Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Ready to Vote?

The Children's Book Week display has been nearly empty for several weeks.  



 I 'm guessing this means we have lots of students who have some opinions to share about the nominees.  Read and View more about them on Teaching Books.
























VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE (all votes are due by Thursday, May 9th).
http://www.bookweekonline.com/voting/5-6

Stolen Children

      Stolen Children is one of my favorite books I have read! Stolen Children is exciting, humorous, dangerous, and much much more!  But one of my favorite parts was how is focused so much on abduction.  This book showed a real life scene that could happen at any given moment.  Stolen Children by Peg Kehert  is definitely one book you should put on your must read list!
~Nicole S

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The Thirteenth Princess

Did you like this book?
Yes, I really liked this book. It was a fantastic fantasy book because it always urged me to read on. The book was about a girl named Zita. She was the king’s thirteenth princess. After Zita was born her mom died and the king always thought it was Zita's fault. She couldn't live with her sisters and her father up in the bed chamber. Zita had to live down stairs under the palace with the servants. Zita was always a servant. But soon her sisters start to get REALLY sick and Zita thinks it is magic. Every night the princesses wake up and go to a lake in a faraway kingdom where they dance till dawn. But this is killing the sisters. Will Zita be able to save her sisters and get back her fathers love? Read to find out!

~Emily B.

This book review is by Emily B. in Mrs. Johnson's homeroom.  Do you want to review books for the library blog?  Share your review as a google document with Mr. Cox.

Book Trailer from Harper Collins Publishers



An interview with the Diane Zahler.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

What Are Your Reading Today? It's not a secret

I dropped by Mrs Kay's literacy class (Mrs. Callahan's homeroom) today and talked books with Haley and Luka.


Paxton and Cameron stopped by too.

The Book Covers.










Preview and Review

Have you visited the newest attraction in the library? Come by the Preview and Review shelf to look at books being published later this spring and summer. After you read these preview copies write a review for fellow students and the publishers. (See Mrs. Johnson or Mr. Cox for forms).


Monday, April 22, 2013

Sailing the Unknown

Would you dare to sail a ship where no one had gone before? In 1768 an eleven year old boy did with a world famous explorer.



When I say "explorer" what names come to your mind?  How about  James Cook?  He traveled all over the globe in the 1700s - an interactive map will show you the routes.  Many times he and his crew didn't know what they would find or the best route to take.



The library has a new picture book about his adventures from 1768 to 1771. We learn more about the adventures aboard the Endeavor through the journal entries of the youngest crew member, eleven year old Nicholas Young.  The author, Michael J. Rosen, used research to imagine the perspective Nicholas would have on the real historical events the crew encountered.   All kinds of activities and information are available here: http://bit.ly/11yitmk

 Take a preview here (click on the images to look inside the book).   The illustrator, Maria Pritelli, paints the scenes as well as text features (maps, cross sections).

****BE SURE TO READ THE COMMENT TO THIS POST FROM AUTHOR MICHAEL J. ROSEN.****

Just in case you haven't seen it here is a short video about the most common text features from a social studies unit.



Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Read Everything and Decide

Children's Book Week is coming up in May.
Check out the newest display of finalists for the Children's Choice Book Awards (this is like the national version of our Iowa Children's Choice Award.)




Read as many of these as possible and vote by May 9th.

Here is the link to vote: http://www.bookweekonline.com/voting