#IMWAYR August 22, 2022

It's Monday What Are You Reading is hosted each week by Unleashing Readers and Teach Mentor Texts. If you are a person who loves kidlit, all you need to do to join is to blog about books you are reading on Monday, add your link to either of those two blogs and post using the hashtag. I hope you will join in!

By this time next week, I will be back at school. I can hardly believe it. Hopefully, I will do a better job this year keeping up this blog (last year I only posted once in September.) I have gotten into the habit of writing this post on Sunday so that should help. 

My nephew reminded me this week that 3rd graders usually start the year reading chapter books and end the year reading novels, so I added some younger chapters to my reading this week. 

Finally, before I share books this week, I'm thrilled to tell you that Michelle Mohrweis, author of Trouble With Robots (which I reviewed a few weeks ago) is coming on the blog on Wednesday for an author interview. Stop back here to learn about her author's journey and how she created her characters.

Chapter Books

Before Mac Barnett was an author, he was a kid, and when he was a kid, he was a spy. When the crown jewels are stolen, Mac B. gets a call from the Queen of England asking him to find the jewels. Full of fun historical facts, this humorous chapter book is a ton of fun.

Amelia Bedelia is reimaged in this chapter book series. Before Ameilia was the maid that took directions literally, she was a kid who did the same. Interestingly, the chapter book series is written in a more sophisticated style than the original but third graders will definitely enjoy it.

This funny, early graphic novel also by Mac Barnett is a ton of fun. When rats start to eat the moon, only the first cat in space can stop them. Aided by a nail-clipping stowaway robot and the queen of the moon, you will never look at the moon the same again. 

Middle Grade

I'm pretty sure this book will be my first read-aloud this year. Tim hates being a peasant so when he is given the opportunity to become a knight and help his prince save a princess, he jumps at the chance. Along the way, he learns a lot about the difference between hype and reality. The book is very funny and I love how Tim teaches the reader tons of new words along the way. A definite middle grade must read.

I picked this one up from the library after seeing it on a number of other blogs. Natalie Lloyd is a master at writing real-world fantasy, and this book is no exception. When feathers fall from the sky like snow and a blue moon rises, the hummingbird comes to grant wishes. Olive has osteogenesis imperfect, a disease that makes her bones brittle. Because of this, she has been homeschooled. But now she has convinced her parents to let her go to middle school and if she has her wish, maybe she won't be brittle anymore. This beautiful book is made even more special when you read the author's note and find out that she, like Olive has osteogenesis imperfect. I will definitely be buying a copy for my classroom.

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Stacy Barnett Mozer is a third grade teacher and a middle grade author. If you like what she's been reading follow her on Goodreads. Please leave a comment below.