Erin Dealey

It’s Classroom Blog Takeover Day and this post comes all the way from Cambodia!

I first met the 3rd Graders at the International School of Phnom Penh when I skyped with them for #WRAD.

Sharing the cover of my next book: DEAR EARTH…From Your Friends in Room 5 ( Illus. Luisa Uribe / Harper Collins/ Dec. 2020)

(Fun fact: I skyped with ISPP from California at 7pm Feb. 4th, and it was already 10am Feb. 5th –World Read Aloud Day–in Cambodia.)

As a follow up, I thought it would be cool to learn more about what they’re reading.

Huge thanks to their teacher, Erika Victor, for sending these answers along, and to Zunran, Hyeonseo, and Mia for sharing their thoughts:

What are you reading?

Zunran: I just finished reading ZIG AND WIKKI IN THE COW (Nadja Spiegelman and Trade Loeffler / Toon Books). I liked this book because the story was funny, the characters were planning, and also because it had some informational text in it too. 

Full Disclosure: Because I had never heard of this book, I wanted to learn more. (Thanks Zunran!) Here’s the summary from Toon Books:

When alien pals Zig and Wikki lose their spaceship on Earth, their friendship is definitely in trouble. In order to get home, they must travel through a farm and into a cow, picking up fun facts about ecology (and picking fights) along the way. 

Nadja Spiegelman and Trade Loeffler‘s funny, science-based early-reader is packed with fast-paced adventure and facts about poop: what more could a young reader want?

Reminds me of Ms. Frizzle’s Magic School Bus (Scholastic) only with Aliens!

Hyeonseo: I just finished reading HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE (J.K.Rowling / Scholastic Press). I liked the book because the story was interesting and had lots of details in it. The characters were very interesting also because they all like to do different things like play chess or learn and more. The book was also very attractive and now I want to read the second book in the series. 

Wow. Hard to believe HARRY POTTER was first released in the US in 1998 and readers are still discovering the magic.

Mia:  I just finished reading GUTS (Raina Telgemeier / Graphix / Scholastic). I liked the book because the story was about that everyone gets scared and people are vomiting and that it’s okay if people get therapy. The characters were nice, mean, and generous. The book was good for me to practice inferring and had very good pictures. 

Thank you again to the third graders at the International School of Phnom Penh. Did you notice that 2 out of 3 books are graphic novels? When I asked Ms. Victor about it she said they had just finished a graphic novel unit (Hooray!)

It’s interesting to note all three of these amazing Classroom Blog Takeover students speak English as a second or third language. WOW! Congrats, my friends–and keep #READING!