Wow! What a fun week! It was tiring though, which is why I am just now getting around to getting the pictures organized and writing about it. Sorry about that...Better late than never, right? Book Nic and Book Fair: We had a great turn out at the Book Nic and for the Book Fair every day last week. Everyone should thank their parents for coming to support their reading and helping them buy books for your house. Special thank you to Stephen's mom and Urijah's mom for helping us decorate. The dress up days are always a hit! I wish I could take a picture of everybody because everybody did such a great job. It's fun to celebrate books, reading, and kindness! And then, to top it all off, we had Principal on the Roof for those that earned 5 AR points during Reading Week! There was some gooooooood candy in that bucket, but how did Ms. Decker and Mrs. Wheatfill get on the roof?
0 Comments
I am changing it up and listened to this book that is in the adventure genre. It is a Battle of the Book book (I always think that's funny, book book Hahahaha). Because it is in the Battle of the Books competition, I am not going to give away too many details. But I can say the book is about 4 jewel thieves that happen to be children. They go on many adventures, using their smarts to figure out clues to break a curse that has befallen them. In the process of breaking the curse, they figure out who they can trust and who is going to double cross them! I enjoyed the book. They adventures and heists they went on seemed believable even though the characters were only teenagers. If you are interested in the Battle of the Books competition, you should read this book (and take notes on all the details)! And speaking of the Battle of the Books competition, I really need to update that page!!
I hope everyone had a great first week back to school. It was so nice seeing all of you again after a few months off and meeting the new students to our school. I think it is going to be an awesome school year! Right before school started, our school received a TON of new books. Some of the books were to replace falling apart and lost series books and some of the books were to create brand new series! Here's a sneak preview! Which series are you going to read first??
I went to a librarian kick off meeting this week. This is a time when all the librarians in schools around the district come together and talk about librarian stuff (I won't go into alllll the details). Every year they bring in an author for us and this year we got to meet Mac Barnett. If you need a reminder, he wrote some of my favorite books, Chloe and Lion, Extra Yarn, Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, and many more! Mac Barnett is very, very funny! We were laughing the whole time! But he also talked to us about the process he goes through to create a book and the collaboration that takes place when creating a book. He only works with certain illustrators and he often times is surprised with the illustrations that are created for the book. He sends them this... edI realize that's hard to read but you get the idea. It is just words on a page. It looked like a poem when I first saw it. But this is what he sends to the illustrator and then the illustrator takes the words and adds the pictures that they think work the best. I will share this book with you the first week of school so that you can see the details. This is a terrible picture!! But, this is the book the came of those words. I got an autograph and everything! I thought that the talk about collaboration was going to stop there, but he went a little further. These are the four people that make a book have life! I love that he noticed that the performer (that's the person who reads the book, like me) affects the book. They way the person reads the story aloud, changes the story. And then there's YOU! The kid. That's the person that he writes the story for. And you play a big role in the book (actually, I think you are the most important part of the whole thing). Mac Barnett was a really interesting speaker and person. He read some books that are not published yet (so we got a sneak peek) and talked about his life and how he got started choosing children's book author as his career. It was a great way to kick off the school year right!
Jerry Spinelli. I love to read his writing. I tell you, he has the best ending lines in his chapters. The end lines of chapters not only sum up the chapter but make you want to keep reading. And Spinelli's end lines are very clever! This story is about Cammie, a teenager that lives in a women's prison with her father who is the warden of the prison. Cammie is very spunky! She has interesting friends, including one's inside the prison! AS you get to know Cammie, you will learn that she has a lot of healing that she needs to do. The book takes place over on summer and it is definitely a summer of growing up for Cammie. I would describe this books as being for mature readers. There is a murder that takes place (story is about a prison so that makes sense). But it is really about Cammie growing up and healing what needs to be healed. I think you may like Cammie's voice is this story. She tells it like it is!
I finished listening to this book last week. I really enjoyed it! It is about a little girl named Stella who lives in South Carolina in the era of the Ku Klux Klan. Her family and community is very poor, struggling to get by, fighting for their right to vote and live without prejudice. Stella is 12 and wants to be a writer but isn't great at writing. I enjoyed her voice and attitude as she tries to figure out how to help her community through hard times. Many of you may have read Sharon Draper's fantastic book Out of My Mind. Such an amazing book but nothing like this book at all. (I suggest you read both books to see how an author can change genres.) Stella by Starlight is a true Historical Fiction taking place in 1932. Why so many historical fiction books, Mrs. Davis? I like learning about what other people's experiences were like in the past. I could look at a history book and figure out dates when laws were past and when African Americans began to vote in elections but reading about the experience that Stella's father had when he went to register to vote, and cast his vote in the election, is very different. I think all history should be taught from the people's perspective that lived during that time. I think it is a gift that authors give to us to help us learn from other's struggles (That sounds very teacher-y but I can't help it :P). If you haven't tried historical fiction, please try it. Put yourself in the shoes of the people in the story. How would you react to those situations? What would it be like if your family couldn't afford shoes and you walked around barefoot? Have you ever wanted to change something that was bigger than you?
Pax is the story of a boy (Peter) and his fox (Pax). Yes, a fox is a strange pet for a boy to have. I was thinking the same thing. But there is a good (mixed with sad and hopeful) story behind how Peter came to have a fox for a pet. This story takes place in the past (historical fiction is my jam) but the author doesn't really say where or when the setting of the story is. And it really bothered me, like really bothered me, throughout the whole story. Peter's father went to war (which war?) and forced Peter to leave his fox out in the woods (which woods?) to go live with his grandfather (where?). Peter realized that was a terrible mistake and sets upon a journey to find his fox. Do you see what I mean about the setting bothering me? I did enjoy the characters in the book however. This story is told not just from Peter's point of view, but also from Pax's. As each the human and the boy are learning how to survive on their own, they tell the story from their own angle. Pax was just a kit (that's a baby fox) when Peter found him and took him in. No one taught him how to hunt or the dangers that could be facing him. Peter also had never traveled on his own, especially on foot. The journey for each of them was difficult and I enjoyed listening to how boy and fox overcame the obstacles. So while this book wasn't perfect for me, I would recommend it for anyone liking adventure or animal stories. One quick side note: The pictures in the book where done by Jon Klassen. I listened to the audiobook version of the book and I feel like I missed out by not seeing the illustrations. I am thinking I will need to a least flip through the physical book to see how the pictures add to the story. Do you like it when there are illustrations chapter books? I think it makes the book a little extra special.
|
This section will be to let you know what I am reading and my thoughts about the book. Remember, everybody is different and likes different things so this is MY opinion of these books. I would love for you to form your own. But this my give you some ideas!
Archives |