It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 4/29/19

Beagles and Books is excited to share some of our current reads in 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 Recent Reads: 

Extraordinary Birds by Sandy Stark-McGinnis

Obsessed with birds, 11 year old foster child December is used to flying from nest to nest & wants a place to call home.  In order to cope with a traumatic incident with her mother, December believes that her wings will emerge from the scar on her back and she will one day become a bird and take flight.

Amid the heartache, Extraordinary Birds is December’s story of healing & hope. Helping December on her journey is case worker Adrian, foster mother, Eleanor, and friend, Cheryllyn.  Eleanor, a taxidermist and wildlife rescuer is a gentle soul accepting December as she is. Eleanor helps December emotionally mend through working to rehabilitate an injured hawk. Cheryllyn, a transgender girl, befriends December on her very first day of school and gradually together, they form a friendship supporting each other from the mean girls at school.

While December’s story will remain with me long after I read Extraordinary Birds, what also struck me is Stark-McGinnis’s honest and heartfelt letter to readers sharing the inspirations for this powerful story.  December teachers readers that while it’s hard to let go of the past, it doesn’t have to define you. You can survive with the support and love of others.

Special thanks to Sandy Stark-McGinnis and Bloomsbury Kids for sharing an ARC with #bookexcursion.  Extraordinary Birds celebrates its book birthday tomorrow on April 30, 2019.  Looking forward to getting my own copy to share with students and teachers.

 Flubby Is Not a Good Pet! by J. E. Morris

When compared to other pets, Flubby is well, kind of lazy.  He doesn’t sing, catch or jump or even run. While Flubby may not be full of energy, he truly is a good pet when it matters most providing comfort to his owner during a thunderstorm.

Flubby is a new fun series perfect for children just learning to read, which makes this reading specialist’s heart happy!  Written with early readers in mind,  Morris includes sight words and decodable text.  The eye catching, adorable illustrations support the reader making the text even more accessible.  And I especially love that Morris dedicated Flubby to a cat shelter.

Special thanks to Penguin Kids for sharing a copy with my #bookexcursion group. Flubby Is Not a Pet and a second book, Flubby Will Not Play with That! both published recently on April 23, 2019.

Etta and Bella’s Dog Pick of the Week

Wanting to spread the dog love, Beagles and Books has a weekly feature of highlighting a literary selection with a canine main character.

Felipe and Claudette by Mark Teague

Mrs. Barrett’s shelter has a good track record for getting pets adopted quickly but for some reason a cat named Felipe and dog named Claudette have been at the shelter longer than any other animals.  Grouchy Felipe blames Claudette’s unruly behavior which includes snoring and rolling in garbage.  After each adoption day, Mrs. Barrett wonders “What will I do with you two?”

When Claudette finally gets adopted, Felipe is shocked and sad. And it turns out that Claudette isn’t the same boisterous pup at her new home.  Readers quickly realize that Felipe and Claudette are at their best together at Mrs. Barrett’s house. Felipe and Claudette is a sweet story about an unlikely friendship between a cat and dog.

Thank you for visiting Beagles and Books!  Happy reading!