Willow February 9, 2010

Willow by Denise Brennan-Nelson

Willow is an artist trapped in the art class of a stern, uncreative art teacher. When all the other kids draw the perfect apple tree (that all look exactly the same!), Willow creates blue apples and gets in trouble.

A sweet tale of being true and funky and artistic, Willow wins over the heart of her art teacher and gets her back in touch with her true artist self. 1st and 2nd graders just loved this book, and we had such great discussions about why Miss Hawthorn acted the way she did, as well as how on earth could there be a blue apple?!? The cherry on top was the website all about Willow found here. We drew our own apple trees and even sent the author a question via email. One more thing–perfect for any character unit, especially ones where the character changes.

Grumpy Bird January 21, 2010

Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard
Cute, cute, cute! Grumpy Bird woke up grumpy and is stomping around, all the while meeting friends along the way who ask what he is doing. He gets snarky with them (“I’ll give you a hint! I’m putting one foot in front of the other!”), and none of them are bothered by this at all. Instead, they just join him in his walk and create a big line of happy animals following the grumpy leader. Finally, he forgets about his grumpiness when everyone begins copying his movements. 

The illustrations are amazing in this book. I read it with kinders last week and it was a hit. We then made a list of what makes us feel grumpy and then read the book again, looking deeper at the illustrations.

The Dog Who Belonged to No One January 12, 2010

The Dog Who Belonged to No One by Amy Hest

This book is so great that I had to blog about it on both book blogs. It was a huge hit with 1st graders, but I know it would work with older grades, too.

Soft, gentle, warm, evocative: it seems everything Amy Hest writes is just oozing with all these qualities. The Dog Who Belonged to No One is a charming story of a dog who has no one and a girl who is lonely and how they find each other. But it’s not just any girl meets dog book–the language and imagery is nothing short of stunning. When I read it with first graders, we talked about what the pictures in our mind were (warm bread, soft porch light, curled up in the rain…) It is told in see-saw fashion with one page describing the dog and one page describing the girl, Lia. Lots of layers to this book and a fantastic mentor text.

Poop-Eaters: Dung Beetles in the Food Chain December 10, 2009

Poop-Eaters: Dung Beetles in the Food Chain by Deirdre Prischmann

I cannot get enough of this new NF book in our collection. It’s another of the fabulous ones from Capstone Press that is super engaging and so high-interest for kids. I’ve used it as a mentor text for NF book reviews on Destiny with both 4th and 5th graders, and it has been highly successful. Picture a group of kids and the sounds that come with being so incredibly grossed out. It’s very graphic and detailed and has snippets of GROSS! facts along the way that kids are eating up.

As kids are winding up their NF unit of study, this was a nice way for them to write book reviews about NF books, which surprisingly were easier to write than fiction reviews. Here are some samples of the class model review before they went off on their own to write one:

December 8, 2009
If you like gross things, this is just the right book for you! This book is filled with poopy facts about dung beetles. For example, their favorite food is elephant poop. If you are wondering what happens to different animals’ poop, this is a MUST READ! by Ms. Hellyer’s Non-fiction Superstars!
November 30, 2009
Do really gross books amaze you? If the answer is yes, you’ll love this book! This book tells us about beetles that gorge on POOP! Careful–you might throw up after reading this book. By Ms. Terry’s Super Non Fiction Readers

Scaredy Squirrel November 30, 2009

Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt

 

Truly one of my favorite new characters living in the library (do I say that too much?!), Scaredy Squirrel is wonderful on many levels. First off, it’s HILARIOUS in that Scaredy Squirrel is petrified of the ‘unknown,’ which means anything outside of his nut tree. He prepares himself for the worst always, and has a plan A and plan B and even a plan C in case of emergency. His fears are mostly ridiculous but help kids feel ok about their fears, I think. Melanie Watt’s illustrations are key and perfect for teaching procedural writing as well. It’s also on Tumblebooks, so that is a good introduction to the character. When I read one of the sequels today, Scaredy Squirrel Finds a Friend, with the 2nd graders, we all were howling with laughter.

 

A sneak peek at the wonderful illustrations and some of Scaredy Squirrel’s fears…see what I mean?

Time Soldiers November 23, 2009

Robert Gould’s Time Soldiers

Kids in camouflage clothing ready to save the day + A huge T-Rex invading a city = Smashing Success!

So, I have this one class this year that is, shall I say, um…a wee bit challenging. They come to me the last period of the day, and the books that are deep and beautiful and inspire all sorts of discussions simply do–not–appeal to them at this point in the year (I do have faith that they will one day hang on every word of Cynthia Rylant’s work). I believe strongly in going to where the kids are, and so last week, I brought out a new series I ordered called Time Soldiers.

Let’s just say that got their attention. It’s a pretty gripping series, and the kids in the story are portrayed with real photographs, as well as the T-Rex photo that is superimposed on the pages. The T-Rex goes around destroying things in the city, and the kids get to be the heroes. Action-packed and at a lower reading level, this series is a huge hit in our library. There is also another book about King Arthur as well. A definite must for reluctant readers and fans of adventure books.

Roscoe Riley November 21, 2009

Roscoe Riley Rules by Katherine Applegate

 

I read about this new series on another blog and ordered all seven titles. Mind you, I haven’t seen more than one title in the library because they leave with another kid the minute they get checked in. And that doesn’t count the huge number of holds that are put on it as well. It’s a hit for a number of reasons: it’s funny and those are always popular, it’s written for a middle-level reader (perfect for grade 2-3), and the character makes all these mistakes but he doesn’t really mean it. I’m thinking lots of kids are connecting with this text. Another thing I love is that both boys and girls are raving about this series.

 

An interesting note is that the same Katherine Applegate wrote one of my favorite novels in verse, Home of the Brave. The two books couldn’t be more different, and I like that she has a serious side and a silly side.

Beware of the Frog November 10, 2009

Beware of the Frog by William Bee

 

Finding a really successful book for pre-K and Kinder kids is something I find challenging. Perhaps I have really high expectations, but I want them to be so happy when they are in the library and the right book choice seems so important at this age. Our school has a large ESOL population at this level, so there’s the comprehension part as well that I have to think of. At the end of the day, I am looking for them to giggle a bit and participate in the book as much as they can.

 

Beware of the Frog is a new book to our collection, and the Pre-K’s just ate it up this morning. (that’s a bit more punny if you read the book because the frog eats all these people). It has the right amount of mystery in the ‘dark, scary wood’ and the character name that sounds good to your tongue (Mrs. Collywobbles) and a frog that eats everyone that bothers her (like with the feet hanging out of the frog’s mouth and everything! Cool!)  An added bonus is the good teaching points like repetitive phrasing and fancy writing for important parts. A huge success! Pretty please share any and all successful pre-K and K titles!

New Books November 5, 2009

A Titlewave order arrived yesterday, much to my surprise as I thought it was going to arrive in January. Needless to say, the kids were going nuts!

I carefully selected each book that I ordered, and it was a joy to open the boxes and crack open the books.

Here are a few “must-haves” from the order:

Keeker series by Hadley Higginson

I find a certain type of young reader loves books about horses, but I find most series to be too hard for them. This new series, Keeker, is great for 2nd and 3rd graders.

Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas

This one is just pure fun. 4 dust bunnies spend their time rhyming, but one keeps saying a non-rhyming word. He’s really warning them that the broom is coming, but they think he’s not getting the whole rhyming thing. I giggled throughout, and Jan Thomas’ illlustrations are fantastic. I ordered everything she wrote.

Taking a Bath with the Dog, and Other Things That Make Me Happy by Scott Menchin

This one has ‘class book’ written all over it! A girl is feeling blue, and so she goes and asks a bunch of different people and animals what makes them happy. Once she has a lot of answers, she then thinks about what makes her happy. It’s adorable and just perfect for early readers.

And lastly, this one has had a line waiting for it since I showed the trailer to the 4th and 5th graders. Creepy, creepy, creepy but SO intriguing! It literally flew off the shelf, and I had to limit the amount of kids putting it on hold today. Here’s the YouTube trailer.

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix

So many more, but those are a start!

Non-Fiction Gems! October 27, 2009

Pebble Plus series from Capstone Press

Last year, a teacher told me about a nonfiction series called Pebble Plus, and so I ordered about 10 titles from Follett. The books are beyond fabulous. Amazing photos, very simple text, and a nice, big (but not too big) sized book for younger readers. They fly off the shelves.

Even better is the fact that Capstone Press has tons of titles at very accessible reading levels for elementary readers. We are finding that even 5th graders are needing text that is at their reading level, and much of what we have is simply too difficult for them. Although Follett has some of their titles, the selection is not enough to satisfy what I need. My plan is to order the bulk of my nonfiction that is filling in my gaps this year from Capstone Press and do the cataloging myself.

I also asked for some samples of titles from Capstone Press (there is an Asia representative) and just received about 5 the other day for free. Can’t beat that!

Can you even imagine how psyched the kids are going to be when they see this title?!