All the Lovely Bad Ones and Some Good Ones too! #IMWAYR October 28, 2013

I I delivered a lot of creepy, scary book talks this week as we explored HORROR Fiction as a genre. Mary Downing Hahn was right at the top of the list along with Goose Bumps, Scary Stories, and the book in greatest demand in the ECDC Library. The Big Book of Texas Ghost Stories. 

I couldn't keep up with students wanting Halloween themed and really scary books. Just as soon as I book talked a title and set up a display, I had to go seeking new books to refill the empty displays. 

Cowboy Clifford shared his favorite Halloween reads
and talked to kids about dressing up for the school Literature Parade. 

Integrating math into a Halloween lesson is always easy when you have books like 16 Runaway Pumpkins (theme doubles). It makes for a fun lesson and count aloud. 

The Runaway Pumpkin was a good pairing. 

Double rainbow was gorgeous. 

These were some nice things that happened to me this past week. The Caller Times did a spread on Coastal Bend Book Fairs and my school fair was the focus. My students had their big moment of fame being quoted and featured. I was very pleased with how well they represented their school.

My Favorite Book of the Week:

The Snatchabook by Helen Docherty

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There is a book thief in town snatching all the bedtime books just as families are settling in for their nightly reads. Who would do such a dastardly deed? One brave little bunny sets out to solve the mystery and return the books back to their rightful owners.

The Snatchabook is my  new favorite read aloud book. You just know when something magic appears in your hands in the  form of a children's book. My head is spinning with ideas to use along with this precious story that reminds me a bit of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Snatchabook would be a great read aloud choice for a Family Reading Night event.

The Cow in Patrick O'Shanahan's Kitchen by Diana Prichard

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Patrick O'Shanahan walks in to breakfast one morning and is surprised to find a cow standing there. When Patrick's father arrives and decides to make French toast without noticing the cow, Patrick decides to help his dad by getting the best in farm fresh products that have appeared in his kitchen in the form of farm animals.

YA Books

Crash by Lisa McMann

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Crash is a forbidden love story in the vein of Romeo and Juliet. Jules' family lives above their restaurant as do their rivals the Angotti's. Jules has been in love with Sawyer Angotti for years but for the  past several years, he has been shunning her and she doesn't understand why unless it's all about the family rivalry. Jules now has bigger problems than unrequited love, she is seeing horrific visions of a snowplow crashing into a building that leaves nine dead bodies in the snow and one of those belongs to Sawyer. Everywhere Jules looks, she sees the visions of the crash on billboards, windows, TV and computer screens, and now they are coming faster and more frequent. Can Jules unravel the clues hidden in the visions and save Sawyer or is he doomed to die? What if the visions are not real and she is going insane? What's a girl in love to do?
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This past week, I fell victim to a book spoiler when I became curious about a Twitter game #fictionaldeathsIwillnevergetover. 

I am going to share this with  my fellow librarians at our next PD session. Just slap a bit of butcher paper up (oh, in the shape of a tombstone) and see what everyone comes up with. This topic will make for a good book chat for our university students too. For me, the hardest death to bear was when Beth, the kindest, sweetest, dearest of the March sisters passed away. It still breaks my heart to this day. I threw Harry Potter books across the room at the deaths of Dumbledore, Sirius Black, and Fred Weasley (NO! not a twin. I have twins. How can they live without each other?) That poor Harry Potter couldn't ever catch a break. I felt so depressed after reading about their deaths. 

Currently Reading: 

Dozens of Picture Books in preparation for writing daily blog posts for Picture Book Month as a Picture Book Blogger and to prepare for #virtualbookclub's Mock Caldecott chat in November. 

Picture Book Month information

The List by Siobhan Vivian
It happens every year. A list is posted, and one girl from each grade is chosen as the prettiest, and another is chosen as the ugliest. Nobody knows who makes the list. It almost doesn't matter. The damage is done the minute it goes up.




Next up:

I am really looking forward to reading the conclusion of this series.











So, what are you reading?

It's Monday, What Are You Reading May 6, 2013

It's Monday! What are you reading? A weekly themed meme connecting many bloggers around the world and originally conceived by Sheila at Book Journeys. I first learned about it at Teach Mentor Texts hosted by Jen and Kellee. I was messing around with a button Scholastic had given me and stuck it in a calendar and snapped a photo. Cool right? Now I flash this pic to kids and ask them, "What are you reading?"

There has been a heck of a lot of reading going on in my home lately. We have had a marathon of Elephant and Piggie books and a few other Mo Willem titles too. I had determined that L does not get read to enough and J, although still two-almost three years old is ready to learn to read. We read several books every night and have been practicing our alphabet letters phonetically. I have to give snaps to YouTube videos and Ipad apps that help make this journey so easy. There are some terrific sounding our sounds videos online.

These books have all been read five times each this week

The Murphys LOVE Mo Willems books

 As far as the big people books go, I quickly read the sequel that I had been waiting for: The Elite by Kera Cass. These folks really know how to design a book cover. Both books are enjoyable and fun to read but not as intense as Veronica Roth's fabulous Divergent, Insurgent, and now the third book Allegiant.

Visit author Kiera Cass's web site to learn more about The Selection and The Elite.

 

I am sure you have all heard the news about Veronica Roth's Allegiant 

which will be released on 10-22-2013

I can't wait!

I also finished up Ghetto Cowboy, a 2013-2014 Texas Bluebonnet nominee. This is how I am sharing this unique book with my students. 2013 Bluebonnet Book Club.

It is kinda cool that I finished it up this week because my mom and I went to see the Budweiser Clydesdale horses that were in town for our annual Buccaneer Days. That's right, my city celebrates the invasion of pirates on our coastlines and the sad thing is not much has changed since as the violence and crime increases every year. My mom told me  that her dad took her to see the Budweiser Clydesdale horses when she was a little girl. She is now 75 years old. Those fellas have been around for a long time. They are massively HUGE!

 This one is named Bud. Not very original.

 

This is my favorite shot of the day. I have plans to use this next time my kids get sassy.

Current Reads: 

This week, I have picked up a copy of Son by Lois Lowry. I have really enjoyed this amazing journey through The Giver quartet.  She is such a gifted writer. I am looking forward to learning how Lowry will brings all the threads of the quartet together to weave connections between the characters in all four books. I have heard it is beautifully mastered.

I also reading Sidekicks by Jack D. Ferraiolo because there has been some "whispers" about page 6-10 on the school bus about certain topics in this MG book. Thank goodness I have a good repertoire with my students so one of them came to me to share what was being talked about. He described the passage as "tension starting up in the character's pants". Oh great-just what I need someone thinking I keep dirty books in the library. I reminded everyone that if they are ever uncomfortable with any book they are reading, they should turn it in and find one to suit them. For now, I am tucking this one in my Middle School library section. Our middle schoolers understand that they are mature enough to handle realistic fiction about the things kids their age experience and if I started censoring these types of books, then I would be doing them a disservice.

 

    

Audio Books this week: