Time to Read Monday

I love to read!

I have been reading a varied selection over the last two weeks.  I've been reading a couple of Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggy books with my daughter.  They aren't new, but they are new to us and we really enjoyed them!  We read Happy Pig Day, I Broke My Trunk and Should I Share My Ice Cream?, which quickly became a new favorite.  I just love Mo!

We have also been reading the Knuffle Bunny books, also by Mo Willems.  We read the first two, Knuffle Bunny and Knuffle Bunny Too.  Each of my daughters picked out one of these books (I see I'm not the only one who loves Mo at my house!) and they have spent the last week pouring over them...even trading them back and forth!  They rarely do this with each other, probably because of the 2.5 year age difference, or maybe because the almost second-grader doesn't want to read the 4-year-old's books!  Anyway, I have enjoyed it, whatever the reason!

I have also enjoyed a few YA books too!  I read Hound Dog True by Linda Urban, which I enjoyed.  It is interesting to me to read a YA book that displays the thinking of a YA so clearly, now that I have a child in that age group!  I often find myself wondering if he thinks like the main character.  I loved how the main character, Mattie, was so easy to relate to in this book as she tried to fit into a new place with new people.  Even though it's a girl in the story, I think boys could relate to her feelings and the dynamics of the relationship between Mattie and Quincy, her maybe-friend.  It was a good read and I hope my son will read it too, as he approaches a move to the middle school this year as a big fourth-grader!

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm was another good YA read.  I actually read this one before Hound Dog True and found myself comparing the main characters.  The main character, Turtle, was also in a new place, with new people and trying to find her place there.  I enjoyed the setting of this story the most - Key West during the 1930's.  I think the culture of Key West is interesting anyway, but by changing the time to the 1935 gave it yet another layer of interest.

I also enjoyed reading a "grown-up" book too!  I may be a little late to get to this one, but I truly enjoyed reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.  It was a little confusing at first to keep up with the time traveling aspect...actually, even later when I was used to it I often found myself trying to put it all together...but it was such a sweet love story that I was hooked immediately.  I was hooked by the book enough that I decided to follow it up with the movie!  Usually, I don't do that because I always like the book more than the movie, and this case is no different, but I did enjoy the movie version as well.  I'd recommend both!

I am currently still plugging away at Debbie Diller's Math Work Stations.  I love all the ideas in it! I am reading it with my page flags in hand because I find myself flagging something on every few pages.  I had to limit myself to flagging only those ideas I thought I would use in the first half of the year for now...I think maybe I'll have to switch flag colors for the second half of the year ideas...if I don't run out first!

I am also reading Sara Pennypacker's Clementine's Letter.  I read Clementine at the beginning of the summer and really enjoyed it.  I have been waiting for the other books to be back on the bookshelves in the library since then and finally, on my last trip, this one was waiting for me!  It is just as sweet and funny as the first.  I can't help but laugh out loud at some parts!  Clementine reminds me of my own children at times, as well as former students of mine.  I often find myself wondering if Clementines thoughts are similar to my children's thoughts...sometimes I think so!  She is such a loveable character.  I look forward to reading the other books in this series.

Happy reading!