readers – Peaceful Reader

Fabulous Summer Reading List

When I was growing up I loved reading. My favorite characters were Pippi Longstocking, Ramona, Claudia (Mixed Up Files), Judy Blume books and The Borrowers. I was constantly reading and spent a lot of time at our local library. I was in a library book club and I remember we read Watership Down and The Hobbit. I read Johnny Tremain as a kid and loved it. These books built empathy for me, made me laugh, and gave me the feeling of comfort and well-being.

Today’s world of kids lit is like an explosion of variety! So many many choices! While we did have Cleary, L’Engle, Blume, and Konigsburg we didn’t yet have the brilliance of Kate DiCamillo, Allan Gratz, Katherine Applegate, Stuart Gibbs, Dan Geminhart, Jacqueline Woodson, or Jason Reynolds. That’s just a handful that come to mind and my library is filled with many other great authors. And furthermore we didn’t have graphic novels! Sure we had comics but that style was not my jam. I love graphic novels!

The last few summers I’ve donated a lot of my reading time to reading elementary fiction books that are on our state award list. I love being on the committee to choose the next round of books because I have a good amount of young readers who love to read and challenge themselves to read the books on the list. I get to read a whole batch of really excellent stories. I’m not going to tell you about each one of these stories but know they are excellent.

I start off the list with Tom Lake by Ann Patchett which is adult fiction that I decided to listen to using the Libby app because I read that Meryl Streep narrated the story and she was amazing! This story focuses on summer stock theatre and the play Our Town. The rest of the list is all elementary fiction with a few graphic novels thrown in. Just Keep Walking was an adventure to read as the mother/daughter team hike The North Shore of Lake Superior. First State of Being is interesting science fiction tale about friendship. Half Moon Summer deals with a young boy watching his dad deal with an illness.

Even amidst all this reading I am having a great summer. I’ve done a far amount of traveling starting back in the spring with a weekend trip to Cleveland to watch my nephew, Jasper, graduate from Case Western. And we just arrived home from a family trip to Asheville, NC. Road trips are the best; I like to drive as much as I like to sit in the passenger seat and read page after page. I’m headed to Minneapolis in a week to hear some live music with my brother and sister-in-law. And in August I am taking a very exciting trip with my friend Barb. Summer is the BEST!

Whether you read the new stories or the classic stories be sure to keep reading…

Small thoughts

It’s cold and rainy here and I miss summer already. I am taking another class which I thought would be easy to fit in but there is more to it and the homework takes a lot of deep thinking. Just like my summer classes though it will push me to be a better teacher.

It is taking me forever to finish Stephen King’s 11/23/62 time-alternating look at Lee Harvey Oswald and the Kennedy assassination. I feel like I’ve been reading it for months now, really just August and September. Luckily I found a DVD at the public library of the series which helped me when it came time to discuss at book club but I was committed to still finishing the book. The series with James Franco was very good and I highly recommend it as I do the book-if you don’t want to read an 849-page book though feel free to check out the series. It does stream on Hulu as well.

I have a lot of elementary fiction I need to get back to though as my students are serious readers and are constantly recommending books to me. I have stacks of new books from Follett that I want to bring home and read so I need to finish and move on.

I’m in shock that tomorrow the calendar turns to October, that it is already cold here, and that I have a pumpkin decorating my table. My mindset is still back in the hot days of August. At least we have baseball for a few more weeks. And we have the Cubs!

I’ve watched bits and pieces of the Kavanaugh hearings and am disgusted that he is still very much considered to be a great candidate for our most important court of the land. What a joke. Although when we consider that Trump is not too far from Kavanaugh’s privileged and ridiculous behavior than it all makes some sort of reverse universe sense. If women have any pull in the universe this man will be done and we won’t hear any more from him. Watching the hearings should give us all pause in that we are being led by many old white men set in their chauvinistic ways. We need more women, more young people, more people of varying shades of color. Pasty old men need to go. Lindsey Graham and Chuck Grassley-be gone.
And what if in time we can time-travel back to change all of this ala Stephen King-what and how would we change it?

That’s my rant for the weekend. Drink more tea, take care of yourself as the weather changes.

School is in full swing and I'm spinning just a bit…

We have a new schedule this year and it makes my head spin just a little. We went from a 6-day cycle to a 4-day cycle. This means classes of students rotate into the library (or art, P.E. & music) every 4 days. Because they are rotating quicker my days are filled with 7 classes almost every day, leaving very little prep time or time to work on library projects like processing new books. The elementary school where I work has the most students in the district and to create balance I have two other librarians with smaller populations who come to my school for equity purposes; one teaches a solo class of kindergartners, the other teaches two afternoons of k, 1st, and 2nd grades, which does give me time to work independently sometimes.

Seeing students more frequently gives me the opportunity to explore new avenues with them. I’ve gone back to reading chapter books aloud. I’m reading The Map Trap by Andrew Clements to 3rd grade, Wish by Barbara O’Connor to 4th grade, Liberty by Kirby Larson to 5th grade, and Horizon by Scott Westerfeld to 6th grade. We have book discussions and still have time to do a short lesson on a skill plus check out books. I’m enjoying my time with students and implementing some of the ideas from my summer classes- a lot of which involves bringing more JOY to their day.

The great downfall is that we’ve built a fantastic set of readers at my school. They use the library when they finish a book, not waiting until their next library time, to find their next great read. I love that kids are pumped about reading. My first few days of school were filled with writing down recommendations from students of books they’d read over the summer and want to have here. You say “what’s the downfall in all that?” Well, it has two sides; I spend a good portion of my day helping students find books and checking them out in our system because I’ve raised readers! – usually, this is during times when I’m supposed to be planning or eating lunch so my day gets all mixed up and I miss those days when I’d only have 3-4 classes with breaks in between to get work done. I feel a little more rushed at certain parts of the day and more laid back while students in our library space. It’s an adjustment and I’m adjusting.

Two books for you to read…

There is something magical that happens to me when a student says “You’ve GOT to read this book Mrs. Holt” as they clutch said book tightly in front of them and add “It is soooo good!” (eyes sparkling)

This recently happened with a new-to-Hansen 5th grader, Gabby, and she said all this about Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper, which was on our Iowa Children’s Choice list this year. I always intend to start that book straight away yet that actually rarely happens. That sweet book sat at my desk for a few weeks and finally I finished a stream of other books and picked that one up and brought it home. I am so excited to return to school tomorrow and march right up to Gabby and tell her thank you for recommending this book to me! I loved it as much as she did so now I’m holding it out to you and telling you, my fine reader, to go find this book at a library or a bookstore and take it home, settle yourself on the sofa or outside in a hammock and be prepared to be transported to Stella’s world.

Stella is living in Bumblebee, NC and she tries to write in her journal outside at night because she catches her best thoughts in the quiet. One night she spots men in white robes and a cross on fire right across the pond from her. The Klan is active and creates terrible tension for her small community and her family. Her father joins two other men from the community to register to vote in town and Stella goes along “to be his rock”. When the Klan burns down a house belonging to one of the brave men who registered to vote the town comes together, both black and white to help. Stella is a brave, smart, kind, and enjoyable character that eventually learns to trust her own talents as a writer.

Did not know that Miles Davis plays Stella by Starlight, check it out! I’m sure Sharon M. Draper did.

The second book I’m excited about this week is The dog, Ray by Linda Coggin. I found this gem at the public library while browsing the shelf for a teacher request. It just struck me and I brought it home and it traveled to dance with me for a long rehearsal and I finished it in one day. Yes.

This is the story of 12-year-old Daisy, killed in a car accident, in the first few pages. She is whisked up to some kind of job central and lands back on earth as a…yes, a dog. So sweet. The entertaining part is that she went through the wrong shoot and she can remember her “Daisy” life. She is adopted first into a neglectful, crabby kind of family which makes her take off after a kind homeless man she meets while tied to a bench at the park. Eventually, she meets a young orphaned and homeless boy, Pip. His mother recently died and he’s trying to find his father who does not know he exists. What a journey. Pip is a delightful Oliver Twist-like young man determined to find a forever home and he and Ray find their way together. This story is filled with an interesting cast of characters and will have you turning pages rapidly.

I wish I had a song to go with this one but go back and listen to that fantastic Miles Davis tune!

How lucky we are…library books are a treasure.

If I had to buy every book I wanted to read my bank balance would be zip, zilch, nada. All the time.

Praise Jesus for the invention of public libraries and hope to the future they last for all eternity. Over the past few weeks I’ve compiled a stack from 2 different visits.

I also finished an amazing book, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, a beautifully written story of Count Alexander Rostov. He’s under house arrest in the Metropol Hotel in the heart of Moscow. He’s lucky to be alive yet it’s difficult to understand you may never take one step outside to do ordinary things. He sets up routines to get through until young Nina, a visitor to the hotel engages him in conversation. His time is soon taken up with this precocious guest as they explore the inner workings of the hotel. Amor’s language and the characters he breathes life into make this tale magical and believable. I would love to have been part of this story even as the seamstress who guides Alexander into parenting. I returned this one back to the library only because it had a hold on it; otherwise I may have read it again. Instead I found Amor’s first book, Rules of Civility (2011) and plan to read that soon.

Here is the rest of my stack:

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (2017) : excellent novel in verse about young Will retracing his life after his older brother is killed. (finished)

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater (2017) : Magical tale of the Soria family in Colorado as they take care of pilgrims and each other. I’m on chapter 6 and as soon as I finish composing I plan to fly the sofa and read…I’ve loved Maggie’s writing for a long time and once took a long drive through flood waters to hear her speak. She’s pretty badass too.

What to say next by Julie Buxbaum (2017) : Recommended to me by my friend Tina, this one is an interesting tale of an unlikely friendship between Kit and David. (not yet read)

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner (2017) : Carter Briggs is a happy young man until he sends one text to his friend Mars minutes before Mars, Eli, and Blake are killed in a car accident. Now the world seems to be coming down on Carter as everyone looks for someone to blame. (not yet read)

The Ties that Bind by Kent Haruf (1984) : I read Kent’s “Our Souls at night” in the hammock this summer and was in love with the characters and the simple story line. I thought I’d start at the beginning of the Holt, Colorado stories with this one.

The Dry by Jane Harper (2016) : This title popped up on my mother-in-law’s feed as a great new read while they were here which prompted both of us to put it on hold at our respective local libraries. After reading my last Cormoran Strike mystery (the 2nd in the series)-b/c I read them out of order-I could use another good thriller.

One of my 4th graders wandered around the library yesterday with a stack of books in her hand and a huge smile on her face and dreamily said “so many books, so little time…”

New Thinking

I loved my week at school-it was short and easy-such a perfect way to end our holiday break. This week and into next I am reading Jan Brett and Karma Wilson books to 1st and kinder students. 2nd graders are learning about ABC books and we plan to make one some how-I haven’t figured out the how-so if you know of a spectacular online (free) program that would create individual books with graphics let me know.

I did use this alphabet organizer from Read, Write, Think as a mini project and we did it together using the Promethean Board. It was a stretch getting them to think of one word for each letter that fit into their topic and it was a good way to begin but I want something I can import graphics into and make it into like an e-book for them. I don’t need to print them out, too much paper waste but would like to share them using the board during parent night. Any ideas?

In my forever quest for learning I picked this book up from the library after Janssen raved about it on her blog, Everyday Reading.

Po Bronson’s and Ashley Merryman’s book, NurtureShock has literally shocked me of many of my previous thoughts on parenting and as an educator. Can Self Control Be Taught? is one chapter that I plan to use as a jumping off point to recharge the kinder experience in my library. This chapter discusses a pre-k program called Tools of the Mind; I’m fascinated with the idea of this play-based classroom where self-regulation is more important than trying to teach youngsters to read. By learning to regulate their social, emotional and cognitive behaviors students take charge of their own learning.

While I can’t build this entire curriculum into my daily kindergarten classes I like the idea of pulling portions of it in and trying it. One section of the chapter (162) describes how students study a topic by playing it out in all aspects. The example given is that when you study fire stations they would then act out what they’ve learned about all aspects of a fire call from the family who makes the 911 call to the dispatcher who takes the call and on down the line. By playing out the scene to its fullest students learn to work their brain instead of getting distracted. At the end of this 45 minute play time the clean up song is played and students stop what they are doing and begin to clean up.

The idea of buddy reading is shared next-which I know our school does-but I don’t know about at the kindergarten level. It says kids partner up and share their books by talking through the book’s pictures. When my 4 classes of kindergarten classes rotate through next week I’m going to demonstrate buddy reading and let them do it all around the library. I need to make ears and lips for this though as the listening child holds a set of ears and the reader holds a pair of lips. I think I will make them on large Popsicle sticks form Hobby Lobby. Even though I’m not a fan of nonfiction I’ve loved reading this book; it takes me to a higher place (of thinking).

Friday Feature; A Book Lover's inventory!

Okay, truth be told, I don’t love all inventory but I do love beep, beep, beeping my way through the fiction books. It is much more than just a book count; it is review of what I have, what’s been popular and not-so-popular. While I’m doing this inventory I’ve been compiling a summer reading list with a notebook tucked next to my computer.

As you might imagine it is slow-going but oh, so much fun! I’ve been busted several times sitting on my step stool immersed in a book. Even my trusted assistant, Janice, jokingly said “hey, no reading during inventory!” I can’t help it, going through the fiction section makes me reminisce about the books I’ve read, popular books with students this year, books I want to recommend to specific teachers and sadly, good books that don’t fly off the shelves.

I found these books irrisistible and had a difficult time setting them back on the shelf to continue with inventory. I expect to go back to them very soon and may take a couple home tonight.

Treasures unearthed as I’ve done inventory. Click on the title for a synopsis.

1. On the Run by Gordon Korman (I was roped in instantly to the Falconers troubles)
2. Silent to the Bone by e.l. Konigsburg (same here with what happened to the baby)
3. Iqbal by Francesco D’Adamo (made me think of The Breadwinner)
4. The Brooklyn Nine by Alan Gratz (baseball)
5. Stumptown Kid by Carol Gorman (baseball)
6. Over the River by Sharelle Byars Moranville (loved The Snows)
7. Roxie and the Hooligan by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (bullies)
8. Poison Ivy by Amy Goldman Koss (bullies)
Here’s a quote I found inside Baby by Patricia MacLachlan:

I wondered what she would do when Lalo went off-island to high school. Maybe she would wither away among all the books with all the words in them until no one could ever find her again unless they opened a book. (17)

What was I doing on page 17 of Baby, you could ask? I’m pretty sure I’ve read it so I flipped through to read a page or two and no kidding, flipped right to that quote! Perfect for me. Inventory is a blast!

Have you read any of the above books? Would you recommend any of them?