Okay, so I've been doing this casually off and on, and thought I'd try to make it more regular. I meant to write an official report Friday so I'm already behind on that score. Ah well.
Following are some favorite bedtime reads from the past week ...
On the chapter book or middle grade front, together, we read the next two Zoey and Sassafras books. Scientific method + magical creatures + innovative kid + fun themes + helpful, practical knowledge stitched in. Did I mention magical creatures?
The Zoey and Sassafras books so far:
We made it through quite a few picture books last weeks, so I'm going to take a highlights approach. Picture first, because people like pictures, and highlights below ...
Favorite quiet read: The Big House and the Little House, by Yoshi Ueno and Emiko Fujishima ... Lovely illustrations bring this gentle friendship story to life.
Favorite interactive book: Robo-Sauce by Adam Rubin ... The kids requested this one multiple times. Robots never get old.
Favorite biographies:
Favorite sibling book: The Ramble Shamble Children by Christina Soontornvat and Lauren Castillo ... We loved the illustrations in this one, the house, the kids and their names, and the lyricism. Just a fun jaunt with a bunch of active kiddos, and an important point tucked in.
Favorite adventure! Lift by Minh Lê, Dan Santat ... This was a great comic-style picture book. Illustrations from Dan Santat fabulous as always and an imaginative, delightful fantasy story from Minh Lê.
Favorite explorations: We got to ride two very different but equally wonderful busses between the pages this week, both poetic in their own ways.
Favorite STEM cloaked in narrative fiction clothing: Old Rock (Is Not Boring) by Deb Pilutti ... Who doesn't want to listen to a wizened, amiable rock tell his story? It's a good story.
Favorite kid imaginative play with gorgeous nature illustrations: There's a Tiger in the Garden by Lizzy Stewart ... We love stories where the line between real and pretend is fuzzy ... and furry and flighty!
Favorite nature tales: We almost always have garden, wilderness and other nature books in our week. As someone who has her own story about the Wild coming out in September, I was thrilled to stumble on the first title that brings the wild and the not-so-wild together in wonderful ways ... and shows how resilient the Wild can be. The second mirrors the theme with just stunning illustrative storytelling.
Favorite rhyming text with a historical twist: Rosie: Stronger than Steel by Lindsay Ward
Favorite be yourself and do what you love book: The Bug Girl: A True Story by Sophia Spencer and Margaret McNamara ... And bugs!
Favorite cheating and including three books from the previous week because I can! These are both poetic in text and illustration, and worth every page turn ... The second counts as favorite rhyming text, and the first would also fit the previous category!
Once Upon Another Time by Charles Ghigna, Matt Forrest Esenwine and Andres F Landazabal
Marsha Is Magnetic by Beth Ferry and Lorena Álvarez (I wrote a similar manuscript but the kids and I loved this clever story so much that I don't even mind that they beat me to publication.)
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