Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Little Tree by Loren Long

23846038As I posted yesterday I really loved Little Tree by Loren Long. It is a great fall story and his illustrations are gorgeous! But a Facebook post by Matthew Winner really got me to thinking about my life and leaves that I've been hanging on to. I have been feeling very overwhelmed this year. I'm trying to do a lot in school and at home. I can't seem to get caught up or even get ahead. This book has really made me realize if I don't let go of somethings, there is no way for me to grow. I can't keep hanging on to everything because it will ultimately hold me back from moving forward. I woke up today feeling more at peace and was actually able to accomplish a lot. 

Also in Matthew's Facebook post he link to his new project All The Wonders. There is a post by Danielle Davis about a leaf badge craft. I love the idea of it being a "merit badge" for letting go! Now I just need to find someone to make a badge for me because I have no talent in sewing! If you haven't checked out All The Wonders, I highly recommend it! Great people doing great things for the kidlit world.

So thank you Loren for writing such an incredible book! And thank you to Matthew for making me reevaluate somethings in my life!

Happy Reading!!

Stacey (@libraryjo92)

Monday, November 9, 2015

It's Monday!! What Are You Reading?

This meme was started by Sheila at Book Journey. The kid's version was started by Jen at Teach Mentor Text and Kellee at Unleashing Readers.

I keep trying to get posts up, but it seems right now life seems to be working against me. I've been reading, so I'm going to try a post this week! I also have to get my books on my shelves on Goodreads. I am doing very bad with my Goodreads challenge this year. 

24941005I've been reading quite a few picture books lately. The three that I'm going to post about were sent to me from Penguin Young Readers. The first book is Happy! by Pharrell Williams. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I just love the song and our theme for this school year is "be happy" so it fits. The real photographs of kids are so much fun to look at. It is a very fun book, but I thought that the upbeat nature of the song doesn't translate as well in book form. I know that this one will be a popular one, when I put it in my collection.

23846041The second picture book is Pom Pom Panda Gets the Grumps by Sophy Henn. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. When I got this book I had a bad case of the grumps, so it was a perfect book for me to read! Pom Pom Panda is just having a very bad day and like many of us he takes it out on the friends around him. This is a great book to use in the classroom to show that we all can make mistakes but we need to apologize. Can't wait to share this one with my teachers! Plus, I just love the front cover illustration!

23846038The third picture book is Little Tree by Loren Long. I don't think I have ever read a book by Loren Long that I haven't loved!, this one is no exception! I truly loved this book! Click here for a summary on Goodreads. On the first read this is a great book about fall. But after reading a thought provoking Facebook post by Matthew Winner, I reread the book and realized how much more there was to this book. I'll be posting more about this book and Matthew's post tomorrow. I highly recommend this book. I'm going to have to buy another copy of this book for myself because I need this book in my personal collection.

What have you been reading?

Keep checking back this week for some more posts!

Stacey (@libraryjo92)