It's Monday! What are you reading? #IMWAYR

Thanks to Jen at TeachMentorText  and Kellee at UnleashingReaders for the weekly meme highlighting children's literature - picture books to young adult.  Don't forget to visit their sites so you can see what everyone else is reading this week!

I took a break last week from posting for #IMWAYR, but I did visit other blogs to see what everyone else was reading.  Most of my reading time last week involved an adult book. I know. Shocking.  I do that sometimes.  I read The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.  I highly recommend it.  Here's what I read in the kid lit. world;

Zita the Spacegirl (#1) by Ben Hatke

Graphic novels are not my favorite genre - they have to be extremely good to hook me and keep me interested.  With that being said, I love this book!  In this story Zita's best friend is kidnapped by aliens and she follows along to save him.  The story is full of intergalactic adventure, humor and a spunky heroine.  Will Zita save her friend?  Will Zita get back home to Earth?  You will have to read to find out!  Third graders will definitely be able to read the book independently and so will many second graders.  I will definitely purchasing a copy to add to my classroom library.  There are 2 other books in the series.  You can watch the book trailer here.

Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. The Stupid Stinkbugs From Saturn. by Dav Pilkey and Martin Ontiveros

I admit to never having read a book from this series, even though it seems very popular on Scholastic book clubs.  I have never seen a student in my class read the series or check a book out from our school library either.  But someone gave me a copy, so I read it.  I think it would be a great series for reluctant readers in third and fourth grade.  Ricky and his robot have to battle alien stinkbugs from outer space that are attempting to kidnap his cousin.  There is lots of imaginative battle scenes, including "grow gum balls" that the aliens chew and become gigantic.  The illustrations are great and full of action too.  This book had one chapter that included images that could be flipped to become animated and at the end directions for drawing some of the characters is included.  This copy will be added to my class library after a proper introduction. 

One by Kathryn Otoshi

A very simple book that teaches the lesson of standing up for yourself and others.  So many books about bullying often beat the reader over the head with the message.  This book does not do that.  I loved it!  Great to pair with The Dot.