Library Matters

#IMWAYR November 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.

Working everyday last week cut seriously into my reading life. Not only did I not have time, but when I had time, I was too exhausted to read! At least what I did get to was mostly fabulous!

My partner and I did find time to finish rewatching True Detective. I managed to get some knitting done during that time, although to be honest, I also ended up pulling my work out and starting over a few times. I am scheduled to work three days this week. Then we are heading off to our place in the Okanogan for about a week. I hope to catch up on my reading life then.

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Mixed: A Colorful Story by Arree Chung

OMG I love this beautiful book!

It's about what happens when you mix different colours, but it's so much more than this. It's a story for our times. It shows us how different kinds of peoples need each other and how beautiful our children are when we mix with each other. This is a must purchase for all school libraries!

5 stars

Carmela Full of Wishes by Matt de la Pena & Christian Robinson (Illustrator)

A young girl is finally old enough to go out with her brother as he does his chores and makes his rounds. She makes all kinds of wishes that tell us about their lives. There is subtle sibling conflict throughout the book, but by the end we are shown how much love they have for one anther.

This beautifully illustrated book gave me shivers!

4 stars

Stumpkin by Lucy Ruth Cummins

I read this to a few groups of kids while working in a school library. They were delighted with it and happy that it all worked out for the stemless pumpkin. Of course given that it was Halloween, pretty much everything made them happy, but they did settle down and were engaged completely in the drama of the story. Heck, so was I.

3.5 stars

Black and Bittern Was Night by Robert Heidbreder & John Martz (Illustrations)

Don't start to read this book out loud before you practice it first! I can see that it will frustrate some readers. It does have that jaberwocky feel. Yet, bizarrely, it makes sense. I know this author and can easily visualize him reciting this to a group of primary students and enthralling them. This probably helps me get over the tongue twistiness of it all.

5 stars

The Day War Came by Nicola Davies & Rebecca Cobb (Illustrator)

This book will break your heart a bit. It's the story of a young girl who loses her family when war comes. She is forced to flee by herself to a refugee camp. I spent a lot of time unpacking this with a couple of groups of grades 3/4/5 students last week. The first time through all we did was look at the images and talk about what we saw and felt. By the time we finished, we all had a richer understanding of how much we all have in common and what it means to be a refugee. This week I'm going to introduce them to Feathers by Phil Cummings & Phil Lesnie.

GRAPHIC

4 stars

Vacation by Blexbolex

This is a hybrid kind of book. It's a cross between a picture book and a graphic novel. In addition to all this, it's wordless.

To be honest, I went through it a couple of times, and I'm still not sure I understand the story. This doesn't interfere with my pleasure in the artwork and what I am able to figure out. It's confusing in places, but I think it's meant to be. There are times when reality and fantasy seem to collide. I ended up reading other reviews and notes about the book. I'm not sure that was a good idea because I liked my understanding better, even if it was confusing.

NOVELS

4 stars

Breakout by Kate Messner

“I believe people are never as perfect as their best days. But always more than their worst.”

These lines from this book are sticking with me.

There is a lot going on in this book! A young black girl, Elidee, and her mother move to a small east coast town as school is gearing down for the summer. Then there is a breakout at the prison near the community. As the days go by the tension ratchets up and the town that at first glance seems idyllic, is shown to have a darker underbelly. Elidee is befriended by two white girls, Nora and Lizzie, when they join together to create a racing relay team. It's through their friendship with Elidee that Nora and Lizzie come to understand how privileged being white makes them.

NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13 by Helaine Becker & Dow Phumiruk (Illustrator)

Helaine Becker's narrative tells the story of Katherine Johnson. This brilliant black woman overcame numerous obstacles to become an important person in the NASA Space program. I ended up rereading this book in order to fully appreciate Dow Phumiruk's gorgeous illustrations. They bring Katherine to life and make the book shine!

CURRENTLY

I'm still listening to Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. I've been carrying Making Bombs for Hitler by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch around with me, but haven't even opened it! I will start it ASAP!

UP NEXT

I've got a pile of novels, picture books, and two audiobooks checked out of the library. I'll see what appeals most and dig in.

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2018 22/25

#MustReadNFIn2018 10/12

25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 22/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge 376/333

#IMWAYR October 29th, 2018

I apologize to everyone who's posts I didn't manage to read and respond to last week. Life got in the way. The rains were coming and so I harvested about 20 pounds of green tomatoes. Then of course, they had to be dealt with.

In addition to that, my elder son is working on a big school project so we took our grandson in the afternoon for a few days. My daughter in law (other son's wife) is also working on a big translation project, so we brought her baby into our part of the house for a lot of time. Two toddlers for two 65 year old adults is a lot of toddler! Of course, we wouldn't have it any other way.

I also managed to knit matching pumpkin hats for the two children and their little dolls.

BOARD BOOKS

4 stars

Good Morning World by Paul Windsor

This book honours the many plants and animals of our world. Paul Windsor’s illustrations are bright and beautiful! On the back cover he claims his purpose is to share good energy. He certainly achieves it!

5 stars

We All Count ABook Of Ojibway Numbers by Jason Adair

I brought this from the library because I loved the illustrations. When I went to add it to Goodreads I discovered we've already read it. Not only that, I also own a copy! The gorgeous images entertain us all. She might not be ready to understand counting, but Ada loves to grab my finger and help me point and count the different animals.

5 stars

Bottoms Up! by Yusuke Yonezu

Both of my grand babies love this book. On the left hand side of the two page spread is a riddle that begins with, Whose bottom is this? On the right hand page we see the backside of an animal. When the flap is lifted the animal is revealed waving and smiling at the reader. Lifting the flap is the big pleasure here although Ada enjoys waving back at the creatures and making the noise they make.

4 stars

Hoot by Alison Lester

I love the soft illustrations in this this board book. It's a hit with the babies too because it has different animals making sounds.

The patterned text on the right hand side begins with I see a ..... and ends asking What do you say, ....? The words on the animal on the left side of the page reveal the sounds. If you are like me and have no idea what noises they make, this is a very good thing.

4 stars

Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers & Marla Frazee (Illustrator)

At first Ada wasn’t crazy about this one, but Everett adores it. Everyday he was here this week he brought it over to me and climbed into my lap so we could all read it. This got Ada interested and she started squealing with delight at all the babies. She has become a fan.

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

One Wave at aTime: A Story about Grief and Healing by Holly Thompson (Goodreads Author), Ashley Crowley (Illustrations)

This focuses on a young boy who has recently lost his father. It metaphorically conveys the essence of the grieving process. The beauty of the illustrations accentuate the messages in the text.

There has been a lot of death in my world in the past 8 months. This is pretty much what it's like.

I wish it had been available when I was still working in the library.

GRAPHIC

4 stars

Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol

In this semi-autobiographical novel Vera tells the story of life at a summer camp in America that celebrates and fosters Russian culture. It isn't easy. She struggled with fitting in at her school and then again while she was at camp. There are hilarious scenes where the boys and girls try to steal each other's flags. The outhouse also provides comic moments. In spite of the hilarity, there are lonely, painful and embarrassing components as well. I loved the scenes where Vera found a friend and accepts who she is. The artwork is charming!

In the afterward Vera Brosgol explains that the story is a compilation of friends and family members experiences of camp. To this she added a dose of creativity to make the narrative more exciting.

GRAPHIC NONFICTION

4 stars

A Quick & EasyGuide to They/Them Pronouns by Archie Bongiovanni & Tristan Jimerson

This short graphic nonfiction book explains how to politely find out what pronouns people use, how to use them, and be an ally to those who don’t use gendered pronouns.

I have no real complaints about this book, but wish we had a special nongendered pronoun for all children like they do in Denmark.

NOVELS

4 stars

Wonderland by Barbara O'Connor

This beautiful book pays homage to the power of friendship and belonging. I'm a reader who needs to feel an emotional connection to the characters and Barbara O'Connor delivers this in spades. All of her characters here are multidimensional and realistic. Rose and Mavis, two unlikely best friends, are characters that bring out the best in each other. I love both of them. Mr Duffy, the elderly gatekeeper, is a dear, grandfatherly character. Henry, the runaway dog, is sure to capture your heart. Even Amanda, who Rose dislikes, is shown to have many redeeming qualities. By the end of the book, I even have hope for the girls' mothers. These are the kinds of individuals that left me hoping for a sequel just so I get to visit with them again.

5 stars

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Jim Kay (Illustrator), Siobhan Dowd (Conception) & Jason Isaacs (Narrator)

This book is why I participate in the MustRead challenge. I'm so glad it is on my list this year so I finally got around to reading it! It’s emotionally gut wrenching in a way that is completely authentic and honest. It’s never easy to lose anyone and this book resonates with all the truths inherent in this reality.

If I lived in a fictional world, I'd give Conor, the young man in this book who's mother is dying of cancer, a copy of One Wave at a Time, the picture book I wrote about earlier in this post.

NONFICTION

4 stars

Good Night Storiesfor Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women & Good Night Stories forRebel Girls #2 by Elena Favilli, Francesca Cavallo and multiple narrators

These collections of short narratives celebrate the lives of many remarkable woman across time and space who lived and made a difference in spite of their circumstances and obstacles. It's exciting and inspirational. I recommend these highly for all school libraries. I can imagine using them as starting places for working on more in depth research projects. They will also provide mentor texts for students writing about people they are connected to who are rebel girls. Of course, you could just read a story a night to your children as you put them to bed. I plan on purchasing copies for both my grandchildren when they are older.

CURRENTLY

These days I'm listening to Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. I've just started Breakout by Kate Messner.

UP NEXT

I plan to read Making Bombs for Hitler by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, a title from my must read list. Other than that, I'll just dig into the pile.

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2018 22/25

#MustReadNFIn2018 10/12

25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 22/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge 368/333