It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 9/23/19

Beagles and Books is excited to share our recent 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:

Hand Me Down Magic: Stoop Sale Treasure by Corey Ann Haydu Illustrated by Luisa Uribe

Alma is excited to be living in the same place as best friend and cousin Del but moving from her old home by the lake is still an adjustment.  It’s a lot noisier in the city and more commotion since Alma and her family now live in the same building as her extended family.  And she doesn’t know a lot about helping out at the Curious Cousins Secondhand Shoppe. But the biggest challenge is Del believes in magic and Alma isn’t convinced.  So when Del finds a pair of hand me down earrings while stoop sale shopping, she believes they are magical.  Why? Well, the earrings are clip on and Del’s ears aren’t pierced. And almost immediately after putting the earrings on, Del’s good luck doesn’t stop (or show she thinks).  Alma is tired of Del acting like she knows everything about everything so she decides to get rid of the earrings which are the cause of their disagreement.  Will Alma and Del be able to come to a understanding about magic to mend their friendship?

I am always looking for a series that will appeal to readers who are transitioning to chapter books or striving readers in the intermediate grades. Written in 110 pages with short chapters, charming illustrations, an engaging plot and themes of friendship, family, and forgiveness, Stoop Sale Treasure will be a hit with many of my students!  Looking forward to reading more in the series. Thanks to Corey Ann Haydu and Katherine Tegen Books for sharing an ARC with my #bookexcursion group.  Stoop Sale Treasure releases on January 20, 2020.

A Crazy Much Love by Joy Jordan-Lake Illustrated by Sonia Sánchez

There are many picture books I could recommend about welcoming a new baby in the family but A Crazy-Much Love is the first story I have read that celebrates the joy of adoption.  Inspired by the author’s own experiences adopting a child, A Crazy-Much Love reminds us that love makes a family.  To read my full review and enter a giveaway, click here.

Gross as a Snot Otter by Jess Keating Illustrations by David DeGrand

Because Jess Keating’s The World of Weird Animals series is a hit with all ages of students at my school, I feel blessed to get a sneak peek at her latest book.  From reading the title, I assumed that all the animals featured would be offensive due to their appearance, but I quickly discovered that Keating choose animals for their foul looks or behaviors.  My biggest takeaway was the majority of animals are disgusting in order to survive.  For example, snot otters are covered in mucus to protect themselves against infections and to easily slip away from predators.  The cute Siberian chipmunk rubs dead snake flesh or rolls in snake pee so that predators stay far away.  At the end of the text, Keating discusses the Science of “Ewww” by reminding readers that gross is truly in the eye of the beholder, for it can depend on where and how you live.  David DeGrand’s cartoon style illustrations provide a chuckle and help readers better understand other characteristics of each animal.   Thanks to Alfred A. Knopf/Random House for sharing a F & G with my #bookexcursion group.  Gross as a Snot Otter publishes next month on October 29, 2019.

How to Code a Rollercoaster by Josh Funk Illustrated by Sara Palacios

Pearl and Pascal are back to teach us about coding.  In this adventure, they are spending the day at an amusement park.  With so many options and only 10 tokens, Pearl uses code by using the variable MyTokens to ensure her tokens will last her the whole day. Pearl’s main goal is to ride the Python Coaster, but the line is ridiculously long.  No worries!  Pearl and Pascal develop another variable called ShortLine, which has a value of true or false.  Using IF-THEN-ELSE, Pearl decides if the line at the Python is short, they will ride the rollercoaster but if it’s long, they will choose another activity.  But what happens when the Python line is short and Pearl is one token shy of being able to ride?  Luckily, Pearl is a problem solver and with Pascal’s help, they figure out a solution.

How to Code a Roller Coaster is a great follow up to How to Code a Sandcastle and reinforces the same concepts. While the story teaches kids about coding, a guide to coding which defines vocabulary words, code, variable, loop, if-then-else and sequence is included in the back matter.  Thanks to Penguin Random House for sharing a copy with my #bookexcursion group. How to Code a Rollercoaster publishes tomorrow!

Etta’s 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.

Uh-Oh, Rollo! by Reed Duncan Illustrated by Keith Frawley

Young readers love dog books so I am excited to find a beginning reader series featuring a rambunctious bulldog named Rollo.  In the first book, Uh-Oh, Rollo, Rollo gets into a lot of mischief and is constantly being scolded by his young owner.  But even though Rollo doesn’t make the best decisions, he always makes things better by saying he’s sorry.  Rollo is a series I can easily give to primary grade students, for it is written with decodable text and high frequency words with some repeated phrases. The expressive and humorous illustrations make the text even more accessible and fun! Thanks to Penguin Kids for sharing with my #bookexcursion group.  Check out the Rollo series here.

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