It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I cannot tell you how much I love wordless picture books! There's just something magical about them. The illustrations become the focus. The details are so... well, detailed. I love listening to the students come up with the story based on the pictures. There are so many different interpretations of the drawings.

Last week I "read" the wordless picture book Float by Daniel Miyares to all grades.  The littles were quick to tell me what they thought was happening in the illustrations. The bigs were more thoughtful and not as quick to describe what they thought was happening. (I have some theories about this... but that's not what this post is about). 

On a rainy day a little boy and his dad make a paper boat. The little boy ventures out into the rain in search of a puddle to float his paper boat. Through some unfortunate events he heads home without the paper boat. Dad comforts him by making a paper airplane since the sun is out now. 

For an activity I had some copier paper for the students to make a paper boat or paper airplane. I made one of each a head of time with the intention of using them as an example throughout the week but there was always a student who asked if they could keep mine. I became an expert at making paper boats and paper airplanes. Ha!

I took some students outside and videoed them flying their paper airplane and posted it on our school Facebook page.  There were multiple times a teacher walked into the library and called out "We do NOT behave like this in the library."  I'd pop up from the table and laugh "Well, we do today." Then I'd explain about the book and the paper boat and airplane.  

I do believe this was one of my favorite lessons this year!

I got my monthly subscription of Junior Library Guild books in last week.  I read my way through them.

 Snail & Worm by Tina Kugler is one book with three different stories all rolled into one.  Each story is about the two friends Snail and Worm.  It's an easy read, great for those emergent readers.  The vocabulary and sentence structure are simple but the stories are super cute.

 Spot, the Cat by Henry Cole is another wordless picture book.  Love them!  These illustrations are done in black and white.  It seems... more sophisticated.  Spot, the cat escapes through an open window.  As he goes on his adventure someone is looking for him.  You can look for Spot too as you "read" this book.

 How To Find Gold by Viviane Schwarz, finding gold is never easy without a plan.  Anna and Crocodile create a plan. This plans includes a special secret-keeping face, strength, and a map... that they draw themselves... and label with an X themselves.

 The Kid From Diamond Street the Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton by Audrey Vernick, that title is a mouth full!  My family and I are baseball people so I really enjoyed this dip into baseball history.  As a young girl Edith shows extraordinary baseball skills.  She's so talented that she's allowed to join a women's team.  Her nickname becomes the Kid.

 Trombone Shorty by Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, this autobiography tell how Troy became Trombone Shorty after finding a beat up trombone in the trash. He earned the nickname Trombone Shorty because he was just a kid but was an excellent musician.

 Pool by JiHyeon Lee, three wordless picture books in one week!  A little boy heads off to the pool to cool off but finds the pool filled to the brim with other people.  The boy jumps in anyway and heads down deep to find a friend and many different types of fish.  The illustraions are mostly in blue, red and black but when the fish come along more colors get added.  I can't wait to read this to my students!

Cici's A Fairy's Tale Believe Your Eyes Book 1 by Cori Doerrfeld and Tyler Page. This graphic novel deals with divorce, fairies, friendship and following along like everyone else.  Cici is dealing with her parents divorce on her 10th birthday.  She also learns that she is a fairy and has wings.  Her abuela comes to stay with them and helps Cici out through this tough time.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers I liked this young adult story but I didn't necessarily like the way it was written.  It was written in first person point of view by Steve Harmon, a boy in juvenile detention.  In high school Steve is in the media club.  He writes his story as a screenplay along with a few journal entries.  I'm not a fan of screenplays or diary/journal entry books.  In saying all that, I really did like the story.  This story is a true testament that our choices effect us for the rest of our lives.  We have to make good choices.  It's the first book in the series.  I plan on reading the other books.  I want to see how Steve turns out.