Favorite November Reads

Parachute Play by Liz and Dick Wilmes (Adult Nonfiction)

Though most of the activities in Parachute Play are for older kids, I found a handful of ideas to use for my preschool storytime. I've used the parachute quite a bit and I haven't tried talking about thumbs up versus thumbs down or arms crossed, which are all great motor skills activities. I also love the busy fingers song and am surprised I've never heard of it. It goes "this is the way my fingers stand/dance/bend/rest so early in the morning" and it's to the tune of Mulberry Bush.

The Juana & Lucas series by Juana Medina (Juvenile Fiction)

Juana is such a lovable character and though I enjoyed the first book, I absolutely loved the second book and cannot wait for the third one. In Big Problemas Juana's mom starts dating, and we get an excellent peek into how Juana feels about the changes that come about with her mom's new boyfriend. Thankfully Juana has enough consistency in her life including her great aunt, Piti, cousins Cami and Pipe, and of course, her adorable dog, Lucas. I particularly enjoyed the ajiaco soup pages (3 kinds of potatoes!) and examples of the strange questions adults ask. For example this is what Juana thinks when an adult asks her why she can't be quiet: "...Because I am alive and I make noises, even when I'm just sitting and breathing, I make noises through my nose as air goes by." Truth! I also enjoyed the generous sprinkle of Spanish words throughout and learning about Colombian culture. Juana & Lucas is a great early-chapter book series that has me hooked and I can't wait to read the next one! 

What's Your Favorite Color? by lots of people : ) (easy nonfiction)

I love the variety of Eric Carle's "What's Your Favorite..." books. I am delighted two illustrators chose gray for What's Your Favorite Color, and I love the reason Rafael López gives for picking gray - "No matter what others may say, artists know that gray is magic...Like the clever octopus, my good friend gray knows how to change colors to communicate." Jill McElmurry picked black as her favorite color and writes about her imaginary black garden where she goes to recharge. I've always wanted a black garden so I instantly connected with both her illustrations and her magical and eerily perfect description of her imaginary black garden.

Facts About the Moon by Dorianne Laux (Adult Nonfiction)

Favorite moments and lines: From The Crossing - When Dorianne's husband tries to get an elk to cross the road Dorianne writes, "One stubborn creature staring down another. This is how I know the marriage will last." From Savages - "They buy poetry like gang members buy guns - for aperture, caliber, heft and defense." And from my favorite poem, Cello: "When a dead tree falls in a forest it often falls into the arms of a living tree...For years the dead tree rubs its fallen body against the living, building its dead music..."