It is already August and I know in some places people will be returning to school soon.  My school; however, did not get out until June 23rd so I still have about another month to reach my Book-A-Day goal of 80 books.  if you don’t know about the Book-A-Day Challenge you can check out Donalyn Miller’s (The Book Whisperer)  blog post about the Book-A-Day Challenge . Several educators and librarians have been sharing our reading on Twitter, GoodReads, and through our individual blogs.  Currently, I have read 54 books towards my total goal of 80.

During week 6, my sister came out to California to visit me.  With all the running around, I was left with little time for reading.  Hence a combined two week post.

Book-A-Day Weeks 6 & 7 reads:

Picture Books:

Big Wolf & Little Wolf by Nadine Brun-Cosme, Illustrated by Olivier Tallec and translated by Claudia Bedrick – This is a beautiful story of friendship between a big wolf who is use to being on his own and worrying about no one and a smaller wolf who manages to make a big impression.  Children will enjoy this tale.   Bedrick’s translation work earned the book a Batchelder’s Honor Award.

Fancy Nancy: Hooray For Beauty Day! by Jane O’Connor, Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser – Fancy Nancy books are always fun.  I enjoy the way it introduces children to a variety of vocabulary.  My only minor concern with this book is that the pages seemed very “full” almost distracting.  In addition to the wonderful illustrations and regular text, there were “tips” for how to perform certain things (i.e., applying nail polish, or doing a facial).

Animal House by Candace Ryan, Illustrated by Nathan Hale  - This is a fun story about a boy who lives in a Gorvilla and where everything is not what you would expect.  The classroom teacher thinks Jeremy just has an overactive imagination until she does a homevisit. This will make you laugh out loud.  Click here to read my review.

The Exceptionally, Extraordinarily, Ordinary First Day of School by Albert Lorenz  - This book was different.  There appears to be an attempt to deal with a child’s fears with the first day in a new school but instead it turns out to be an overly busy book.  Every page is filled with elaborately detailed illustrations, speech bubbles, text, and vocabulary definitions.  Click here to read my review.

Graphic Novels, Middle Grades

Over My Dead Body (43 Old Cemetery Road) by Kate Klise, Illustrated by M. Sarah Klise – This is the second book in the 43 Old Cemetery Road series by the Klise sisters.  I need to start a writing petition for more books.  Nine & ten year olds will love the story of a boy, a ghost, and a grumpy old writer who all share a home.  Click here to read my review.

Copper by Kazu Kibuishi  - Readers are introduced to Copper & his dog Fred in Kibuishi’s Flight Explorer Series.  In this book, it is all about Copper and Fred.  The book is composed of a series of short stories (similar to a weekly comic strip series).  Copper & Fred are a bit of an odd pairing but co