Book Fair Fiesta and #IMWAYR Feb. 24, 2014

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme began by Sheila at Book Journeys as a way to share what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and what is in store for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading. I first learned about it from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers and have become a regular linked up blog. Thanks #PLN

Woo Hoo! It's time for Book Fair Fiesta! 

My book fair starts this Friday and I am almost ready.
I have shown my book fair  promo video and all flyers have been passed out.
I have my Teacher Sneak Peek and Daily drawings all planned out. I love to give away prizes to generate book fair excitement. 
The tables are set and decorated. All I need to do is unpack and set up. 
One of the most important things I have learned about book fairs is to place your first restock order before you even open your book fair. Only you know what will sell well in your school. I plan to order massive quantities of the new Minecraft handbook and posters, Leggo Movie items, and those wonderful UV Spy pens. I peeked into the cases but did not see anything that really caught my eye. I do have an extensive list of books I know I can sell if I can get my hands on them. 

We are a small school but I sell enough product that I can customize my fair and get some pretty good merchandise. I market heavily to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi teacher Ed students and to the homeschool community. The parking situation is terrible but the support of my community is great. 

Here are some of the books I read this week. These came from books ordered through the Scholastic Resource catalog. We take our book fair profits in Scholastic dollars which is the best option for our school. 


The Kitten Who Cried Dog by Charlotte Guillain

The Kitten Who Cried Dog is part of the Animal Fairy Tales series. The simple retelling of the Boy who cried wolf story is retold from the perspective of a naughty kitten who is easily bored and enjoys making the townfolk come running when the kitten alerts them to the danger of a dog nearby.
The best past of this series is the author's notes in the back of the book explaining the history of the fairy tale. I liked this part. 


Pandarella by Charlotte Guillain

This was my top pick of the Animal Fairy Tale series. I liked the illustrations and the "Furry godmother" in the story. 







The Poodle and the Pea by Charlotte Guillain

I don't get it. I ordered the series thinking I would be receiving a fractured fairytale but instead I discovered that basically the story was the same only with dog characters. I was hoping for something creative or imaginative. This being said, my younger readers will most likely enjoy the story and the illustrations. 

Little Red Riding Duck by Charlotte Guillain

Animal Fairy Tale series-A duck is little red riding hood in this simplified retelling of little red riding hood. Young readers will think it is humorous. I enjoyed the author note's detailing the origination of the fairy tale.




Goldiclucks and the Three Bears by Charlotte Guillain

I ordered the Animal Fairy tale set through the Scholastic Resource catalog but was disappointed in the purchase. I normally am very happy with all my purchases but these lacked personality and originality.

Tonight I will start reading insignia. My students are loving it.










Happy Reading!

Digging Into the Backstory #IMWAYR Feb. 17, 2014

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme began by Sheila at Book Journeys as a way to share what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and what is in store for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading. I first learned about it from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers and have become a regular linked up blog. Thanks #PLN

I am looking forward to another fun evening with kid lit buddies chatting about the newest Newbery Award winning book Flora and Ulysses by Kate Di Camillo. Won't you join us? Log onto Twitter at 9 p.m. EST Monday, Feb. 17th and join the hashtag #virtualbookclub.  

“If you want to be a writer, I have two pieces of advice. One is to be a reader. I think that’s one of the most important parts of learning to write. The other piece of advice is ‘Just do it!’ Don’t think about it, don’t agonize, sit down and write.”—S. E. Hinton

I am an immersive reader. When I read a book, I like to get the full experience to gain an understanding of its characters, setting, author's purpose, and interesting tidbits that will enhance my reading experience. I recently read The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. You remember, that book you had to read in eighth grade. Most of us remember the movie version. All those beautiful actors sharing their story of social class wars between the Greasers (the poor kids (and the Socs (the society kids who were better off financially and socially). 

I remember watching the movie when it was released and loved hearing that a group of middle school students and their librarian, Jo Ellen Misakian, wrote a letter petitioning director Frances Ford Coopola to make a movie version of The Outsiders. In a very unusual move, the studio listened to the advice of students in the making of The Outsiders and even made script changes when students objected to changes that moved away from the novel's intent. 

**Read the exchange of letters between movie producer Frank Roos and  librarian, Jo Ellen Misakian here

If you love the book, you MUST hear this interview. 
The Backstory: The Outsiders 


                                     Below is an excellent book trailer that highlights the characters from The Outsiders with audio overlay of an interview done with S. E. Hinton. What an excellent pre-read introduction. 

My Backstory Resources:
Random House author spotlight
IMDb-The Outsiders
New York Times: Making "The Outsiders," A Librarian's Dream
Letters of Note-How a middle school librarian and her students inspired the movie The Outsiders
Studio 360 radio series-The Outsiders 

Books Galore and more! #IMWAYR Feb.3, 2014

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme began by Sheila at Book Journeys as a way to share what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and what is in store for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading. I first learned about it from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers and have become a regular linked up blog. Thanks #PLN 

I spent a good deal of time writing today's #IMWAYR post but then decided that I had just written what would make a better Nerdy Book Club post. So I am just giving the highlights of my reading week and will save my juicy blog post for another day.

I have been moving slowly through Flora and Ulysses because I have been highly distracted this week by other novels. This week, it gets my full focus so that I will be ready in time for #virtualbookclub on Feb. 17 at
9 p.m. EST.
I am very happy that one of our new Texas Bluebonnet Award nominees is the Newbery Medal winner this year.

Beautiful-informative-sad-and hopeful read of the week. Love how you have to hold the book vertically to read it. The book has so many excellent side trips into further researching.










Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka


Love the humor and creativity but fear the repercussions on my poor library books after my students experience this hilarious edited book. It would be best to introduce it through a lesson using the template for The Birthday Bunny that can be downloaded and offered to students to write their own versions.




Future library lesson:

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

Texas Bluebonnet nominee 2014-2015.
I have resisted really reading this book for the longest time. I saw the amount of text and how hard it was to see some of the words and images so I was not immediately taken by the creativeness of the book. Since becoming a Bluebonnet nominee, I purchased it and gave it a good read and did some brain storming on lessons. I think it will turn out to be a popular book with students. It's theme lends well to a Bluebonnet Celebration activity. I am already planning for next year.


Used in library lessons this week:

The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Galdone

Classic story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. I like to pair this book up with the fractured fairy tale The Three Cabritos by Eric Kimmel.









The Three Cabritos by Eric A. Kimmel

Eric Kimmel is the King of fractured fairy tales with a Texas twist. Helen Ketteman is the queen. the Three Cabritos is a favorite as my students frequently talk about chupacabras. It is a fresh, fun twist on the Three Billy Goats Gruff story. Instead of a troll, el Chupacabra is the creature beneath the bridge and the billy brothers all play musical instruments to pay their toll across the bridge to Mexico.




The Three Little Tamales by Eric A. Kimmel

Reread many times. Perfect Texas twisted tale to use in a fairy tale unit. A favorite story to use during Texas Public Schools week in March.

My audiobook of the week: 






Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Opinion brief:

I listened to the audio version of Graceling. A full cast reading which enriched the experience. I was at the point of thinking what a great book, why don't I have this in my library...and then came the part of why I am sure it to became a banned book. THAT PART where it got all hot and heavy and really unnecessary since it didn't enrich the reading experience. Well it did cause me to stop working and listen a little bit more carefully. Thank goodness I wasn't driving or I would have driven off the road.

Graceling is a fast paced fantasy novel full of interesting characters, exciting plot twists, and romance. Yes, quite full of unexpected romance.


My in-depth read of the week. This is the book that I am reading, listening to, and  researching the backstory to gain a deeper understanding.











And that's a few of this week's reads. I hope you are enjoying your reading week as much as I am.