IMWAYR is a weekly blog hop with kid lit co-hosts Jennifer from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers. The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. It’s a great way to share what you’re reading and get recommendations from others. We encourage you to write your own post sharing what you’re reading, link up, leave a comment, and support other IMWAYR bloggers by visiting and commenting on at least three of the other linked blogs each week.

It’s spring break, yet I’m home and I’m cold. Will it ever stop raining and snowing? What can I do? I can READ! I want to read EVERYTHING to celebrate National School Libraries Week, but I must be realistic. Here’s my actual plan…

1. Read about libraries and librarians: I have several titles in mind to discover or read again. Today I read My Librarian is a Camel by Margriet Ruurs (Boyds Mills Press, 2005) and Leilong the Library Bus by Julia Liu and Bei Lynn (Gecko Press , 2021 — thank you to Tracy at Publisher Spotlight for the gift of reading).
2. Listen to Libro.fm: I must finish Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson (narrated by Talon David). It’s goofy and light-hearted and if I can get everything else to stop for about an hour, I would meet the ending to this delightful ebook.
3. Read ARCs (early reads): I am LOVING the upcoming 2022 titles that I have on my desk. I finished A Perfect Mistake by Melanie Conklin (Little, Brown and Company, due July 2022), which was perfect and I cannot wait to add it to our school libraries this fall. I loved Max and his imperfect ADHD life and how he struggles and grows throughout the story. (Teachers and librarians: pre-order this one now. You’re going to want this on your shelves.)

I also read The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat, which is a fantasy that left me wondering about destinies and dreams. Another wonderful read by Christina! This book publishes on April 12th (Candlewick Press, 2022). Sail away to your local indie bookstore and grab this one.

4) Learning about Climate Change and Weather: I have Discovering El Nino: How Fable and Fact Together Help Explain the Weather by Patricia Seibert and Jan Davey Ellis (Millbrook Press, 1999), which is a factual account of how fishermen in Peru and scientists discovered the warmer currents in the seas and named them. Then later, Sir Gilbert Walker, a scientist from Great Britain studying monsoons in India, noticed that weather around the world is all connected. I recommend this one for ages 10 and up and those who want to learn more about the world’s weather patterns. It’s interesting!

Climate Action (“The Future Is In Our Hands” series) by Georgina Stevens and Katie Rewse is a big book (literally), full of facts and infographics about climate change from all over the world and how humans can take actions that will help. “We can all make a difference.” (360 Degrees/Tiger Tales, 2021)

5) CELEBRATE my friends’ book birthday! Consider the Octopus publishes tomorrow (Henry Holt & Co.)! I’m so happy for the terrific writing team, together again — Nora Raleigh Baskin and Gae Polisner — on this excellent new story of a crazy adventure aboard a ship in the Pacific Ocean. Jeremy “JB” Barnes has been roped into spending time on The Oceania II where his mother, a research scientist, is about to set sail to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Yuk! Last thing he wants to do during the summer. When JB finds out that he accidentally invited Sidney Miller (age 12) to the Emergency Global Summit instead of DR. Sidney Miller, the renowned research scientist, things become very interesting, to say the least. Oh, just buy the book tomorrow and read it. It’s fun! It’s interesting! It will make you want to save the ocean’s wildlife.

Join us at @BrainLairBooks’ virtual event (on Facebook and their YouTube channel) on Wednesday evening, 7:00 pm ET, for the book launch party!

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?