TBR - July 31

Here is my latest to-be-read pile after a trip to the public library:

Kids, post YOUR TBR pile as a comment, along with your initials and last year's homeroom, and you can pick from the prize box the next time I see you (and add another book to your pile).

Edited to add the books I picked up on 8/1:

What Ms. Moore is Reading - Vacation Weeks 4 & 5

Here are some of the most recent books I've read and recommend for my students. They're all available from the public library, but any donations towards getting them into our collection are most welcome! All cover images and descriptions are from Goodreads.

Middle Grade Novels

Charlie wishes his life could be as predictable and simple as chicken nuggets. And it usually is. He has his clean room, his carefully organized bird books and art supplies, his favorite foods, and comfortable routines. But life has been unraveling since his war journalist father was injured in Afghanistan. And when Dad gets sent across country for medical treatment, Charlie must reluctantly travel to meet him. With his boy-crazy sister, unruly twin brothers, and a mysterious new family friend at the wheel, the journey looks anything but smooth.

Twelve-year-old Warren has learned that his beloved hotel can walk, and now it's ferrying guests around the countryside, transporting tourists to strange and foreign destinations. But when an unexpected detour brings everyone into the dark and sinister Malwoods, Warren finds himself separated from his hotel and his friends and racing after them on foot through a forest teeming with witches, snakes, talking trees, and mind-boggling riddles. NOTE: This is a sequel to "Warren the 13th and the All-Seeing Eye," which I also highly recommend.

Nonfiction

On the morning of August 6, 1926, Gertrude Ederle stood in her bathing suit on the beach at Cape Gris-Nez, France, and faced the churning waves of the English Channel. Twenty-one miles across the perilous waterway, the English coastline beckoned. Lyrical text, stunning illustrations and fascinating back matter put the reader right alongside Ederle in her bid to be the first woman to swim the Channel and contextualizes her record-smashing victory as a defining moment in sports history. 

This clever picture book introduces the concept of animal characteristics by highlighting how there can be both differences and similarities within a group. For example, the zebra gallops, the bumblebee flies, the lemur leaps and the tiger prowls ... But look closer now ... We all have STRIPES! And so it goes. ... Observant children will notice that one of the animals from each group also appears on the following spread with three new animals that have a different characteristic in common. NOTE: I'm adding this to our first grade categories unit.

If you were the moon, what would you do? You'd spin like a twilight ballerina and play dodgeball with space rocks! And more.

TBR - July 20

Here is my latest to-be-read pile after a trip to the public library:

Kids, post YOUR TBR pile as a comment, along with your initials and last year's homeroom, and you can pick from the prize box the next time I see you (and add another book to your pile).

What Ms. Moore is Reading - Vacation Weeks 2 & 3

Here are some of the most recent books I've read and thought my students would like. They're all available from the public library, but any donations towards getting them into our collection are most welcome! All cover images and descriptions are from Goodreads.

Picture Books

As one artist incorporates accidental splotches, spots, and misshapen things into her art, she transforms her piece in quirky and unexpected ways, taking readers on a journey through her process. Told in minimal, playful text, this story shows readers that even the biggest "mistakes" can be the source of the brightest ideas--and that, at the end of the day, we are all works in progress, too. NOTE: 2018 Mock Caldecott nominee

Little Louie is stuck in bed with a bad cold. His nose is clogged, his ears are crackling, and his brain feels full. All he wants is his mom to take care of him, but whenever he calls out for her, his stuffed-up nose summons slobbery dog Bob instead! As Louie tries and tries to make himself understood in this funny picturebook, kids will love calling out with him, "Bob, not Bob!" NOTE: 2018 Mock Caldecott nominee

Middle Grades

When cell phones are banned at Branton Middle School, Frost and his friends come up with a new way to communicate: leaving sticky notes for each other all around the school. It catches on, and soon all the kids in school are leaving notes—though for every kind and friendly one, there is a cutting and cruel one as well.

In the middle of this, a new girl named Rose arrives at school and sits at Frost’s lunch table. Rose is not like anyone else at Branton Middle School, and it’s clear that the close circle of friends Frost has made for himself won’t easily hold another. As the sticky-note war escalates, and the pressure to choose sides mounts, Frost soon realizes that after this year, nothing will ever be the same.

Mori and her friends live a normal life on Firefly Lane in their utopian community, Old Harmonie. In a world this safe and perfect, they've never had to question anything . . . never had to wonder about how their lives came to be. Until a new girl named Ilana moves in. She's so perfect that Mori and her friends are curious . . . Where exactly did Ilana come from, and why does she act so strange sometimes? When Ilana's secret is revealed, the kids on Firefly Lane must decide: is it finally time to start questioning the only world they've ever known? NOTE: 2018 Rhode Island Middle School Book Award nominee

Nonfiction

The phenomenon of desperate refugees risking their lives to reach safety is not new. For hundreds of years, people have left behind family, friends, and all they know in hope of a better life. This book presents five true stories about young people who lived through the harrowing experience of setting sail in search of asylum. Aimed at middle grade students, Stormy Seas combines a contemporary collage-based design, sidebars, fact boxes, timeline and further reading to produce a book that is ideal for both reading and research. Readers will gain new insights into a situation that has constantly been making the headlines. 

Born in Scotland more than 250 years ago, William Playfair was a dreamer who saw the world differently from other people. Unfortunately, this difference sometimes got in the way of his success. Early on, as he attempted to apply his unique perspective to a series of career opportunities in order to gain "riches! fame! glory!" he instead suffered one failure after another. Then, while writing a book about economics, Will's innovative vision inspired an idea that would set him apart: he created the first modern line graph. Next came a bar graph and later a pie chart. These infographic inventions provided a way for numbers to be seen as pictures, which ... changed the way the world would interact with data forever. NOTE: I'll be adding this to our Grade 2 curriculum.

TBR - July 8

Here is my latest to-be-read pile after a trip to the public library:

Kids, post YOUR TBR pile as a comment, along with your initials and last year's homeroom, and you can pick from the prize box the next time I see you (and add another book to your pile).

What Ms. Moore Is Reading - Vacation Week 1

Here are some of the most recent books I've read and thought my students would like. They're all available from the public library, but any donations towards getting them into our collection are most welcome! All cover images and descriptions are from Goodreads.

Board Book

Everyone knows the sun is hot. But open the flaps in this book and you may find a chilly surprise instead! Each spread of this cleverly designed board book reveals a surprising opposite that makes for a truly original way for toddlers to learn about words and concepts. Whether it be hot or cold, clean or dirty, slow or fast, this book has you covered—at least until you open the flaps. 

My take: LOVE. Ingenious. Will add to my Grade 1 Opposites lesson

Early Reader

Giraffe is bored, as usual. He'd love a friend to share things with. So he writes a letter and sends it as far as possible across the other side of the horizon. There he finds a pen pal: Penguin. 

My take: This grew on me as it went along; by the time Giraffe and Pelican were making drawings of what they thought Penguin looked like, I was utterly charmed. Will recommend to 1st and 2nd grade teachers as jumping-off points for pen pal projects.

Charlie and Mouse, two young brothers, enjoy a day out together, attending an imaginary party and collecting rocks.

My take: Old fashioned, simple, and sweet. Lots of repetitive text for the early reader. And I love that Mouse wore a tutu to the party.

Middle Grades

Eleven-year-old Fern's rundown home borders a pristine forest, where her impoverished family hunts and forages for food. It's also her refuge from the crushing responsibility of caring for her wild younger brothers and PTSD-stricken stepfather. But when a fracking company rolls into town, Fern realizes that her special grove could be ripped away, and no one else seems to care.

My take: Don't read this if you're looking for a lighthearted story. I did like that it was an "issue" novel that wasn't overly preachy. But man, Fern's house made me feel cold and hungry.

Poetry

Out of gratitude for the poet's art form, Newbery Award winning author and poet Kwame Alexander, along with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth, present original poems that pay homage to twenty famed poets who have made the authors' hearts sing and their minds wonder.

My take: Should be on college syllabi for poetry classes. Will recommend to RI Mock Newbery committee. Not all the poems worked for me (in part because I'm not a fan of some of the poets being celebrated), but the sheer amount of work that went into this achievement is evident. Favorites:

• I Like Your (celebrating e.e. cummings)
• Jazz Jive Jam (celebrating Langston Hughes)
• How Billy Collins Writes a Poem (celebrating Billy Collins)
• No Idle Days (celebrating William Carlos Williams)

Also the artwork is gorgeous.