It's Monday! What are you reading? 10-2-17

It's Monday! What are you reading? Is a wonderful community of readers, teachers, and librarians. Hosted by Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts along with Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers, participants share their reading adventures from the past week along with their reading plans for the week ahead.

My Monday posts are generally just a highlight of what I've been reading during the week so if you'd like to see all that I've been reading, follow my Goodreads page.

After spending a lot of time doing our research and due diligence, last week I got rid of my 10-year-old Saturn Vue and bought a fully-electric Chevy Bolt. It drives like a dream and I love that I will never have to buy gas ever again! Even though I'm a little worried about the ability to quickly charge it if we ever want to drive it further than its 242-mile range, I also know that we still have my husband's car and can use that if we need to. I also know that the demand for more and better electric charging stations won't increase until more people start buying electric cars so I decided I wanted to be part of the change to make that happen.

Anyway, back to book stuff...

Here are the picture books that stood out in the pile last week:

Nina by Alice Briere-Haquet, illustrated by Bruno Liance
This book took my breath away and made my hair stand on end. The text is absolutely like nothing I've ever read before in a picture book and the illustrations were equally as powerful as the text. This book will be on my list of go-to picture books to give to Middle and high school teachers to show them that picture books are not just for little kids. In fact, some of them, like this one, are for much older and more mature readers. If you're an adult and you love Nina Simone, you'll want to read this book.


Melvin the Mouth by Katherine Blanc, illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler
 A book that pays homage to the childhood antics of Mel Blanc that led him to become the legendary cartoon voice actor known as "The Man of 1,000 Voices." While not a true biography, the book does have some biographical backmatter at the end.


Last Laughs: Prehistoric Epitaphs by Jane Yolen , illustrated by Jeffrey Stewart Timmins
Funny poems and short, informative text about dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures.  

 
Momma, Where are You From? by Marie Bradby, illustrated by Chris K. Soentpiet
A book that immediately put me in mind of George Ella Lyon's poem, "Where I'm From."  


Kitchen Dance by Maurie J. Manning 
An important book that shows a beautiful family of color celebrating the joys of ordinary life.


Currently (still) reading with my eyes:

Alexander Hamilton: Revolutionary by Martha Brockenbrough 


Currently reading with my ears:

Audacity: How Barack Obama Defied His Critics and Created a Legacy That Will Prevail by Jonathan Chait