It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 7-22-13
Hosted by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers.
And this week, I need your help! Every year I use a portion (of an undisclosed percentage) of my budget to add to my classroom library. I'm always on the hunt for books that my students will love, books that will teach them, help them grow as readers, etc. As I sit down to begin my list of books to order I feel excited and nervous! That budget money is precious, and so are books! I've got to proceed with caution, order well, and have fun!
In the comments section feel free to let me know what book(s) you think are a must for a 4th grade classroom library! I'd appreciate your help, and I will love seeing what you all have for favorites!
Books I Read This Week:
An Army of Frogs: A Kulipari Novel by Trevor Pryce with Joel Naftali, illustrated by Sanford Greene
Amulet Books, 2013
Fantasy
273 pages
Recommended for grades 4-7
This certainly feels like the making of a series. We follow the frogs as they stand off against their enemies the scorpions and the spiders, in an attempt to keep their Amphibilands and their lives.
Sweet wood frog Darel has longed to follow in his father's footsteps as a member of the elite Kulipari, unfortunately, the Kulipari are all poisonous frogs, and Darel is not a poisonous. But Darel's preparation to become a warrior pays off when the enemies invade.
Kids will like the danger and adventure, and some may love the fight sequence.
The illustrations are bold and will certainly have appeal to many readers. They have a strong cartoon animation feel to them, which makes sense considering the illustrators background of doing animation.
This book isn't a top favorite of 2013, but I'm sure I will have plenty of students interested in reading it this fall!
More to come on this.
Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff
Graphic Novel
First Second, 2013
169 pages
Recommended for grades 7+
Humor, sword fighting, traveling, blood, and revenge are all packed into this short graphic novel. A fun read, but geared beyond my students. Love the artwork.
The Boy Who Cried Ninja by Alex Latimer
Peachtree, 2011
Cute idea about a boy that is telling the truth and not believed. I would have loved the ending to be as catching and clever as the beginning of the book. Cute pictures. I'll be watching to see what Latimer comes out with as he continues on his writing journey.
I'm Currently Reading:
On Deck:
Happy reading and discovering to you this week! Thanks for stopping by.
P.S. Congratulations to Andrea for winning an ARC of The School for Good and Evil!
Thanks for these recommendations, Nicole! The Fairy Tale Comics looks particularly interesting--my students tend to snap up graphic novels in droves.
ReplyDeleteGreat books this week! My daughter's nickname is Jules, so when I saw Starring Jules at NCTE in November, I just couldn't pass it up! Cute read :)
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check out the graphic novels you talked about...my students love them!
Happy reading this week!
I am really interested in that graphic novel. Thanks for sharing. One book that I read this summer that I think would be amazing for a 4th grade class library is Rump: The True Story of Rumplestiltskin. Have a great reading week!
ReplyDeleteThe Boy who Cried Ninja is such a clever title. I plan to get it, but thanks for the warning about the ending. Happy reading this week! :)
ReplyDeleteAre you looking for fiction? nonfiction? novels? Early chapter books? It's hard to know where to put funds when there is only so much money to spend Happy to talk titles with you :-) I am also spending some last bits of a donation and spreading it between some graphic novels, nonfiction read alouds and early chapter books for my readers just entering the chapter book world. The Fairy tale Comics looks wonderful. Interested to hear more!
ReplyDeleteI have heard good things about The Wig in the Window. Fair Tale comics goes well with my nursery rhyme comics.
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