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.