A Telling Time (Irene Watts)

Sometimes you pull a book off the library's shelf and it's a win. Sometimes it's not. This one wasn't so great for our class. The story is quite deep and requires a lot of background knowledge of the story of Purim, Queen Esther and more. My kids were totally lost.

Our read a book a day goal is a real benefit to when we have Reading Buddies with the grade ones. They have many books that have been read to them and they're familiar with and as a result, they do a little better job reading with their  buddies. I don't think I'll put this one on the shelf for that. Just won't work for Reading Buddies.

Quite a beautiful story if you are familiar with those topics though!

Goodreads Summary:

This tale is told in three time-frames. On the eve of the Festival of Purim, a grandmother tells her granddaughter how, as a little girl, she heard the story of Queen Esther from her family rabbi. This was in 1939, in Nazi-occupied Vienna, on the eve of WWII. Soon after the rabbi begins the story of the brave queen, soldiers come to arrest him. The young girl begs for the rabbi to finish his story, and the soldiers allow him to do so. When the tale is over, the soldiers permit him to send the children home. But when the children turn to wave goodbye, the rabbi had vanished in the snowflakes, safe from harm, saved by the miracle of a story from long ago. The illustrations by Kathryn Shoemaker perfectly highlight the story's message of hope. 

The Sound of Gravel (Ruth Wariner)

I am always curious about polygamous stories. I have never known anyone in a family like this and cannot understand how I could ever be a positive situation. I do, however, have ancestors who were polygamists. Nothing much is ever said about their experience in my family history loving tribe, so it has always made me assume it was not a great situation. How could I ever be?

This story made me sad for the women who get themselves stuck in situations where they turn all decision making, all power and all control of their life over to someone else....a man. The man in this story was a sick and twisted lazy abuser. It made me angry to read of her mother's decisions to stay with him and continue to have me children and not protect them. I cannot stand such backward thinking and cowardliness. I hated how Ruth's mother kept saying, "If he ever does it again...." I hated how, after expelling him from their community, they decided he had suffered enough and let him back. I hated how he le his family live in such squalor. I hated him and I despised his wives.

But I also could not put the book down. I started it yesterday morning then had a full day of commitments. All day I kept wishing for time to steal away to my vehicle and spend some me time in the story. There was no time for that though. This morning I got up early before everyone else and picked up the book right away. I read it through to the end.....and then slammed it shut. It has left a cloud over my day that has not been easily shaken.

I am so proud of Ruth for being brave enough to turn her life and her siblings lives around. Thank goodness for people like her grandmother who weren't afraid to voice her opinion on the problems in the religion. It put ideas into Ruth's head to her her see she had to get out.

...and may people like Lane rot in hell.

Goodreads summary:

A riveting, deeply-affecting true story of one girl's coming-of-age in a polygamist cult.

Ruth Wariner was the thirty-ninth of her father’s forty-two children. Growing up on a farm in rural Mexico, where authorities turned a blind eye to the practices of her community, Ruth lives in a ramshackle house without indoor plumbing or electricity. At church, preachers teach that God will punish the wicked by destroying the world and that women can only ascend to Heaven by entering into polygamous marriages and giving birth to as many children as possible. After Ruth's father--the man who had been the founding prophet of the colony--is brutally murdered by his brother in a bid for church power, her mother remarries, becoming the second wife of another faithful congregant.

In need of government assistance and supplemental income, Ruth and her siblings are carted back and forth between Mexico and the United States, where her mother collects welfare and her step-father works a variety of odd jobs. Ruth comes to love the time she spends in the States, realizing that perhaps the community into which she was born is not the right one for her. As Ruth begins to doubt her family’s beliefs and question her mother’s choices, she struggles to balance her fierce love for her siblings with her determination to forge a better life for herself.

Recounted from the innocent and hopeful perspective of a child, The Sound of Gravel is the remarkable true story of a girl fighting for peace and love. This is an intimate, gripping tale of triumph, courage, and resilience.

Little Red's Riding Hood (Peter Stein)

A great take on a classic story, with a fun twist for kids who really love vehicles! I know of a bunch of little boys who'd really love this one. We all had a good chuckle as we read it. My class did a lot of work last year on different versions of stories, so they really love this kind of story.

Goodreads Summary:

When Little Red's Granny Putt Putt gets sick, the tiny moped scooter races over the river and through the dark woods to bring her a basket of get-well goodies.

But when Little Red crosses paths with Tank, the biggest, loudest, meanest machine around, that no-good monster truck has plans of his own.

Why, Granny, what big wheels you have!
Why, Granny, what big headlights you have!
Why, Granny, what a big hood you have!

From the sparkplug, creative minds of Peter Stein and Chris Gall comes a full-throttle version of the classic LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD tale that will have everyone revving for more.

The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness (Colin Thompson)

That moment when you pick up a book to read to your class that you really haven't previewed.

This one made me a little nervous. The beginning is so sad and pathetic!! I almost stopped after:

Most Friday afternoons on his way home from school, in that time before the weekend when lonely people realize just how lonely they are, George visited the dog shelter.

One thing is for sure though, it sure grabbed everyone's attention. Every student my class was riveted and listening carefully to see what would happen to this poor sad pathetic boy.

Everyone was really curious about why the dog only had three legs. The story doesn't say and we decided sometimes that just happens. ...and sometimes life is just sad like that...but we can make the best of it.

We also loved the bit about how Jeremy, the dog, is so happy living with George that he has a smile as wide as Australia. We love good descriptive words!

The illustrations really tie in well to the sadness in this book. 

Goodreads summary:

George lived alone with his grandmother and an empty place where his mother and father should be. One Friday on his way home from school, George visited the animal shelter. There, in the very last cage, was Jeremy, a dog who looked as lost and as lonely as George. When Jeremy goes home to live with George and his grandmother, their whole lives change, and they learn that when it comes to love, it's quality not quantity that counts . 

My Name is Elizabeth (Annika Dunklee)

We read this book in a previous year for National Read Aloud Day. Some of my students remembered it.

 Is a simple story but it led to a great discussion about respect and how we have names that some people don't mind if other people call them and others are more particular about it. We talked about how calling someone by their preferred name is a great way to show respect.

This is also a great book for the start of the year. I have students write a paragraph about how they got their name and what it means.

Goodreads summary:

Meet Elizabeth. She's got an excellent pet duck, a loving granddad and a first name that's just awesome. After all, she's got a queen named after her! So she's really not amused when people insist on using nicknames like ?Lizzy? and ?Beth.? She bears her frustration in silence until an otherwise ordinary autumn day, when she discovers her power to change things once and for all. In the process, Elizabeth learns about communication and respect --- and their roles in building better relationships with family and friends. The two-toned illustrations reflect the story's energy and sass, and the comic-book-like format makes it easy to follow. The cheeky, retro drawings also keep it real --- depicting the sometimes-feisty Elizabeth as a resolutely normal kid --- whether she's flossing her teeth or feeding her pet duck.

Emily's Tiger (Miriam Latimer)

One of my student's bought this book for me as a gift at our school's book fair. What a great surprise!

We enjoyed the pictures. The children noticed that when Emily gets angry and roars she starts to get a tiger tail and paws. In the story her Grandma teaches her to control her anger. We talked about how it's okay to have feelings of anger, but we need to learn how to use those feelings appropriately.

Goodreads summary:

Whenever Emily doesn't get her way, she growls and roars like a tiger. She roars when her mother tries to cut her hair, she roars when she doesn't get picked to be the assistant to the clown at a birthday party???????????? what are her mom and dad going to do with their tiger-daughter? Then Grandma comes to stay ???????????? and she knows a thing or two about tigers and tempers! 

The Cloud Spinner (Michael Catchpool)

Today we were able to take more time with our story and discuss as we went. I am really realizing the value of reading stories every day. My students are starting to bring up connections with other stories. Today, while we were looking at the pictures, they pointed out the geese in the sky, and someone yelled out, "Honkers!" (That is what the Grandpa called the geese in Through Grandpa's Eyes)

I also saw again how children often see much more in the story than I do. They noticed the cute smiles all over the place. They noticed the pictures in the clouds. They had a laugh at the fat king and queen. They chuckled over his hair. They commented on the tropical weather, like the weather in India. Each of those things was an opportunity to connect to something we had learned.

They had no idea about weaving and spinning and how cloth is made. This was a great introduction to that topic, which we will cover more in Social Studies later when we talk about the weaving Peruvians do.

And then, most important of all, there are the lessons in the story:

• greediness never works out in the end
• only take what you can use
• don't boss people around

Goodreads summary:

One small boy has a special gift—he can weave cloth from the clouds: gold in the early morning with the rising sun, white in the afternoon, and crimson in the evening. He spins just enough cloth for a warm scarf. But when the king sees the boy's magnificent cloth, he demands cloaks and gowns galore. "It would not be wise," the boy protests. "Your majesty does not need them!" But spin he must—and soon the world around him begins to change.

From author Michael Catchpool and illustrator Alison Jay comes a magical tale about the beauty and fragility of our natural world, and the wisdom and courage needed to protect it.