It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 2-4-19

Thanks to our dynamic hosts: Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kelle at Unleashing Readers. Head to either blog to find reviews as well as dozens of links to other blogs filled with reviews and recommendations!

Books I've Recently Read:

Cogheart by Peter Bunzl

Jolly Fish Press, February 2019

Steampunk

368 pages

Recommended for grades 4-6

Originally published in England, the first Cogheart adventure is hitting American shelves February 12th. This steampunk adventure will have readers thoroughly engrossed in a world that isn't, but *shiver* could be? Would we create and live alongside mechanical people and animals if we could? What would it reveal about us as individuals? As humans?

Lily fears her father is lost for good, taken out by those after her father's greatest invention and secret. Lily needs to trust to survive, but it is her desire to trust that could destroy everything her father worked to protect.

The daring escapes and deadly fights are balanced with tender moments of love and loss, which will bring appeal to a wide array of readers. 

Check out more on this series, or visit this delightful website simply to enjoy its whimsy.

http://www.peterbunzl.com/

The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu

Walden Pond Press, February 2019

Fantasy

368 pages

Recommended for grades 4-7

Also hitting bookstores on the 12th, the newest novel by Anne Ursu! I'll be posting on The Lost Girl Blog Tour on the 6th. Stop back for my thoughts and for a chance to win a copy!

Beep and Bob: Too Much Space by Jonathan Roth

Aladdin, 2018

Sci-Fi

104 pages

Recommended for grades 2-4

I'm always looking to add to the sci-fi collection in my classroom library. Well, this series is a perfect fit. Book 1 introduces readers to Bob, the boy with the most plain name in space. Surrounded by peers with names like Blaster and Zenith, Bob is aware of his social standings, and they don't start off too well. His one friend is an alien orphan that thinks Bob is his mother. But have no fear, by the end of book 1 relationships are forming, and things are looking up for Bob.

I'm a fan of the covers, they are very appealing visually and have a nice feel to them, which matters! 

I look forward to book talking them this week.

These are ridiculous and hilarious. And depending on who you are, you may find them to be more of one than the other!

Are you familiar with Roaring Brook Press's Pocket Bio series? Short biographies organized accessibly for young readers. Looking to get kids' feet wet with the genre? These would make a great introduction.

If you had students writing biographies I'd recommend them as a mentor text. 

Waiting for Pumpsie by Barry Wittenstein, illustrated by London Ladd

Charlesbridge, 2017

Narrative Nonfiction/Historical Fiction

32 pages

    Did you know that the Boston Red Sox were the last major league team to integrate? It was 12 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball when the Red Sox finally pulled Pumpsie Green up from the minors. And they are thought to have done it because fans and civil-rights groups were becoming more vocal about their disappointment in the Sox. 

Don’t you just love picture books. Now I know this new bit of history and I can’t wait to bring it into my classroom to share with students.

I'm Currently Reading:

Released in January, so you can feel almost as cold as these guys did, while you're reading it.

Thanks for stopping by!