What We're Reading, Fall 2018

It's about time for a reading update, don't you think?  This is the first autumn since 2015 that I haven't been reading graphic novels like crazy for Cybils round 1. Instead I'm chairing the category and I'll be judging Easy Readers & Early Chapter books in January.

Here's what each of us have been reading, youngest to oldest...

Sam, age 1 - Sam has gotten into a good routine of reading 3 board books each night with Daddy. Jacob always reads/sings him You Are My Sunshine as the last one, but Rocket Town by Bob Logan, and Count!by Denise Fleming are in heavy rotation.

Jubilee, age 5, Kindergarten - Jubilee's ability to read is exploding! She was recognizing some sight words before kindergarten started but a little bit of formal instruction in school has really boosted her reading ability. Most nights (and days) we read to her, but it's a special treat when she reads a book to us. And both Jacob and I were complete puddles when she read a book to Sam the other day. Her favorite from the library right now is The Princess and the Pit Stop. It's by the author of Origami Yoda and illustrated by Caldecott winner Dan Santat. The princess races against all manner of fairy tale characters. Jubilee is also very much looking forward to reading the latest Princess in Black book, The Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare, which is now available.

Levi, age 8, Grade 3 - Levi is reading independantly and very well for his age. I still love reading to him though, and we enjoyed Creepy Pair of Underwear! and Zen Ghosts before Halloween. Both are picture books I had checked out from the library. Speaking of the library, he came along with me the other day and checked out several Spirit Animals books, a handful of the I Survived series, and a big stack of Zapato Power books, which I had not heard of before. In them, our hero finds some zapatos (shoes) that give him extra powers and he solves mysteries and investigates suspicious occurences. Levi is also rereading the Calvin Coconut series, "because it's been a while."

Benjamin, age 10, Grade 5 - Benjamin is reading tons of great books. I'm going to write you a whole post about it. He got a bunch of good recommendations from the 2017 Cybils shortlists. [Update: That post is now live! Find it here: 6 Books My 10-year-old Loved]

Alysa, aka Mom - I have been reading The Book of Mormon at a faster pace than ever before, to keep up with the challenge President Nelson gave to read it from the beginning before the end of the year. I'm really enjoying the challenge, as it is requiring me to read in a whole new way. Like a sprint, instead of a walk in the park. Doesn't let me smell the flowers, but it is exhilarating! I was also able to read Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt, and chose to discuss it for book club this month. I'm hosting. I was afraid it would be an annoying tear-jerker, but it was not. It gives you a lot to think about. And I just got a hold of The Mushroom Fan Club by Elise Gravel. So cute and fun, plus it has some facts about mushrooms.

Jacob, aka Dad - Jacob has been reading The Black Count, and whenever he dips into it he tells me something interesting at the dinner table. Just yesterday he got his copy of the latest Brandon Sanderson book, Skyward. If he wasn't writing an exam at this moment, he would be reading it.

This is just to say...

Well, hi there!

Today was the first day of school for my three older children. I think that means I did not publish a blog post during their summer break. The hiatus was not intentional -- in fact I have some drafts of book reviews that I just haven't finished up, and even a post by Benjamin (who is now ten years old?) languishing in drafts. I guess that's summer with four kids. A first, for me.

Still reading. Will begin sharing again, soon.

Cybils season has started with the call for judges. I'm the graphic novels category organizer again this year. You have until September 9 to apply, and can apply regardless of the platform you use to review books*, as long as your reviews are accessible online without cost and show depth of thought. Apply here.

*This is a change from previous years, when you had to have a blog. Now, you can be a solid reviewer on Youtube, Instagram, Goodreads, a podcast, etc. etc.
___________

And now, a poem by William Carlos Williams

This Is Just To Say

I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

__________

And a poem by Alysa Stewart

This Is Just To Say

I have not blogged
all summer long

which definitely
has something
to do with this phase of life

Forgive me not
This is my blog
I post when I want

But maybe
leave me a bookish comment
To welcome me back?

Beginning to read!

Today I was tidying up the house, getting it ready for Jacob's lab group to come over for an end-of-semester lunch. Jubilee was home sick, but not too sick (just the worst sort of sick child to have at home, you know? But also the worst sort of sick child to have at school, which is why I didn't send her.) While I was putting something away, I saw our bag of BOB books, and pulled it out for Jubilee.

"Here are some great books for someone your age!" I told her. She turned five a few days ago, and has been showing signs of reading readiness*. I set the books in front of her, and as I continued to clean I helped her begin the series. But then I had to stop cleaning and take a video, because watching a child learn to read is so magical.



If you're not familiar with the BOB books, they're a paperback set of books that build upon each other and introduce new letter sounds and sight words in each book. They're terribly boring to read if you already know how to read, but if you are learning to sound words out they are just what you want. The set I have is incomplete, since I found it some years ago at a yard sale, but it has enough of the books that Jubilee read 5 or 6 of them in a row today.



The illustrations in the BOB books are "meh" for me. They get the job done (the job being, to give context clues so that the words can be sounded out properly, and to add some continuity to a story that must have very limited words). I like that they're sketched, black and white, and pretty timeless. I don't like that sometimes I think "What is going on there? Oh that's a hat!" or "Oh that's curly hair!" I appreciate that they do some things right, but part of me always itches to draw my own illustrations whenever my kids read the books.

*The signs of reading readiness Jubilee showed were 1. Holding books properly and turning through them to look at the pictures and words 2. Recognizing most letters and knowing most letter sounds 3. Asking me how to spell words when she was writing notes 4. Figuring out what one or two words were without my help, when we were out and about.

It is so fun to be beginning this new leg of the reading journey with Jubilee!

I caught Jubilee "reading" this book to Samuel.

Also of note: Hot Cross Buns!

Bitten by the bike bug!

Gotta love this girl

Cybils shortlists are announced!

Here's all the categories!

Here are the finalists for Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novels

Here are the finalists for Young Adult Graphic Novels

I'm totally patting myself on the back. This was my first year as the category chair for Graphic Novels, and though it was dicey at times, I think I did everything I was supposed to do! Even though my baby was born on the morning that I was supposed to confirm my judges! Haha.

I ended up needing to be a judge on Round 1, so that there would be an odd number of judges, to prevent ties in voting. I was worried about whether or not I'd be able to read enough nominees, but I read a respectable 72 of the 153 nominated titles.

Can I just say that again? I read 72 books in the last 3 months, which were also the first 3 months of my son's life! Oh yeah, oh yeah!

AND I love the lists my panel agreed on this year. All the books that made the cut are top-notch. Check them out!

It's a baby!

The newest member of our family is here! I've been posting lots of adorable pictures on my Instagram, because not all of his grandparents have met him yet. 

That's changing this weekend though -- my family is coming to town and little Sam will be blessed in church.  

Congratulations are in order!

Cybils winners have been announced! Yippee! The full list is here.Congratulations! Congrats to the authors and illustrators and publishers for making such good books and earning honors. Congrats to the Cybils panels for choosing good ones for us.

For Young Adult Graphic Novels, the winner is March, Book Three!

You know I thought very highly of March Book Three. In fact, right now I'm running a giveaway of the whole trilogy. My review of the book and the details about the giveaway are here. It closes tonight, but you've got a couple of hours...


For Elementary and Middle Grade Graphic Novels, the winner is Lowriders to the Center of the Earth!

I have to say I'm slightly embarrassed that I have not actually read this book. What?!? How is that possible? Weren't you on the round one judging panel? Yes I was, and when you're on round one you read as many of the nominees as you can, but all your fellow judges are doing the same and you're trying to make sure each book gets read by at least two panelists. This one wasn't available from my library, the publisher didn't send me a copy and I didn't know it was such a contender until our final discussion of books that are going on the shortlist. So, that's how it happened. And now it has won! I've got to catch up. At least I've got a few pages into book one (the winner here is book two in the series.) I've got to see what I stamped with my personal seal of approval! I'd better get reading!

Happy Valentines day to you!

Bookish Update

Hello!

Exciting thing: I have been selected as a Round 1 judge for the Cybils awards in the graphic novels category! Hurrah! That means my fall will be full of rea-rea-reading!

Time for a throwback to that time I hosted GN book club

Fun book: Speaking of graphic novels I enjoyed reading this one recently! Very cute and much more fun to read now that I have been lost in NYC myself a couple of times. If you want to hear about my NYC adventures you will have to start chanting for it in the comment section.

Fun book II: Tonight I read The Hole Story of the Doughnut with Levi and oh man! It's great! Totally adorable and cool and I'm going to have to nominate it for Cybils non-fiction this year.

Do this: Nominate books for the Cybils awards. If it's been published in the last 12 months and it's a children's or young adult book and you liked it, definitely nominate it. Nominations open Oct 1.

Currently reading: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up for book club. Mixed feelings, but it IS helping me get rid of clutter.

Story Club: I think we have a final cover now! Shouldn't be long until you can buy my super awesome guide to storytelling with kids. I hope you love it. I used it tonight at bedtime, myself.

That's all for now!

Share me your bookish updates, plz.

Announcing "We Found A Hat"!

Hi guys! Been a crazy week this week for me. And Jubilee has officially stopped napping in the afternoons, too. Yikes! But I came acorss something on my internets that I just had to share with you.

Jon Klassen is publishing a third book in his Hat series!

We Found A Hat by Jon Klassen
It comes out Oct 11, 2016.

If you haven't read the previous books in the series, fix that. Here is Ashley's review of I Want My Hat Back, and in this post I recommend both I Want My Hat Back and This Is Not My Hat as great read-alouds for kids.

I can't wait to read this one.

What books are you excited about?

Enjoy some light reading

Hola!

I'm off to Boston with the family for a visit to the temple there.

We're also going to be visiting some friends in the area, and we plan to eat at the Chick-fil-A that just opened near their house. I'm excited. We haven't had Chick-fil-A since we moved away from Georgia this summer.

The first time we ever ate at Chick-fil-A, Jacob and I were sitting at a table while the boys played on the slide.

"This seems like a nice place." I said.
"Yeah," Jacob agreed. "These fake flowers really make a difference."
"Those are real flowers." I held up the florist's card in the vase.

Haha, I couldn't really blame him though, because I had wondered myself at first, and that's how I came to find the card.

Anyway, I'm off, but I thought I would share with you a couple reads I found interesting.

How My Parents Raised Readers Without Being Avid Readers Themselves via Sunlit Pages

The next graphic novel I'm most excited about via Shannon Hale

Overheard about Harry Potter

Benjamin has been reading the Harry Potter series and, like any good 7-year-old, he began trying out the spells on his younger siblings. More than once I had to break up arguments between two wandless wizards in my kitchen. What was more fun, though was when the spellcasting got unintentionally funny.

"Expecto Patronus!" was a common refrain for several days. (The real spell is expecto patronum, as discerning first-gen HP fans will tell you.)

Well, after being "expecto patronus"ed ceaselessly, 5-year-old Levi decided to get in on the action. The spell he cast had me laughing pretty hard: Expecto Pinterest!

I summon Pinterest! It will chase my living nightmares away! hahaha

Another spell popular with the boys was accio. You'll remember that this spell is meant to bring something to you from nearby.

I asked Benjamin to get me the garlic out of the fridge, and after looking for a moment and not finding it, he muttered, "Accio garlic!" Nice try.

Levi soon caught the drift of the spell and was heard to command, "Accio birthday!" to which Benjamin responded, "Accio doesn't work like that," in typical older brother fashion.

_____________________

Did you hear the news? An official eighth book is being added to the Harry Potter series. I heard about it online this morning but Benjamin had already heard about it when he got home from school. Kids these days.

A Post a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Hello friends!

What do you mean it's an APPLE a day?

I've been having so much fun creating more with the drawing challenge that I did in January, that I'm going to keep creating daily!

In February 2016, you can expect a post each day here on Everead. 

It's bold. Blogging has changed quite a bit since I began, back in 2007. Lots of the things we used to put on our blogs are things we now put on social media, instead. If you check out the archives of Everead (which begin in 2008) you'll see that I was posting shorter posts, more frequently. But I've never been a daily blogger. In October 2008 I posted 25 times, sometimes twice in one day. But 25 posts in a month is the most Everead has ever seen. I intend to change that.

I confess I'm planning on cheating . . . just a little bit. Since I observe the Sabbath on Sundays, I plan to write Sunday posts ahead of time and schedule them to publish automatically.  If I'm really on top of it, I'll do that for some other days, too, and then I'll squeeze in more than one post a day. Millions of posts!!!

I'm really excited about this! Also a little nervous. I'm not worried that I'll miss a day, I'm worried that people will wish I had just skipped a day rather than posting what I posted. Heh. So, if you want to give me a boost this month, comment on my posts. Or send positive vibes in some other form. Preferably a form I can actually discern; bear in mind that I'm not actually psychic and can't tell if you're smiling at your screen.

This month of daily blogging is going to give me a chance to tell you about some great books, old and new. It's going to push me to come up with something interesting and valuable to write each day. It's going to help you get to know me better, and I hope it'll help me get to know YOU better, too.

So let's start off with a question: What would you like to hear about, from me? What should I post about???

Newbery and Caldecott winners 2016!

Newbery winner announced today! 

I know you rely on me for your bookish news...maybe.

The book is Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson. It's a picture book!!!

I'm not sure if a picture book has ever won the Newbery Medal before, though I know a picture book has got a Newbery Honor.

I was watching the livestream of the announcement ("This is how you know you're into children's literature," said Jacob) so of course I immediately clicked over to put the book on hold at my library. Bad news: issues with the system mean no new holds this week! Even worse: my city library doesn't own a copy of the book yet! I called to tell the librarians this, at 9:24 a.m. but the library doesn't open till 9:30.

Leave it to librarians to have their biggest awards ceremony -- their Oscars, their Grammys -- before work on a Monday morning. hahaha. :D

Other interesting facts: Last Stop on Market Street is the first book by a Latino to win the Newbery. Last Stop on Market Street was also recognized as a Caldecott Honor book (different committees select each award, and aren't allowed to communicate), and a Coretta Scott King Honor book. The Coretta Scott King award went to the illustrator, because that award is made for "recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books from children and young adults."

Newbery Honor books:

The War That Saved My Life, which I have not read yet. It's audiobook also won the Odessey Award today, so that's promising! I love a good audiobook.

Roller Girl, which I just read and loved, and is a contender in the Cybils graphic novel category. It was remarkably fun.

Echo, which I know nothing about!

That's it for the Newbery Awards, now on to Caldecott!

Caldecott winner was Finding Winnie, which looks excellent, especially since I enjoyed Sophie Blackall's work in A Fine Dessert. The kids and I even made the dessert.

Caldecott honors went to Trombone Shorty, Waiting, Voice of Freedom, and of course Last Stop on Market Street. I look forward to reading all of these!

The one I have already reviewed that was recognized today is Symphony for the City of the Dead, which was recognized as a finalist in the YALSA Award for Excellence in Non-fiction for Young Adults. Full review of that one here.

I'll put in cover images that are Amazon links so you can go read reviews about these and "look inside" and shop for them etc. When you buy anything through my links I earn a small commission, just fyi.

Full list of winners can be seen here, at the American Library Association website.

Do you like knowing what the new Newbery books are? What do you remember about the Newberys and Caldecotts from your childhood?