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Monday, February 18, 2019

It's Monday! What are you reading? 2-18-19



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.
These are the picture books I really enjoyed last week:

The Story of Rock and The Story of Rap  illustrated by Lindsey Sagar
Adorable rhyming baby board books for the budding musicians in your lives. My only criticism is that the author and illustrator are not mentioned. The illustrator is listed in very tiny print on the back of the book with the copyright information, but authors and illustrators should get a prominent place somewhere on the book.


The New Neighbors by Sarah McIntyre
When rats move into the building, the bunnies are excited to meet their new neighbors. All of the other animals in the building put ideas into their heads about how untidy and inconsiderate rats are. An important book to read and discuss with kids about how our preconceived notions and prejudices can do more harm than good.


How Sweet the Sound: The Story of Amazing Grace by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Frank Morrison
At NCTE in November, I had the privilege of meeting Carole Boston Weatherford. I wish I had known about this book at the time so I could've thanked her for it. The fact that she not only included how and why this song was originally written, but a few historical moments when Amazing Grace met the Zeitgeist of what was happening in our culture, specifically with Mahalia Jackson and Barack Obama.


Pass Go and Collect $200: The Real Story of How Monopoly Was Invented by Tanya Lee Stone, illustrated by Steve Salerno
Hey kids, let’s learn about irony today. Here’s an example: a woman who invented a game to teach people the injustices of capitalism, only to be swindled out of millions of dollars for her own invention so a bunch of greedy men could make that money by asking her to sign off on her patent so they could sell her game.

Oh wait. I better not teach THAT for fear of being accused of being a loser teacher who indoctrinates her students as socialists.


Currently reading:

Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell
Dry by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman
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5 comments:

  1. 2Shaye ♪♫February 18, 2019 at 9:32 AM

    I need to add The Story of Rock and The Story of Rap to my children's book list for my elementary music class -- these are new to me! How Sweet the Sound: The Story of Amazing Grace also looks wonderful -- this song is an important one in my family and my uncle had me sing this at his funeral. I hope you're enjoying Dry. I couldn't put that one down. Have a wonderful reading week, Beth!

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  2. Linda BFebruary 18, 2019 at 11:26 AM

    The New Neighbors does sound like one to share with a group, starting a good discussion! I loved Dry, hope you do, too. And still haven't read Amazing Grace, but will. How nice that you got to meet Carole Boston Weatherford. That's one thing I miss about no longer going to conferences. I agree about the Pass Go story. What a shame she lost the money she deserved. Thanks Beth!

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  3. Michele KnottFebruary 18, 2019 at 6:03 PM

    I've seen The New Neighbors listed on a few posts lately. I've got it on my list to find - the libraries don't have it ordered yet.
    I hope you're enjoying Dry. It was my first Shusterman book, I really enjoyed it!

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  4. Cheriee WeichelFebruary 18, 2019 at 10:16 PM

    I'm going to be looking forward to reading what your thoughts are on Cardboard Kingdom. It was one of the finalists for the Cybil graphic award this year. I've read about the story behind Amazing Grace. It is one of my favourite hymns. I'll be looking for a copy of The New Neighbors. It sounds like an important book.

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  5. CrystalFebruary 24, 2019 at 12:34 AM

    I too enjoyed the Amazing Grace book. Carole Boston Weatherford does such an excellent job with nonfiction. I will watch for the Monopoly book though it will likely make me angry on her behalf. Yikes.

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