off balance and loving it
Perhaps a better title for this post might be reading schizophrenically or random reading or if I have it, I will read it. Does not matter. While I occasionally get into reading ruts, lately it seems as though I am hopping from picture book to middle grade to YA and back all around again. In between the books, I have managed to fit in more than 600 hours of audio. I sort of like bouncing around like this. It keeps the reading fresher maybe? There is a little more to it, though.
I read the picture books to give myself a sense of accomplishment. I can read a dozen picture books in the time period it would take me to read a middle grade novel. I read picture books also because I had been away from them for a while, not teaching as many classes in literature for children. I wanted to begin filling in the gap, and suddenly, I remembered why picture books had so much appeal. They can sometimes appear to be simple, and that is most definitely not always the case. I have used Mo Willems' GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE DINOSAURS to discuss motifs and archetypes, for example.
The easy readers and short chapter books are also a revelation to me. I did not know the series that resonate with upper elementary kids as well as I should. Now, of course, I am catching up with Geronimo Stilton (and love the language play) and others. I also make sure to keep up with Squish, BabyMouse, and the Lunch Lady, of course.
My love will always be YA. And so I come back to the young adult world to dip into new books by Chris Crutcher, John Green, and all the myriad of new voices who are making this a second 9or is it third) "golden age." Nonfiction is growing within YA, and I am separating the exemplary from the exemplars (you knew I could not go a whole post without a reference to CCSS, right). I love that my CCSS obsessed colleagues are discovering NF for themselves even though Abrahamson and Carter wrote a book about NF years ago.
So I move from poetry to NF to GN to alphabet and other concept books. I fly through picture books and dash through the easy chapter books. I spend some time luxuriating in those wonderfully lyrical books whether they are YA or children's books. And when reading with my eyes is not an option, I plug into the iPod and read with my ears. Some might find this akin to being in a pinball machine; I find it exhilarating.
Next week I head to NCTE to see what new titles await.
I read the picture books to give myself a sense of accomplishment. I can read a dozen picture books in the time period it would take me to read a middle grade novel. I read picture books also because I had been away from them for a while, not teaching as many classes in literature for children. I wanted to begin filling in the gap, and suddenly, I remembered why picture books had so much appeal. They can sometimes appear to be simple, and that is most definitely not always the case. I have used Mo Willems' GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE DINOSAURS to discuss motifs and archetypes, for example.
The easy readers and short chapter books are also a revelation to me. I did not know the series that resonate with upper elementary kids as well as I should. Now, of course, I am catching up with Geronimo Stilton (and love the language play) and others. I also make sure to keep up with Squish, BabyMouse, and the Lunch Lady, of course.
My love will always be YA. And so I come back to the young adult world to dip into new books by Chris Crutcher, John Green, and all the myriad of new voices who are making this a second 9or is it third) "golden age." Nonfiction is growing within YA, and I am separating the exemplary from the exemplars (you knew I could not go a whole post without a reference to CCSS, right). I love that my CCSS obsessed colleagues are discovering NF for themselves even though Abrahamson and Carter wrote a book about NF years ago.
So I move from poetry to NF to GN to alphabet and other concept books. I fly through picture books and dash through the easy chapter books. I spend some time luxuriating in those wonderfully lyrical books whether they are YA or children's books. And when reading with my eyes is not an option, I plug into the iPod and read with my ears. Some might find this akin to being in a pinball machine; I find it exhilarating.
Next week I head to NCTE to see what new titles await.