Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Dogsled Dreams

As a writer, my A to Z challenge is going to be about books, characters, TV shows and movies that have impacted me somehow. Enjoy! Be sure to check out Lee’s blog to find more bloggers taking on this challenge!
Dogsled Dreams

This is a recent read of mine. I’d known Terry from her blog before her book came out. I ordered myself a copy and won a copy on another blog. I read the book myself and loved it. I decided to read it aloud to the students in my class. (I’m very selective about the books I read aloud!) The kids LOVED it. There were lots of groans when I finished reading each day – they didn’t want me to stop. Since then, many of the students have reread the book. If I didn’t have so many of the students again this year, I’d read it again. I know the students next year will love it too!
Do you remember any books your teachers read to you that completely sucked you in?

46 comments:

Beth Zimmerman said...

Nope. Too long ago. And I don't recall read alouds. However when I home schooled ... We read aloud all the time!

Charmaine Clancy said...

I like reading aloud to students. I'm going to grab this book, sounds good and I love dogs :)
Wagging Tales

Nas said...

Sounds a good book!

Congratulations Jemi! You won the jennifer Probst giveaway of The Marriage Bargain on Romance Book Paradise!

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Congrats on a good post and an excellent D word.

Yvonne.

Old Kitty said...

I love that your kids and the kids in your class really engaged with this fab book!! Yay!! Take care
x

JeffO said...

I remember Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little in particular. I also remember that I *loved* when my teacher read to us.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

My teacher read to the class The Hobbit. I soooo fell in love with it.

Jemi Fraser said...

Beth - my teachers never read aloud - they missed out on such a chance to involve kids in books!

Charmaine - my students absolutely adored this book! :)

Nas - it is! And WOOHOO!!! It sounds like such a great book! :)

Yvonne - thanks! :)

Old Kitty - the characters in the book are awesome - including the wonderful dogs!

Jeff - I think most people feel the same. Read aloud is one of the best parts of the day!

Lynda - I just finished reading The Hobbit aloud a few weeks ago! The kids loved it too :)

Yvonne Osborne said...

Island of the Blue Dophins. I can still remember sitting memerized. It was the best part of the day. The best part of gradeschool.

Natalie Aguirre said...

So awesome your kids loved it. I did too. Can't wait for Terry's next book to come out.

T. Powell Coltrin said...

Books my teachers read that I loved were Pippi Longstocking and the Little House on the Prairie books.

Deniz Bevan said...

Ooh, I've read this book and I agree, it was wonderful! I'd like to try dogsledding now!

Jackie Jordan said...

My reading and movie to-do list is growing. I haven't had the pleasure to have read Dogsled Dreams, Charly, or watch Bones ... But, my curiosity is no peaking.

Unknown said...

What a great book!

I remember being sucked in with The Secret Garden. Each day wondering what was going to happen and what the garden was about.

Laura S. said...

I remember when my 2nd grade teacher read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory out loud. I'd already read it before, but I enjoyed it so much anyway! Roald Dahl books were always great ones to hear out loud.

When I was little I loved it when my mom or dad read The Little House books out loud. Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little were great read-alouds, too!

Mary said...

YES! This is one that really pulls the kids in. They clamor for more when I finish a chapter (wow, maybe I should read that to this year's group). The Westing Game and The Giver oh, and The Outsiders--those three always suck the kids in (all so different, too!).

cleemckenzie said...

Third grade: Mr. Popper's Penguins. I couldn't wait for lunch period to be over, so I could hear the next few pages read aloud.

A said...

I LOVE being read to!

Nikki said...

I remember adoring storytime when we listened to the teacher and I loved group reading too. I was crazy about all of the books we read!

Nice blog :) I'm following you now! I wrote about dog-sledding for today's post too :)

Nikki – inspire nordic

Johanna Garth said...

I remember hearing James and the Giant Peach read aloud in school. Also my father read the Hobbit out loud to me and I used to be him for just one more chapter.

Leslie S. Rose said...

I've heard wonderful things about Dogsled Dreams since it came out. I will need to take the plunge. I'll never forget Mrs. Henry reading, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

Anonymous said...

What a great recommendation for reading Dogsled Dreams. It is on my TBR book list. Wish I could remember books my teachers read to our classes, but that was soooo long ago. I could list lots of books that teachers read to my son's classes when he was in elementary school, because I was a volunteer parent almost every year.

Susanne
PUTTING WORDS DOWN ON PAPER

Jemi Fraser said...

Yvonne - I just gave Island of the Blue Dolphins to one of my girls to read! It's such a fabulous story! :)

Natalie - agreed! I can't for Ice Dogs to hit the stands!! :)

Teresa - those are great choices for read aloud. I didn't come across the Little House series until I was an adult. Wish I'd found it as a kid :)

Deniz - it does sound fantastic! Terry has the best adventures!

Jackie - glad I could add to your list! It's so much fun to have a long list - even if it keeps getting longer!

Clarissa - another great choice! So many people love the Secret Garden - I still haven't read it - I'll have to fix that.

Laura - those are all such great read alouds! I adore Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!! :)

Mary - those are 3 more fabulous books! My kids love when I read them too. We have very similar tastes!

Lee - great choice! Those penguins really were awesome!

Nikki - thanks! That's so cool we both wrote about dog sledding. I'll pop over and visit soon! :)

Johanna - both great choices! The imagination in both is truly awesome!

Leslie - I really think you'll love it! Charlie is such a great choice! :)

Susanne - I didn't have any teachers who read to us. Such a shame. I think they could have enticed a lot more people to be readers!

Jemi Fraser said...

Agnes - me too! It's a true pleasure! (for some reason your comment was makred as spam, but I managed to find it!)

Kristi said...

I think you get bonus point today for illiteration (Dogsled Dreams).

Loved this post and am now adding this to my list of must reads.

So cool you read this aloud to your kids...

Jemi Fraser said...

Kristi - I'll take those bonus points!! The read aloud portion of the day is everyone's favourite! :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I still have this one on my iPad to read!

Jemi Fraser said...

Alex - it's such a great story! Lots of action and great characters :)

Heather M. Gardner said...

I don't remember my teachers reading to us in class.
That would have been nice.
Heather

Emily R. King said...

I vaguely recall this book. Huh. Now I need to reread it! Thanks for the reintroduction. :)

DL Hammons said...

That's so great that you read it to your class. Terry must be very proud!! :)

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

Fourth Grade, a book called On the Run about the Irish potato famine.

Jemi Fraser said...

Heather - I think it should be mandatory! It exposes kids to so many awesome books!

Emily - it's SO good! You'll enjoy it!

DL - Terry was thrilled that they loved it. Some of them even emailed her! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Mary - (oops - cross posted with you!). I don't know that one at all. It's great when a book is good and still talks about important historical stuff!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I don't remember what books any of my teachers read to us, but I remember how I loved it when they did read to us. Do teachers still do that?

Jemi Fraser said...

Susan - I think more do it now. We didn't have a single teacher who read to us. ever. So sad. I think almost all the teachers I work with do read every day! :)

klahanie said...

Hi Jemi,
Ah yes, Dogsled Dreams seems the ideal sort of book for those kids in your class. If kids don't want you to stop reading, you know you're onto a winner! :)
When I was very young and living in England for the first time, I remember the teacher reading stories about "Rupert the Bear". I remember the photos and he had very weird fashion sense :)
All the best and remember Lee thinks I'm the "Anti-A to Z Challenge spokesman".

Precy Larkins said...

You're such an awesome teacher, Jemi! Your kids are lucky to have you. :)

Patricia Stoltey said...

I still remember a teacher reading Jack London's Call of the Wild. I recently bought a new copy so I can reread it. Dogsled Dreams sounds like it's a good read too. I'll check it out.

Pat

Jemi Fraser said...

Gary - exactly! Anything that makes them groan when reading time is over is amazing. My parents emigrated from Scotland so I know Rupert! I had several books (like graphic novels these days) filled with Rupert's stories. I think the pants were plain, no??? I loved those stories!

Cherie - awwww! Thank you - what a kind thing to say :)

Pat - you'll love it! I adored Call of the Wild! I remember having to look up the word 'primordial' when I encountered it. I was impressed and have loved the word since!! :)

Dihiwi said...

Thanks for the great recommendation. I love any kind of dog story and it sounds like a good one. I also wrote about dogs in my "D" blog, in case you'd like to read it: www.dianeweidenbenner.com

Theresa Milstein said...

This was such a sweet book. It told me about dogsledding, which I didn't know anything about.

Jemi Fraser said...

Theresa - and Terry did it so well! All of my students wanted to take up dogsledding when we read it! :)

Aidana WillowRaven said...

In 5th grade, our teacher read The Girl with the Silver Eyes. I never forgot it.

As the cover artist and designer for Dogsled Dreams, I can certainly vouch for the great story Terry weaves.

I am not a winter/snow person, nor did I know anything about dog sledding before reading the manuscript. Terry masks education with a great story and made winter and snow actually fun for me.

For those interested in buying a copy, here is the publisher's catalog page for Dogsled Dreams: http://tinyurl.com/4RVstoreDogsledDreams

When ordered direct from the publisher, Terry actually receives a larger royalty. :D

Aidana WillowRaven
Art Director & VP of Operations
4RV Publishing
http://4rvpublishingllc.com

Anonymous said...

Terry's book is awesome.

In elementary school my teachers enraptured me when they read from a book. Later on, not so much. We would read excerpts with a discussion, but it was the books I read at home that I loved the most.

Jemi Fraser said...

Medeia - it really is! :)

I wish I'd had any teachers willing to 'waste' time reading aloud. I think the only time we did it was when we had to read bits of Shakespeare aloud. The poor Bard must have shuddered!