I’m always adding to my classroom library with medal winners and during our book fair I picked up The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein,  2004 Caldecott Medal winner.

About the book: This effectively spare, lyrical account chronicles Philippe Petit’s tight rope walk between Manhattan’s World Trade Center towers in 1974. Gerstein (What Charlie Heard) begins the book like a fairytale, “Once there were two towers side by side. They were each a quarter of a mile high… The tallest buildings in New York City.” The author casts the French aerialist and street performer as the hero: “A young man saw them rise into the sky…. He loved to walk and dance on a rope he tied between two trees.” As the man makes his way across the rope from one tree to the other, the towers loom in the background. When Philippe gazes at the twin buildings, he looks “not at the towers but at the space between them…. What a wonderful place to stretch a rope; a wire on which to walk.”

My thoughts: Beautifully illustrated and deserving of the medal, it was a nice story to read to my students which sparked conversation and questions. It was a natural way to discuss the Twin Towers in another light. It was an inspiring story of determination as well.  I’m sure that this will be a book that will get a lot of use in my classroom library.

Part of:  100 Book Challenge,

Lo and behold I saw a big cutout poster of the Wimpy Kid in the airport this morning so I picked up the first book: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A Novel in Cartoons. (I posted yesterday about reading the second book to my class but wished that I had the first one to read first.)

About the book: Kinney’s popular Web comic, which began in 2004, makes its way to print as a laugh-out-loud “novel in cartoons,” adapted from the series. Middle school student Greg Heffley takes readers through an academic year’s worth of drama. Greg’s mother forces him to keep a diary (“I know what it says on the cover, but when Mom went out to buy this thing I specifically told her to get one that didn’t say ‘diary’ on it”), and in it he loosely recounts each day’s events, interspersed with his comic illustrations. Kinney has a gift for believable preteen dialogue and narration (e.g., “Don’t expect me to be all ‘Dear Diary’ this and ‘Dear Diary’ that”), and the illustrations serve as a hilarious counterpoint to Greg’s often deadpan voice. More here.

My Thoughts:  I Loved this book!!  I literally laughed out loud at many of the entries and pictures. I guess working in a middle school and being around kids all day helps but this was so fun and I’m looking forward to reading them all. Wimpy Kid is my perpetual “purse book” series until I finish them all since I can read a page or two at any time while waiting in lines, etc.

**While reading it to my students I edited out words like “jerk” and “stupid” as an adult, I find the humor funny. My kids don’t “get it” but they are not typical middle schoolers.

4/5

School book: Some of the kids requested that I read  Diary of a Wimpy Kid  by Jeff Kinney to them after lunch. We had a book fair and they didn’t have the original one but they did have the second one, Rodrick Rules so I’m reading it to them. (I like it..hehe!)

About the book: The highly anticipated sequel to the #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling book!

Secrets have a way of getting out, especially when a diary is involved.

Whatever you do, don’t ask Greg Heffley how he spent his summer vacation, because he definitely doesn’t want to talk about it.

As Greg enters the new school year, he’s eager to put the past three months behind him . . . and one event in particular.

Unfortunately for Greg, his older brother, Rodrick, knows all about the incident Greg wants to keep under wraps. But secrets have a way of getting out . . . especially when a diary is involved.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules chronicles Greg’s attempts to navigate the hazards of middle school, impress the girls, steer clear of the school talent show, and most important, keep his secret safe.

My thoughts: I loved this one as much as the first and continued to laugh at the antics of Greg, Rodrick, Rowley and Manny. These books just make me smile. I think they were written for adults as much as for tweens.

Rating 4/5

As part of my quest to keep up and read all of the Newbery Medal winners, I’m reading Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz. It’s a book of monologues of each of the characters in the village.

About the Book: From Publishers Weekly

Schlitz (The Hero Schliemann ) wrote these 22 brief monologues to be performed by students at the school where she is a librarian; here, bolstered by lively asides and unobtrusive notes, and illuminated by Byrd’s (Leonardo, Beautiful Dreamer) stunningly atmospheric watercolors, they bring to life a prototypical English village in 1255.

Reading a short one from Kate Jacobs, A Sister’s Wish.  I requested it from the library because  I’ve read all of her other books.

About the book: Things wouldn’t be so bad if I just had a sister!” A child’s longing for someone who understands her, for someone who is decidedly more feminine than her brothers, for someone who can help her miss her father less when she’s at her mother’s, or miss her mom less when she’s at her dad’s is all the six or seven-year-old heroine thinks she needs. In the end she realizes that sometimes “…just being a sister will do.”

My purse book (perfect size!) for this week is Diary of a Fairy Godmother by none other than Esme Raji Codell.

About the book: With humor and ingenuity, Codell weaves an unusual, intriguing, and enjoyable story. Hunky Dory is the top student in her charm school, but her inner conflict about the purpose of witchcraft plagues her. She wonders if it must always be focused on evil. Hunky becomes interested in the work of fairy godmothers, a group looked down upon by ordinary witches, and, after much soul searching, she concludes that she wants to become one. Characters from well-known fairy tales weave in and out of the story….

I love Children’s Literature and I still plan on reading as many Newbery Medal and Newbery Honor books as I can until I’m up to date. Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes is a 2004 honor book and I’m listening to it from the shores of beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee while I knit away and relax this weekend.

I enjoy reading children’s literature and Lois Lowry is one of the best. I spotted Gossamer in the e-book section of my library website so I downloaded down this short one as a filler. I headed out to the library tonight and grabbed some new audio books but it’s nice to have the electronic downloads as well.

About the book:

Littlest One is a delicate, invisible spirit who is in training to be a dream-giver, learning to blend fragments of happy memories with fragile details of daily life for people as they sleep. She helps a tormented foster child at night, bestowing healing memories in his dreams.

Making my way through the Newbery Medal winners, I came across this one, Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis in the online audio book section of my library. I’m hoping to get through the 5+ hours of listening before it expires while I’m away for the weekend.

I’m currently reading this 2007 Newbery Medal winner via mp3 while working around the house. This one is The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron. I love to read good children’s/young adult literature and they can usually be quick reads. This week is all about making preparations for the Rendezvous so I’ll listen in while sewing.

I downloaded The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo via audio book as part of my quest to make it through all of the remaining Newbery Medal winners on my TBR list. I’ve got some sewing to do this weekend and I’ll listen while I work.

I just finished the audio book, Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry and discovered that although I can’t transfer the audio to an Apple product, I can transfer to my iriver. (Unfortunately, the iriver is stuck in record mode and will need to be replaced before training camp, but I did find an old Sandisk mp3 player in a drawer that works fine for this purpose.) So, I won’t be limited to listen on my desktop pc but can take it with me. After all.. that IS the purpose of an audio book, IMO. (Looks like my podcast queue will grow even larger and I’ll get further behind but I’m in the mood to read so it’s fine with me.

I just downloaded the third book in the trio, Messenger and expect that it’ll be just as good as The Giver and Gathering Blue. Anyone who has not tried good children’s literature should give it a whirl. Some of my favorite books have been Newbery Medal Winners that I’ve read as an adult.