Favorite July Reads Part 2

Reading Magic by Mem Fox (adult nonfiction)

A few things I loved about Reading Magic: 

1. The seven different things we can do with our voices to keep our listeners engaged (high, low, soft, loud, fast, slow and pausing). This was such a simple tip, but for someone who's constantly testing out the limitations of her voice and has insecurities about trying out different voices, this made sense to me and makes voices easier and fun to try. 

2. Take time with the endings. "Without this drawn-out final line, our listeners will feel an uncomfortable sort of incompleteness." 

3. I know the benefits of pointing out repeated words to children, but I've struggled to do so during my storytimes. Pointing out words in a book is great when parents read to one or two children, but is tough to do during storytime. Fox writes about using magnets for print recognition, which is such a great idea for repeated words that are three or four letters long. I'm excited to try out this magnet idea in my fall preschool storytime!

Ellie's Story by W. Bruce Cameron (juvenile fiction)

The beginning slogged along, but I hung on because of how much I enjoyed Ellie and Maya's characters. Towards the end, when Ellie makes an unexpected rescue, I was completely swept up and unable to take my eyes away from the story. Ellie is such a sweet dog who is serious about her work, which is search and rescue. Her first handler, Jakob is injured in the line of duty, which surprised me. It was definitely an intense moment, but I was more concerned that Ellie would get to continue being a search and rescue dog than I was about Jakob's injury. Ellie's next handler is Maya, a character I instantly connected with. Her positivity, compassion, and determination makes her a strong role model for anyone, but especially kids. My favorite thing about this book is definitely how it's told. I think Cameron does a great job getting into a dog's mind, and Ellie's perspective was even better than Bailey's in the book, "A Dog's Purpose." Spoiler alert - Unlike "A Dog's Purpose," Ellie doesn't die in this book and get reborn again and again as different dogs. I'm actually more than ok with this. Death and reincarnation are heavy topics for kids, and as for myself, I appreciated not crying the whole way through Ellie's Story.

Love the Fur You're In (picture book)

Inspirational advice from our friends at Sesame Street. My favorite words of wisdom? "You're never too old for storytime."

Hands by Lois Ehlert (picture book)

Every single page is filled stunning photographs of objects you use to make things and the cool stuff you can make using them. Some of the pages are even shaped like the objects - scissors, a set of watercolors, gardening gloves. The message in this book - about how Ehlert connects with her parents through the things she makes - is so lovely. I read somewhere that the potholder in this book was made by Ehlert when she was a child. I think it would be really cool if the other objects in this book were also authentic pieces of her childhood.