New Books in February

February looks to be another great month for books!  Here are some of the books I am looking forward to being released this month!

My kids have become HUGE fans of The Quirks since I brought it into the classroom. And they ask me daily if I have the new one yet!  They are going to be thrilled when The Quirks in Circus Quirkus makes it to the classroom. The Quirks is one of my favorite new series for 3rd graders.  The perfect kind of story for this age.  I am anxiously awaiting lots more!

There is also a new Stink book coming out. My kids will be thrilled to see Stink and the Shark Sleepover (Book #9)

And I am very excited about Lord and Lady Bunny--Almost Royalty!  I so love Polly Horvath and I loved Mr. and Mrs. Bunny-Detectives Extraordinare! It was so quirky and fun.  I'm excited to see a new one!

And who could not be excited about a new version of Goldilocks called Goldi Rocks & the Three Bears?

Another series I'm anxious to take a look at is the upcoming one by Henry Winkler.  This is Hank from Hank Zipzer series but a younger version.  Bookmarks Are People Too! #1 (Here's Hank) looks similar to the text that my 3rd graders enjoy and it looks to be funny which is a huge plus for many of my readers. I'm anxious to check this new series out.

I'm not sure how I heard about Extraordinary Warren: A Super Chicken but it looks like great fun!

I recently read Winger and it was fabulous.  I definitely want to read more by this author. His book Grasshopper Jungle comes out in February. Not sure how fast I'll get to it but it is definitely on my TBR list!

Baseball Is . . . is one I have been waiting for for a long time. Louise Borden is amazing and I love the whole idea behind this book. I can't wait to get a copy (or copies).  It will be great for all ages, I think.

A Snicker of Magic and Half a Chance are two middle grade novels I have been looking forward to for a while. Both sound amazing and I am a huge Cynthia Lord fan!

Feathers: Not Just for Flying is a nonfiction book that looks fabulous.  We have been reading a lot about birds and this book looks like a great addition to our basket of bird nonfiction.

We are huge Arnie the Doughnut fans here so we are all very excited about the newest...Invasion of the Ufonuts (Adventures of Arnie the Doughnut)!

New Books Coming in January

Here are some books being released in January. These are the books I am most excited about this month!

Poetry and Picture Books

Poem-mobiles: Crazy Car Poems

Baby Bear Angel Island

Henny

I am Abraham Lincoln (Ordinary People Change World)

Middle Grade Novels

Winter Sky

Seven Stories Up

Marty McGuire Has Too Many Pets!

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

Graphic Novels
Lunch Lady and the Schoolwide Scuffle

Adult Fiction

Still Life with Bread Crumbs: A Novel

The Invention of Wings: A Novel

Coming Soon: March

It looks like March is going to be an expensive month! So many great books I am looking forward to!

Coming Soon: February

Last month, I started a monthly series on upcoming books I am excited about.  I am not sure where January went but it seems that it is time for February's list already! I have read so little this month that I was afraid to look ahead --the last thing I need right now is to add more books to my TBR pile!  But, there are some books that you just MUST have! These are upcoming books that are MUST-HAVES for me in February!

One of my very favorite professional books of all times has a new edition coming out.  WHAT A WRITER NEEDS by Ralph Fletcher is one of the books that changed my teaching.  It is one of the staple books that helped me learn to teach writing and it was the first book by Ralph Fletcher that I read. This 2nd edition of this book is coming out in February. Just looking at the Table of Contents makes me happy--reminds me how much I learned when I read this book and how many times I've gone back to the book in the past 20 years. (And Ralph Fletcher will be the keynote at the Dublin Literacy Conference on February 23. If you haven't registered, you should check it out!)

Follow Follow: A Book of Reverso Poems by Marilyn Singer is a follow-up to one of my favorite books, Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse. Both of these books are filled with Fairy Tale "reverso" poems.  They are fun reads and I continue to be amazed at what the process of writing reversos is. So excited about this second round of reversos from Singer!

Lisa Graff is one of my favorite middle grade authors. I was thrilled to discover that she has a new book coming out in February called A Tangle of Knots. If you don't know Lisa Graff, you will definitely want to read The Thing About Georgie, Umbrella Summer and The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower.

I can't seem to find enough sports nonfiction to keep my students happy! So I was thrilled to see
Becoming Babe Ruth coming in February. I love author, Matt Tavares and from what I've read this is a great and well-researched story.

I am always paying attention to good, upcoming YA (even though I don't get a chance to read nearly as much as I'd like to!).  But the book I have on my list to remember about in February is Pivot Point. Love the whole concept and the issues around the choices we make.

And finally, a March 1 release (but close enough to February that I thought I'd include it here is Grumbles from the Forest: Fairy-Tale Voices with a Twist by Jane Yolen and Rebecca Kai Dotlich.  I love anything fairy tale but this one looks especially fun.  First of all, I am excited that Jane Yolen and Rebecaa Kai Dotlich worked together on this one. Love those two! Secondly, I love the idea of hearing the voices of fairy tale characters in poem form.  I am VERY excited about this one!