It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 8/28/17

The weekly post where I recap all the KidLit books I’ve been reading. Occasionally, I’ll also review some adult fiction books as well.

Be sure to check out Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to see what other kidlit readers are reading. Because, you know, we can never have too many books in our TBR pile.
                                         

Picture Books

written by Erica S. Perl
illustrated by Henry Cole

I enjoyed this first book, Chicken Butt, but this one fell flat. The concept is great, but something about the execution didn't work. It's a conversation between a mom and her son. She goes "Yes Dear, but..." and then a deer's butt shows up. My daughter and I actually read it--with me reading the mom parts and her reading the kid parts, but it just didn't flow. It may have been the way it was laid out or the sequence. I'm just not sure.

Because I Am Your Daddy
written by Sherry North
illustrated by Marcellus Hall

My husband read this one to our kids while I listened. My husband now wants to buy this one, so he especially enjoyed it. The illustrations are wonderful. The watercolor blending is amazing. The story is cute and is sort of a riff on The Runaway Bunny sans the running away part. 

Cesar Takes a Break
written by Susan Collins Toms
illustrated by Rogé

This one was just alright. I felt like it was a bit wordy, which was ok because my 7yo likes the longer text now. The illustrations are fun, and the idea is good too.

Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist

written by Jess Keating

illustrated by Marta Alvarez Miguens

I love it when I can find books about female scientists. My daughter and I were both engaged with this story. It spans Eugenie's childhood into her adult life and hits all the normal notes. I especially liked the back matter. There was a section on shark facts and then another section going into a bit more detail of Eugenie's life. She was the Chair of Scientific Research at Mote Marine Aquarium (20 minutes from our house). I have been trying to get my daughter interested in going for awhile, and now she wants to go.

Poetry

 Twimericks
by Lou Brooks

I really enjoyed this poetry book. The retro illustrations fit perfectly with the zany limericks that Lou Brooks wrote. One or two of the poems' meters were a bit hard to read, but most of them are spot on. I had so much fun with this book, that I decided to try my hand at writing my own tongue-twisting limerick. It is much harder than it seems.

Middle Grade

Pottymouth and Stoopid
by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
illustrated by Stephen Gilpin

I was disappointed in this one. Read my full review here.

 Castle Hangnail
by Ursula Vernon

I thought I would like Castle Hangnail, and ended up enjoying it even more. Full review here.

Non-KidLit

 Postcards from the Edge
by Carrie Fisher
read by the author

I was as shocked as anyone else when I found out about Carrie Fisher's passing last year. Since then, I have decided to work my way though her books. This is the first one that I picked. I will say that it was great to hear her voice reading the book. I know that there was a movie made, but I have never seen it. It doesn't surprise me. Sometimes the book felt like a screenplay, describing outfits in detail, or having characters almost "enter stage left" into the scene. Overall, it was alright.