We have had quite a fun reading month! I go to the library at least twice a week and bring home stacks of books, for me, for Wyatt, and for my mom. I love that it is the same library I have gone to since I was a child; the other day I was checking out books and the head librarian, Wally, was telling me how he remembered me checking out books when I was just a little girl. I love that now Wyatt is doing the same at the same library. Our library is such a special place for me.

Let’s start with my mom!

She just finished up Radium Girls and loved it; now she has Code Girls and America’s First Daughter that she is working on. My mom is primarily a nonfiction reader, so if you have any suggestions that are like Radium Girls I would love to hear them (and so would she!)

Now me:

I had a really slow reading month, but it was a good one! I am including Seed to Dust although I still have a bit left. Hopefully I get to these reviews soon!

And now Wyatt:

The Storm is our current read aloud. I wanted something sort of short (lol) to squeeze in before our next longer reader aloud. So far this is pretty cute, and it is a series so there are more to explore if Wyatt enjoys it. Little Blue House Beside the Sea is beautiful, and made me dream of visiting coastlines. Wyatt liked it but I think I liked it more. We both really enjoyed I am You: A Book About Ubuntu! I had never heard of Ubuntu before! It is a South African philosophy about community, a belief system that a person is a person through other people. If you hurt, I hurt. If you are happy, then I am happy. When I am kind to you, I am kind to myself. I love the idea of this connection and empathy and while Wyatt was a little lost on the bigger message, the ideas of friendship and kindness were quite clear to him.

Wyatt absolutely loved Jeff Goes Wild and Moose’s Book Bus. Both were so cute, and filled with animals which Wyatt is all about in a book right now. In Jeff Goes Wild, an orange cat imagines he is a jungle tiger before concluding he likes who he is as he is. I loved the colors and illustrations in this book! And Moose’s Book Bus – I think this was the hands down favorite for both of us this month. Moose starts checking books out for his family, then the animals in the woods. He reads to them until his house becomes too full to hold them all. So he teaches a neighbor to read, who teaches another, and so on, until everyone is a reader! Moose still will have guests drop by though, to hear him read aloud. We loved this one! Somewhere is a very sweet little book about a child’s first “adventure” while on a walk with her father.

Harlem Grown and The Hiking Viking were also at the tops of our list! Wyatt is excited about gardening right now since he got to plant a little garden of his own so he liked Harlem Grown. The Hiking Viking is about a young Viking who would prefer to spend time in nature than doing the typical viking things, like fighting and feats of physical strength. In the end he learns that it is ok to be different. It reminded me a little of Ferdinand, which was one of my very favorite picture books as a child. It also had really fun illustrations. And finally Watercress. I should have included this in my section, since I read it but not to Wyatt. I am definitely buying this one, it was so beautiful and made me cry and touched my heart. It is an autobiographical moment in Wang’s life, about growing up an in an immigrant family in the midwest, being embarrassed of her family, then as she learns more about her family, she feels ashamed of being ashamed of her family. It was just excellent.

And that’s a wrap!