Spalding

This didn't engage my granddaughter nearly as much as Super Bowl on TV did. I'll try it again later, but it seems like too much text for a seven month old.

We All Count: A Book Of Ojibway Numbers by Jason Adair

The gorgeous illustrations entertain my little ones and me, even it they are not really ready to understand counting.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.& Eric Carle (Illustrator)

This is a larger version of board book that I purchased to go along with the quilts I made for the babies. I've read this book more times than I can imagine across the years. These days I am seeing it with fresh eyes when I share it with my grandbabies. Ada, who is 7 1/2 months adores it. She makes cooing and screeching noises and tries to eat or taste the illustrations. My two year old great nephew 'reads this one' by chanting the animal names when he comes to the pages. You can see below how much Ada loves it this in these photos.  

PICTURE BOOKS

This Beautiful Day by Richard Jackson & Suzy Lee (Illustrator)

The text is a celebration of everyday moments, but it is Suzy Lee’s illustrations that take this book to a spectacular level. I adore that the book begins with a black and white pallet that adds colour with each turn of the page and culminates in a glorious homage to backyard play.

NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS

Island: A Story of the Galápagos by Jason Chin

When Jason Chin mixes science with his imagination, he makes learning about the world around us into a fascinating adventure.

Balderdash!: John Newbery and the Boisterous Birth of Children's Books by Michelle Markel & Nancy Carpenter (Illustrator)

This delightful book tells the story of John Newbery and his role in facilitating the publication of children's literature.

ADULT NOVELS

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore & Fisher Stevens (Narrator)

I can't believe that I hadn't read anything by Christopher Moore before I read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, as one of my #MustRead novels last year. I have become a fan. This story of a widower with a newborn baby who discovers that he has been nominated to collect the souls of the dead is hilarious and sweet.

ADULT NONFICTION

Maximum Canada: Why 35 Million Canadians Are Not Enough by Doug Saunders

We are meeting to talk about this book today. The basic premise is that Canada, for all kinds of reasons, needs more people. It delves into the history of immigration before finally explaining that we need to increase our population to 100 million people, but that we also need to invest in specific infrastructure to ensure we maintain the kind of successful multiculturalism we have enjoyed so far.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

The Big Bad Fox by Benjamin Renner

I adored this book the first time round and while this reread isn't quite as fresh, I loved it as much, if not more, this time. The characters are brilliantly sweet and hilarious. Clinking on the title will take you to my original blog post about it.

Soupy Leaves Home by Cecil Castellucci & Jose Pimienta (Illustrations)

This one stood up to rereading as well. This historical novel set in the 1930's, features Pearl, a young girl who runs away from an abusive family. She becomes Soupy, a boy, and takes to the hobo life under the tutelage of Ramshackle, an ailing old man. Ramshackle teaches Soupy how to dream and find goodness and beauty all around them. Through their journey Soupy finds self worth and confidence.

Real Friends by Shannon Hale (Goodreads Author), LeUyen Pham (Illustrations), Jane Poole (Color)

This is another book that was as good if not better the second time round. I love that it deals with what it means to be popular, provides a model for how to extract yourself from bullying through exclusion, and highlights the kinds of behaviours that are truly admirable.

The Dam Keeper by Robert Kondo, Dice Tsutsumi

This is an intriguing story about a young pig who maintains a windmill that keeps a killing fog away from his village. It is dark but still compelling. The book is based on an Oscar nominated animation film that you can see here. The film is a kind of prequel for the novel, although we learn more about how the pig ended up in this situation.

CURRENTLY

I've barely started Saints and Misfits by S. K. Ali.

UP NEXT

Rebel Seoul by Axie Oh is waiting for me to find time to start. The next audiobook will be La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman and Michael Sheen (narrator)

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2018 6/25

#MustReadNFIn2018 2/12 

25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 2/25

Cybil Graphic Novels 12/12 

Goodreads Reading Challenge 44/333