Poll: Thanks for Giving Books
This week we celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S. and reflect on all our blessings. Certainly Nerdy Book Club members would count books among those.
Which titles have you been thankful for being able to read in the last year? Share your answers below in the comments.
Nerdy Book Club 
“LaRose” by Louise Erdrich
Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan
Pax by Sara Pennypacker
Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
All ones I’d add to my favorites list! 😊
Just a few that have really touched my students and me in some way this year:
1) The Best Man by Richard Peck
2) Maxi’s Secrets (or What You Can Learn from a Dog) by Lynn Plourde
3) Pax by Sarah Pennypacker
4) Ms. Bixby’s Last Day by John David Anderson
5) Penguin Problems by Jory John
6) Red, A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall
7) The Invisible Boy by Patrice Barton
8) To the Sea by Cale Atkinson
9) They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel
I love picture books. And there are so many great ones. But here are a few that came to mind immediately:
The Cow Who Climbed a Tree
by Gemma Merino
Makes you believe anything is possible. Inspirational.
Strictly No Elephants
By Lisa Mantchev and Taeeun Yoo
About friendship and being inclusive.
There’s a Giraffe in my Soup
By Ross Burach
Off the wall FUN.
Red: A Crayon’s Story
By Michael Hall
About being the true, best you. Breaking free from labels.
Max the Brave
By Ed Vere
Simply clever, humorous story about a cat, making mistakes, and being brave.
Thanks for the suggestions! I’ve been trying
#classroombookaday this year and can’t wait to share these. My students and I loved Red, a Crayon’s Story, too!
I teach 3rd grade. I am reading Poppy by Avi to my class right now. Earlier this year we read The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo. We’re so thankful for both the books and the authors.
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Was hard to read, but I will never forget it.
Pax by SaraPennypacker for the Global Readaloud. It brought my class and me closer together! also Who’s Doing the Work: How to Talk Less so Readers Will Do More by Burkins & Yaris (professionally). It validated how I was feeling about reading instruction!
Agree about Pax! My 5th graders loved being part of the GRA.
Hands down it was Ms. Bixby’s Last Day. I am so thankful for the reminder of the importance of relationships with students. If you have not read this book yet, I strongly urge you to find a copy.
Great one! Just finished it last week and my 5th graders are devouring it.
Love both Todd Parr and Eileen Spinelli’s Thankful books. Peter Reynolds Plant a Seed speaks to sharing, graditude and kindness too. PS I’m thankful for Nerdy friends.
Pax, Fish In a Tree, Out of My Mind, The One and Only Ivan,
Each Kindness, What To Do With A Problem
So many, many books..So lucky to be able to share with my students.
A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (adult title)
I’m grateful for Jennifer Holms Full of Beans because I am privileged to participate in a breakfast book club with amazing fifth graders in Sunapee NH next month. It always touches my heart to joyfully engage in conversations about books for the pure sake and pleasure of joyfully engaging in conversations about books. No agenda,,,, just a shared love of books with kids by my side!
I am so thankful for Sharon Draper’s book, STELLA BY STARLIGHT. It is opening my kids’ eyes to a world formerly unknown to them.
Finally got around to reading Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. Amazing book. It shows discrimination is not always race or culture. Happy to have gotten a chance to meet and talk with her at NCTE16
The Land of Stories (for my older students) and Last Stop on Market Street.
Two books come immediately to mind:
The Knowing Book by Rebecca Kai Dotlitch with Illustrations by Matthew Cordell
Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal by the author, herself.
All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
Grumpy Pants by Claire Messer!
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor
I guess I’ll have to find Out of Darkness because I so agree about your other two. Thanks for responding so quickly.
The Joy of Swimming by Lisa Congdon
Ada’s Ideas by Fiona Robinson
Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
I read SO many good middle grades/YA books this year! My favorites were:
-The War That Saved My Life (Kimberly Brubaker Bradley)
-Blackbird Fly (Erin Entrada Kelly)
-Booked (Kwame Alexander)
-Ghost (Jason Reynolds)
-Nimona (Noelle Stevenson)
-The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Kelly Barnhill)
-Wolf Hollow (Lauren Wolk)
-March Book 3 (John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, & Nate Powell)
-Warriors Don’t Cry (Melba Pattillo Beals)
-Echo (Pam Munoz Ryan)
-A Night Divided (Jennifer Nielsen)
-Paper Wishes (Lois Sepahban)
-The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Jacqueline Kelly)
-Roller Girl (Victoria Jamieson)
-Stella by Starlight (Sharon Draper)
I am thankful for BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson. We need more diverse books. Everyone deserves to have a mirror experience.
I love The Bear and the Piano. My favorite part is the homecoming at the end. Friends treasure friends.
So many, it’s hard to chose! Right now, I’m thankful for the March trilogy by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin & Nate Powell.
March: Book Three by Rep. John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell; Textbook by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
What a great poll question. I’m thankful for the books that make me see the world differently or that move me toward a better version of myself.
Here are the books I read in 2016 that did one or the other of those (or both):
J. D. Vance: Hillbilly Elegy
Gae Polisner: The Memory of Things
Bryan Stevenson: Just Mercy
Benjamin Alire Sáenz: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Jennifer Niven: All the Bright Places
Eric Weiner: The Geography of Genius
Danah Boyd: It’s Complicated
Sierra DeMulder: Today Means Amen
Elizabeth Gilbert: Big Magic
Jolene Thompson: Faraway Fox
Thank you, amazing authors.
Love how you said that and that’s exactly what I want, but it’s books that allow kids see the world differently or move toward the best versions of themselves, which is a great definition of teaching.
The War That Saved My Life, Kimberly Brusker Bradley
Wolf Hollow, Lauren Wolk
Soar, Joan Bauer
This Book Just Ate My Dog, Richard Byrne
We Found a Hat, Jon Klaassen
Miracle Man: The Story of Jesus, John Hendrix
Ashes, Laurie Halse Anderson
Ms. Bixby’s Last Day, John David Anderson
The Journey that Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margaret & H.A. Rey, Louise Borden
Rhyme Schemer, K.A. Holt
Paperboy, Vince Vawter
the view from the cheap seats by Neil Gaiman — every educator should read the first chapter, at least.
I’ve read so many wonderful books this year, but recently finished A POEM FOR PETER by Andrea Davis Pinkney, and both the story and incredibly beautiful writing gave me goosebumps!
In The Footsteps of Crazy Horse by Joseph Marshall III
Jasper And The Riddle of Riley’s Mine by Caroline Starr Rose
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
When A Ghost Talks, Listen (Book 2 in the How I Became A Ghost Series) by Tim Tingle
The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
Hiawatha and the Peacemaker by Robbie Robertson, illustrated by David Shannon
The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett (the 41st and final T.P. Discworld novel)
<3! Thank you, Mike!
Ms. Bixby’s Last Day by John David Anderson, Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban, The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, and Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. Plus many others!
The War That Saved My Life
Always, Abigail
A Night Divided
Garth Stein’s book Racing in the Rain, My Life as a Dog!
I am thankful for the book, Artie and Julie by Chih-Yuan Chen. This story is not just a story about an unlikely friendship between a lion and a rabbit, but about not letting fear get in the way of making an unexpected friend. This story is portrayed in a clever split page and full page format helping the youngest of readers to understand when the characters and their families are being compared. I am grateful for the richness of this book and the important messages that leave me thinking long after I’ve put the book away. Themes of acceptance, understanding, children innocent of prejudice, thinking for one’s self and doing what is right. I appreciate children’s literature with a simple story that’s really not so simple.
I’ve read so many books this year that it was hard to pick a favorite. But, that being said, I choose Courage for Beginners because I couldn’t put it down.
Loved Pax & The War That Saved My Life. Both recommendations from the Nerdy Book Club, so thank you very much!!
I am thankful for a professional read – Who’s Doing the Work by Jan Burkins and Kim Yaris, a children’s book – Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan and an adult novel – Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino
The Book Whisperer
Reading in the Wild
The Crossover, Booked, Midnight Without a Moon, The Summer of Lost and Found, All the Answers, Hour of the Bees, Ruby on the Outside, All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook, Every Single Second, Ms. Bixby’s Last Day, Bjorn’s Gift, Beautiful Blue World, Raymie Nightingale, Deep Work, Present Over Perfect, Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges, The Year of Running Dangerously, The Lifeboat, The Martian, The Magic Words, and These is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine.
I give thanks for Kelly Barnhill’s luminous THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON, and for Martha Brockenbrough’s excellent GAME OF LOVE AND DEATH — both real highlights among the books I read this year.
Gemini Summer, Mrs. Bixby’s Last Day, Raymie Nightingale, Counting by 7’s Salt to the Sea and that is just a few.
It is hard to choose. I am thankful for my family, who encouraged me to begin writing a blog on books. My current book for which I am thankful is The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolf.
The Seventh Wish by Kate Messner, The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner, More Happy than Not by Adam Silvera, Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, A Darker Shade of Magic by Victoria Schwab, and many more!
Pax has been the most loved book tjis year
A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman. Beautifully written!
I agree with so many of the titles already listed, but am surprised All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely wasn’t mentioned. (I know it came out in the fall of 2015, but I didn’t read it until early 2016.) After reading it, I have found all of the authors’ other books and added them to my reading list. Nicola Yoon’s titles also resonated with me.