"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

What are you reading?

OK, so I started another book and have read about 60% of that, but it's an adult book, so I won't post it here. I'd love to hear about what you're reading these days though!

I'm going to continue on with "One Speck of Truth" today hopefully! I keep thinking about it!

Happy Reading!

Mrs. Heidrich

Finished one... started one!

I'll start with the one I finished first and I'm sad to say that I didn't like it as much as I was hoping to. Maybe my hopes we too high because of how much I loved "Fish in a Tree", but this book didn't come together for me like Fish did. I found it slow at points and it took me a while to even get into it. I loved some parts of it, but could have done without as much of the detailed fishing/clamming explanations. I know those things are part of where they're living, but it was a bit too much for me. 

I think it took me a long time to care about the main character... too long. I loved all the connections she had with people, but at times, maybe it seemed like there were too many people? I think I grew to really like the Ronan character before I did Delsie. I will say that the author's notes as the end of the book brought some things together for me that even the ending of the book didn't. 

This is the post she made with some hints if you want to see as well:  https://lyndamullalyhunt.wordpress.com/2019/05/07/anagram-hints-for-shouting-at-the-rain-and-some-other-cool-name-stuff/

I ended up giving this a 3.5 out of 5 as far as stars go!

Now, I mentioned that I also started one yesterday! I'm already about a third through this one and I'm really enjoying it. The girl in the story is being raised by a single mum because her dad passed away when she was young. Her mum was remarried for a while, but he's now gone too and the thing is that her mum won't seem to answer any of her questions... and she has lots of questions. And now, about a third of the way through the book, they're suddenly moving. A lot going on in this one for sure and I found that I cared and connected almost immediately to the girl in this story: Alma.

Will let you know what I think!
Happy Reading!
Mrs. Heidrich

Reading, reading and so many book to read!

Good morning!

I sure am enjoying the first week of my summer holidays and I have definitely been busy reading! I'm really savouring the time I have to slow down a bit and enjoy the stories I'm reading. I started and finished a book yesterday

Though I didn't read this in one sitting, I think I did read it over 2 days and it was really, really good! I love that it's based on a true story and there is information about the real wolf at the end of the story along with some general information about wolves and resources for further information as well. 

The story is about a wolf called Swift that is part of a pack, but get separated from them and has to try to survive on his own. He deals with all kinds of adventure and faces all kinds of challenges. Through the story, you end up learning a lot about wolves, their habitat and way of life just from the way the story is written! So enjoyable! Read it!

Now, I am adding this here as I read it in one sitting last night and it was excellent (for me), but it's a YOUNG ADULT novel and not for younger kids. It's possible that some students going into high school might be ready for this this, so I'd adding it here as an option too. 

This was written by Australian siblings and while I know this won't be for everyone, I LOVED it! It's told from the point of view of a couple of characters and one of them writes in verse, so that will put some people off I'd imagine. This was simply a story I couldn't put down and was just wanting to see what happened and how it would all come together. Amazing! It's a book I'd like to go back and reread now that I know what happened because I'm pretty sure some thing would make more sense or I would see them differently reading and knowing the ending of the story.

And if you're ever looking for a place to check out book reviews if you're not sure something is right for you, you might want to check out Common Sense Media. They do book reviews as well as movie reviews! They give you information about all kinds of things related to books you might want to read) like...

There are also written reviews from the people on the site as well as parents and kids themselves. This is a great resource!

Happy Reading!

Mrs. Heidrich

Reading 2 right now... not finished!

Morning everyone! I'm reading two books right now that I'm really enjoying, so I'll let you know what they are and then tell you a little more about them once I'm finished!

As it says right on the cover, this is by the same author that wrote a book that I know many of us love already, "Fish in a Tree". I'm about half way finished this one and it's equally as enjoyable so far!

LOVE that this one is set in the Pacific Northwest and it's based on a real wolf that there is information about at the end of the book... though I'm not there yet!

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Heidrich