WHEW!

Last week flew by. Some afternoons you come home and want to crash out at like 6:30 PM.


But. Had great success with these two books the last couple of days.

Lovely little illustrations in Dog Loves Books (Louise Yates). My two favorite pics were one where the dog is so sad and his little chin is resting on a table, and then one where he is super excited for a new customer and his ears perk straight up.

I love Tad Hills' work. Duck and Goose ... and now Rocket and the little yellow bird.

Early childhood classes ought to keep this one on hand ... just to show little ones that everyone has to practice and learning to read takes some time. And a teacher who cares enough to come back!

And one

is finished. There may be improvements later. Or more altogether. Later. Sleep, now. First week of school, you kind of kicked my behind. :/

Once inspiration hits ...

I will be writing and directing a couple of videos on some library topics.

Once inspiration hits. Sometimes the muse takes longer than I want it to.

Books for the Beginning of the Year

I've used That's Good, That's Bad! for a couple of years. One day I'll get some helium balloons to go along with the activity. For now we tape red paper balloons all over the place and talk about behaviours that are GOOD or BAD in the library. (Don't miss the other Good/Bad titles, either! The Grand Canyon, DC, and apparently a Santa one I missed last year!)

Goes well with I Took My Frog to the Library. I so wish I could find this one in a larger format as the pictures are darling and the book is a little small for full class sharing. But I do it anyway. Stuffed animals that come out and we talk about why frogs (or frog-like behaviour jumping around where you might fall into a bookshelf corner) or lions (or lion-like loud voices might disrupt other people trying to read) or snakes (or snake-like behaviour leaving behind trash makes the library ugly) are not allowed in the library--BUT KIDS ARE! (This, and a couple of reminder visits, are the only time the stuffed animals can come out 'cause they're not allowed in our school due to concerns with dust and allergens.)

Or, of course, there is always Wild About Books. Love a good rhyming book. And zoo book!

Oh, how my kiddos love this Alpha Ooops! It's not the most plot-centric title but it is super cute and it does make a point ... when the alphabet gets mixed up chaos ensues. And when books on the shelf get mixed up, well ... chaos ensues!

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS ONE!!!!! The kids are going to Love. It. And it will be a good reminder about why Ms. O and her assistant are so insistent they remember to use their shelf markers.

I got a little preview of this when a friend received a review copy. I do love Piggie and Elephant. I will definitely be using this one ... maybe for parts of a book? Haven't decided yet. It kind of reminds me of There is a Monster at the End of This Book in the way the character talks to the reader. Hmmm. I guess they aren't really alike. But it still reminds me.

I missed Mordicai Gerstein's A Book last year. Won't make that mistake again. Perfect for discussing genres with second grade.

That's all for now. Still getting used to this library blogging. I won't subject the (hopefully ;]) eventual readers of this blog to the same rants and raves my other blog gets.

TBR Pile

It's kind of ridiculous. Can't seem to get my Goodreads list down below 600. And this is what I have sitting around the house ... actually there are more but I thought the photo was getting embarrassing.

Note to self: the week before school starts? Perhaps not the best time to start a new blog. So tired and not super inspired to post anything creative. Hopefully that will change!

Instead of a book

today I'll just share some links. Still getting back into a school schedule and I am SLEE-PY. They're kind of random. I'll work on getting better at themes.


US National Park Service Photos & Multimedia
Beautiful photo galleries, multimedia presentations, virtual tours, webcams, etc. Make for some great lesson ideas in science and writing. And today I heard about their electronic field trip program through the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears blog. Looks really cool. Will start hitting up teachers as soon as school starts! (PS Same BPP blog mentioned this webinar series about integrating science and literacy.)

Star Wars Weather
I'm sure there's an educational possibility there. Sure. :]

Weblist.me
I'd sort of forgotten about this one. But now that I've remembered ... definite back to school library webpage possibilities there!


DRAT! The embedding function is not working properly. Says the HTML is not closed. Hmmm. I know some HTML but apparently not enough. So I'll just have to say go HERE for a great little video to use with kids on taking care of books.

A New Favorite

This is a MUST READ. So funny--all about a third grade boy dealing with a few worries. I can't wait to share it with teachers and students alike. Here are some quotes I put in my Goodreads review.

"If my costume for Halloween were "some other kind in my class,' I would wear it all the time for the rest of my life so that nobody would know I am me, the boy whose mother has to bring him his lunch and then kiss him in front of everybody." (38)

"It's just hard for me to convince myself to tray and keep the ball for myself when a kid comes at me, looking like he wants the ball more than anything in the world. Because the truth is, I really feel like he can have it. I'm happy to let him have it. I'll play with it later if I want to." (67)

"I no thank you gym class. Push-ups are ridiculous. It is just relaxing, interrupted, over and over again." (124)

"Today is Cinco de Mayo. That is a Mexican holiday. So we had an assembly and did a dance around a hat." (195)

BYU Symposium for Young Readers

Nothing much new to post today (all the craziness starts tomorrow!) so I'll leave you with this. Now, be nice. It was my first attempt at Glogster (and note to self ... in the future, on first tries, don't do something that requires 12 different pages!). But can I just say this was two of the most fun days ever? Wish I lived closer. I'd be assured of returning.

Just finished

TWO vampire books today. One "grown-up" and one YA.

First of all ... the adult one. Not that there's anything super particularly "adult" about it other than it is Very. Very. Very. Long.

That said? I LOVED IT! And the way I usually tear through books I think that's saying something. I did get a little confused with some of the terminology and the sheer number of characters. In the end, the story kept me awake and pushing toward the end. It's more a story about survivors than anything else. Different angle. Boy, howdy, is it set up for the rest of the planned trilogy. I can't wait.

Then there's the YA one. I didn't love this one as much ... but I won't give up on this series, either, as the premise has potential. Teen BOY who fights the undead. Now there's something new.

Today was the first day back to work.

Spent the entire day in meetings. Some of it was interesting. Some of it ... was not. But isn't that a teacher's life?

So. Here are two books I'm mentioning today. One's been around a while (My Dog ... was published in 2007). The other one (My Best Friend ... ) came out in May. They both make me smile. Check out Hanoch Piven's website right here.

Now. Here's the fun part. You can tell from the title these are super duper awesome for description ... for encouraging kids to step up their [mostly] metaphors and similies talking about the people they know best--their family members and classmates. If you can, try using the pictures as an art model as well. Kids can submit their work to the author/illustrator's website and he'll post it!

Writing

I think it's hard. Harder than reading, anyway. BUT these ladies (Ellen Potter and Anne Mazer) make it seem like fun! I heard about this book at the BYU Symposium for Young Readers back in July. I've been singing the praises of the book to all my teacher friends ever since. I think with teacher guidance this book could be useful really in third grade through middle school. Budding writers working independently ... maybe just a tad older at fourth or fifth grade.

Don't miss out on the blog. Their teacher kit has some premade, ready to download/print "I Dare You" posters. The dares were some of my favorite parts of the book. Well, those and Matt Phelan's illustrations.

Looking Foward to This Movie

I hope, anyway. Can tell from the trailer they've changed quite a lot.

Rules for School

Can I just say ... this kid (if he's for real, and I REALLY HOPE HE IS!) is just amazing. He's so spot on observing human interaction in all of his books. But today we're talking about this one 'cause it's the one the mailman delivered.

School. It's about to start! Kids (and teachers) are all excited. And a little nervous. What to expect in the coming year?

I would say this would be most useful in ... maybe second through fourth or fifth grade? Read aloud during the first couple days of school. Talk about some of the situations he mentions. Maybe have the kids write some of their own Rules for School.

"Rule #14 Make the most of it.... My favorite time is Library because books are awesome. Tip: If you don't like a book, don't worry. There is a book for everyone. Ask the librarian to help you." (43-44)

Warms my heart.

And of course ... I love, love, love, love, LOVE the illustrations.

I will try to tone down the effusive adjectives. This is just a cute book.

VERY FIRST POST

And can I just say ... next time I do this, I'm buying the domain through Blogger. Going in and changing all the DNS whatevers and ANAME whatevers ... pshaw. No fun. I have no idea what I did that finally made it work. It's working, though. So who cares? THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN! Come along!