It’s mid-June, and for librarians in my community that can only mean one thing – SUMMER READING CLUB! Yes, Summer Reading Club started last week, and it’s been go-go-go all the time. It’s a bit overwhelming, but also super fun, and my school visits always leave me feeling like a bit of a rock star when kids recognise me at the library!
Because of SRC madness I haven’t been reading too much, but here’s what I have to share with you this week.
It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date, and adapted by Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts with a children’s/YA focus. The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer. These weekly roundups are a great way to discover new blogs and bloggers, share some of the titles you’ve been enjoying, and add to your ever-growing to-read list.
Maude: The Not-So-Noticeable Shrimpton
The entire Shrimpton family is larger-than-life, and every member craves attention. Well, every member except for Maude, the middle Shrimpton, who always seems to blend into the background and disappear from sight. Maude doesn’t want to be gawked at or call attention to herself, which makes her stand out in a family like the Shrimptons. What makes this story so strangely fascinating is the ending. It’s…well, it’s dark. The ending actually made me gasp. It’s abrupt, and it’s dark, and it’s hilarious. Maude will absolutely not be to everyone’s taste, and some fans of Lauren Child might be in for a bit of a jolt with this one, but I thought it was hilarious, and appealed to my wicked inner child who so enjoyed seeing people come to sticky ends in the stories of Roald Dahl. It’s a weird one, to be sure, but the art is fantastic, so it’s at least worth checking out for the illustrations!
Sofie is deeply homesick for Senegal, and hates her new home in America. The streets are noise and nobody places music or waves to her. She’s lonely, and she’s sure that if she goes back to Senegal no one here will even miss her. When she tells her grandma that she hates how ugly her new home his, her grandma tells her that she’ll just have to make it pretty. And that’s just what Sofie does, with the help of a new friend. A sweet, gentle book about finding your place and making a new home for yourself, Sofie and the City is a slightly older title that’s still definitely worth checking out.
Anthony Browne’s illustrations are always incredible, and Little Beauty doesn’t disappoint. A lonely gorilla who can converse in sign language is given a new friend, an adorable, tiny kitten named Beauty. But when an accidental act of destruction threatens to separate the two, Beauty must use all her wits to keep the pair together. A simple story with gorgeous, cleverly detailed illustrations.
Well, that’s all for this week’s Monday post – here’s wishing you all a wonderful week! It’s supposed to be a scorcher here in Raincity (well, relatively speaking), perfect weather for reading and visiting an air-conditioned library!
I hope your summer reading program goes well! This year our tiny town broke a record and got over 300 registered children. So everyone is pretty pumped about that! Oh my, Little Beauty looks adorable and heartwarming. I’ve missed this title before and am adding it to my TBR list. Thanks for sharing, Jane!
That’s fantastic, so exciting to have so many enthusiastic young readers in your summer program!! 🙂
Maude looks like a terrific read. I’ll definitely have to look for that one and the other books on your list. Have a great week!
Thank you, you too! 🙂
Maude looks so great. I love the spread that you include. I am enticed! Also, the cover of Little Beauty is wonderful. Thanks for sharing these new-to-me books. 🙂
Hurray! I love introducing folks to new books. 🙂
Three books I didn’t know until now! Although it sounds busy, your summer reading club must be fun. Enjoy!
Yay, mission accomplished! Oh yes, summer reading club is the most fun time of the year, and I have a vacation planned in September to recuperate afterwards! 😉
Sophie and The City sounds good, Jane. Thanks!
You’re very welcome! I have so many homesick newcomer kids at my library who I know will connect with Sofie and her struggle to make a new home for herself in a new city.
It’s not too often all of the books are new to me, but your list is all new to me this week!
Thanks for sharing!
Yes! I love being able to share new-to-you books – it’s one of the great side benefits of weeding my library collection, I’m always discovering new-to-me picture books I can’t wait to share here!
Little Beauty is one of my all-time favorite books – I love children’s reactions to that text.
Me too! So fun.
Your review convinced me that I must get a copy of Maude: The Not-So-Noticeable Shrimpton and read it ASAP. I love dark and twisted and fun!
I fell in love with Little Beauty the first time I read it and fall all over again after each reread. I’ve been reading Into the Forest by Anthony Browne to primary students this week and doing theatre activities afterwards. He is such an amazing artist and storyteller.
Isn’t Anthony Browne just incredible? I love introducing his books to new readers.
As an ape fan, I love Anthony Browne books! 🙂
Can you tell me more about your summer book club? I am hosting one for the first time ever this year!
Happy reading this week 🙂
Woohoo! So, our Summer Reading Club starts mid-June and runs through to September. Kids sign up at any library branch and get a little calendar where they mark off each day that they read for at least 15 minutes. After they’ve read for 50 days, they bring their calendar back to the library to get a medal! We don’t give away trinkets or anything like that, just the medal at the end of summer. Kids can read anything they want, they don’t have to tell us what they read, and it doesn’t matter how many books they read. We want the experience to be fun, and we have kids that read at very different levels, so we don’t want to make the experience intimidating for anyone. We also offer free activities at every branch over the summer – I’m doing a program every week. Some programs are big, like slime making and an ipad move making program, and some are smaller, like bookmark making and thumbprint art. The program is province-wide, which is nice, since a lot of the program development is shared across the province. You can find more about it here:
http://kidssrc.libraries.coop/
Good luck with your book club!!
Maude looks absolutely delightful. I will have to find that and soon! Anthony Browne never fails to deliver – he is simply, hands down, brilliant. 🙂