It's Monday, What Are You Reading - July 16

 I had a very fun, busy week so I didn't read as much as last time, but what I did read, I really liked.

After the #titletalk in April or May, where the conversation focused on graphic novels, that has been a real goal for me.  I read 4 books in this genre, and all of them will be perfect additions to our classroom library.

• The Flying Beaver Brothers -- I read both The Evil Penguin Plan and The Fishy Business.  So fun! This book and the second in the series, The Fishy Business, just make me chuckle. A great addition to the graphic novel section of our library. 

• Babymouse for President -- How is this book not perfect for an election year?!! Babymouse is back with all her silliness; such fun!!  Every time I read a Babymouse book, it cracks me up when she thinks/dreams in pink.  

• Wild Pitch - I have heard many great things about this graphic novel series from Sports Illustrated Kids. Cannot wait to add more of these to my collection! Will want to talk to students about how to read it though, because important information starts on the inside cover and continues all the way to the back cover. Sports fans will be sure to enjoy these series!

I also found two wonderful books that are poetry, word fun, and sometimes both:

• Wumbers - -  Kids will have a great time with this book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. The entire book is just word fun galore, with Rosenthal spelling words that have numbers in the place of certain syllables (It's words cre8ed with numbers!). I think it would be a great way to stretch vocabulary and play with words for students. 

• Edgar Allan Poe's Pie -- I found this book recently at our local bookstore, and had to have it. I am a huge fan of the prolific J. Patrick Lewis. This book of poetry is unique for 2 reasons: 1) each poem is inspired by an already existing poem written by some great poets (not sure kids will get all the references, but I had a great time connecting the originals I knew with what J. Patrick Lewis wrote), and 2) each poem is a math riddle. I plan on buying a second copy of this book to give to my teaching partner as a back to school gift.  It would be great fun to use these poems in some way during her math times with our students. 

And I finished one YA novel, Crossed, by Allie Condie.  I like Matched (the first in the trilogy) better because in Crossed there was one character who made a brief appearance and then is only referred to after that -- I feel like he is a major player and we needed more of him (plus I really like his character). I will definitely be reading the 3rd in this trilogy to see how Condie wraps up things.

Please join Kellee and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts, who are the cohosts of this wonderful Monday event!  I love finding out what others are reading, and start planning my next week's reading using some of the participants ideas.  

The Underwear Salesman

I have always been a fan of J. Patrick Lewis's poetry, but I didn't start collecting his books in earnest until I heard a colleague of mine (Mary Lee at A Year of Reading) talk recently about how she sometimes has her kids study books by a certain poet on Poetry Fridays or during Poetry Month. An immersion study of sorts, only with one author (or in this case, poet). She really hooked me with that idea!

So imagine how delighted I was to see one of Lewis's newest books, The Underwear Salesman: And Other Jobs for Better or Verse, at a recent seminar I attended. I quickly snatched it up and started reading the poems to myself. As I read, I found that I was chuckling repeatedly, page after page. I knew this was a book I needed to add to my J. Patrick Lewis collection!

From the title page on, Lewis engages in play on words: "jobs for better or verse".

In the poem titled "Exterminator", Lewis writes:
"I come to de-bug
What's under de rug."
Funny stuff, right?!!

Then there's "Garbage Collector":
"Things to do
at work:

• Smash trash
• Squish fish
• Wrap scrap
• Bind rinds
• Close nose

Things to do
after work:

• Hose clothes
• Lose shoes
• Shower (hour)
• Suds crud
• Quench stench
• Comb dome
• Great date"

The succinct use of words (kids would love to try their own 2-word phrases), the rhyming, and the use of possible unknown words are all great reasons for kids to explore this poem.

And, that's just sharing two poems. Each of the other poems is equally delightful for a multitude of reasons.

The illustrations, by Serge Bloch, are done in a variety of mediums and greatly enhance each and every poem. He really captures the essence of each poem. There are 47 poems about very eclectic occupations -- the words and word play are wonderful, and Bloch delivers on each page as well. I've heard that writers and illustrators really never talk with one another about the book, but you would never know that to be the case with this book. Lewis and Bloch have created a well-blended book of poems and illustrations -- words and pictures intricately tied together.

Finally, the book starts and ends with poems talking about a variety of interesting, diverse, and unusual occupations (Bill will happy to know that librarian made the list!), and the fact that there is no hurry for children to decide what they need to be. All those jobs are out there, and just waiting to be found:
"Hey kid, what's the worry?
There's no need to hurry.
You've got your whole life to find out!"
A great message for children who are too often in the fast lane. The Underwear Salesman would be a great book for them to read, enjoy, kick back, relax, and imagine all the possibilities that might lie ahead...

I can't wait to share this book with my class!

Wing Nuts and Poetry???

This summer, in my school district, we had a Leadership Academy that focused on shared leadership in education. During one of the breakout sessions, I was fortunate to be placed into Mary Lee's (A Year of Reading) conversation about building literacy in the classroom. She shared many wonderful things during the session, but one of her ideas that I held on to was the idea of introducing a class to many different books of poetry by the same poet. The concept was to immerse the children in the works of one writer, and to let them see the variety of writing one person can do. A great compare / contrast conversation!

Anyway, one of the poets she has shared within her own class is J. Patrick Lewis. He is a fairly prolific writer, and the students would see some wonderful samples of many types of poetry. She shared with the group some of her collection of J. Patrick Lewis books, and I was amazed at how much he has written.

So, with Mary Lee figuratively sitting on my shoulder, I set about to start my own J. Patrick Lewis collection. The last time I was at Cover to Cover, I purchased Scien-Trickery: Riddles in Science and The World's Greatest Poems. Then, in a recent district classroom library update, all 5th grade teachers received VHERSES: A Celebration of Outstanding Women. All of these books were either authored or co-authored by J. Patrick Lewis. You can see the variety in just these titles alone.

But, when I was at Cover to Cover last weekend, another title jumped out at me: Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku. I'm a sucker for a clever title, so I walked over to the poetry section, picked it up, and noticed that J. Patrick Lewis was one of the authors of the book. I was obviously meant to have this book, so I got it! Not a thing serious in this book, but there are so many wonderful word plays.

To give one example:

"High school band minus
its tuba player -- looking
for a substi-toot!"

I predict that my students will fall in love with Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku, and it will become a new favorite read on Poetry Friday (and probably other days as well!).

A note to readers -- I just noticed that for all my posts this week, I dealt in the humorous. As much as I love a well-crafted, beautifully written book, I need humor in my life, also! This must have a been a week I gravitated to more books like that than normal. Just an observation.