Wish List Wednesday

I am wishing for these books to make it into my hands as they were recommended from a professional who has experience and passion for building strong readers. To learn more visit her site at nerdybookclub.

Stone Fox

by John Reynolds Gardiner, Greg Hargreaves (Illustrations)

Literary Awards George C. Stone Center for Children’s Books Recognition of Merit Award (1987)

 Stone Fox is legend that originates in the Rocky Mountains.  I haven’t read the book but it looks like Little Willy lives in the Wyoming Mountains with his grandfather.  He is to trying to win a dog sled race against an experience older racer so that he can save his grandfathers’ homestead with the money won.  I have also read that this book is deeply emotional and has the power to engage both adults and children.

One element of the book is that is captures a relationship between two ethnic groups, after learning the importance of this topic in children’s book I look forward to reading the story out load to my future class and alone.

Lightning Thief Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1) by Rick Riordan

Literary Awards Young Readers’ Choice Award (2008), Books I Loved Best Yearly (BILBY) Awards for Older Readers (2011), Rebecca Caudill Young Reader’s Book Award (2009), Askews Torchlight Award, South Carolina Book Award for Junior Book Award (2008),Grand Canyon Reader Award for Tween Book (2008), Nene Award (2008), Massachusetts Children’s Book Award (2008), Pennsylvania Young Readers’ Choice Award for Grades 6-8 (2008), Sunshine State Young Readers Award for Grades 6-8 (2007), Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader’s Choice Award for Intermediate (2008), Iowa Teen Award (2009), Abraham Lincoln Award Nominee (2009), Oklahoma Sequoyah Award for YA (2008)

 The Lightening Thief is a YA fiction book appropriate for middle grades and higher.  It has multiple awards and is an adventure, I personal love adventures as way to escape for a short while.  I can also see how adventures offer a refuge for children during their hectic days, just one more reason to wish for this book to make it into my future classroom.

Percy is the main character who doesn’t understand his own identity. The book starts out with him being placed in a boarding school but as he is able to see beyond our human world his mother knows it’s time to send him to a place where he can be safe.  A place for demigods.

 What You Know First (Trophy Picture Books) by Patricia MacLachlan, Barry Moser

First as far as I can tell this book has not won an awarded, however I read that the rich words bring out the theme in a respectable way.  I have also readers do not have difficulty experiencing  the deep attitude of the book. This is a story of the emotional difficulty that accompanies fearful hearts when moving from a familiar place to unknown place. It is set on the prairie and incorporates many relationships of the family whose story is being told.  As suggested in the blog I referred to above, this is a picture book not a novel.  I can appreciate how this short read might help a classroom build a foundation quickly in the early days of the school year because most of the children have shared a classroom together. I also agree that revisiting this book at the end can allow the children to see how they personally have changed over a school year.  Of all the helpful advice of Read Aloud Books this week, I like that we can incorporate this book 2 times a year the best and am looking forward to implementing it my future classroom.  Please click below for lesson ideas, minilesson if you plan to use this book in a classroom.

Thank you for reading this Wish List everyone and if you have a review of any of these books please feel free to post here.