Let's Celebrate Support!

It's time to CELEBRATE This Week with Ruth Ayres from Discover. Play. Build.  Every week Ruth invites us to share our celebrations from the week and link up at her blog. What a fun way to reflect on everything there is to be thankful for. 

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This week I'm celebrating support!

*throws confetti*

Honestly, I should be celebrating the fact that I'm actually getting a blog post done in time to link up to the Celebrate post...even if it's a day late. If you follow my blog and/or It's Monday! What Are You Reading?, you know my life has been cray lately. I haven't been able to blog as much but I am still here! I'm still reading and writing...so I'm celebrating that I'm still able to even if it isn't as much as I wish it could be. Anything counts in my book. 

When I think about how stressful my life has been lately, I'm so thankful that I have such a great support system. Today, I'm celebrating support. I have an amazing family who is always there for me, willing to help with my kids, give great hugs, bring me vegan treats. I also have some awesome friends. Friends near and far who call me to chat, send uplifting texts, share their stories and kind words. Below are some fun, thoughtful, sweet gifts I have received lately, too.

It all means so much. I wish I could put it all into words but I feel like it could never be enough. My heart feels full. That's the best part. Even though I don't feel like I can be 100% at much right now, it feels amazing to know that it's okay and I need to keep plugging along and doing the best that I can at this point and that it will have to be enough. Lately my best doesn't feel like 110% but I'm learning to be okay with that for now.

When I think about how I have been feeling lately compared to kids and school...there are definitely going to be days when students can't be with us 110%. We never know what kids are bringing to school with them. Helping them to know that school is a safe place and that they can feel comfortable at school is so important. A smile - a genuine, look-you-in-the-eyes kind of smile - can truly go a long way in helping to make someone's day. Today I'm celebrating all the love, energy and support I get from family and friends and that includes everyone who reads my blog. 

Thank you for stopping by, 

thank you for checking in,  

thank you for cheering me on,  

thank you for sharing your stories,

thank you for being you.

I celebrate you!

What are you celebrating this week?

World Read Aloud Day 2014!

Hooray for World Read Aloud Day! I have loved being part of World Read Aloud Day with LitWorld for the last few years. How did you celebrate World Read Aloud Day? Last year we had a taco party and read Dragons Love Tacos. This year we had a grand party to celebrate one of my favorite books from last year, Please Bring Balloons by Lindsay Ward.

You can read my interview with Lindsay Ward  and my review of Please Bring Balloons to learn more about the author and why I love the book. It was a blast to plan such a colorful party that was full of whimsy. We had so much fun inking up our fingers to make balloon art, smiling in the photo booth, eating ice cream sundaes out of chocolate bowls and reading Please Bring Balloons together.

 How did you celebrate World Read Aloud Day? What books did you read? Were you one of the over 700 cities celebrating around the world? And one of 65 countries joining in? It's so exciting to be part of such a grand celebration of reading aloud and sharing books together. I'm excited to hear about your World Read Aloud Day! We had a great day that we'll always remember!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/3/13

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA! 

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and I decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them. 

Last Week's Book Adventures:

Jen Says: It's March! Happy March everyone! I'm not sure if people are still doing Nerdlution but I need to start in on a little Nerdlution of my own. I'm running a 5k in April that goes through the concourse of Wrigley Field so I need to start training. I also signed up for a 10 miler at Soldier Field on Memorial Day weekend...which means I really need to start training. It would be great if the weather would warm up just a little bit. I'm so ready for spring!

In terms of reading, I'm still listening to Quiet and have been reading more of The Shadow Throne. I also read Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake which I really loved. Check out my review for a sneak peak of some of the artwork. I have also been rereading James and the Giant Peach as I read it aloud to Peanut. I absolutely love Roald Dahl and am so excited that's he's enjoying it. We had our World Read Aloud Day celebration early and read Please Bring Balloons over the weekend. I'm so excited to share highlights from our celebration tomorrow!

Reviewed Last Week:

 

Click on any picture above to go read my review/post.

Upcoming Book Adventures: 

Jen Says: I'm planning to continue listening to Quiet and to keep reading The Shadow Throne. I'm also super excited to read Thrive by my friend, Meenoo Rami. I've been meaning to read it but I have an electronic copy and that seems to be tricky for me...but this week will be the week. I'm super excited. I'm also really looking forward to reading more of James and the Giant Peach with Peanut. 

This Week's Reviews:

Check back throughout the week to read these reviews/posts. 

So, what are you reading this week? 

Link up below and don't forget to check out other blogs to see what they are reading!

To help build our community and support other bloggers, 

we ask that you comment on at least three other blogs before you. 

Also, if you tweet about your Monday post, don't forget to use #IMWAYR!

Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake

Today I'm excited to offer a sneak peak into the book Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake by Julie Sternberg! Julie received her MFA in writing for children from the New School. She is the author of Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie and Like Bug Juice on a Burger. She lives in Brooklyn with her family. Matthew Cordell is the illustrator of Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie, Like Bug Juice on a Burger, Bat and Rat, and Trouble Gum. He lives outside Chicago. Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake will available on March 18th in hardcover and e-book. You can visit Julie Sternberg's website for more information and for a curriculum guide follow this link.

Title: Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake  
Author: Julie Sternberg  
Illustrator: Matthew Cordell 
Publisher: Amulet Books
Publication Date: March 18, 2014 
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel In Verse 
GoodReads Summary: I did a mean thing.
A very mean thing.
I HATE that I did it.
But I did.
This is worse than
carrot juice on a cupcake
or a wasp on my pillow
or a dress that’s too tight at the neck.In the third installment from the team who created Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie and Like Bug Juice on a Burger, Eleanor’s relationship with her best friend, Pearl, experiences its first growing pains. When a glamorous new student transfers to school, at first Eleanor’s excited about the possibility of a new friend. But when Pearl is assigned to be the new girl’s buddy, Eleanor fears she can’t compete. To make matters worse, Eleanor’s been chosen for the lead role in the springtime musical, which means she has to sing a solo in front of the entire school! From overcoming stage fright to having a secret crush, young readers will relate to Eleanor as she navigates the bittersweet waters of growing up.  
What I Think: I'm a huge fan of this series but Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake is my favorite. I love how much Eleanor has grown up. In this story she is dealing with friend problems and secret crush problems and stage fright but I love how she handles it all. It's always hard to experience something humiliating or cringe-worthy in a book but I love how Eleanor's parents help her deal with her situation and how her friends chip in, too. Kids will definitely relate to Eleanor (just as much as before) and also hopefully learn something about being a friend along the way.
    There don't see to be many novels-in-verse for young readers so I'm glad we have this series. I especially noticed some great similes throughout this book. As a mentor text, kids could be on the look out for similes or other examples of descriptive writing. There is a great scene at the end where Eleanor is desperately pleading with the lunch lady for pickles which cracked me up (see the snatch of text...I just grabbed one sentence but the entire scene is great). This scene would be a perfect mentor texts for students about freezing time and building the tension in the scene. At this point in the story, Eleanor needs to do something to show Pearl how sorry she is and she is determined to eat a pickle. I, myself, am not a huge fan of pickles so I certainly understand just how serious this act of friendship is and I have a feeling young readers might relate as well.
Read Together: Grades 2 - 5
Read Alone: Grades 3 - 5 
Read With: Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie and Like Bug Juice on a Burger by Julie Sternberg, Bink and Golli (series) by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, Keena Ford and the Second Grade Mix Up by Melissa Thomson, Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli, Hound Dog True and A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban  
Snatch of Text:  

"Together, 

the whole entire recess,

they did a fancy hand-clapping game

that I'd never seen before!" (p. 153)

Pear and the new girl, Ainsley

"I don't like carrot sticks, 

and I would never drink carrot juice - 

it smells disgusting!" (p. 100)

"I got ready to climb over the steaming meatballs

and push past that lady

and search the kitchen myself." (p. 148)

Eleanor busily working to mend hurt feelings.

"'We all make mistakes,' he said.
'The important thing
is to keep trying to make up for them,
for as long as it takes.'" (p. 132)

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections 
Writing Strategies to Practice: Similes, Descriptive, Personal Narrative 
Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you let someone down and how you handled the situation afterwards. Write about a time in your life when someone let you down and how it made you feel. Take a moment in time when something desperate was happening to you, freeze it and describe it so that your readers feel the how urgent the situation is. 
Topics Covered: Friendship, Family, Forgiveness, Relationships, Trust, Courage 

I *heart* It:

The One With WRAD Blogging Challenge #slice2014

Time is flying...zooming...zipping by so fast! I can't believe World Read Aloud Day will be here in a week! Craziness! Over the weekend, I grabbed a few goodies for our Please Bring Balloons WRAD party. 

I missed the first and second week of the WRAD Blogging Challenge so today will be a triple dose!

What is your earliest or fondest memory in which someone read aloud to you? 

I distinctly remember sitting with my mom in the waiting room at the doctor's office when she was pregnant with my little sister. I must have been four or five based on when my sister was born. The dimly lit space with mahogany chairs and dark green carpeting felt seeped with richness. She read Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! by Dr. Seuss to me. Now I feel like I have to call my mom because I'm not sure I'm remembering the story accurately but I think it was the first time we had read it and I thought it was so funny that he wouldn't leave. I loved the repetition in the story. It's funny because, when I visited the same office as an adult when I was pregnant, I remember completely recognizing the waiting room being there with my mom and reading this book. (Below are pictures with my mom and my sister - all grown up!)

Adult & Child

I used my own child to answer these "Adult & Child" questions. Peanut is a boy of few words so I kept my answers short, too!

1. I think everyone in the world should read…

Me: Chalk by Bill Thomson, Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown,  Stand Tall, and Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell.

Peanut:The BFG by Roald Dahl.

2. If I could listen to anyone in the world read aloud to me it would be…

Me: Nick Podehl.

Peanut: Mom and Dad.

3. When I read aloud, my favorite character to impersonate is…

Me: robots! Like the ones from Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman, Beep and Bah by James Burks, Robot Zot by John Scieszka.

Peanut: Donald Duck 

4. The genre or author that takes up the most room on my bookshelf is…

Me: Contemporary young adult - chick lit, basically...but also sci-fi/fantasy. I love time travel and fantasy.

Peanut: Star Wars books.

5. My favorite part about reading aloud or being read to is...

Me: being able to focus on the sound of the words and to visualize the story.

Peanut: when I get warm with blankets. It makes it more fun. 

A Snapshot of My Reading Life 

There's not much more to say about my reading life. I absolutely love my two little readers. It has been fascinating to watch them grown and to share stories with them. Peanut amazes me everyday with all the words he can read. Little Bean is already starting to pretend to read - moving his finger along words on the page and reading what he thinks it says on the page. I love to snuggle up and read with both of these little dudes.

Hoorday! The next part of the challenge is to share my read aloud! I'm so excited for out little party. What are you cooking up for WRAD!? Please share!