It's Monday! What are You Reading?

Thank you Jen and Kellee for hosting this weekly!  To see what others are reading and recommending, or to participate, be sure to check out their blog Teach Mentor Texts :)

I am a huge fan of the Lunch Lady series by Jarrett Krosoczka so I was excited when I heard that he was coming out with a new chapter book series! Platypus Police Squad: The Frog Who Croaked is the first book in the series and it just came out last week.  We were counting down the days to its publication in our classroom and immediately there was a list of students who wanted to read it.  I highly recommend this book and can not wait till book two comes out...hopefully it won't be too long! This book and series will be a new favorite in classrooms - it is humorous, suspenseful, and mysterious.  

In CT, we have the Nutmeg Book Award each year and have a variety of chapter books as the nominees.  The 2014 nominees became public last week and Wildfire Run by Dee Garretson is one of the nominees.  The back blurb immediately drew me in and once I started it, I couldn't put it down.  In this story, Luke's father is the President of the United States and is currently vacationing at Camp David with one of his friends, Theo.  Luke has Secret Service agents following his every move to protect him.  While they are at Camp David, there is a huge earthquake in another state and a series of wild fires too so the President needs to head back to the White House.  Luke stays at Camp David with his friend and the Secret Service agents and they are having fun until there is a raging wild fire in the woods and it is quickly approaching them.  All of a sudden the tides are turned and now Luke must try to help the Secret Service agents and try to get all of them to safety.  Enjoy! 

White Fur Flying by Patricia MacLachlan is a short chapter book that is good for students in grades 3 and up.  Although it is short, it has a lot of meaning packed inside of it about the power of friendship and pets.  In this story, Zoe's family rescues dogs and works hard to get them adopted and into homes that will take care of them.  Philip, is a young boy who just moved in next door and after Zoe's family meets him, they discover that he chooses not to speak.  Although he doesn't try to speak to other kids or adults, will he begin to speak to a dog? Maybe the dogs at Zoe's house can somehow help Philip want to talk again...






Happy Reading! :)