The Book Search

I was so lucky last weekend. I got to volunteer at the April is for Authors event in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Here 's a link to their website. This amazing group invites nationally known authors to come and speak to our kids. The great part is, it's a free event. This year, the event got a giant boost from a local guy who is a pretty well known author-James Patterson, who was the keynote speaker. One of the things he said that really got me thinking was that parents aren't taking enough responsibility in making sure their kids are good readers. He said he thought if you could get your kid to the dinner table or get them to take a bath, that you should also be able to get them to read. I thought that was awesome and I also thought I really needed to do more to get my students reading! I was also lucky enough to get to meet Chris Grabenstein, who is my newest hero.  Here's a link to his website.  His book "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" is SO...

So we all know that books are totally awesome and there is NO BETTER way to enjoy a book than curled up with someone who loves you reading to you.  But let me tell you, there are some completely awesome online reading sources that you can use, if that someone you love has a sore throat and can't read, or is away on a business trip...  Here are a couple of my favorites.  The first one is Tumblebooks. Tumblebooks is available through our district webpage and is on the learning tools for kids menu.  There are BUNCHES of books available, some are popular titles that you'll recognize (like Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo and How I Became a Pirate by David Shannon) as well as other less familiar titles.  The narration is good and what's really great about it is as the text is read, the sentences light up, allowing struggling readers the opportunity to connect the text to the spoken word.  That's really important for developing readers.   The second one is ...

I got two great new picture book biographies last week. I hadn't read either one of them, instead relying on reviews from the School Library Journal and the Non-Fiction Detectives . It turns out, having someone give you a good recommendation can save you a lot of time and money. Here are three that I really loved.  The first one is called "Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table" by Jacqueline Briggs.  It's a beautiful and vibrantly illustrated story about Will Allen, an urban farmer who is trying to make sure that everyone gets fresh, healthy food.  Here's a short interview with him. The second biography is actually less of a biography (it doesn't tell her whole life story) but tells the story of a pivotal event.  It's called "Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist makers' Strike of 1909" by Michelle Markel and illustrated by Melissa Sweet.  It's the story of Clara Lemlich, who was an immigrant to NY in the early 1900s.  She was th...