IT'S MONDAY- WHAT ARE YOU READING?

To this point, I haven't done "It's Monday, What Are You Reading?" hosted by Jen and Kellye at Teach Mentor Texts.  I have, however, really enjoyed seeing what other people are reading, so this week I decided to jump on the bandwagon. Haven't quite figured out how to get the logo yet…

I started reading the Hunger Games trilogy over spring break. I'm not, at all, a fantasy/science fiction/dystopian fiction fan, but my book club had decided to read The Hunger Games, then see the movie for our March meeting. I read the book in two days, and I was hooked. I had to read the rest. Last week I read Catching Fire, and this week I read Mockingjay. I loved the first book, but I felt like each book was progressively darker, and Mockingjay felt pretty bleak. I also wasn't totally satisfied with the ending. How did Gale just completely drop out of the picture at the very end? Why did he seem to be a totally different character than the person he had been all the way through the series? I'm hoping folks in my book club will be ready to talk about some of these issues when we meet on April 28th…

I read a couple of easy chapter books.

Zapato Power #4: Freddie Ramos Makes a Splash- This is the fourth book in this series. I've been following a discussion about kids starting chapter books, and I think this series is just about as good as it gets for helping kids start chapter books.

Melody and the Sea Dragon- Another beginning chapter book. I love that Melody is an African American mermaid.

I'm pulling together a bibliography for a friend, so I've also read a plethora of picture books this week.

1. The Awesome Book by Dallas Clayton- I'm thinking that I will be giving this as a graduation present to several seniors
2. Desk Secrets by Kevin O'Malley
3. Señorita Gordita by Helen Ketteman- Gingerbread Boy with a Hispanic twist
4. How Many Donkeys  retold by Margaret Reed MacDonald and Nadia Jameel Taibah
5. Samuel's Choice by Richard Berleth
6. The Wooden Sword by Ann Reddish Stampler, illustrated by Carol Liddiment
7. These Bees Count- Alice Formento, illustrated by Sarah Snow- Lots of bee-related information for young readers
8. First Peas to the Table by Sarah Grigsby, illustrated by Nicole Tadgell- Some really nice examples of science journals in this one. 
9. Have You Seen Mary? by Jeff Kurrus, photographs by Michael Forsberg- Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous nature photography in a story about a sandhill crane and his missing mate.
10. The Duckling Wants a Cookie, by Mo Willems- Mo does it again! Does he ever have a book that is NOT a winner! 
11. Extra Yarn, by Mac Barnett
12. Happy, by Miles Van Hout- A book about feelings. Very simple, but beautifully done. The background of each page is black, the fish and the words are colored. Many of the words are done in fonts that make them match the feeling. 
13. My Dad is Big and Strong But…- A reverse "time for bed' story. A little boy is putting his dad to bed. Really fun!
14. Zoo Achoo by Peter Mandel- An elephant, and then all of his buddies at the zoo, have the sneezes.
15. Crow Call by Lois Lowry- This one has been out a while, not sure how I missed it. Think it would be perfect paired with Owl Moon.
16. There Goes Ted Williams by Matt Tavares- I loved Hank Aaron's Dream by Tavares, and this picture book biography is just as good.
17. Green by Laura Vacarro Seger- I had to go looking for this one after Mary Lee's review. She was right- it's pretty darn near perfect
18. Outside Your Window, A first book of nature (poetry)- Poems divided into the four seasons. Gorgeous three dimensional collage illustrations.
19. The Art of Miss Chewby Patricia Polacco-  the story of an art teacher who made a difference in Polacco's life.  
20. Ben's Dream by Chris Van Allsburg- The fourth grade author study in my district is Chris Van Allsburg. I've always loved his art, but don't always enjoy his books that much, probably because I am not a fantasy lover. I've been reading through all of his work in preparation for our author study.
21. Queen of the Falls, by Chris Van Allsburg- This is one of Van Allsburg's newest books. Not his typical fantasy, instead it's the story of the first woman to go over Niagra Falls in a barrel. I liked it at least as much as his fantasy books. 

This week, I'm hoping to read The One and Only Ivan. A few of my favorite adult authors- Anne Lamott, Jodi Piccoult and Anna Quindlen-  have new books out, so I might also grab an adult book. And I'm pulling together a presentation I have to do on April 24th, so I will be revisiting some  books I have enjoyed in the last few months.