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Monday, November 18, 2019

Recent Reads

Every Monday, I share books I have recently read. I also participate in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, a community of bloggers who link up to share what they are reading. To find out what other bloggers are reading, check out the host blogs, Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers, or follow on Twitter at #imwayr.

Recent Reads...


Bear is Awake!: An Alphabet Story by Hannah E. Harrison

This alphabet book tells a charming story of unexpected friendship and adventure. It's also clever in that just one or up to a handful of words for each letter of the alphabet and the illustrations tell the story. The illustrations are just delightful and some quite humorous. Young readers will love the goofy and good-natured bear. Thanks to the publisher for providing my book review group, #BookExcursion, with a review copy.

The Perfect Seat by Minh Lê

Before a parent and child can read their book together they have to find a place to read it. The two moose explore many options, but it's not until they are about to give up that they find the perfect spot. The illustrations are humorous and some of the potential reading spots are amusing.

Best Friends by Shannon Hale

Shannon Hale's graphic novel memoir is the follow-up to Real Friends. Shannon is in sixth grade and struggling to understand friendships and trying to figure out how she should act to fit in with her peers. This book captures the complexities of growing up and the emotions of being a sixth grader who wants to be part of a group of friends, but also be true to herself. The book also explores what it's like to be a kid this age with anxiety. A very relatable story that will show middle grade readers that it's worth it to follow one's own path. I was fortunate to win a copy of this book thanks to Macmillan and First Second Books.

A Book to Look For in 2020


The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard

One is never too old to learn and it's never too late to accomplish a goal. This story of Mary Walker, a freed slave, who learned to read at 116 is inspirational. She has an amazing life story due to her resilience and determination. The author's note and the photographs in the end papers give more insight into Mary's life. Oge Mora's illustrations are wonderful, as always. Thanks to the publisher, Random House Kids, for a review copy. The book publishes in January.

6 comments:

  1. I have to get The Oldest Student! It looks amazing and I love Oge Mora. I have The Perfect Seat in my stack -- You inspired me to read it today. It sounds like a wonderful celebration of reading. Thanks!

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  2. I know about the first ones, Lisa, still need to get them, but The Oldest Student is new to me and sounds quite wonderful. Thanks! Have fun at NCTE!

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  3. I just requested The Perfect Seat and Bear is Awake! from my library. You always have such awesome book suggestions! Thanks for sharing and have a great week!

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  4. I'm covering Bear is Awake in my Thursday post! It was really clever and I always enjoy Harrison's illustrations.
    Looking forward to catching up at NCTE, hopefully!

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  5. The Oldest Student sounds excellent, I will need to get a copy. Thanks for sharing, have a great week!

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  6. I just checked out Real Friends earlier this month, so I am looking forward to getting to Best Friends very soon. Thanks for all these great reviews (and I'm sorry I was so late in making the rounds this week). Hope you've had a wonderful week of reading!

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