I can’t believe that we’ve been reading challenge books for 5 weeks!?! Want to know about my Challenge? Check out the 100 Children’s Books tab above. Want to hear my mid-challenge thoughts? Check out my Challenge Check In post!
This week has not quite gone as planned in terms of my challenge reading. It was Parent/Teacher Conference Week at work (more time working = less time to read), the wind has been crazy (leading to headaches), and I started a “Second 8 Week” class for school. No, it’s not an excuse, but it’s an explanation!
I did read for 4 hours though, so that’s great! I also read a New to Me book, a picture book and am working on a reread novel right now. I guess you’ll have to wait to see what it is.
Anyway, on to the reading….
The first book I read this week was The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. My husband got a copy of it at a library book sale a couple of years ago, so I thought I’d give it a shot. This is the story of a Little Prince from another planet. He is exploring the universe and his tale is told in the voice of a human he encountered in the desert.
To be honest, I did not like this book at all. I don’t know really what happened or what the main plot of the story was. It was just strange. Not one of my favorites.
Also new to me this week was The Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers. I did also read the sequel, The Day the Crayons Came Home by the same author/illustrator team.
Duncan’s crayons have quit. They have complaints they share with Duncan. Yellow and Orange both think they are the color of the sun. Blue is all stubby because Duncan uses it too much. Peach can’t believe Duncan peeled off his label and now he is naked!
In the sequel, some of Duncan’s other crayons want to come home. Neon Red was left at a hotel during vacation. Pea Green has decided to be called Esteban! Yellow and Orange got melted in the sun and now are fused together.
I really enjoyed these books! I LOVED them! They have imaginative stories told through letters the crayons write to Duncan. I love, love, love the mix-media illustrations – a combination of photos, crayon drawings, and text “written” by the crayons. These are extremely awesome books that I recommend to everyone.
What did I read this week that you liked? What else should I read from my list? What did you read?
Let’s talk below!
OZ and Other Lands 
I LOVED “The Day the Crayons Quit”, so it’s surprising that I never read “The Day the Crayons Came Home”, but I’m sure it is equally as humorous and wonderful, as you mentioned!
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The best part of the sequel is the glow in the dark page. Definitely!
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You seem to be very good at blogging! I love how you show where you are finding your list of books above! You seem to have great stories every week too! What age levels would you read these books to?
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Thanks! Most of he chapter books on my list would be good for 3rd – 5th grades. Possibly I’d use them in middle grades too! I would take reading levels and !y purpose for reading them into account when making a book choice.
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The Day the Crayons Quit is so delightful! Many of my students have been excited to get their hands on the sequel.
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The two were a huge hit with a 5th grader I am tutoring! The glow in the dark page is amazing!
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My last week was crazy for a lot of the same reasons! Yuck! I bet you are glad PT Conferences are done!
I have not had a chance to read the newest Crayons book yet..I’ve heard mixed reviews, so I am glad to hear you liked it because I liked the first one! This week, I am going to focus on reading more picture books–I’ve kind of gotten away of them in lieu of interesting chapter books! 🙂
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I really, really loved the new Crayon book. I’m really debating ordering them for my own classroom!
What other picture book from my list should I read? I’m curious as to what everyone’s next idea is!
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My roommate brought her copy of “The Little Prince” with her from Japan. If I was fluent, I’d like to read it that way! I like strange so I might like it. I would recommend “Caps for Sale” from your challenge list; It’s a cute book that I read a lot as a kid.
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That sounds good. I’ll see if my library has it!
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I read both “The Day the Crayons Quit” and “The Day the Crayons Came Home” and absolutely loved them! The story itself is fantastic, but the illustrations really told the story for me. These particular books are a great read and worthy of any bookshelf. Thank you for sharing!
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The copy of The Day the Crayons Came Home” I read had a glow in the dark page! It was cool!
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That’s awesome!
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I have never heard of these books you read. It is too bad that the first was not that great. It always make me so upset when I give a book chance and it is not as a great as I thought it would be. I think you picked a great reading challenge! Good luck finishing it!
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Thanks! Check out the full list and suggest my next read!
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I read The Little Prince in high school when I was a sophomore. A lot of my classmates loved it, probably because it was so short. I did enjoy the imagination it held but didn’t understand it either. I agree that it didn’t really have a plot and I guarantee it won’t end up on my top ten list of books I recommend.
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You are so right! My husband told me not to have any expectations, and it just wasn’t for me.
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