I Dare You Not to Yawn by Helene Boudreau

This week I read I Dare You Not to Yawn by Canadian Author Helene Boudreau.  This is an instruction manual for all kids on how to handle a yawn in front of their parents because we all know what happens if you yawn in front of your parents right?  There were quite a few yawns as I read this book.  Many were from me (I'm sick! It wasn't the book!).  Some were genuine and some were my dramatic readers flair.  I had a good time reading this with all classes.  This book received a unanimous happy face this week from all the students.  I don't know how these kids are possibly going to pick a favourite!

In the Tree House by Andrew Larsen

In the Tree House is written by Canadian author Andrew Larsen.  This book is one of the nominees for this year's Blue Spruce award in the Forest of Reading.  This is the story of a young boy with a new house.  He dreams of making a tree house and his dad and brother help make it happen.  The spend a long hot summer having fun in the tree house.  I'm pretty sure every kid in school this week wishes they had a tree house.  I know it left me dreaming of a hot summer night.  In the Tree House is very well written.  Beautiful pictures.  This book got a unanimous happy face rating.  I really don't know how the kids are going to vote with all these great choices!

Eddie and Dog by Alison Brown

Eddie and Dog by Alison Brown is a funny story of a boy and his dog.  Mom says the dog can't stay with them because they don't have room.  But the dog keeps coming back to Eddie.  My son and I really enjoyed the pictures in this book.  They really make the story funny.  I think it would be a good book to read with a young reader.  There are a few pages that would be perfect for them to try reading.

The Secret of the Village Fool by Rebecca Upjohn

  The Secret of the Village Fool is written by Canadian author Rebecca Upjohn.  It is a nominee for this year's Forest of Reading Silver Birch Express category.  I read The Secret of the Village Fool yesterday to a grade 4/5 class.  They were all quite captivated by the story.  The story is about a 'village fool', Anton, who takes care of all the living things around him.  When war breaks out Anton hides a Jewish family because a life is a life and they are all worth saving.  When the story was over the kids were fascinated by the final few pages that revealed this was in fact a true story.  I was very happy to see that a few kids asked to borrow it and read again on their own.  This is quite possibly a winner in the Silver Birch Express category.

And Then it Happened by M & L Wade

And Then it Happened is a series of books with the target audience of young boys.  Canadian authors Michael and Laura Wade sure know their audience!  These books offer short chapters that are each a shorty story of their own.  Each story features the narrator who is friends with Pablo and Gordon.  Together they have some fun times and sometimes get up to a bit of mischief but nothing harmful. There are 11 books in the series with hopefully more to come.  

In my library these books are checked out by girls almost as much as they are checked out by boys.  They seem most popular with the grade 5 kids but I've seen kids grade 4 to 8 check them out.  The books aren't in a section for the grade 3's or they would probably take them out as well.  These days there are none on the shelves and I've got a waiting list on the newest books.  The kids are very excited and getting ready for a visit from Michael Wade this month.  I've heard he is an excellent presenter so I look forward to meeting him.  Scholastic had a deal in this month's book club orders for the first five books for $19.99 I believe.  I ordered the set for my youngest.  Also, when I ordered the most recent book from Chapters for my school library I found that it came autographed.  The kids were pretty excited about that.

The Rule of Three by Eric Walters

I'm fairly new to Eric Walters.  He was scheduled to speak at my school last year so I thought I better read a book before he came.  Well now that I've started I just can't stop!  I can see why the kids at school are constantly taking his books.  And if you ever get a chance to hear him speak - go!  He was so engaging with the kids - and teachers.

So I was going to lay off and not read another Eric Walters for a bit but The Rule of Three came out and I heard it was his best yet.  How could I not read and decide if that was true.  It is true!  It was fantastic!  

The story appears to be set in a Toronto suburb.  The story begins with some high school kids working on an assignment in the computer lab at school when suddenly the power goes out.  Strangely though the laptops aren't working even though they had a charged battery.  Then quickly they discover their cell phones aren't working and when they get to the parking lot most people's cars aren't working either, with the exception of some old clunkers.  Nothing with any sort of computer is functioning.  How long will the outage last?  How many people are affected by the outage?  The Rule of Three is a real page turner.  Kept me flipping.  Tons of action.  A twist of a love story.  I loved it.

I'm now doing this as a read aloud with the grade 8's at school and they love it.  They're begging for extra library periods!!  I can't wait for the Fight for Power to be released in January 2015.

The Bear by Claire Cameron

The Bear by Canadian author Claire Cameron has been eagerly anticipated by many readers.  The Bear has already been selected as a book club favourite.  The story unfolds through the eyes of five year old Anna.  Anna is camping in Algonquin Park with her parents and younger brother, nicknamed Stick.  The story begins with the siblings going to sleep for the night in their tent, only to be jolted awake by their father screaming and shoving them roughly into a cooler.  Poor Anna and her brother come out of the cooler to a changed world.  They are left to navigate the wilderness alone with only a canoe and a tin of cookies.  The Bear is a gut wrenching story that will keep you reading to find out what happens to the children.  The story is also quite touching to see how the siblings take care of each other when things get tough despite their disagreements. The writing style is reminiscent of the 2010 novel Room written by Emma Donoghue, a Canadian author as well.  Room is a tragic story also told through the point of view of a young boy.  Readers will want to finish The Bear well before camping season begins, unless you enjoy reading a spooky tale around the fire. 

There Was an Old Sailor - Claire Saxby

There Was an Old Sailor by Claire Saxby follows the same rhythm as the There was an Old Lady series.  It's a fun read aloud that the children can remember and read along with you.  There Was an Old Sailor follows a fishy theme as you would expect.  As I was reading it I thought it would be a good lead in to talk with kids about what lives in the sea.  I would play a guessing game with the kids on what do you think could eat that?  I really liked the end where it offered some explanation and facts about some of the sea creatures mentioned in the book.  The pictures were quite well done.  I would recommend this book for kids age 5 to 7.

Because I Stubbed My Toe - Shawn Byous

Because I Stubbed My Toe by Shawn Byous is a very funny story of a boy who stubbed his toe and the chain reaction it puts into motion.  The pictures are hilarious!  The story is quite a simple and quick read but the pictures really make it fun.  My son kept asking if they pictures were drawn or done on a computer.  He was really quite taken with the illustrations.  We loved the ending.  It was a fun little read.  The description said for ages 5 to 7 and that seems a perfect fit.  It would be perfect for a grade 1 or 2 class for students to retell a story.  What happened at the beginning, middle and end.

Willow Finds a Way - Lana Button

This week at school I read Willow Finds a Way by Lana Button to all the primary classes.  It is a nominee for the Blue Spruce award in the Forest of Reading program.  This is the story of a girl named Willow who is very shy and has a hard time finding her voice to speak up.  In Willow Finds a Way Kristabelle is having the best birthday party ever and everyone in class is invited.  But to stay on the invitation list everyone must do everything that Kristabelle says.  Kristabelle is very bossy and everyone is upset but eventually Willow finds a way to fix the problem.  In each of the classes that I read to we assigned a happy face, a neutral face or a sad face.  In every class the majority was a clear happy face.

The only little complaint I have about this book is that the cover looks very similar to Willow's Whisper.  When I brought it out to read a lot of the students insisted that they had already read the book and I had to convince them that I was pretty sure they hadn't, since that was the first time they'd seen it at school.  On the other hand, it was really positive that everyone remembered Willow from the Blue Spruce nominees last year.

It's a great book to have in a school library.  It deals with shyness, a bully, problem solving and more.

The Very Inappropriate Word - Jim Tobin

Michael collects words.  He loves learning new words.  But when he learns a new inappropriate word and starts testing it out his teacher sets out to help him forget by teaching him many new words.  It's sort of a fun little story that teaches a lot of words - good words.  But I read it with my son and he kept asking what the inappropriate word was.  Also, the boy isn't really taught that the word is inappropriate and why it's not good to use it.  The teacher just makes him forget.  I wouldn't use this on real little kids.  Maybe grade 3/4 and with a follow-up discussion that there are so many better word choices out there.  Not something I would choose without purpose.  It brought to mind the Fancy Nancy picture books but with a twist of the very inappropriate word.

Me Before You - Jojo Moyes

Tonight I'm meeting up with my book club to discuss Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.  I had seen a lot about this book on different blogs.  I actually picked it for this month's choice.  I expected a bit of a tear jerker.  I had never read anything by Jojo Moyes before.  I LOVED it!  5 out of 5 stars!  The story is about Will Traynor who is living life to it's fullest when he is suddenly suffers a tragic accident and is left a quadriplegic.  Louisa Clark is hired by Will's mother to bring a little life back into Will's life.  Lou is determined to show Will a good time and that there's still a lot of life left in him.  I loved the snarly banter between the two main characters. Yes, there were a few tears but I laughed more than I cried.  This is a perfect choice for book club tonight and I know there will be some great discussion.  I can't wait to read more by Jojo Moyes.

The Most Magnificent Thing - Ashley Spires

The Most Magnificent Thing is a most magnificent book!  It's the story of a little girl and her dog that make plans for a new invention.  She has a vision, but things aren't going exactly as planned.  When things go from bad to worse she gets quite frustrated.  Her friend the dog suggests a walk.  When she calms down and looks at things from a different perspective things might just be ok.

I would use The Most Magnificent Thing in my school as a read aloud for children in kindergarten to grade 3.  Aside from being a fun story with great pictures, which it really is, it can be very useful to teach many lessons.  Just the other day a grade 3 teacher asked me for a book on someone having a very bad day that escalates to a blow up and then a cool off.  This would be perfect!  It can be used to teach students to look at things from a different perspective.  Perhaps students could draw a picture of something they would invent.  There is also a lesson about how hard work pays off.

The author's name was quite familiar and when I looked at her book list I see I have read many of her books.  Also, many of Ashley Spires' previous titles are past nominees from the Forest of Reading Blue Spruce category.  I suspect The Most Magnificent Thing will be appearing on the nomination list next year.

Yes Day! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Yes Day! is a book that we picked up a few years ago, I think at a Scholastic book fair.  It's about a little boy who celebrates the best day of the year, Yes Day!  His parents say yes to everything he asks.  I love that the book gets kids imagining what they would do on their own Yes Day.  What I also love is that the boy has a wonderful day getting his parents to say yes to everything but none of his requests are outlandish and costly.  He doesn't abuse this fun day.  This book has inspired my family to have a Yes Day.  We normally do it end of January or beginning of February, depending on schedules.  The day typically starts with ice cream for breakfast.  There are a few 'Yes, but' situations.  The kids really look forward to it and have a good time.  Fun to break up the winter blahs.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal has written many other children's books that I enjoy as well.  Check her out!

Seven the Series

David McLean is a recently deceased grandfather of seven grandsons.  At the reading of his will it is discovered that David has requested that each grandson complete a task on his behalf.  The tasks are bucket list items from his life that he did not get around to completing.  There are seven books in the series, with each book following an individual grandson completing their task.  Each task is completed independently, although the grandsons' have contact with each other throughout the stories.  The books are each written by a different author which really gives each grandson their own voice and style. The series of books can be read in any order, although beginning with Between Heaven and Earth by Eric Walters and ending with The Last Message by Shane Peacock might be preferred.  Seven the Series provides many lessons in history, geography and life that come across in a way that isn't preaching or obvious.  Inquisitive readers may find themselves reaching to the non-fiction section to inquire further on subjects such as Mount Kilimanjaro, the Spanish Civil War and more.  Between Heaven and Earth, Devil's Pass by Sigmund Brouwer and Jump Cut by Ted Staunton are nominees for this year's Red Maple category in the Forest of Reading. The series also includes Lost Cause by John Wilson, Ink Me by Richard Scrimger, Close to the Heel by Norah McClintock and Last Message by Shane Peacock.  A visit to http://orcabook.com/seventheseries tells readers that there will be seven sequels published later this fall.  With the same collection of authors, it's safe to say the sequels will be a captivating read as well.