It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/30/14

 It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is an opportunity for everyone to share their book journeys: where we've been for the week and where we plan to go next. To learn more about It's Monday! What Are You Reading? with a kidlit focus, jump over to Jen Vincent's blog, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee Moye's blog, Unleashing Readers.

 

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I'm baaaaack....

 

The second half of the school year proved to be crazy (and professionally rewarding) and the result was the blog taking a back seat. Truth be told, I missed my blog and so I'm happy to be back in the blog saddle. 

 

I've shifted things a tad bit and will post a recap of what Maddie and I are reading together on a blogpost for Five on Friday. 

 

This past week I finished The Real Boy by Ann Ursu. If you have not read it then you MUST. 

 

I am not sure why it took me so long to get my hands on Artemis Fowl, well the audio book, any way. I'm nearly finished and am actually looking for any reason to run errands so that I can listen to it. It is not a book I tend to read but the audio is amazing and I love it. Once I finish Artemis Fowl, I've already checked out Time Stops for No Mouse from the public library. 

 

 

 Here's what I've got in my stack for the week ahead:

 

 

   

My professional read for the week comes from a series that is popular in my school district. 

 

What are you reading this week?

Books That Make Me Smile: Tractor Day by Candice F. Ransom

#booksmiles

I'm joining my Nerdy Book Club pal, Niki Ohs Barnes, and others to post weekly about a book that makes me smile.

Two weeks ago, Mark, Maddie, and I made a stop at Home Depot. Like two peas in a pod, Mark and Maddie both made a beeline for the riding lawn mowers parked out front, each jumped on separate mowers and said to me simultaneously, "I need one of these, mama."

This week when Maddie and I made our weekly visit to the library, I came across Tractor Day by Candice F. Ransom.

Tractor Day, told through rhyme, describes a daddy and daughter day spent working their property on a tractor. As we read Tractor Day together, I couldn't help but smile as I envisioned a tractor day for Maddie and her daddy.

Leather seat.

Noisy gears.

Up we go!

Daddy steers. 

What book makes you smile?

Five on Friday: Maddie's Book Pics from the Week

Whew! It's been a while since I posted last. Chalk it up to a CRAZY spring. I am happy to be back, though, and I'm kicking off the return to the blog with a Five on Friday post. 

My Five on Friday post will feature the top five books that Maddie asked to have read repeatedly. This week all the books are new to us; however, several of the authors are standing favorites.

Maddie has been counting everything for weeks now. As such, I've been looking for books about counting at our public library. One gem of a find was written by a favorite of ours. Click, Clack, Splish, Splash by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin shows Farmer Brown's animals counting their way to the shore leaving the farmer with an empty fish tank.   

Another favorite author of Maddie's is Alethea Kontis. This week Maddie repeatedly wanted to read Alpha Oops! The Day Z Went First where the alphabet performs out of order when Z informs everyone that, "Zebra and I are SICK of this last-in-line stuff! This time we want to go first!" Y believes it's time for a change so says, "Why not?" and so the out of order performance begins.

 
Much like other preschoolers, Maddie is curious about color. She frequently notices objects with multiple colors and tends to like to draw her version of the rainbow. Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh tells the story of three mice who play in paint and create different colors. This book is a great way to introduce primary and secondary colors. 


A fun surprise for the week was Chicken Little by Rebecca Emberley

and Ed Emberley. The story of the Chicken Little's experience is reflected by the words, "oh my goodness, oh my gracious, the sky is falling, and we are running for our lives!" and through vibrant colored illustrations with a surprise ending - achooooo!

Perhaps my favorite book, I Can Be Anything! by Jerry Spinelli and illustrated by Jimmy Liao rhymes its way through the unending possibilities of what a child can be when he/she grows up. I appreciate the way that it helps to open a child's eyes to the chasing his/her dreams. 

It's always fun figuring out what kinds of books to search for when we take our weekly trip to the library. This weekend we will likely be looking for books about snails. :o)