True confessions here: I read lots of professional books and journals during the school year; however, school vacations are when I do the bulk of my "fun" reading!
Last summer, in my usual fashion, I settled on the porch with a huge glass of iced tea and proceeded to devour RJ Palacio's Wonder. I thought of all the great ways this text would be included in classroom conversations about diversity and proclaimed it to be the book of the year! I was still waxing effusively over Wonder as I followed my daily Twitter PD feed and kept hearing again and again references to The One and Only Ivan!
I was planning to head to school to set up the classroom as I opened that box that late August morning; however, I decided to do just a chapter before heading to school.........You know, by now, that I never made it to school that day. I don't think I ever showered. I don't think I ever even made iced tea. I was transformed and moved and......in a year of some pretty great books, it's deserving of all the accolades it is getting!
So today, I would like to publically thank TWT, Twitter, the Nerdy Book Club and Amazon's One Click Ordering for bringing me Wonder and Ivan and encouraging me to read some pretty amazing books! I am very grateful to have found you leaders of spending - even if the old bank account is feeling the pain!
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/tale-of-gorillas-renewed-life-wins-newbery-award/
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal
9 comments:
I was able to watch part of the live stream yesterday. I was so happy about Ivan. I would have loved if Wonder would have gotten the recognition...the book that every person in America should read. I need to learn how to Twitter. XO nanc
Hanging out with readers and writers is a detriment to one's bank account. But the flip side is you have so many wonderful thoughts of other lives you've experienced from the books. Can you really put a price on that?
:-)
Oh, so very true! I felt so much more connected to the world of great children's lit this year.
But when I sat down to categorize my spending for last year, I could really tell it had impacted my wallet too *chuckles*
I wish I could get the hang of Twitter, it does sound like a wonderful avenue for PD. I was thrilled about Ivan, too.....and Wonder remains one of my all time favorites.
"The One and Only" just went to my wishlist on Amazon! Thank you!
Oh that Amazon One Click button gets me in trouble all of the time.
Cathy
We loved watching the live feed of the awards. Wonder was my student's first choice, followed by The One and Only Ivan. Our third choice, The Lions of Little Rock, didn't get any awards, but we still love it. It's fun to see the excitement of my 6th graders for the awards.
Ivan is still in my TBR pile! Ugh! I am proud to say I own some of these award winners this year because of The Nerdy Book Club recs! There just isn't enough time!
You're the opposite of me -- I love to read "fun" books to share with my students during the school year, and I do most of my professional reading over the breaks. I already think about school practically nonstop during the school year anyway, so it feels like a chore to read for PD then too. However, literature offers a great escape and so many chances to connect with my students, so I drink it up on school days and leave the heavier reading to my breaks. I loved Wonder also, although Ivan is still on my "to-read" list!
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