Why I Picked It Up: We were lucky to receive this book from Penguin Publishing for a review. When we were asked if we were interested, I couldn’t resist, especially after being captivated by the book teaser and the adorable cover picture. Why I Finished It: The teacher heart in me loved how this picture […]
mentor text
Book Review: Dear Unicorn, by Josh Funk
Why I Picked It Up: Since we are known Josh Funk groupies, Penguin House reached out to let us know of his latest masterpiece! The combination of Josh Funk’s exceptional talent and the inclusion of unicorns? Yes, please! Why I Finished It: Josh Funk’s books are naturally delightful, and as a teacher, I find myself […]
Book Review: Princess Pineapple, by Sabina Hahn
Why I Picked It Up What’s not to love about misguided princesses and pineapples? Honestly, I had to read the book after hearing about it on a blog. In this book, a little girl is convinced she is a princess and intends to prove it. This sounded like an excellent book for adults and kids […]
Book Review: The Great Caper Caper, by Josh Funk
A Josh Funk masterpiece is always a delight to preview and review! It’s a Las Veggies heist – basically Ocean’s 11 in the fridge, packed with stunning vocabulary and a touching lesson in compassion.
Mentor Texts for Nonfiction Writing
Mentor Texts is a highly used teaching strategy to get students to emulate authors in their own writing. [see How-To Post]. In my experience and searches, I see that there are a lot of places to find fiction mentor texts, but nonfiction texts seem to be a bit more elusive. Here we share some ideas […]
Book Review: Kid Normal, by Greg James and Chris Smith
Why I Picked It Up: Last spring/summer, Audible offered a selection of free audiobooks for kids to listen to while schools were closed. We are audiobook junkies (if the car trip will be longer than 10 minutes, we usually have a story playing), and so we listened to lots of them, but Kid Normal was […]