What I'm Reading Wednesday

WHAT I'M READING WEDNESDAY.

I'm reading Kate DiCamillo's, Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride

This is a cute book! But, I must admit, when I first started reading it, I was a little skeptical.  There is a lot of repetition and a lot of dialog tags in the book. I started out thinking, are you serious? But, it soon won me over and I didn't want to put it down.

I would classify this as an early chapter book. Amazon lists the age range at 6-9 years. It is 80 pages, 14 chapters, illustrations on almost every page spread and published by Candlewick. Accelerated Reading level is 2.7 and it is worth .5 points

Click here to go to a Mercy Watson site I stumbled upon. It is a fun site with games, info about the creators, a teacher/parent section, etc. Play the matching games and you will get to watch a short video made by the illustrator in his studio. I know this because I played the games :o)

There are six books in this series about a fun loving pig who loves hot buttered toast.

Now, it is your turn.
What are you reading.
Tell us in your comment.

MMGM - The Tiger Rising

Last week I read:



 


The Tiger Rising
by Kate DiCamillo
copyright 2001
Scholastic, Inc.

Walking through the misty Florida woods one morning, twelve-year-old Rob Horton is stunned to find a tiger - a real-life, very large tiger - pacing back and forth in a cage.
What's more, on the same extraordinary day, he meets Sistine Bailey, a girl  who shows her feeling as readily as Rob hides his. As they learn to trust each other and, ultimately, to be friends, Rob and  Sistene prove that some things - like memories, and heartache, and  tigers - can't be locked up forever.
Rob had a way of not-thinking about things. He imagined himself as a suitcase that was too full, like  the one  that he had packed when they left Jacksonville after his mom's funeral. He kept his feelings inside his suitcase. His father told him there wasn't no point in crying - crying wouldn't bring his mother back. But his father never even mentioned his mom's name and Rob didn't like  that.

Rob and Sistine let the tiger out of his cage, because they didn't think animals should be caged. His father shoots the tiger and Rob couldn't hold his anger in any longer. He beat his father,  he kicked his father and he opened his suitcase and angry words sprang out of his mouth.
After that, Rob and  his father were able to talk and not be angry any more.

Favorite quote from book: "I ain't going to cry," Rob said,  shutting his eyes, but the tears leaked out of him, anyway.

I enjoyed the book, but I must say that I enjoyed her other book, Because of Winn  Dixie much better.

Because of Winn Dixie is a short book, but this one is even shorter. It comes in at only 19,369 words.

For more middle grade fun, check the links on

Shannon Messenger's Blog.

Posted by Janet Smart  on Creative Writing in the Blackberry Patch.