It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 11/6/17

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR is a community of bloggers who link up to share what they are reading. Kellee Moye of Unleashing Readers and Jen Vincent of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give it a #kidlit focus and encourage everyone who participates to visit at least 3 of the other #kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

Our Reads for the Week

Paper Chains by Elaine Vickers

Paper Chains is a tender novel told from the perspective of two best friends, Katie and Ana who are both keeping secrets from each other.

Katie’s teacher says every story has a beginning, but she wonders what if you don’t know your beginning? Katie’s secret is that she is adopted.  While she deeply loves her adoptive parents, most recently, Katie has begun to think about her birth parents.   Katie does not feel brave enough to confide in Ana.

Ana is Katie’s best friend.  Her father, a professional hockey player, was traded to another team and has left their family behind, which has caused Ana’s mother to be depressed and withdrawn. As a result,  Ana takes on the role of caring for her little brother Mikey and feels responsible to make her family whole again. Ana’s secret is that she is a little envious of the picture perfect life she believes Katie has.

But as anyone knows, keeping secrets can lead to misunderstandings between friends.  Will Katie and Ana be able to regain eac other’s trust and mend their friendship?

Paper Chains is not only a story about family and friendship, but also about finding out who you really are.  As Katie realizes, it doesn’t matter how you start out.  What matters is what you do with the rest of your life.  You are in charge of your story.

Special thanks to Elaine Vickers for providing our #bookexcursion group with an advance reader copy of Paper Chains, which was released in October 2017.

Dough Knights and Dragons by Dee Leone  Illustrated by George Ermos

Due to their collective love for cooking and baking, an unlikely friendship blossoms between a knight and a dragon.  Unfortunately for the pair, friendship is forbidden between knights and dragons.  In fact, when a knight comes of an age by law, he is expected to engage in duel to the death with a dragon.  As that day approaches, the now inseparable pair have an ingenuous idea.  Together they collaborate on a plan to stay true to the law without harming each other.

Told in rhyme, Dough Knights and Dragons is pure delight to read aloud to students.  Thanks to Dee Leone’s precise choice of words, students will also be exposed to rich vocabulary on each page of the story.  George Ermo’s illustrations convey the warm and tender relationship between the knight and the dragon.  Dough Knights and Dragons is a delicious and enchanting story that teaches that friendship comes in all shapes and sizes.
Special thanks to Dee Leone for a copy of Dough Knights and Dragons through a Twitter giveaway. It was released in October 2017.

The Secrets of Ninja School by Deb Pilutti

“Saplings” come to Master Willow’s School for Ninjas to learn many skills but the most important skill is to discover their own secret talent. Most saplings are quick learners, but Ruby is unfortunately having difficulty being invisible, skillful, patient,  and brave.  While Ruby is worried she will never be a ninja, Master Willow encourages her to continue to practice.

One night Ruby is especially homesick and her fellow saplings scold her for not having courage. As Ruby share why she misses her family, all the saplings begin to cry.  At that very moment, Ruby realizes she has the skills to calm her friends and discovers her secret talent!

The Secrets of Ninja School is a heart warming story which teaches children that everyone has their own talent.  It just takes patience and practice to discover it!

Special thanks to Deb Pilutti for providing our #bookexcursion group with an advance reader’s edition of The Secrets of Ninja School, which will be released in March 2018.

Simon’s New Bed by Christian Trimmer Illustrated by Melissa Van der Paardt

Simon is excited about his new bed.  When he returns from his walk, Simon realizes he has a problem.  A cat named Miss Adora Belle has claimed his bed.  At first Simon is polite, but has to resort to other measures such as barking,  physically moving his bed, playing tricks, and even begging.  Finally, Simon discovers the only workable solution-sharing the bed.

Etta can related to Simon’s predicament.  With new sister Bella, Etta has had to be flexible sharing dog beds.  As a read aloud, Simon’s New Bed is a great way to teach or reinforce how character may not solve a problem right away. The story also teaches a valuable lesson about how compromise can have positive effects.

Etta, Bella, and I thank you for visiting Beagles and Books.  Happy Reading!