What I'm reading...

Good morning,

It has been a few days since I posted about anything I've been reading, so I thought I'd better pop in and share. I'm actually reading 3 books right now: a middle grade reader, a young adult and a professional development book for teachers!

This is the middle grade novel.

This is the young adult (though would probably be fine for Grade 7s as well!).

And this is the professional development book about creating equality in education. 

I did actually finish a couple of books as well, but I need to get a few things done here on a timeline, so I'll be back let you know about those!

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Heidrich

Two more books read!

This is a really sweet story of a boy and a donkey named Winslow. I'm not going to give too much detail about the story, but it was a fairly quick and easy read and had a lot of "feels". Honestly, I tend to like my stories with a bit of grit, for a lack of a better word, but this isn't that type of story. I know a ton of students who will fall in love with this one! Can't wait to share it in the new year!

The second book I just finished is a middle grade reader called "One Speck of Truth" be Caela Carter. She also wrote "Forever, or a Long, Long Time " which some of you may have read. This is about a girl going into Grade 6 that lives with her mum and was told her Dad passed away when she was very young, so she has no memories of him. It's a story of friendship, growth, truth, love and its complications on many levels, family, and figuring out who you are. I really enjoyed this one and it has more of the "grit" factor that I personally like. I also felt like there was a bit of a mystery throughout, but I won't say any more about that... a great read!

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Heidrich

"Potato Pants" by Laurie Keller

This is a totally fun book about making mistakes and asking for forgiveness that everyone will love! Here's a trailer for you to check out:

This is a book talk for you on this book too!

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Heidrich

"Piranhas Don't Eat Bananas" by Aaron Blabey

Some of you might remember "Pig the Pug" or know "The Bad Guys" series and this book was written by the same author. It's a fun rhyming book about a piranha trying to convince his friends to try some fruit and veggies! Full of great pictures and fun language that you'll love!

If you want to see Aaron Blabey, watch the video below where he reads his own book "Thelma the Unicorn" that I know some of you also know!

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Heidrich

"Alma and How She Got Her Name"

I loved this picture book! Someone recommended it to me a while ago and I hadn't had time to read it, but I'm so glad I did. This really is the story of how this little girl named Alma got her name. Many of us have stories about our names, but not everyone actually knows their story. I think this would really hit home with a lot of students, especially those whose names are maybe a little "different". Regardless of your name and how common or uncommon it is, I bet there's a story to it! Do you know the story of your name?

Here is an interview with the author: 

You can watch her draw Alma!

Happy Reading!

Mrs. Heidrich

Another Mo Willems book!

The following video is about the creation of the story in the words of both the author and the illustrator.

Happy Reading!

Mrs. Heidrich

A NEW Pigeon book!!

Yes, Mo Willems has done it again and written another wonderfully fun Pigeon book about going back to school. I can't wait to be able to share this with all my students this coming September as it's about all the worries kids have about going to school and is a fun way of talking about some of those feelings. I'll be sure to have this one for the first week back!!

Happy Reading!

Mrs. Heidrich