Books Archives | Lucky To Be In First

December 15, 2018 1 Comment

Books to Read This Winter Break!

It is no secret that I love to read! But it’s hard to squeeze in reading during the school year. Winter Break is the perfect time to make time to read. Grab your Kindle, a cup of tea and get reading!

This post contains affiliate links. By purchasing an item on these sites using these links, I will receive a small commission on your purchase. For more information about my Disclosure Policy, please visit this link.

Books to Read This Winter! Snuggle up with a good book this winter! Check out my must-reads for the holidays!

I know everyone loves a good Hallmark Christmas movie, but I’ll take a holiday book any day. And most of the books on this list can be read in about the same time it takes to watch one of those movies!

Here’s a list of my favorite Christmas books to read that you can easily rip through during your Winter Break!

Years ago, I read Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews and it’s simply a delightful book! I still find myself thinking about the characters. Does anyone else feel like characters become their friends and you’re sad when a book ends? Well, I’m not sure how it took me so long to realize this is a series but I am thrilled to jump into the rest. Can’t wait for a catch-up with Weezie and Bebe!

You know my guilty pleasure is a good Lauren Layne book! An Ex for Christmas is a super-duper fun book that you can read in an afternoon by the fire sipping cocoa! I found myself grinning and giggling throughout.

Okay, grab your tissues for The Christmas Shoes. You guys…I never cry and this book gets me every.single.time. I love to re-read this book each year. It’s a wonderful story and it has a few sequels, too. And for those of you who love a good movie…good news! Rob Lowe stars in The Christmas Shoes Movie so at least when you’re sobbing you have something good to look at 🙂

A few years back Elin Hildebrand {one of my top-three authors!} started writing a Winter series about a family on Nantucket. Well, I love everything about Nantucket, so I was hooked immediately! She’s written four books in the series so make sure to start with Winter Street. This book will introduce you to everyone in the Quinn family. It’s always fun to catch up with old friends!

This year, Elin wrote Winter in Paradise – a standalone holiday book. It doesn’t take place in Nantucket, but it’s still an excellent winter read! I got my copy in my Book of the Month box, but of course, it’s available on Amazon, too!

Looking for other book suggestions?

Check out my Must-Reads from 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Do you have any suggestions for my list?

September 4, 2017 Leave a Comment

Sound & Light

Do you teach the Next Generation Science Standards? I recently created a Sound & Light unit to use with my first graders this year! For the first time, I’m actually excited to teach Science!

{You can read more about the Sound & Light here!}

Of course, it helps to have great books to go along with the unit, right?

Here’s a peek at the perfect books for Sound & Light that are just perfect for first graders!!
Click on any of the pictures and it’ll take you right to the book.

This post contains affiliate links. By purchasing an item on these sites using these links, I will receive a small commission on your purchase…which I’ll use to buy even more books! For more information about my Disclosure Policy, please visit this link.

It’s important that every child understands that they are a Scientist! This book is a great way to kick start your classroom learning!

This is a great book to review the five senses! and kick off your discussions on Light and Sound!
I learned A TON while creating this unit and this books were just right for kids {and teachers!}
This is a very comprehensive book on Sound! Kid friendly illustrations, too!

This just may be my favorite book {along with the Light one!} It is absolutely perfect for young learners and it includes experiments for kids to take their learning even further!

Can you ever go wrong with a Rookie Reader? Simple language for complex ideas! Love the picture dictionary in the back, too!

This is a fabulous book for learning all you need to know about light waves!

I am so grateful for the authors out there who can make really challenging concepts so simple to understand through words and illustrations! I love both of Wendy Pfeffer’s books for this unit!

This book on light is just right for first graders!Every child loves their shadow! And I’ve recently discovered that I love Oscar! Oscar is a very curious cat who helps students understand scientific concepts!
As you start to learn more about sound and light, students soon discover that the two ideas are related…and they can communicate using what they know! This is a perfect book to help with that idea!
And it wouldn’t be a Science unit if we didn’t have the Frizz helping us, right?

I purchased the entire Magic School Bus DVD set because they are just perfect for Indoor Recess!

But the two episodes that are just right for Sound and Light are Magic School Bus: Inside the Haunted House and Magic School Bus: Gets a Bright Idea.

Wrapping up the unit is the perfect time for these videos because students will have a strong idea of what’s happening after they’ve had a chance to explore on their own!

Want to read more about Sound and Light? Check out this blog post!

Slainte!

April 26, 2017 Leave a Comment

Spring Bookshelf – What to Read This Season

Well, life must have been pretty busy these past two months, because my Books Read list is awfully short! I read so few books in March, that I combined April in with this list!

This post contains affiliate links for Amazon and Book of the Month. By purchasing an item on these sites using these links, I will receive a small commission on your purchase {which helps me buy even more books!} For more information about my Disclosure Policy, please visit this link.

Sophie Kinsella’s books are always hit-or-miss for me. Fortunately, My Not So Perfect Life was a hit. Definitely something entertaining that you should add to your summer reading list!

It takes place in London and that always makes me want to move {or at least visit London!}

Hey Harry, Hey Matilda is a fun story told through a series of emails between a set of twins. You may recall from my January Bookshelf post that Meg Cabot’s book is a story completely written through emails, texts, and news articles. That was an entertaining book.

This one? It’s good…not great. Entertaining, but quite honestly, not worth rushing out to pick up!

The first Book of the Month title I read was Marlena by Julie Buntin. To be honest, it was a little depressing. The narrator, Cat, moves to a small town in Michigan at 15. It tells a drawn out story about how she got mixed up with a troubled girl name Marlena.

I’ll be honest…it just didn’t make me want to pick it up and read. I finished it, but it took far too long! But, there’s a book out there for every reader, so don’t let me stop you from picking it up. It was well-written for sure. I just didn’t love the plot {which kinda important in a novel, right?}

Okay, so The Most Dangerous Place on Earth was the opposite of Marlena – I couldn’t put it down! The story takes place in the fancier part of the Bay Area {definitely not where I live!}. The book starts with a group of kids in middle school, where a tragedy occurs.

Fast forward a few years, and it follows the same group of kids through the high-pressure high school years.

It’s fantastic!

You know I love me some James P! One of his latest {he comes out with about 14 books a month!} is Never Never. It’s a mystery that happens in the Australian country. It was one of the few books of his that gave me the heebie-jeebies!

Definitely a good read for the upcoming summer break!

Of course I had to sneak in a Lauren Layne book this month! Blurred Lines is a delicious, guilty pleasure read. The premise: can a guy and a girl just be friends? This is a super fun read that answers the age-old question!

Who knew I liked suspense novels? I can’t get enough these days. Behind Closed Doors is excellent and you MUST add it to your TBR list! It’s not scary-suspenseful. It’s more of the “HOW can this happen to someone!” suspense!

The Good Girl has been on my Kindle wishlist for quite some time. It was on flash sale during April, so I snagged it. Really good! If you like to read books {like Gone Girl} where you try to piece together things as you’re reading along, you will enjoy this one!

It’s told from the perspectives of the mother of the missing girl, the man who kidnapped her, and the detective on the case. It’s awesome!

Hope that fills your reading queue for a bit!

Slainte!