We've been reading all along!

Sorry for the long silence (all three of you who read this regularly!) -- we have been reading so much that I let the blog posts and goodreads updates fall by the wayside.

Here are some highlights of last week's reading:

Second graders have been studying inventors and are starting to read biographies -- the perfect opportunity for a new biography of the inventor of the potato chip, George Crum!

George Crum and the Saratoga Chip by Gaylia Taylor


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Second graders are studying inventors and biographies right now, and this story of the potato chip's inventor is a excellent amalgam of the two. Although the story drags in parts -- I get the sense that the most interesting parts of his life story have been left out or sanitized -- the illustrations and subject matter make it worthy of a read-aloud.


We have been spending lots of time with rhymes in the younger grades, and first graders are starting an exciting unit on poetry. So who better to read than Jack Prelutsky, the first Children's Poet Laureate?

What a Day It Was at School! by Jack Prelutsky


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Funny rhyming poems about a school that may not (or may!) be quite like yours. Prelutsky's poems often requires a lot of background knowledge, and this collection is no exception, but there are a number of accessible, fun poems here that first graders enjoy as a read-aloud.

Finally, our All-School Meeting on Friday, featuring Superstar awards for empathy, made me want to read my favorite book about friendship: James Marshall's classic George and Martha. We observed features of Marshall's illustrations from his versions of fairy tales, and then watched for them as we read the four stories about two great friends.

George and Martha by James Marshall


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
One of our favorite books about being a great friend.

View all my reviews >>

We won't be doing any read-alouds this week, as students will be enjoying the exhibits from our Extraordinary Women's Museum during their library time, but we'll be back next week!