For more It's Monday! What Are You Reading? posts, visit Kellee and Jen's blog, Teach Mentor Texts.
Nancy Gilson, features editor at the Columbus Dispatch, asked me if I had a group of students who would like to help compile the Dispatch's yearly list of best children's books. (I've been on the panel for several years now.) Boy, do I ever! About twenty fifth graders from across the entire grade level have signed on to read as many 2013 books as they can this year -- including through the summer and the first couple of months of middle school. We keep in touch and share opinions on a Kidblog blog. Many of them have also joined Goodreads. That's another post for another time -- what it's like watching voracious kid readers use that site as their reading playground.
We took an after-school, parent-drivers "field trip" a couple of weeks ago. We visited the two library branches the kids are most likely to use, met the librarians, located the reserve areas, and a couple of students who didn't have one yet got a library card. Then we trekked down to Cover to Cover Books for Young Readers. Sally, the owner of CTC, generous to a fault, had a cart heaped with 2013 ARCs to give to the student-readers! We've also received ARCs from Abrams, and review copies from Groundwood and Kids Can Press. Great fun!
Some of the 2013s I've read won't be out until March, so I'll just tease you with the covers, and review them closer to their release dates:
Here's what I've got on deck:
Happy Reading!
OK, I am officially JEALOUS! How cool is this- kids reading the books and compiling the results!
ReplyDeleteYou may be reading the 2014 Newbery this week.
ReplyDeleteSo I've heard!
Deleteyou've got some gorgeous covers, I love Navigating Early! Also what a great book group you've got joining, I know that's exactly the kind of thing I would have loved in the 5th grade. I bet it's going to be amazing. :)
ReplyDeleteYou have some wonderful books here - a few I would like to read too!
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of most of these. Yeah! I am so excited to add to my Monday list. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteKimberley
First in Maine
I finished Navigating Early on Saturday and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I liked it even better than Moon Over Manifest! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI'm in love with the image your sentence brings to mind: "voracious kid readers use that site as their reading playground." How awesome is that?!
ReplyDeleteWhite Fur Flying looks gorgeous! :) I've heard so many great things about Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool. Must find in our libraries soonest.
ReplyDeleteYour project sounds terrific, Mary Lee. What a great thing for the kids, & for you to do with them. I wish... Times like these I'm sad not to be in the classroom still. Maybe I can do some research & see what I can come up with. Thanks for telling all about it! And for sharing the new books-sound great!
ReplyDeleteI liked Mathlete vs. Athlete. Wasn't perfect, but my students are asking more for realistic fiction than all the fantasy out there. Hope you like it!
ReplyDelete