The Days Before Christmas

Lots of things happening before Christmas: practice for the Christmas program, collecting for the Kid-To-Kid drive, making ornaments for the school tree, and lots of whispering about secrets. The second grade and the other half of the first grade got to enjoy the Sabuda pop-up books. I bought a set of his Christmas cards which appear in his book The Christmas Alphabet and sent each class a card. They enjoyed them.



May each of our readers have a Merry Christmas and let us know what you are reading.

Pop-Up Books by Robert Sabuda

I love pop-up books! This week I shared three of my favorites with the kindergarten, and 1/2 of the first grade (the other 1/2 doesn't have class this week because of school improvement). We read Winter in White, Winter's Tale, and The Night Before Christmas. The students were fascinated by the paper engineering and how the objects jumped off the page. They especially thought the ending of A Winter's Tale was spectacular! Thank you, Mr. Sabuda, for your wonderful books.

The Night the Scary Beasties Popped Out of My Head

Daniel is having trouble with nightmares. The scary beasties disturb his sleep and now he is going to fight back with his mighty pencil! He draws rescue animals and vehicles to help vanquish the enemy so he can sleep soundly...with paper and pencil beside his bed.

Kindergarten students laughed and cheered as Dan raced acrossed the pages to victory.

You Are My Sunshine by Holly Hobbie

The two good friends are back in another story. Toot has the mopes and Puddle tries to cheer his friend up. Finally a thunderstorm hits Woodcock Pocket clearing the air and Toot's mopes.

The Pencil by Allan Ahlberg

We have been working with shapes and learning how to use Kid Pix in kindergarten. This week we are branching out to read about drawing and we are starting with The Pencil by Allan Ahlberg, the story of a pencil and his drawings. The students thought Kitty was the best character because she added color.

I notice on the dedication that Mr. Ahlberg thanks David and Daniel. I wonder who these two are. Could they be David and Daniel Kamish? I will be doing more research on this idea.

A Present for Toot by Holly Hobbie

Toot's birthday is coming and Puddle is shopping for something very special, but Toot won't give Puddle any clues as to what to buy. I notice the audience perks up when Tulip speaks because of the characterization I give the voice.

Toot & Puddle by Holly Hobbie

Friendship is a precious commodity, and Toot & Puddle show us how friends can be themselves and still be friends.

The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything

The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams, illustrated by Megan Lloyd is a kindergarten favorite. The students enjoyed interacting with the story to clomp, wiggle, shake, clap, nod, and say "BOO!"

Halloween Stories

Using Jan Pienkowski's Haunted House (1979) and Disney's Haunted Mansion (1994), I told the story of my haunted house. All the students in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade seemed to enjoy the stories. We also used a virtual pumpkin to make scary jack o'lanterns. (Thanks to Cub Pack 81 in New Jersey for hosting this site!)

What are you reading?

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The Hallo-wiener by Dav Pilkey

Today we read the last Dav Pilkey of the year. The Hallo-wiener is the story of Oscar, the wiener dog, and his Halloween.

Merry Christmas, Dragon

We read our last Dragon this week, Dragon's Merry Christmas, by Dav Pilkey. Dragon makes a candy wreath, buys Christmas presents, and helps his neighbors celebrate the season.

Wing on a Flea: A Book About Shapes

Ed Emberly wrote and illustrated this book showing how shapes like rectangles, triangles, and circles are all around us "if we just look and see." Using cut outs of two sizes of circles, rectangles, and triangles, the kindergarten students put together their own pictures. When they were done, had shared with others at their tables, the put the shapes in back into the middle of the table and made something else. Judging from the giggles and the patterns, a good time was had by all.

Dragon's Halloween by Dav Pilkey

Dragon sets up his scary jack o' lantern, attends a Halloween party, and hears growling in the dark woods.

Recommend a Book

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Dragon's Fat Cat by Dav Pilkey

We enjoyed Dragon's Fat Cat by Dav Pilkey. Dragon rescues a fat cat from a snow storm, but soon encounters the unexpected problems of a new cat owner: how to train his cat, what to feed his cat, how to manage the yellow puddles.

Don't Bet Against Me

The HS Library Lady writes: Don’t Bet Against Me is by Deanna Favre, wife of professional football player Brett Favre. Deanna talks about the obstacles and tragedies that she has faced and how she has gotten through her struggles. Her hardest fight has been with breast cancer. The support of faith, family and friends has kept her going strong. Check it out at the HS IMC.

A Book Fair

This week I publicized our upcoming book fair. We have a selection of books coming from Scholastic Books. The books will arrive on Friday, September 19th and I will set up the fair. The official opening is Monday, September 22. Each of the classes will visit to hear a story or two and have time to browse. Parents are encouraged to visit, especially during the PTO Picnic in the Park on September 26. The fair will move from the library to the gym for that event.

Watch for comments from the students about the books they like. The signs and the video have already generated lots of excitement about the Dinosaur Cove series, and the kids were abuzz when a shots of Star Wars and Pokemon books lit up the screen.

Visit our book fair homepage.

A Love Story

From the high school library lady: If you love a love story then Nicholas Sparks', The Choice, is the book for you. Neighbors Travis and Gabby meet because of Travis’s barking dog. After young love, marriage and family Travis is forced to make a choice that will affect him and his family for the rest of their lives.

Howard B. Wigglebottom Listens To His Heart

In this week's installment of the Howard B. Wigglebottom, we learned that having heart is more than just the muscle that goes THUMP THUMP in our chest, it means doing things that make us happy.

Dictionaries and Reading

Third grades heard the book The Yellow Star: the Legend of King Christian X of Denmark. Although no documentation has been found, the legend says the King and his subjects wore yellow stars to mask the Jews who were forced to wear the yellow stars during World War II.

Third graders listened to the book and wrote down words they didn't know or understand (i.e., stout, Danes, gentile, defiance, resistance) and then used the dictionary to read the definitions and check spelling.

Another Dav Pilkey Adventure

We read Dragon Gets By this week in first grade. First graders enjoyed the morning mix-up of sleepy Dragon and the adventures in cleaning and of grocery shopping.

Kindergarten Reads Howard B. Wigglebottom

Howard Binkow wrote a delightful book for kindergarteners called Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen. Howard is a young rabbit who doesn't listen to his teachers or friends as they try to warn him of hazards ahead. However, Howard B. Wigglebottom thinks about his actions during a time-out and tries to listen better.

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Book 4 in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series Percy Jackson isn’t expecting freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears on campus, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to worse. In this latest installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos’s army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop the invasion, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth–a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn. Full of humor and heart-pounding action. ~from the MS Library Lady

Check out A LONG WAY GONE by Ishmael Beah from the READ FOR A LIFETIME list

Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered Sierra Leone, Africa rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, forced to be a soldier and found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. At 15 he is brought to a rehabilitation center sponsored by UNICEF and is on his way back to civilian life only to be caught up in the war again. ~from the HS library lady

First Grade is Reading Dav Pilkey

Although the most successful of Dav Pilkey's books are the Captain Underpants series, the first grade have heard me read Dog Breath and A Friend for Dragon. The students learned a new word, halitosis, so they could enjoy the illustrations and the story better. In A Friend for Dragon they were introduced to the series of Dragon's Tales. While reading and discussing, we learned four important secrets of friendship:

• A good friend is a good listener.
• Good friends have things in common.
• Good friends share.
• good friends care about each other.

What We Are Reading

Each week the library ladies will offer you some suggestions for reading. This week:

The HS Library Lady says: "I am currently reading the 4th book in the Stephenie Meyer Twilight series. It’s a modern day vampire, werewolf, and human story. Many interesting characters with special powers. I can’t put it down."

Our MS Library Lady recommends: Welcome back Middle Schoolers! I have over 50 new books so come to the IMC and check out the new book table. Some of the new titles are:

• Quest by Angie Sage
• Found by Margaret Haddix
• Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
• Tunnels by Gordon
• Swindle By Korman
• Airman by Colfer

Come see me soon and start reading for your first bookreports!

And The ES Library Lady reports: "At the end of last year, I purchased picture books by Cornelia Funke, author of MS favorites such as Dragon Rider, Inkheart and The Thief Lord. One of the new picture books by Funke is Princess Pigsty, a story of a princess who doesn't want to be a princess and her father who loves her enough to let her try other things."

What are you reading? Hit the comment button to share.

Labor Day

In 1882, Peter McGuire suggested: "Let us have, a festive day during which a parade through the streets of the city would permit public tribute to American Industry." (Detroit News, September 4, 1997). For many years cities and towns held Labor Day parades to celebrate workers across the nation. Now we view it as the last holiday of summer. A day for a last picnic, a last swim in the public pool, and we start to put away our summer clothes, school is back in session, and we look forward to cooler weather, turning leaves and harvest celebrations.

No matter how you celebrate this Labor Day, enjoy this Labor Day, Monday, September 1, 2008.

Suggested readings from our libraries:

Ansory, Mir Tamin (1999) Labor Day. Heinemann. 32 pp.
Scott, Geoffrey (1982) Labor Day. Carolrhoda. 48 pp.

Summer Olympics of 2008

I watched the awesome opening ceremonies for the Olympics last week, and I have been following the record-breaking activities of swimmer Michael Phelps on the Bejing 2008 website as well as NBC-TV. There are books and magazines waiting in the schools when you return next week. Come in and have a look. We also have other sports books for your enjoyment. Until then, browse our online catalog.

Read For A LifeTime

Illinois high school students are invited to join a reading club set up by the Illinois State Library. The program runs through the end of October to the first part of April. Students can choose which four of twenty-five books they would like to read. I have put together a page for my students to see all the titles. Have a look. If you would like to get involved, visit your high school library or media center for more information.

Welcome

Welcome to my first attempt at blogging. I am a school library/media specialist in central Illinois. The purpose of this blog is to discuss what we are reading in our schools and I hope you will join in the conversation about what you are reading.



Rules:

1. Please refrain from using insulting, abusive, or other derogatory language on this blog.


2. Tell us what you are reading and if you would recommend it to others and why.


3. Please identify yourself by initials and grade/status. (i.e. I am KAK/teacher; you might be JQC/grade 6)