Why I Picked It Up: Last spring/summer, Audible offered a selection of free audiobooks for kids to listen to while schools were closed. We are audiobook junkies (if the car trip will be longer than 10 minutes, we usually have a story playing), and so we listened to lots of them, but Kid Normal was […]
Critical Thinking
Book Review: Outside, Inside, by Leuyen Pham
Why I Picked It Up: During our back-to-school meetings, an administrator said to us that we had 2nd graders who had never known school before COVID! It really painted a picture that had eluded me. I am coaching teachers in a hybrid model that seemed tough on its own, but I realized that their kids […]
Book Review: Fergal and the Bad Temper by Robert Starling
Why I Picked It Up: This adorable picture book is on the Texas Library Association’s 2X2 Book List for 2019. I have to tell you, the TLA usually gets it right, and I always enjoy books about characters with bad tempers (we can analyze that later…) Why I Finished It: Fergal really is a sweet […]
Book Review: Julián Is A Mermaid, by Jessica Love
Why I Picked It Up: Definitely the cover and title curiosity on this one. Since this is a delicate topic for our culture, I wanted to see how this story would be handled. Why I Finished It: The story was handled beautifully – beyond all expectations. Jessica Love tells a story of a little boy […]
Book Review: Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor
Why I Picked It Up: I loved the colors on the front and the illustration on the cover. The title intrigued me, as did the tag line. Diversity is one of the topics we collect books on for our Newer Choices session. Bonus: Sotomayor is in the Texas standards! Why I Finished It: I have […]
Book Review: The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary, by Laura Shovan
Why I Picked It Up: This novel-in-verse was part of our Newer Choices in Young Adult Lit session and I think I can blame it on Jessica! Why I Finished It: Poetry is definitely not one of my favorite things to read, but I do love novels-in-verse for a few reasons: 1) they’re a quick read. […]