It's Monday! What are you reading? From Picture Books to YA (36)

It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey. Jen & Kellee from Teach Mentor Texts have adapted this to focus on Picture Books to Young Adult Books.

For the next several weeks, I expect my reading will be a little slower.  It always happens right around the start of the school year that my time for reading slows down, and with children returning this Wednesday to class, I have already noticed the slow down.  I am excited to see what the new school year will bring.

For some additional new books, check out this week's Hot Off the Press! post here.  I have also held off on a few books so that I can add them to my Wednesday Nonfiction Picture Book post. 


Here is my favorite Caldecott Honor Book from the past week:



Ben's Trumpet by Rachel Isadora - You can feel the jazz in both the text and illustrations.  I really enjoyed this one.  It may be one of my favorite's by Isadora.


Here are some other books that I was reading this past week:


The Library by Sarah Stewart; Illustrated by David Small - I don't remember which Nerdy Book Club member recommended this one, but I felt like I was reading about me.  Just loved this.


Everything Goes: Henry Goes Skating by Brian Biggs - This early reader has the feel of Biggs' Everything Goes book but the text of an early reader.  I need to check out the others in this series.


Binky Under Pressure by Ashley Spires - If you haven't read the earlier Binky graphic novels, go do so.  Once you have caught up, then try this one.  I think this is my favorite Binky book yet. 


Poseidon: Earth Shaker (Olympians #5) by George O'Connor - If you don't know about O'Connor's amazing graphic novel series, you must find them and read them all.  Poseidon comes out in March 2013.  I checked out the ARC from NetGalley.  This one is written from Poseidon's POV which makes it a bit different from the others but still wonderful.


Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage - I elected to listen to this one.  I will be reviewing it on Tuesday so I will hold off on saying anything at the moment. 


Hattie Ever After by Kirby Larson - A bookseller friend knew how much I loved Hattie Big Sky and when this Advanced Reader's Copy came in she put it aside for me. I loved it!  If you loved Hattie Big Sky, then you will be excited to see where Hattie goes next.  I don't want to review it now since it won't be out until 2013, but you will want it.

So what are you reading this week?




Hot Off the Press! - 8/19/12



Hot Off the Press is fairly regular feature focusing on picture books that are recent releases.  I usually base the post on my weekly visits to Vroman's Bookstore or Mrs. Nelson's Bookstore in LaVerne.  The following titles can be found at either bookstore (variability of titles may vary from week to week).

Here are some of the recent picture book releases out in the wild....


Insomniacs by Karina Wolf; Illustrated by Brothers Hilts - I definitely love the illustrations in this book.  They remind me of a Tim Burton movie.  The transition the family makes to being nocturnal is fun. 

Here is the official book trailer for Insomniacs:





Oh No, Little Dragon by Jim Averbeck - Little Dragon's spark was snuffed out by some water play in the bathtub.  So what is a young dragon to do?  After Little Dragon thinks of things he could possibly do, he seeks out his mother and learns that a mother's kiss just might fix everything. 


Mr. Zinger's Hat by Cary Fagan; Illustrated by Dusan Petricic - I love books that can be used on multiple levels.  This one works well both as a read aloud for younger children but as a way of discussing storytelling and learning about telling a story with older students.  The illustrations work well with the text.  Overall, I really liked this one and it would be a great addition to a classroom library.




Last Days of Freedom Giveaway Hop


Thanks to Kathy from I am a Reader, Not a Writer and Jessi from The Elliott Review for hosting this Giveaway Hop.

To celebrate the end of the summer and the start of the school year, I am giving away a copy of one of the following books:


Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead


Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

Rules for the Giveaway:
1. Though comments are very much appreciated, please do not enter any personal information in the comments section (including your email, website, etc.). If you do enter personal information, your comment will not be posted.
2. You must complete the entry form to official enter the giveaway.
3. The Contest runs from 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time on August 17th to 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on August 22nd.
4. You must be 13 years or older to participate.
5. If you are selected as the winner, you will be notified by email. If you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.
6. US participants only.


Ivy & Bean Day Blog-a-Bration Week 1


Guess what!  October 13th is the 1st Annual International Ivy & Bean Day.  Thanks to Chronicle Books, there 14 bloggers (see list below) who will be counting down the weeks until October 13th with a special Ivy & Bean post and giveaway.  The winners of the giveways will be entered into a grand prize giveaway.

Chronicle Books is giving away is a copy of Ivy & Bean Book 1 to one lucky winner and a set of mini-note cards to 3 other winners. Click here to check out the Ivy & Bean official page.

Other Bloggers celebrating Ivy & Bean Blog-a-Bration:

                     Media Darlings                                  
                     There's A Book                                  
                    In the Pages                                      
                      The O.W.L.                                         
                  Coquette Maman                            
                   Ruth Ayres Writes                           
Watch. Connect. Read.
                 One Page to the Next                    
                 Van Meter Library Voice               
               The Family That Reads Together
                Roundtable Reviews for Kids      
                 Sharpread                                    
                                                               The Children's Book Review        

To celebrate the first week of Ivy & Bean - I am reposting an Interview we did with Ivy & Bean back in December. Here is an excerpt from the interview.  To read the whole interview, click here.

Hi Andrea, 
Ivy says: We’re glad to know that you like the books about us. 
Bean says: Of course she likes them. Who wouldn’t like them? 
Ivy: She’s asking us what books we like besides The Amazing Book of World Records. 
Bean: I don’t like any other books. 
Ivy: Yes you do. You liked that book called The World of Weird: Unbelievable Animals. 
Bean: Oh yeah. I did like that one. And I liked that one about how to pan for gold. Even though I never found any gold. 

This week's giveaway will run from August 16th to August 22nd.  Don't forget to enter the giveaway by filling in the form below:

The Winners of this week's giveaways will be entered into the Grand Prize Giveaway.  Thanks Chronicle Books for this great prize pack:


A complete set of Ivy and Bean hardcover books signed by Annie Barrows 

1 set of Ivy and Bean Paper Dolls 

1 Ivy and Bean Button Factory 

1 Ivy and Bean READ Poster signed by Annie Barrows 

Set of Ivy and Bean Silly Bandz · Set of Ivy and Bean stickers 

AND – a super-secret really cool prize we’re working on (stay tuned!)

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - One Night in the Everglades

Author: Laurel Larsen, PH.D.
Illustrator: Joyce Mihran Turley
Publisher:  Taylor Trade Publishing (May 16, 2012)
Source: Copy for Review
Read Aloud: 3rd to 5th
Independent Reading: 4th & 5th
Nonfiction *Environmental Science * Nature

Description from GoodReads:
Follow two scientists as they spend a night in the Everglades collecting water samples, photographing wildlife, and sloshing through marshes in an attempt to understand this mysterious ecosystem. Part of a long-term effort to return the Everglades to a natural state after a century of development, the scientists try to figure out what the river of grass was like prior to human settlement. Along the way, they deal with razor-sharp sawgrass and alligators and turtles and are even surprised by the sudden presence of what is known in the Everglades as a frog gigger one who hunts and collects frogs for food Published in cooperation with the Long Term Ecological Research Network, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.

 My thoughts on this book:
One Night in the Everglades is a story about two scientists - one being the author - who spend the night conducting research and experiments in the Florida Everglades.  It is evident that Larsen cares deeply about the Everglades.  It is also evident from her writing that she is quite knowledgeable about this topic.  

The book is written almost as two books in one.  One part is a story of the two scientists, their work along with the history of the Everglades.  The second part consists of key vocabulary accompanied by definitions and also interesting facts.  I would almost recommend reading this book at least twice.  The first read could be the story about the scientists followed by a reading of all of the definitions and scientific facts.  

Turley's paintings accompany each page of text and could certainly be considered an important part of visual literacy and a story element of its own within this book.  Children could spend time just flipping through the illustrations for a third or fourth read through.  

Though this is a picture book, the text and amount of technical information included in the book really makes this a book for older children.  I sometimes wonder if books like this shouldn't be formatted differently.  I could see even Middle School students benefiting from the information but not willing to pick it up because it was a "picture book" (or teachers not encouraging it for older children because it is a picture book).

Look for One Night in the Everglades in your local library or consider purchasing it for your school library.  
  


Don't forget to link up your nonfiction picture book reviews below: