Happy Day, oh Happy Day....

Last Thursday our local Barnes and Noble had their educator's night. Most years I don't make it, but this year I HAD TO GO!!! Why? One of my wonderful, dear, sweet parents told me to go shop and spend up to $70 and they would write me a reimbursement check. I don't turn down free books. I did spend a couple dollars in gas driving to the big city, but I think it was worth it!

I picked up a few books that had been on my wish list. (Also got a few books read for my yearly reading goal!) It was really hard to narrow my stack down, but finally I purchased the following and wish-listed several more.

Purchased:

1)Otis and the Puppy by Loren Long

If you haven't seen the Otis stories, I highly recommend them. In Otis and the Puppy, farmer gets a new puppy which Otis befriends. Of course the puppy gets lost and Otis has to save the day or in this case the night! I also read Otis while I was there. An Otis Christmas was published on Tuesday. Can't wait to read that one too! The Otis stories reminded me about a book I read as a youngster. I think it was a Little Golden Book, but I can't remember the title. (A hazard of growing old...) It was a really sweet story about a tractor who wouldn't work until a bird taught her babies how to fly. I might have to look though all the books at my parents house and see if it's still there:)

2) Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt, illustrated by Tony DiTerlizza

This one was to replace a copy that was damaged last spring. I really needed another copy for the library.

3)Spat Says Thank You! by Rob Scotton

 

Is there a bad Splat story?  So far not! Another great one.

4) How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? by Wendell Minor

 

Found this one with the seasonal books, but it's really cute. Great little picture book about fictional and real ginormous pumpkins.

5) Too Hot to Hug by Steve Smallman

 

This on was in the $2 bin. Cute story about a boy and his pet dragon.

6) Rabbit's Spring Adventure by Anita Loughrey

This one was also in the $2 stack. Will work well with my other spring stories.

Read and wish listed for future purchasing:

Little Red Writing by Joan Holub and Melissa Sweet
Picture Day Perfection by Deborah Diesen, illustrated by Dan Santat    
Pete the Cat and his Magic Sunglasses by James Dean and Eric Litwin
Pete the Cat Rockin School Shoes by James Dean and Eric Litwin
Frankenstein by Rick Walton, illustrated by Nathan Hale
Mr. Wuffles! by David Wiesner
Snatchabook by Helen Docherty and David Docherty
Journey by Aaron Becker
Big Snow by Jonathan Bean
Ladybug Girl and the Big Snow by Jacky Davis and David Soman
Isabella Girl on the Go by Jennifer Fosberry and Mike Litwin

Several of my library/book buddies had blogged about Little Red Writing, Mr. Wuffles, and the Journey. They are every bit as wonderful as I had heard read.

It was a great day for READING!!!

I'm Just A Meanie!

I'm just plain mean. No, not really. More of a tease. This summer I won this little book from Kit Lit Frenzy  and I've been driving my students crazy.

Otis Dooda: Strange but True  by Ellen Potter, illustrated by David Heatley

I've been seen reading it and reading to them just little tidbits. Now I've had about 20 hold requests for the book. (It also helps that the author signed it "Watch out for subway zombies!")

Some days I'm just plain mean.

Doing whatever it takes to get my students to read,

Fun with Scaredy Squirrel

This week for my summer reading program I selected some of the new books that arrived the last couple weeks of school. I just saved them to display in August.

I read:

Dog Breath by Dav Pilkey   This is the delightful tale of Hally Tosis who has horrible dog breath. Her owners decide to get rid of her until one day, she saves the day.

Scaredy Squirrel at Night by Melanie Watt   Scaredy tries to stay awake because he's afraid he'll have a nightmare.

Scaredy Suirrel Goes Camping by Melanie Watt   Scaredy has issues with the idea of going camping. You know quick sand, mosquitoes, and the three bears!

Of course we had to do a little activity. The kids who have been attending my summer reading program range from 3 to 8 years old so I needed to find something simple but fun. I decided to have them make a Scaredy Squirrel mask.  I found the "How to draw Scaredy Squirrel" on Ms. Watt's website, but I didn't think my 3 year old's would like it. So I drew Scaredy and turned him into a mask.

click here to download from google docs

I printed the masks onto white card stock. Then the kids colored Scaredy. With the help of parents and grand-parents, we cut out the mask and removed the eyes. I cut slits in the sides to hold the ribbon, and here's the finished masks! I thought they turned out really cute.

Happy Reading!

Last Week of School!

It's finally here! The last week of school for 2012 - 2013. It seems like this week  year has flown by. This has been a year of firsts for me. I started using centers and  puppets in my library classes. I began blogging and following stalking other bloggers. (Should have started this one earlier!) I have a TPT store. I started my store because I couldn't find enough centers for my middle grades. Hey, if you make them, sell them!

Since my vacation started today, so begins my summer reading challenge. I had so much fun with the Shelf challenge I had to join another. Nerdy Book Club has a book a day challenge for summer vacation. Our vacation started last Thursday so I'm already a couple books behind, but today is Sunday. After church I'll get caught up.

List to read for this week:

Chapter books:

Notes from a Totally Lame Vampire by Tim Collins
Prince of Dorkness (More Notes from a totally Lame Vampire) by Tim Collins

Picture books:

Trust Me, Jack's Beanstalk Stinks! by Eric Braun
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick! by Lucille Colandro
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover! by Lucille Colandro
Bat Jamboree by Kathi Appelt
Emma Kate by Patricia Polacco
The Hard-Times Jar by Ethel Footman Smothers
Big Bad Wolves at School by Stephen Krensky

Non-Fiction Books:

Dinosaurs by Gail Gibbons
Artemis by Terri Temple
Katherine Stinson Otero - High Flyer by Neiler Skinner Petrick

Professional Books:

The Centered School Library by Cari Young (I just have to finish this one!)
Literacy Work Stations: Making Centers Work by Debbie Diller


It looks like a big list, but several are picture books. It shouldn't take a day or two right? Who needs to clean house! :)

Happy Reading!

Inventory Fun. NOT!

I just love inventory. NOT! Inventory is just not as fun as reading to my students. Yes, it is a great time to clean the shelves and do a little weeding, but..... I would rather be teaching my students. I was scanning my Easy/Picture books today and realize I have a few classic books that no one reads anymore. I'm going to send them to the teachers. If my teachers don't want them, I'll give them away this summer. I can't stand to throw them out. Julie @ A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet  had some excellent suggestions on recycling old books. If you haven't checked out her latest post, do so immediately! It was wonderful. I'm going to have to get crafty with a few of my old chapter books.

 I just received my last book order for this school year and I'm really sad. SAD because my students won't be able to check them out this school year. My students only have 6 days left and of course they're not checking out books at the moment. I keep reminding them that they can read them this summer. (I'm open on Wednesdays during June and July.) What they don't realize is that I get to read them before they do!  The hardest part will be choosing which ones to read first. I'm real excited about my Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt  and There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a ... by Lucille Colandro  books. I've been finding some cute units on TPT with Ms. Colandro's books. Now I have an excuse to go shopping! As for Ms. Watt's stories, who doesn't love Scaredy Squirrel. My older students even like me to read them OUT LOUD!

 

Happy Reading!