What I Read This Week 7/24

Remy and Lulu, Kevin Hawkes

Another one of my favorite picture books. It's a smidge wordy for a read aloud, but the illustrations are so great that I think it would be worth it to read it to a group and just do a little summarizing. It's a nice story with a good message, but my favorite part is the illustrations. They're done by two different artists and having the different styles is really unique.

Bernice Gets Carried Away, Hannah E. Harrison

I was beyond excited when I found out Hannah Harrison had another picture book coming out and Bernice Gets Carried Away did not disappoint. The detail of her illustrations makes me think I could look at this book for an hour and still find something new on every page. I also like that even though the book is about trying to not be grumpy, it doesn't use negative emotions language like "being grumpy is bad" or "you should never be grumpy". The lesson is very much "feeling left out may make most people feel grumpy, but there are ways we can make ourselves feel better".

The Composer Is Dead, Lemony Snicket, music composed by Nathaniel Stookey

Music performed by the San Francisco Symphony.

AR Level 3.9, K-3 interest level

Lexile Measure AD710

I can't believe I've never read this book before. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is up there with Harry Potter as one of my favorite kids' series, so I don't know how I missed this one. This would be an amazing tool for music teachers or anyone whose kids enjoy mysteries. Just like Lemony Snicket's other books, this one is very silly but also has some darker humor and word play older kids will love.

Rude Cakes, Rowboat Watkins

Speaking of silly books, this might be the silliest one I've read in a while. It reminds me of Jane Yolen's books (How Do Dinosaurs Go To School, etc.) in that it demonstrates negative behavior and then highlights positive behavior. Plus now I want to get kids to start calling each other "doughnut holes".