It’s Monday and I’m happy to be participating in a weekly event with a community of bloggers who post reviews of books that they have read the previous week. Check out more IMWAYR posts here: Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers
Well, summer is officially here and I’m enjoying the slower pace of life! Time to relax, get to my very long “to do” list and enjoy reading lots of books! After a recent visit to my favorite local book store, and a delivery of a few ARC’s – I’m happy to share some of the new books I have been enjoying!
Kicking a Ball – Allan Ahlberg
With the excitement of the Fifa World Cup – this book caught my attention! I am also a fan of Allan Ahlberg (The Jolly Postman; Each Peach, Pear, Plum). This wonderful rhyming story is about the simple joy felt by a boy kicking a soccer ball. ‘Not eating an ice-cream Or riding a bike No – kicking a ball Is what I like!” Sebastien Braun’s illustrations are delightful! I think this would be a perfect anchor book to read aloud to a young primary class and certainly one that many will make connections to!
My Pet Book – Peter Staake
Last summer, Peter Staake’s moving wordless picture book Bluebird was getting a lot of attention for its powerful depiction of loneliness, bullying, and the importance of friendship. In his latest book, Staake takes a lighter approach in a heart-warming story of a young boy who choses a red book to be his perfect pet! (He does not care for cats or dogs!) I LOVE the idea that a book can be a pet! The book is told in clever rhyme and is a joy to read aloud. I am already visualizing my class in September dragging around their favorite “pet book” by a leash around the classroom!
Nancy Knows – Cybele Young
I so enjoyed Canadian writer and illustrator Cybele Young‘s Ten Birds (which won the Governor General’s award) and her follow up Ten Birds Meet a Monster, so was excited to see her new book Nancy Knows. Wow! This book is a whimsical feast for the eyes! It is the charming story of an elephant who remember lots of things, except the very thing she is trying to remember. Each captivating spread features fantastic miniature paper sculptures – it’s an extraordinary work of art as well as a delightful story of a young elephant.
Julia, Child – Kyo Maclear
This fictional story by another Canadian author is apparently loosely inspired by the life and spirit of the real Julia Child. It tells the story of two best friends – Julia and Simca who take cooking classes. They begin to discover that the adult world is mundane and colorless and so decide they never want to grow up. They begin to create recipes for “growing young” – not in a physical way but spiritually – a joie de vivre! This book is a celebration of youth and being young at heart no matter what your age is. Julie Morstad’s (How To, When I Was Small) delightful illustrations are a perfect match for this book. I’m not sure if it’s a book aimed at adults or children but it’s certainly worth a look!
The Memory Tree – Britta Teckentrup
Get your Kleenex ready as this book made me tear up a few times. When fox is dies, his friends gather to share stories and special memories they each shared with fox. As they share their memories, a tree begins to grow, sheltering and protecting the animals like Fox. This book is gentle and comforting and would be a wonderful book to share with any child who may be experiencing the grief of loss. Beautiful and touching.
The Eagle and the Wren – Jane Goodall
As soon as I saw animal activist Jane Goodall’s name on this book I knew it would be great! This story is based on one of her favorite childhood fables. All the birds are arguing over who can fly the highest so owl devises a contest to see just who can. Eagle wins the contest, flying higher than any other bird, but as it turns out, wren was hiding and riding along in Eagle’s feathers. He begins his flight where eagle stops and soars even higher. So who won the contest? I can see how this book could be used to stimulate many questions and great discussions. I love how Jane Goodall writes in a non-condescending way and is able to weave bird facts into the story. I also loved the importance of working together to help each other achieve great things. The illustrations are amazing! This is definitely one I look forward to sharing with my class this fall.
Boom, Snot and Twitty – Doreen Cronin
Besides the catchy title, I so love Renata Liwska’s illustrations (The Quiet Book) that I was immediately drawn to this book. It is the story of three friends – Boom the Bear, Snot the Snail and Twitty the bird, each of whom look at the world differently. Boom wants adventure, Twitty likes things “as is” and Snot prefers to see if there will be better options. When a storm arrives, each deals with it in a slightly different way and eventually they collaborate to deal with it together. I enjoyed this book and the charming illustrations, but for some reason (perhaps from the lively title?) I had expected something a little more lively and humorous. Instead, it was simple and soft but fell a little flat. With “snot” in the title – I expected to laugh more! I did like the theme of respecting each others’ differences and collaboration.
The Museum of Extraordinary Things – Alice Hoffman
This summer, my book club summer is reading The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman. We all enjoyed her previous book The Dove Keepers and so far, I am enjoying this one even better. It is a love story that takes place in New York City in the early 1900’s. It is the story of Coralie, the daughter of a sinister museum curator who collects and exhibits “freaks” in his Coney Island side show. Coralie is an exceptional swimmer and when she turns 13, her father creates an exhibit for her as the “Human Mermaid”, making her stay underwater in a life-size tank for hours at a time. The book flips between her story and the story of a rugged photographer named Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father. These two have only just met, but I’m anticipating their lives to become intertwined as the story continues. So far, I am completely drawn into this story – the writing is excellent and I’ve made many T-T connections to The Night Circus and Water For Elephants. A captivating story so far!
Well – that’s it for now! Thanks for stopping by and I’d love to know which book has caught your eye!
I have put all the picture books on “the” list Adrienne. Kicking A Ball sounds very cute, as does My Pet Book. I love the idea you described of Goodall’s book, and The Memory Tree is welcome. My daughter’s family just lost a beloved cat last spring. They’ve read other good books, but this one will be good, too. Thank you!
Hello Linda! My Pet Book is such a clever concept – I have long considered books to be my friends – but never quite thought of them as pets! Goodall’s book is amazing – I think you will really enjoy it. Losing pets is always hard and I think Memory Fox deals with loss and grief very well. Thanks for stopping by!
Boom, Snot and Twitty – I felt the same. Harumph. Must find Kicking a Ball. Love that it features a few countries! Excited to learn about The Eagle and the Wren too! Thanks!
Interesting you felt the same way about Boom, Snot and Twitty! Yes, the geographical aspect of Kicking the Ball is an added bonus. The Eagle and the Wren is definitely one to check out! Thanks for stopping by!
I love your list! I can’t wait to find Kicking a Ball, My Pet Book, and The Eagle and the Wren. I also think The Memory Tree would be good to add to our library collection. Thanks for the great ideas, and I can hardly wait to read them!
It’s an endless collection of great new books! I can’t keep up! Any or all of these would be great to add to your library collection. I think teachers would find a lot of uses for them! Thanks for stopping by!
Hi there Adrienne, Bob Staake also published a book entitled Look! A Book! which you might want to check out as it seems like a great companion book to this title you have here. I’ve been meaning to read The Night Circus for such a long while now. I know it will come to me when it does. Somehow books just happen to me at the perfect time when I need them – I think I own a copy of Museum of Extraordinary Things as well, but can’t be absolutely certain. The Eagle & The Wren looks beautiful too. 🙂