A Crazy Number of Cybils and Other Children's Books

     

I had the week off. So what did I do? I read children's books. Cybils, Cybils, and more Cybils. A couple of 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up titles. Children's Christmas books. Lots and lots and lots of children's books. Most of these came in the mail from the publisher. Some great reads.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is being hosted in November by I Totally Paused.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme Book Journey loves to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. 

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Colum McCann, The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson, a New Friend, and the Flu

I ended up sick, but it was worth it.

Six or seven times a year Inprint brings authors to Houston. Big authors. Salman Rushdie. Jeffrey Eugenides. Ann Patchett. All for the price of a $5 admission ticket. Is there a better bargain in town? I think not.

Last week I had something scheduled every night. Weeks ago, I'd bought a ticket to see Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Colum McCann. I'd read and loved Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun and Purple Hibiscus. I'd read and loved McCann's Let the Great World Spin. I'd even read both Adichie's latest, Americanah, and McCann's latest, TransAtlantic, just because I planned to go to this reading.

But I was exhausted. I am reading a lot aloud these days, at least twenty-eight books a week. I'd spent a long day reading books about friendship to my classes, including a very powerful story I'd read to my second-graders, The Other Side, the story of a black girl and a white girl in the 60's who were separated by a fence and yet overcame that fence's divisiveness to become friends.

I was torn. Stay home and rest or go see Adiche and McCann? Almost impulsively, I headed for Houston.

I got to the theater early. I sat next to a couple on my left but the whole long rest of the row of seats to my right was empty. After a bit, a large group of African-American students came in. The students saw my empty row and sat down. They left one seat empty between us. One empty seat between the white lady and the African American students. 

I couldn't help myself; it reminded me too much of The Other Side. I nudged the African-American girl closest to me. "I just have to tell you," I told her, "that leaving this empty seat between us reminds me of a story I read today and it makes me sad." 

I shared the story with her. She smiled and said, "Let's move down," to her friends. She, I learned, is studying biology at TSU and minoring in Spanish and wants to become a doctor and has loved to read since her mother read with her as a little girl. I told her I was a librarian and a blogger and we talked books until the reading began. I left her with my card. I felt like I'd made a friend.

So, yes, the stress of doing-too-much probably brought on this flu I've had the last couple of days, but it was worth it. 

And the reading was fabulous, too.

Red

Great Books I Might Recommend For a Beginning Reader

This is what I do every day.

I recommend books to beginning readers. I'm a school librarian. Our school has students who are PreK to second grade. Everyone at my school is a beginning reader.

Here are some that I've recommended this year with good results:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Confidence builder.

This is Not My Hat and I Want My Hat Back. The author came to our school last year and our kids are now his biggest fans.

 

Press Here. Interactive.

All the Elephant & Piggie books. Goofy funny.

All the Fly Guy books. It's a chapter book, with real chapters. But readable.

The Big Fat Cow That Goes Kapow. Looks like a big thick book but it only has a few words on each page. And it's funny.

Frog and Toad books. Real chapter books.

 I bet you have recommendations for me, too. Please share them. I always need recommendations for great books for early readers.

Top Ten Small Bookish Things I Am Thankful For

Top Ten Small Bookish Things I Am Thankful For

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

A Busy Book-ish Week Ahead

A busy, busy, busy reading week ahead.

 

My poor mail carrier.

November is my Un-birthday Book Club Month.

November is Cybils month.

Look at what arrived recently.

Un-Birthday Books:                   Reading in the Wild Italian Ways The Novel Cure The Literacy Cookbook Stitches

   

Cybils Books:                        Mysterious Traveler The Two and Only Kelly Twins The Big Wet Balloon Patrick Eats His Peas Ant and Honey Bee: A Pair of Friends in Winter Otto's Backwards Day Poppy the Pirate Dog Blue Ocean Bob Clementine and the Spring Trip Stella Batts: Who's in Charge?

 

 

 

 

  

 

What I Finished Last Week  As you might imagine, I read (mostly) Cybils books last week.   I'm happy to say that I've now read 30 of the 39 Easy Reader nominees and 30 of the 44 Early Chapter Book nominees.

What I'm Reading Now Now I'm waiting for mail delivery so I can finish reading the last 23 Cybils nominees. Right now, I am reading my Un-Birthday Books, reading here and there in Stitches and The Literacy Cookbook and The Novel Cure and Italian Ways and Reading in the Wild. I'm also rereading The Happiness Project for book club on Tuesday and browsing through Americanah and Transatlantic for the author reading on Monday.

Book-ish Events This Week This will be a very book-ish week.   Monday night is the Inprint author reading in Houston. Both Colum McCann and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie will be reading.     Tuesday night is book club. We are discussing The Happiness Project.     Wednesday night is Anne Lamott in Houston, talking about her new book, Stitches. (This event is sold out, so I'm not sure I will be able to go. Hope a seat will open up on Wednesday.)

 

 

I'm also participating in

Gratitude Giveaways

from November 15 to November 30!

 

And what am I giving away?

 

A trip across America!

And a $25 Amazon giftcard!

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

What is the Sunday Salon? 

Imagine some university library's vast reading room.

It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in.

They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,

and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go.

Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and

compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....

 

 

 

That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual.

Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon

get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read.

And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs.

Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon,

an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities

 and fall into a good book. 

Click here to join the Salon.

 

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is being hosted in November by I Totally Paused.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme Book Journey loves to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. 

Win a Trip Across the USA or a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate!

Thank you for following my blog!

This month, to thank you, my wonderful readers,

I am participating in the Gratitude Giveaways,
hosted by I Am a Reader, Not a Writer.

I will be giving away a Trip Across the USA!

(Okay, I'm giving away a beautiful copy of

Fast Facts About the 50 States!)

This will be US only, please.

I will also be giving away

a $25 Amazon gift card!

It is international!

To win the Gratitude Giveaways,

You must follow me and

leave a comment here

that (1) tells me if you'd like to win the Trip Across the USA
and/or the gift card and (2) includes an e-mail address

 (posted in an elusive way to thwart the wicked).


And that's it!


Thank you so much for following my little book blog.
I am thankful for each one of you!

UPDATE: The winner of Fast Facts About the Fifty States is 
Jieru at Crazy Four Books and
and the winner of the $25 Amazon gift card is Debbie from ExUrbanis.

Covers I Wish I Could Redesign

Top Ten Covers I Wish I Could Redesign

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.