It's Monday! What are you reading?

I'm continuing my trek through this year's list of Bluebonnet Award nominees!  This past weekend, I got halfway through Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee.

This story pulls at the heart from the very beginning, exploring the way feelings of love, loss, frustration, and hope can all coexist in profound relationships with family and friends--in human and animal experience.  Appelt and McGhee draw us into the book with vivid descriptions of both story setting and character psyches.  The mysterious spirituality woven throughout makes me feel like I'm in a place set apart, like the story of "Brigadoon".  

I'll be finishing up Maybe a Fox this week.  What are you reading today?

It's Wednesday! What's happening in the Sommer Library?

Students have been picking up their prizes for their Summer Reading Beach Blanket Bingo. Here are some of our Level D winners, who earned lunch in the library with a friend!

Ms. Margocs will be hosting a volunteer orientation this coming Monday, September 25th, from 115p to 2p.  Please attend if you have signed up to volunteer to help in the library!  If you cannot attend, the slideshow will be posted on the library website next week.  Click here for the link to the library volunteer signup.  Our busiest days are Tuesday through Friday!

Our first big book order of the year arrived today!  Ms Margocs and Mrs Woodul will be sharing the books with our students tomorrow.

We are preparing for our upcoming Fall Scholastic Book Fair!

Funds from our book fair help pay for author visits, books for the students, and library supplies.
Tune in next week for more book fair information!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Feeling under the weather with allergies is a good excuse to lie down on the couch and read--and I read The Best Man by Richard Peck in one day.

I hadn't read a book by Peck since grad school, and had forgotten how much I like his writing style.  His words just flow for me!

Archer is our narrator, and lets us in on the facts and foibles of his life leading up to the biggest event yet--a family wedding, in which he gets to be the best man.  There are a few mishaps: an embarrassing stint as a ring bearer, being teased for having a girl as a best friend, dealing with the celebrity of a student teacher. But in true Peck style, there are a lot of tender moments: walks with Grandpa and talks with his parents, friends sticking up for one another, and lessons learned in the bleachers of Wrigley Field.

If you're in the mood for a rollicking read that may bring a happy tear to the eye, pick up a copy of The Best Man by Richard Peck--and sign one more book off of your Bluebonnet nominee list!

It's Monday!  What was on your weekend reading pile?

It's Wednesday! What's happening in the Sommer Library?

We had an author visit yesterday!

Carmen Oliver is the author of Bears Make the Best Reading Buddies, illustrated by Jean Claude.  She visited with Pre-K and kindergarten students, and talked about her reading and writing life and path to becoming an author.  Ms. Oliver read her story for us, and made connections to Winnie-the-Pooh, too!

PTA provided funding for this visit--thank you very much!

Our fabulous PTA library support team visited with Ms. Margocs on Monday to start planning our Fall Book Fair--it's coming in October!  Funds raised through book sales help pay for authors' visits, our Bluebonnet Reading Program party, and library supplies.  Stay tuned for more news about the Book Fair in the next few weeks!

There will be a library volunteer training session in the library on Monday, September 25th at 2:00pm.  If you would like to shelve books for our busy library, please plan on attending this 45 minute training session.  If you can't make it, a tutorial will be available on the library website afterward.

Thank you for supporting our Sommer Library Program in so many ways!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

If you've followed this blog for awhile, you know that I am a huge proponent of picture books.  Words accompanied by static illustrations make a perfect  environment for beginning readers, vocabulary building for older students, and for anyone's eyes tired of constant text in novels and moving images on a screen.  Picture books are like photo albums; they allow the eye to rest on details, to ponder the connections at the reader's own pace, marvel in the artwork and how it enhances the story.

Picture book biographies bring their subjects to life.  Such is the case with Edward Hopper Paints His World, written by Robert Burleigh and illustrated by Wendell Minor.

From a young age, Edward knew he wanted to be an artist--but that doesn't mean that it was an easy road to making a living.  Hopper studied art in New York and Paris, and illustrated magazines to earn money while he was pursuing his passion for painting.  His earlier work did not sell well, but he persevered.  Hopper is now best known for his iconic painting of a city diner, Nighthawks.

The author takes us on a journey of Hopper's personal life and the evolution of his work, and the illustrator evokes the feelings of Hopper's paintings, incorporating four of his most famous works into the story.  The original paintings are shown at the end of the book, as are quotes from Hopper, musings on the artist as a hero and explorer, important dates in Hopper's life, and bibliographic references from both the author and the illustrator.  Edward Hopper Paints His World is a beautiful way to teach biography and nonfiction text features in any classroom, at any level. 

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NOT for kids book: I am trying to do more "just for me" reading this school year, starting with Cheryl Strayed's Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail.  

I remember when the movie based on the book came out, thinking it was "just" a "finding myself" kind of story--intriguing, but not enough to pull me to the theater or bookstore at the time. 

In July, I happened across a Facebook post forwarded by the American Library Association from the Multnomah County Library .  The librarians there would make book recommendations based on your tattoos!  I sent them a picture of my last inking, explaining how it commemorates my 51st birthday--the age at which my mother died from ALS.  Wild was their suggestion for me, and it was spot on.  

Strayed may have taken a much different path (figuratively and literally) in dealing with her mother's passing, but the emotional unmooring she experienced is very familiar to me.  This book is less about surviving a thousand mile walk, and more about how we deal with profound grief and keep on living.

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Last, but not least, I've also started Ralph Fletcher's Joy Write: Cultivating High-Impact, Low-Stakes Writing.  I'll let you know what I learn in a future post!

It's Monday; what are you reading?

It's Wednesday! What's happening in the Sommer Library?

Orientation!

That's what happened in the Sommer Library last week!  We had fourth and fifth graders listening to We're Going on a Book Hunt with our kindergarten classes, then helping the younger students find and check out books :

The older students were wonderful participants in storytime, and the level of care shown to the kindergarten students while they taught them  how to use their shelf markers and check out scanner was a heartwarming sight for their librarian and teachers.

Third graders paired up on the iPads for a student-paced Nearpod lesson, helping each other with the quiz questions:

Second grade classes reviewed library expectations by listening to Shelf Elf  by Mim Hopkins:

First grades got to listen to We're Going on a Book Hunt, too; then they headed for the shelves to check out their first two books of the year!

Fourth grades got a project-based orientation, with the directive to answer questions about the library for an incoming alien contingent.  They had fun making their video answers on the iPads, and Ms. Margocs finally tried "airdropping" for the first time--easy peasy!

It's great having students back in the library to enjoy our collection!  Our shelf-wide Bluebonnet Nominee collection is down to just a few books already:

This week, we're reading School's First Day of School by Adam Rex in the Book Nook.  Older students are playing the Bluebonnet/ Genre Mashup game and exploring our databases for future research projects in the classroom.

Next week, we'll talk about a few new displays in the library, and provide details for volunteer orientation this year.

Please note new morning hours:  the library is now open only for book returns before school.

Welcome back to the library, Stallion Readers!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Labor Day weekend--and I caught up on two more Bluebonnet Award Nominees today!

Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes is an historical fiction novel--if historical fiction can be written in present day mode.  The story opens on Dèja waking up in a family shelter, about to face her first day of fifth grade in a new school.  Her mother works hard as a waitress, but cannot make ends meet for Dèja, her two younger siblings, and her father, who can't hold a job due to physical and mental illness.  The curriculum that year is centered on the events of 9/11.  What Dèja learns about the event will impact her relationships with friends and family in ways she didn't anticipate.

I read this book in one day, sitting in the quiet of my living room.  When I finished the last page, I was glad for the stillness of my surroundings; it allowed me to think about the messages of this book, to breathe and let go of the tension I felt for Dèja's family and friends.  I was really impressed with the way the author handled the details of 9/11 with a gentle touch, giving just enough to emphasize the tragedy without overwhelming younger readers.

Little Cat's Luck by  Marion Dane Bauer was a much lighter read!

Patches loves her home and her girl, but has an inexplicable yearning to find a place that is dark, warm, and cozy.  A story in free verse, we follow Patches as she follows a leaf through town, getting lost in the chase.  Luck is on her side, however--she has traveled safely to the yard of Gus, the meanest dog in the neighborhood, who just happens to have a dark, cozy doghouse.  But will Gus let Patches stay?  Animal lovers will enjoy this story's personification of suburban creatures, and the twists and turns this story takes before a happy ending.

It's a Monday off for teachers and students--what did you read today?