Sunday, December 29, 2013

Dodsworth and His Amazing Travels

  Today, while cleaning a came across some books that I love dearly. These books are in a series that I will simply call the Dodsworth series. These are books by Tim Egan and if you have a young traveler on your hands these are the books for you. These books follow the character of Dodsworth and his companion duck as they adventure around the world. The books take it readers to places like New York, Pairs, London, Rome, and most recently Tokyo.




http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?ie=UTF8&field-author=Tim+Egan&search-alias=books&text=Tim+Egan&sort=relevancerank (This is the link to the authors amazon page if you are interested)
   My personal favorite part of the story is the character of Duck in the story. He always ends up "accidentally" coming on trips with Dodsworth and serves as the comedic relief of the story. He helps Dodsworth see the city in a new way and make everything seem exciting and adventurous. I personally also like Duck because he reminds me of Mo Willems' Pigeon which makes these books even better if you ask me.   
  I have known these books for years, but for some reason as I was going through my books today it struck me how special and wonderful these books really as. I know several children that these books would interest and I know one in particular that I think would really enjoy this journey into the world of reading. Dodsworth has a way of taking his reader to special places and making a child learn about what makes this place so special. He talks about landmarks and culture. He is everything that I wish I would have had as a child.
     When I have a classroom I plan on using Dodsworth to introduce my young students to the world around them by showing them some of the most amazing cities in a fun, silly, and exciting way. I love how Tim Egan looks at the world and writes a story that children can really connect too. I can't wait to introduce children to this world.
    I hope everyone has a fantastic new year. Be ready for lots of post in 2014. My resolution is to post twice a week if not more. I can't wait to find out what this next year will bring.
                                                                              Happy Reading,
                                                                                Ms. Cara

Ps. For anyone that is interested I recently got an instagram and I normally just post pictures of my books I am reading and things like that. You can follow me by looking up mscarafarmer . I would love to get some more followers :)

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas I hope it is Merry and Bright!

     Merry Christmas everyone! I love Christmas... the whole Christmas season. I love how happy people are and the pure joy that fills everyone's heart. Yesterday to get in the Christmas mood I read a beautiful book. This book is not new, but it is new to me. My dear friend Sara let me barrow her copy. She is a 6th grade teacher where I work and we have become very dear friends. She is a blessing in my life.
     The book that she let me barrow is called "Great Joy". I was drawn to this book not only because of the beautiful cover because lets face it the cover is amazing and it invites the reader to read on. I chose to read this book because it is by Kate DiCamillo. She is clearly an author that I love and I believe that this is truly a special book.
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Joy-midi-Kate-DiCamillo/dp/0763649961/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387994799&sr=8-1&keywords=great+joy

     This is the story about a young girl that watches an old man and his performing monkey out her window. As the weather grows cold she worries about him and where he will go. The girl has a sweet innocence about her and she truly cares about this homeless man. While her mother continues to tell her not to worry about him she does and ends up inviting him to her Christmas pageant. The end of the story brought tears to my eyes and warmth to my heart. Sometimes it takes a children's book to teach adults the true meaning of Christmas.
     Merry Christmas everyone. Have a wonderful and blessed day.
                                                                           Keep reading and let me know if you got and                                                                              books for Christmas I would love,
                                                                                         Ms. Cara

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

I really love a good fox!

I recently had the pleasure of reading the most peculiar little book. This book has also turned out to be one of my favorites of the year. The book is called "Jane, the fox and me" by Fanny Britt.
http://www.amazon.com/Jane-Fox-Me-Fanny-Britt/dp/1554983606/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386807186&sr=1-1
I was at first drawn to the cover because of the illustrations and the fact that there is a fox on the front. I love few things more than  a fox. I had forgotten about it and then heard that it has been named one of the best illustrated books of the year. After I heard that I knew that I had to read it. 
     
 The story is about an 11 year old girl that is dealing with being bullied by the girls that used to be her best friends. First of all, you have a best seller right there. Almost every young girl can relate to this happening and dealing with how harsh girls can be growing up. I personally found it very relatable and funny way. She deals with this by reading Jane Eyre and drowning her self in the world of amazing literature. Sounds like a girl after my own heart.
   
  What is very special about this book is that it is written in the form of a  graphic novel. I have never seen anything like this. The illustrations are beautiful black and white pictures until the fox enters the story. The fox, though his row is small, is a turning point in the story and makes a big difference in the girls life. 
      
     While I do not have the pleasure of owning this book yet I plan on it very soon. It touched my heart and I believe that any girl this age could enjoy this book. It takes a deep look into the life a girl being bullied and this could bring up a conversation about why this is happening and how it can be stopped. 

    As always, I hope that you have enjoyed reading this.I know I personally can not wait to own this book ( I am hoping to receive it for Christmas) I am officially on Christmas break, so if you have any book recommendations let me know in the comments section. I would love some new things to read. Also feel free to follow me on twitter at @cara_farmer. I tweet about books usually or things to do with education. I can be funny sometimes. You can also feel free to tweet comments there about your favorite children's books.
                                                                      Happy reading and happy holidays!
                                                                                 Ms. Cara

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

I miss you all

Hello everyone!
I have been missing talking about my books dearly so I will be back next week after finals. I am sure the internet really missed me.
until the STAY...

                                                                                Happy reading
                                                                                   Ms.Cara