Maria's Mélange

I am thrilled to be part of the Fable Comics Blog Tour! This book is beautiful. It's filled with amazing adaptations of many of the fables your students already know and quite a few that will be new to them. I spend a lot of time reading fables with my third graders, and I can't wait to introduce them to this anthology. I anticipate wonderful discussions about the rich vocabulary, delicious art, and time-honored "morals of the story". My older students already love the work of George O'Connor, and will be thrilled to discover some new short stories about Hermes in this volume. Fable Comics by Chris Duffy (Editor), James Kochalka (Contributor), Simone Lia (Contributor), Graham Chaffee (Contributor), Maris Wicks (Contributor), Vera Brosgol (Contributor), Keny Widjaja (Contributor), Corinne Mucha (Contributor) , Liniers (Contributor), Mark Newgarden (Contributor), Ulises Farinas (Contributor), Tom Gauld (Contributor), R.O. Blechman (Contributor), Gr...

Welcome to my little corner of book heaven. Here's what I read the last two weeks. Don't forget to visit the lovely hosts of this meme -  Teach Mentor Texts  and  Unleashing Readers . There are links to a LOT of posts there! Cute picture book about knowing your own strengths - a car races trucks (comes out in May) YES! I love Captain Marvel and this volume of comics was excellent. Audiobook - the narrator was amazing. This story was SOOO good. It was my first A.S. King but it won't be my last. I really enjoyed this dystopian future novel. Lots of feminist elements. The main character's way of speaking reminded me of the characters in Firefly. Currently Reading: Currently Listening to:

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm trying to get myself "out there" more. I want to be seen as an expert in my field, so the only way to make that happen is to find ways to share my expertise. Last night I shared what I learned at a recent conference with our parent advocacy group. I was nervous, but it went very well! Next time I speak to adults, though, I definitely need to remember to bring a water bottle. My throat was parched by the end and then I felt like I was losing my voice all day today. This morning, I finished short proposals to do 90 minute sessions at my summer enrichment conference. Maybe they'll accept them - and maybe they won't. Either way, I've done my part in taking the next step in my professional development. In case you are interested - here are the two sessions I'm hoping to give: Ted Ed Clubs: Helping Kids Share Their Passions and Expertise. Everyone loves watching TED videos to learn new information, but what if yo...

So, it's the last Monday of the summer. Technically, though, my summer ended yesterday. I am back at work and ready to get another amazing year started! Somehow it seems to be easier to get these posts written when I am in a work-a-day mode. This post represents several weeks of reading... and I know my reading volume will slow considerably now that I'm back to work. Don't forget to check out the tag #IMWAYR on Twitter and to visit www.teachmentortexts.com and www.unleashingreaders.com for the roundups of posts! ** (Must read 2014) Amazing historical fiction. I loved the WWII setting and the powerful friendship between two amazing women. So glad this was on my Must Read 2014 list! I love Gail Simone's run on Batgirl. This was a nice stand-alone story. Not out out - but put it on your radar for September. A great introduction to the life of one of my favorite authors from childhood. I didn't know just how progressive and independent she was! I...

I'm tossing my cap into the "Non Fiction Picture Book" arena once again... even though today's selection is in graphic novel format. The Great American Dust Bowl by   Don Brown Hardcover, 80 pages Published October 8th 2013 by HMH Books for Young Readers ISBN 0547815506 (ISBN13: 9780547815503) Goodreads Summary : A speck of dust is a tiny thing. In fact, five of them could fit into the period at the end of this sentence. On a clear, warm Sunday, April 14, 1935, a wild wind whipped up millions upon millions of these specks of dust to form a duster—a savage storm—on America's high southern plains. The sky turned black, sand-filled winds scoured the paint off houses and cars, trains derailed, and electricity coursed through the air. Sand and dirt fell like snow—people got lost in the gloom and suffocated . . . and that was just the beginning. My Thoughts : If you are looking for a way to interest kids in a time period that often gets missed...

http://www.cybils.com/ As part of my "unboring 2013" challenge, I decided to toss my hat into the ring to be a judge for the Cybils awards. When I found out that I had been selected as a second round judge for graphic novels, I was excited - and a bit worried. Find the full list of 2013 finalists here ! Now the time has come. The finalists have been selected. My library bag is full. I've already read many of them (especially in the middle grade category), and my young adult nominee actually made the cut! Before I dive into the pile and read (or reread) the finalists, I wanted to spend some time considering my criteria for what makes an Exemplary comic or graphic novel. It's easy to tell you if I enjoyed one. It's even easier to tell you what my students will enjoy. But the responsibility of choosing ONE of the list of finalists as "the best" hangs heavy on my shoulders. Here are my current thoughts - though I reserve the right to add to...

Celebrating Babymouse  and the graphic novel section in my school library Thanks to an invitation from my building librarian, I presented to a parent book club in my school on Thursday morning. My first talk was on comics and graphic novels. I also shared thoughts and recommendations about  Science Fiction . While several parents were nodding in agreement with everything I said, several others are still not sold on the value of this format.  I’m sharing my thoughts with the world here, in the hopes that we can make a few more converts. The Prezi I used is embedded below, and includes title recommendations in several categories. Tomorrow my librarian (aka @ReaderRoberts) is guest posting here about the overall experience of the Parent Book Club.  Stories told using sequential art - otherwise known as comics- have had a rocky history. For many years, they were considered the junk food of the reading world. In the past few years, there has been such amazing gr...

Just a quick post about Free Comic Book / May the 4th .. My husband decided to join us as we ventured out to the comic book store. Last year, my sons and I got there about 30 minutes before opening, and sat alone until the opening. So this year we decided to just arrive as the store opened. Showcase Comics is in a local mall, and seems to be doing well, but wasn't super crazy busy. We walked into the store, following some red footprints to the free comic table. There were a ton of choices, and no real limit. We helped ourselves to one of each of the ones we were curious about. The only thing I was sad to NOT find was the Molly Danger / Princeless issue. I'll grab that one on Comixology (and I highly suggest you do, too!) http://www.comixology.com/Molly-Danger-Princeless-FCBD/digital-comic/JAN130015 One of the reasons I didn't feel guilty grabbing a decent stack of free comics was that I intend to share them in my classroom. Another? We had every intention of doing a...

It's Monday again, time for insomnia and reading cool posts by amazing readers! Check out other posts at the Teach Mentor Texts website to help feed your need for great new reads. Fairly slow reading week - at least as far as completed books go. I have several that I'm working my way through (One audio Newbery, one paper Newbery, among others) This past week I also wrote about: Tuesday - " Why I Teach " Thursday - My boys share their current reads for THIRSTday .      And I discuss an amazing episode in Season 1 Doctor Who - "Dalek" Saturday - Kathy (The Brain Lair) and I chat about the  second portion of The Colossus Rises Sunday - My Couch to 5K progress

Thanks to Teach Mentor Texts for hosting this each week. If I don't make it to your blog to check out your reading, I apologize.   I'm at a teaching conference this week (starting Sunday) which may prevent me from getting to a lot, and next week's post will be much shorter.  Summer Throwdown continues, and so does the extreme reading! I'm going to continue the image snippets this week, to make it easier to share. Comics! I was trying to finish up with some comics I'd borrowed from a friend. This week was devoted to the friendly neighborhood crime fighter - Peter Parker. Graphic Novels - Continuing my quest to read all the Babymouse (though I'm so sad I didn't win the Babymouse photo contest!) This week's extra special gem, though, was the Annie Sullivan GN. If you are at all interested in Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller - I HIGHLY recommend that book. I didn't know much about Annie's life and this was a powerful read. Historical F...

Big thanks once again to Teach Mentor Texts for hosting this each week.  First, let me welcome you to my SciFi Summer! My goal is to seek out new life and new civilizations…. No, wait, that’s Star Trek… Seriously, though, I adore science fiction and I want to have newer titles I can recommend to those around me. I’ll be posting an “old classics” post to recommend some of my favorite older titles, but this week I started reading some more recently released books. I’ll be posting the titles in a separate post that also includes other information… First Light – Rebecca Stead Two storylines collide as a boy visits Greenland with his parents on a scientific expedition and a girl longs to explore the "wider world" and leave the confines of her village below the ice.   Old Man’s War – Scalzi   The human race is struggling to snatch up worlds to colonize, but it’s a constant struggle for survival out there. Where can Colonial Defense find eag...

It's Monday, and that means a recap of my week of reading. Thanks to Teach Mentor Texts for hosting this each week. Check them out for more book ideas! I wanted to hit 30 Newbery books by the end of May, and I made it! About 1/3 done now. Also, I posted on Saturday about my summer reading plans , which will include Newbery and a lot of science fiction. Check out that post, if you haven’t already, and let me know if you’re interested in joining me for my SciFiSummer! Newbery Sarah, Plain and Tall – I don’t think I’ve ready this one since I had children, and it felt so much more powerful now. I’ve always liked it, but it made me tear up right from the beginnings. Roller Skates – Wow, I think this is two in a row from the 30s I’ve liked. I need to go back and look for the gender themes over the course of the Newbery books. I love how free she is to wander NYC on her own. I was sad one of the plot points never got fully addressed, but overall I enjoyed it. ...

Yes, I missed posting last week. So that means this week will have double the fun! I’ll cut down on the extra chatter so that it doesn’t end up so long that no one reads the post. (Okay, there is still a lot of chatter. Sorry about that!) Newbery   (I’m up to 27 out of 91! Check out my “Newbery Completion” page to see what I’ve finished) Holes (audio). I didn’t enjoy it as much as I remembered loving it the first time around. I was just appalled by the way the adults treated the kids. It was still a great one, though. Invincible Louisa – Colby Sharp adored this one, but I just thought it was good. I did like to hear about Louisa, since I grew up loving Little Women. I was even Amy in a play production in high school! Kira-Kira (audio) – Enjoyed, but not overly passionate about. I’m a little over halfway done as I type this (though I’ll likely finish in time to post on Monday) and I’m watching the impending doom loom over little Katie. I don’t m...

 Check out the other folks who link up! Thanks again to Teach Mentor Texts for hosting this each week.  Well, one of the geekiest weeks of my year wrapped up this weekend. I got to spend two days at the PA gifted conference, I celebrated Star Wars Thursday (which is every week) followed by May the Fourth Be With You, watched Avengers in the theater, hit Free Comic Book Day, and then saw a stage production of Wrinkle in Time. Whew! I'm also noticing the onset of the end of year panic mode - as a gifted resource teacher I have a TON of end of year paperwork... and it may need to start coming home at night. Likely, my reading and writing for myself will suffer for a while.  Reading this week: Newbery Challenge – I’m continuing to use audio books to help me in this one, and finished A Single Shard . I enjoyed the audio (I think the English accent of the narrator helps), though I don’t always enjoy the “tear jerker” ending style of book. I picked...

I'm relatively new to the comics scene, so this was my very first time heading out to acquire comics on Free Comic Book Day. With all the hype, I just wasn't quite sure what to expect. I've been to the "local" comics store a few times, though I buy more of my comics for the iPad to put off the day when my house will be so full of books and comics that I require a Hoarders intervention. I knew I wanted to be part of this geeky holiday, though, so I donned my geeky gear (Buffy shirt, Leia earrings, and Batgirl sneakers) and prepped my sons (fourth and second graders) for what we might expect. "There may be a lot of people there," I was told, so we jumped in the car early enough to arrive thirty minutes before the opening to secure a spot in the front of the line. Pulling into the parking lot at the mall, though, it was obvious that we weren't going to be competing with large crowds. Once we made it to the front of the store, we were one of only a h...

     Be sure to check out the other posts in this meme. Of course, that might lead to an out of control wish list… but worse things have happened.   Teach Mentor Texts     This was a really busy week of reading. I don't fully realize how much I read until I write it all down. Sheesh, no wonder I didn't get much else done!  Nerdbery Project – I completed the 20s by finishing Trumpeter of Krakow . This was probably the first book from the Newbery Challenge that felt like it was approaching a modern tale. There was an actual plot, with some almost science fiction like elements. I loved the alchemy parts, and I can see kids enjoying it. It wouldn’t make any top ten (or fifty) lists today, but I didn’t feel like I needed several extra cups of coffee (or toothpicks under my eyelids) to make it through this one. Number the Stars I needed a little break from the early Newbery books, so I chose an old favorite that I haven’t read in a f...

This is my first venture into the "It's Monday" scene... I hope I'm doing it right! Visit the hosts of the meme at Teach Mentor Texts .  It was a relatively slow reading week for me. I think I got out of the gate quickly in January (I completed 9 Newbery books, including 4 from the 20s and some more recent ones) and slowed down a bit recently.  Graphic Novels / Comics I did try to start up a specific pin board on Pinterest devoted to graphic novels and comics for kids. I'll try to indicate what age band the books there are best for, as not all of them will be appropriate for the under 5th (or 6th) grade crew. Check out my board and let me know (via comments here, there, or Twitter @mselke01) what else I should add. Working on that board got me reading some graphic novels this past week: Amulet 2  and  Amulet 3  - These are fabulous graphic novels! I had to wrestle them out of my students' hands so I could have a shot at them. Highly recommended...