The "To Read" Pile

In addition to books that others have liked, my pile includes:

The Totally Made-up Civil War Diary of Amanda MacLeish by Claudia Mills
How Oliver Olson Changed the World by Claudia Mills
The Unfinished Angel by Sharon Creech


I also really really want to read Clover Twig and the Magical Cottage by Kaye Umansky, but it is 297 pages so won't work out for Joliet Reads. deep sigh.

What else we've read lately

Here are some other books that committee members have read recently:

Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It by Sundee Tucker Frazier
Flawed Dogs: The Shocking Raid on Westminster by Berkely Breathed
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Wishworks, Inc. by Stephanie Tolan


Joy thought these books looked interesting:

Snoring Beauty by Bruce Hale
Nothing but Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson by Sue Stauffacher


Committee members began these books but decided they wouldn't work out:

Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew by Ursula Vernon
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
Wicked Will: A Mystery of Young William Shakespeare by Bailey MacDonald
The Georges and the Jewels by Jane Smiley

My choice for the Caldecott Award

Without question, my favorite picture book of the year. The illustrations are amazing and completely integrated with the minimal text. I will be very upset if it doesn't win the award. VERY UPSET! Not to mention surly. It would be best to avoid me for a day or so if a different book wins the award.

Odd and the Frost Giants

I read Odd and the Frost Giants yesterday.

Loved it! I think most kids in grades 4 and 5 would really enjoy it as a read aloud. My daughter is a sensitive reader/listener/viewer so probably would not like it, but most other kids would.

Hmmmmmm. I think I'll try to get my daughter to read a bit then have one of our book discussions. More later!