It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - 9/4/17

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.
                                         

September Book Giveaway:

My full review here

September's book giveaway is Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon. The giveaway will go live here on the blog this Sunday, September 10th at 12:00 AM EST and will run through the following Friday. Be sure to check back to enter.

Board Books

Spoonful

written by  Benoit Marchon 

illustrated by Soledad Bravi

A clever and cute read. The head of the illustrations are cut out, so it is the same head on each page. I would recommend this for toddlers as I think the illustrations will read better--easier to understand. Also, the pages of this board book are a bit flimsy and I feel would be easily torn by small babies.

Bunnies Near and Far

by Sarah Jones

I really enjoy Sarah Jones' style. This is a simple and cute counting book. My 10mo smiled every time we've read this one together. 

Picture Books

Everyone is Yawning

by Anita Bijsterbosch

Oh my goodness, this book was delightful. Each page has flaps where you can make the animal open its mouth and yawn. We have read this multiple times over the past few days and my children love it.  

Rulers of the Playground

by Joseph Kuefler

A fun story about playing well with others. It could be used as a starting point for bullying and/or including everyone in your play. The illustrations are very textural and nice.

Creepy Pair of Underwear!

written by Aaron Reynolds

illustrated by Peter Brown

Both Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown are always so consistent, and they deliver on this book. We love Creepy Carrots and this is a great follow up. The text is fun and the illustrations are fantastic. If you've followed any of my other posts, you'll know that I am a huge fan of limited color palettes. The glowing neon green underpants are comical and so much fun.

A Hungry Lion or A Dwindling Assortment of Animals

by Lucy Ruth Cummins

My daughter and I read this last night and loved it. I especially enjoy how much the text and illustrations compliment each other. They both work together to tell a really funny story. I also enjoyed the twist at the end. The title is great too. 

Poetry

Cricket Never Does: A Collection of Haiku and Tanka
written by Myra Cohn Livingston
illustrated by Kees De Kiefte

I love short-form poetry. This collection is great and starts off very strong. Livingston is able to capture a crisp and clear image with only a few short words. There is elegance in these short poems.

Middle Grade

Zombiefied
by C.M. Gray

Before I say anything else, I enjoyed this book enough that I plan on reading the next one in the series. I do, however, feel like this book was just a giant intro to everything. I felt like it took awhile for the story to actually start, and once it started, it just served to set up the series. I think that is why I'd like to check out the next one. It seems like it has potential. I do like the comical illustrations. 

Young Adult

White Cat (The Curse Workers #1)

by Holly Black

read by Jesse Eeisenberg

Holly Black is consistently good. I don't think I have read a book of hers that I did not enjoy. White Cat has been on my TBR for a long time. The story was fantastic, with an ending that caught me off guard, which doesn't happen often. I plan on picking up the next in the series. Listening to the audiobook version, it took awhile to get used to Eeisenberg's voice, just because it is so recognizable. I wish he had used more inflection for the different characters, but overall, it was a good listening experience. 

Non-KidLit

Set to Sea

by Drew Weing

This is a fun quick graphic novel about a a guy who sits around all day, dreaming of being a poet. Though a series of events, he finds himself on a ship where he gains all sorts of life experiences that ultimately make him a better writer. The crosshatching style in the illustrations is beautiful. Also, I am a sucker for sea stories, so I enjoyed this one overall.