Bella and I are excited to share our latest 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.
The Cozy Home (Bat, Cat & Rat #1) by Ame Dyckman Illustrated by Mark Teague
What happens when a bat, cat and rat decide to share a house? Loads of fun! In the first chapter, each of them claim a part of the house as their own; however, Cat and Rat are persuaded by Bat to change their minds. In the second chapter, Cat is not a fan of Rat’s jokes but Rat gets the last laugh. In the third chapter, Cat realizes that books are meant to be shared.
The Bat, Cat & Rat series makes my reading specialist heart so happy! With concise text, high frequency words and repetition, Dyckman not only makes the story easy for young kids to read independently but also offers them great character development and an engaging plot. Teague’s warm and expressive artwork perfectly complement the text bringing the characters to life. Excited that Vacation, the second book in the series, will publish in May 2024.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing for sharing a copy. The Cozy Home celebrated its book birthday last week on February 6, 2024.
The Door That Never Opened Before by Mrs. & Mr. MacLeod
In How to Eat a Book, the Grunion children get truly lost in a book after it devours them. Fortunately, they find their way back home; however, a new problem has emerged. One door in their house has remained close for 150 years and no one knows why. Patient Sheila studied every inch of the door and tried every key with no success. Impetuous Geraldine grabbed Great Grandma Grunion’s hammer. In contrast, Gerald harboring a secret stuck to the sole of his shoe wants to keep the door shut. Gerald says he knows nothing more about the door, but he must know something right? Only way to find out is to read the book.
The MacLeods’ dipped pen and ink cut out diorama art is a feast for the eyes and their text is both suspenseful and delightful. In my opinion, it begs to be read aloud especially since specific words are emphasized with capital letters, bold print and/or italics. Last year, I had the pleasure of a virtual visit with the MacLeods with kindergarteners and they were AH-mazing! As in the first book, I love that the ending alludes to another adventure (pretty please!)
Thanks to Jenny Lu of Union Square Kids for sharing a copy. The Door That Never Opened Before celebrated its book birthday last week on February 6, 2024.
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 character.
Bella & Blue by Berrie Torgan-Randall
Bella has a glass half empty outlook in contrast to her grandmother Gigi who exudes positivity. On a shopping excursion, Bella walks by a pop up rescue and is immediately drawn to the last of the litter. With Gigi’s encouragement, she adopts the puppy naming it Blue. While her dad is not keen on dogs, his feelings change once he sees Bella and Blue together. In subsequent chapters, readers see Blue’s effect on Bella mostly through the black, white and blue illustrations. When Bella is learning ballet, she is frustrated but Blue’s companionship (and Gigi’s encouragement) gives her the strength to figure out her own path. In the last chapter, Bella enters Blue in a costume contest and while Blue doesn’t win, Bella realizes it doesn’t matter when you have the best dog ever.
Oh this book touched my soul for dogs can elevate us to new levels. Torgan-Randell’s Bella is a character kids can relate to and I love seeing her confidence increase with Blue by her side. I also adore her relationship with Gigi who has such a zest for life. I have a thing for endpapers so when I saw the no dog allowed signs changing to paw prints my heart was happy. Back matter includes discussion questions and step by step directions for drawing Blue and a tutorial in speaking simple French.
Bella and I thank you for visiting Beagles and Books!
#IMWAYR is dedicated to dear Etta, my original book beagle. Blessed that Etta is part of my story.
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