What Ms. Moore Read in April

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! Cover images and descriptions are from Goodreads. 

Picture Books

The duo that brought you the “bright” and “breezy” (Booklist) Some Bugs is back with a vibrant companion book that’s packed with your favorite pets.

Some pets sit. Some pets stay.
Some pets fetch, And some pets play.

Come one, come all, to the pet show! With dogs and cats, horses and chickens, hamsters and chinchillas—and many, many more!—this book celebrates animal companions of all shapes and sizes. 

In April 2016, The New York Times published an article about an octopus named Inky who escaped from the National Aquarium of New Zealand through a drainpipe and into the sea. In this charming fictionalized account, Inky, worn out from his exciting life in the ocean, has retired to the aquarium. There he quietly plays cards, makes faces at the visitors, and regales his tankmate Blotchy with tales of his past adventures. Then Blotchy dares Inky to make one more great escape: out of their tank. Will Inky succeed?

Early Reader

In this silly sequel to Snail and Worm, the dynamic duo are back for more fun and giggles in three new comic shorts brimming with quirky humor and unflappable friendship. At turns clever and sweet, these laugh-out-loud stories are perfect for readers coming out of their own shells and making the transition between picture books and chapter books. NOTE: I read this to the 3rd graders as part of our Geisel voting. 

Middle Grade Novels

How do you grow a miracle? 
For the record, this is not the question Mr. Neely is looking for when he says everyone in class must answer an important question using the scientific method. But Natalie's botanist mother is suffering from depression, so this is The Question that's important to Natalie. When Mr. Neely suggests that she enter an egg drop competition, Natalie has hope. Eggs are breakable. Hope is not. Natalie has a secret plan for the prize money. 

Twelve-year-old Charlotte Lockard and eleven-year-old Ben Boxer are separated by more than a thousand miles. On the surface, their lives seem vastly different... but the two have more in common than they think. They’re both highly gifted. They’re both experiencing family turmoil. And they both sit alone at lunch.

Over the course of a week, Charlotte and Ben—online friends connected only by a Scrabble game—will intersect in unexpected ways as they struggle to navigate the turmoil of middle school. You Go First reminds us that no matter how hard it is to keep our heads above troubled water, we never struggle alone.

Nonfiction

What is the smallest rodent in the world? What is the biggest? How long can rodents live? How do they find mates? In this wonderfully detailed new book from an award-winning author, life-sized illustrations of rodent species from around the world accompany simple, thorough text describing their life cycles, sizes, habitats, and ranges. From ground hogs to guinea pigs and pygmy shrews to capybaras, kids will learn all about the rascally rodents who share our world!

Meet the youngest known child to be arrested for a civil rights protest in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963, in this moving picture book that proves you’re never too little to make a difference. Audrey Faye Hendricks was confident and bold and brave as can be, and hers is the remarkable and inspiring story of one child’s role in the Civil Rights Movement. NOTE: RICBA 2019 nominee.

When a group of US Marines fighting in the Korean War found a bedraggled mare, they wondered if she could be trained to as a packhorse. They had no idea that the skinny, underfed horse had one of the biggest and bravest hearts they’d ever known. Soon Reckless showed herself more than willing to carry ammunition too heavy for the soldiers to haul. As cannons thundered and shells flew through the air, she marched into battle—again and again—becoming the only animal ever to officially hold military rank—becoming Sgt. Reckless—and receive two Purple Hearts. NOTE: RICBA 2019 nominee.

Fortunately/Unfortunately with Grade 2

Thanks to https://ideafm.org/ for the idea and the image.

In second grade, we read Fortunately by Remy Charlip, a story that follows Ned through a series of problems and resolutions, and talked about plot structure.

Then we wrote our own version as a class ... the kids much preferred coming up with the "unfortunately" parts!

Finally, the students paired up to write and illustrate even more versions. I'll post pictures of them working together - and their stories - once they finish up. For now, enjoy the stories they wrote as a group:

Room 3

One day, this guy was going parasailing.
Unfortunately, the parachute broke in half.
Fortunately, there was lots of grass on the ground.
Unfortunately, he saw a rattlesnake.
Fortunately, he missed it.
Unfortunately, he landed on a metal trampoline.
Fortunately, he bounced in the middle of it.
Unfortunately, the metal trampoline ripped.
Fortunately, he fell through to the grass.
Unfortunately, there were bears.
Fortunately, he stayed still and tried not to be scared, because he knew this was what he should do.
Unfortunately, more rattlesnakes appeared.
Fortunately, they all became friends.


Room 2
One day, J.L.'s Batman bear was walking.
Unfortunately, he got kidnapped.
Fortunately, the kidnappers brought him back to J.L.'s house.
Unfortunately, the kidnappers played a trick and threw him into the water.
Fortunately, he found a mountain to climb onto.
Unfortunately, there were venomous snakes on the mountain.
Fortunately, he got to ride a horse and be above the snakes.
Unfortunately, he fell off the horse.
Fortunately, a polar bear named Snowball helped him find his way back to JL.
Unfortunately, Snowball then ate JL.
Fortunately, he pooped him out.
Unfortunately, someone grabbed JL and pulled him somewhere, and he was lost.
Fortunately, JUL found a dragon to fly him back home.
Unfortunately, the dragon was ready to drop him into lava.
Fortunately, his Batman bear came to get him.

Inaugural Rooster Games

Thanks to all of the students who read RI Children's Book Award books and participated in the first annual Rooster Games, a test of their knowledge of plots, characters, settings, and illustrations. We had so many kids qualify, we had two teams! Thank you to Kristina Bachner and Jessica Mathias for serving as team managers and keeping the kids on track. 

Here are some photos of the night, and some students' reflections:

Teams rotated through 5 stations

Most of Team 1 - Harini S. read all of the books!

Alumni sibling sighting!

Team 2 - Payton M. read almost all of the books!

Team 1 matching up settings and characters

Team 2 matching up books and characters

Team 2 making a decision

Team 1 narrowing down their choices

Younger sibling sighting!

Older sibling sighting!

• "It was an amazing experience to be in the Rooster Games with my friends. The library had so many things to do, it was great." - J.R., 3rd grade
• "It was loud and fun." - W.M., 3rd grade
• "It was really fun when you challenged another team." - P.K., 3rd grade
• "I loved when everybody yelled, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! for the countdown at the end of each round." - N.J., 3rd grade

• "It was very fun to go from station to station, and it helps you socialize and work together with other kids you might not know." - A.F., 5th grade
• "The game was fun, and I saw a lot of friends from other schools, [so] overall I'm not sad about losing." - J.L., 4th grade
• "My goal is to read all 20 books next year." - J.M., 3rd grade
• 
  

Grade 1 Wockets

I like to have the kids create pages for our own version of mentor texts; they copy the structure of the model and add original words and illustrations. The latest edition of Dr. Seuss' There's a Wocket in My Pocket (Continued) by first graders is now available for checkout! You can preview below: 

 

This may be the most brilliant of these I've ever seen.

What Ms. Moore Read in March

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! Cover images and descriptions are from Goodreads. 

Picture Books

Teddy has a lot of cool toys. But his very favorite doll has the best manners, the sickest fighting skills, and a fierce sense of style. Then one morning, something truly awful happens. And there’s only one woman fierce enough to save the day. Can Teddy’s mom reunite Teddy with his favorite toy? 

Liam really wants some mail, so he writes a letter to his mailbox asking for something in return. His mailbox delivers, sending Liam more than he could have hoped for…and how! But as the mail starts to pile up, Liam realizes that the best packages and parcels are even better when shared with friends.

In this extraordinary new tale from Peter H. Reynolds, Jerome discovers the magic of the words all around him -- short and sweet words, two-syllable treats, and multisyllable words that sound like little songs. Words that connect, transform, and empower. 

"Bus! Stop!" a boy yells, as his bus pulls away one early morning. He must wait for the next bus. But the next one does NOT look like his bus at all. And neither does the next one, or the next. At first, the boy is annoyed. Then he is puzzled. Then intrigued. The other buses look much more interesting than his bus. Maybe he should try a different bus after all, and he's glad he does!

Middle Grade Fiction

In his daydreams, Jensen is the biggest hero that ever was, saving the world and his friends on a daily basis. But his middle school reality is VERY different - math is hard, getting along with friends is hard...Even finding a partner for the class project is a big problem when you always get picked last. And the pressure's on even more once the school newspaper's dynamic duo, Jenny and Akilah, draw Jensen into the whirlwind of school news, social experiment projects, and behind-the-scenes club drama. 

Frances is an observer of both nature and people. She spends most of her time up on the rocks behind her house in her "rock world," as Alvin, her kindhearted and well-read school bus driver, calls it. It's the one place where Frances can truly be herself, and where she doesn't have to think about her older sister, Christinia, who is growing up and changing in ways that Frances can't understand. But when the unimaginable happens, Frances slowly discovers that perhaps the world outside her rugged, hidden paradise isn't so bad after all, and that maybe--just maybe--she can find connection and camaraderie with the people who have surrounded her all along.

For as long as Robinson Hart can remember, it’s just been her and Grandpa. And though she wishes Grandpa would tell her more about the rest of her family, she’s learned over the years that he doesn’t like to talk about the past. But Grandpa’s memory is starting to get bad, and Robbie’s worried that soon he won’t remember their family—including her—at all. She’s sure that he would get better if she could stay out of trouble, but it’s hard to keep her fists to herself. It’s up to Robbie to learn how to deal with her anger and to keep her family together—no matter what.

Nonfiction

Strongheart may have been a movie star, but he wasn't always famous. He started out as a police dog who could sniff out criminals and march like a soldier, but he didn't know how to have fun. Larry Trimble was a Hollywood director who wanted to put Strongheart in his movies—not just as a pet but as the lead actor. Larry taught him to play with toys and walk like a regular dog. In his films, Strongheart brought audiences to tears.

The migrating warblers have arrived, to feed and preen, to refuel and rest before continuing on their amazing journey of thousands of miles. This photographic picture book captures in lush detail the story of these tiny, colorful, and diverse birds. April Pulley Sayre’s vibrant photography has been called “striking” and “wonderful in every way” by Kirkus Reviews. 

This energetic and inspiring picture book biography of activist Jane Addams focuses on the peace work that won her the Nobel Peace Prize. From the time she was a child, Jane's heart ached for others. At first the focus of her efforts was on poverty, and lead to the creation of Hull House, the settlement house she built in Chicago. For twenty-five years, shed helped people from different countries live in peace at Hull House. But when war broke out, Jane decided to take on the world and become a dangerous woman for the sake of peace.

This one-of-a-kind book explores the life and art of Keith Haring from his childhood through his meteoric rise to fame. It sheds light on this important artist's great humanity, his concern for children, and his disregard for the establishment art world. Reproductions of Keith's signature artwork appear in scenes boldly rendered by Robert Neubecker.