Slimy, Spiky, Smooth: What is Texture? Review

Slimy, Spiky, Smooth: What Is Texture? by Jane Brocket
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**Provided by NetGalley/Publisher for honest review**

I must say that Texture is a very hard subject to talk about sometimes, particularly with ESL/Second Language learners who have very little experience with vocabulary. Also my students also seem to have little back ground other than with simple texture vocabulary. Words like smooth, hard, and soft are easy to come up with but harder or more descriptive and juicy words are not as common (aha I used a texture word!)

I loved the bright colorful pictures in this book because they chose for the most part pictures that were easy to see the textures and used mostly everyday objects. They were also close up but you could still identify with what it was. I only had 2 complaints: with the butterfly they really couldn't tell why it was powdery from the picture and when they talked about the watermelon's skin and inside they only showed the outside of an unusual looking watermelon or at least angle of the shot (round watermelon with no stripes). Some kids may not have seen the inside of a watermelon before to know that it is juicy. However with both of these you can bring in additional pictures to supplement this. Not a major distraction or problem.

I also loved the vocabulary that described the textures and explain why it was that texture. Usually they gave 2 words too which was even better! Since it is very vocabulary rich I would use it as a read aloud for all levels and for individual reading on their own for possibly high 2nd grade or 3-5 grade.

I sure wished I had this book when I taught summer school to ESL/Bilingual Science students! I really had a hard time coming up with a book that had great pictures as well as vocabulary. This book will be highly recommended for that as well as any grade that talks about texture in science or writing!

Chicagoland Detective Agency: The Drained Brain Caper

The Drained Brains Caper by Trina Robbins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interest group: Boys or girls
target audience: grade 5+, although younger grades should be able to read it

This graphic novel is a take off of the Stepford Wives story but geared for kids but with a twist! The graphics were great and the story was really funny! Megan reminded me of the girl from Beetlejuice but younger. The premise of the story is not new and the characters are not all that new either but they are really funny! Sometimes I didn't understand what was being said and I had to think about it (may be an adult thing) like why the boxes at the top of some pictures that told a book title? Well I figured out it was her point of view in a book title but some kids may not get that. Also I think it was pig latin that was used in one spot that stumped me and it took me a few minutes to figure it out (didn't use pig latin growing up).

One thing that may bother some parents/kids is that they mention doing experiments on the students and a dog. This may offend some people because it does show the dog all beat up. It didn't bother me but just wanted to mention it.

A great beginning to a new series. I would have definitely bought this for my Third grade class when I taught Third grade. I am debating whether to purchase for my Second Graders though. I will probably see if I can get a copy through the library to see if they like it before I will buy it.

Midway Monkey Madness

Midway Monkey Madness by Sarah Hines Stephens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the recent years graphic novels have really made a come back and I have done lots of research on how using graphic novels can help get those reluctant readers to read (particularly the boys). So I am always on the look out for easy to read graphic novels to use in my Second Grade Classroom. This is not what I would consider a true graphic novel or comic but a cross over which is text with graphic novel/comic elements.

best for: First and Second Graders that can read pretty fluently. Third Graders and above may think the story too easy.

Interest group: While the main characters are male (except one of the twins Jayna) I think that girls will like this too.

What I liked:
-The story is pretty easy to follow (problem and solution) and the words for the most part are easy to read.

- The story has some good points like working together to solve a problem and to not give up if things don't work out right away.

-The text uses big bold words for sounds like in the old Batman cartoons and I think the kids will really like that.

-The cast of characters in the front is great for the young readers who need more structure.

-I also liked the glossary and the little section of jokes. The illustrations are bright and colorful and the facial expressions on Beppo and Gleek are hilarious!


What I didn't like:

-I think in some places it is too basic. I would have liked a little more description (showing) rather than telling us what happened.



Overall I think my students would love this book and I will definitely check out the others in this series.

Petunia Pepper's Picture Day

Petunia Pepper's Picture Day by Cathy Breisacher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This review was provided by publisher for an honest review.


Overall this was a cute story that most girls would identify with. As a teacher I have had a few Petunia's in my class!

What I really like:

-The pictures are bright and cheerful and cartoonish.
-This is something that most kids have anxiety over, having a good picture. I really liked how the
   author showed physically and emotionally how Petunia felt.
-The Christian aspect is not glaring so I could use it in my public school without an issue. The value
   is added at the end of the story to discuss if you choose.
-The different reasons she didn't like her picture were funny!

What I didn't like:

-No teacher would hold a student back from taking a picture or not have them in the class picture!
  They would call a parent to bring clothes or the Nurse would have some extra clothes to wear.
-Petunia jumps into the street and traffic to save the poodle. Great concept for saving the dog but
  would rather have had her do something more safe to save the dog (another situation or no cars around
   even).

While there were some things I didn't like this is a book that would be great to read before picture day or even as a spring board for a writing assignment.

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White won from Goodreads

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have had this book for a while and I decided to take it with me when we went out of town for Thanksgiving. I couldn't go to sleep (as usual) and started reading this about 11pm. Needless to say I stayed up until 2 am to finish reading it was sooo good! Interesting take on fairies. Loved the friendship between her and Lish. Reth was a surprise for me. I kind of liked him but I wasn't sure where the author was going to go with him. Was he an anti-hero who was bad with a good side or was he bad all the way and just acted good to get what he wanted? Lend was unique to me too. Don't think I have read about a boy that could do what he did. I liked him but I just didn't see him as a love interest more of a friend. The end was a little short for me. It seemed like a lot of waiting toward the end then was wrapped up really quickly. It was good but a little rushed. The one thing I really couldn't wrap my head around and maybe this was due to my reading and watching so much sci/fi and fantasy was that they were so naive about fairies and being able to control them. I mean did they not read any fairy tales about how tricky they were? They even mention this in the story but maybe they were so arrogant to think that this wouldn't be problem, but still!!! I would always be keeping an eye on my enemy even if I was 100% sure they couldn't do anything to me. I would want to go that extra mile to make absolutely sure of it by not trusting them all of the way. This didn't ruin the story for me but I could see where it could be a problem for some people.

I will definitely check out more by this author. Hoping more coming about this world!

 

Finished moving

Well I finally finished moving and getting my phone and dsl hooked up. I was suppose to have had it on Thursday the 15th but they messed up. The kind lady at first said that I wouldn't be hooked up til the 29th but she tried to get it moved and she did so here I am. I did have problems with the dsl and after 1 hour on the phone with a person in India not able to help me they transfered me to someone in CA who told me in under 5 minutes that I needed to wait until the end of the work day for my dsl to kick in even though my phone worked. He gave me info on what to do if that didn't happen and how to register without calling back. OMG!!!! This just reinforces my opinion that we should not be outsourcing our tech support. The Indian lady talked too fast when she did speak at all. I had to prompt her several times before she would even tell me anything. Like she would tell me to type something I would type it and tell her done and I would wait for like....2 minutes of silence and repeat I was done and what do i have to do next. After another 1 minute she would tell me the next thing and it would repeat.  I am glad it is over.


I also have some ARCs that I will be reading soon. These include: Tyger, Tyger, Wildthorn, and Hunger. The majority of these are Teen Fantasy and have heard about them through other blogs.