Newbery Round Up And Other Award Stuff

Well, this is the last weekend of wondering which books will win the big awards on Monday! We are anxiously awaiting all of the award announcements, especially the Newbery Award. We've done several things to think about this year's winner. We had several children's book friends share their Newbery Hopefuls lists with us. We heard from Don, Larry, Bill, Karen, Karen, Sally, Beth, Karen, and Jen. And, we shared our own lists of favorites of 2007. Lots of people in the Kidliotsphere are talking about awards. It's a great weekend to read books you missed, reflect on the 2007 books you've read and think about which books may win this year. As you wait, you can read lots of others' predictions and thoughts on this year's awards.

Felicity at Look Books has her Newbery picks posted as well as some thoughts on kids' thoughts on the award winners.

Monica at Educating Alice has list of all of her Newbery Thoughts posts gathered from throughout the year. Since she is on the committee, she has been very careful about her posts about books (so no top ten list from her!) but the thinking about being part of the Newbery is fun to read.

Allen County has posted its winners here.

BCCLS Mock Winners are here.

The Nassau Library results are here.

Sharon's Newbery

Betsy at Fuse #8 posts her Newbery and Caldecott 2008 "Predict-o-rama".

Chicken Spaghetti's shares some info on lots of awards.

Read Roger shares info about this year's Scott O'Dell Award Winner.

There is a great post about the Sydney Taylor award at Blog From the Windowsill.

Mother Reader is not making any Newbery Predictions but does share thoughts on the Newbery and other awards in her post.

Miss Rumphius Effect shares the 2008 Charlotte Zolotow Award winners.

Poetry Friday -- Found Poem

A poem is a group of words, arranged just so, that moves our hearts, right? Here is a poem, then, that I found in an email this week:

Sophie,
sitting at the table with us,
said "Mary Lee gave me Today I Will Fly."
(Phil looked at me with shock.)
Yes, I replied, she certainly did.

We went on to list
the other books
you have sent to her
and decided
you were really good to send
such great books to read.

So lest you think you are an unknown quantity
(horrors!)
or just mommy's friend,
I can assure you otherwise.



Round up this week is at The Book Mine Set.

Better Late Than Never?

You know by now that the Cybils Nominees have all been posted. My work on the Graphic Novels nominating committee is done. Franki is busy judging Poetry.

The Class of 2K8 is 28 authors strong. Check out their website and get psyched for the new publishing year!

The conversation about reading is hopping over at PBS Parents, where Jen Robinson is wearing the Expert Q&A hat. She has compiled an incredible resource of suggestions about helping struggling and/or reluctant readers.

Christopher Paul Curtis' Elijah of Buxton has won the 2008 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.

The Bedtime Sh'ma: A Good Night Book by Sarah Gershman and Kristina Swarner, The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid Fleischman, and Strange Relations by Sonia Levitin have won the 2008 Sydney Taylor Book Awards.

Susan, at Chicken Spaghetti, has more news on recent book awards.

On Monday, I went to the bookstore with Sara Lewis Holmes, and when I checked back at her blog today, she was creating the bookstore of the future (boys' version). Go give her input.

Enough. Dinner is ready and my couch awaits me.

Movie Thursday

Let's curl up on my new couch and watch some movies, okay?

I rented a couch once, when I lived in Dallas.

There have been no other couches in my life since then.

All the thousands of great books I've read in the past half-a-lifetime, and none of them read curled up on the end of a couch.

Well, that's all changing now. The first thing I did yesterday after it was delivered was grab the next book on my to-read list, The Garden of Eve, Beth's recommendation, cover up with a throw, make room for the cat, and read!

Now, the videos. First, coming from The Reading Zone, a thoughtful piece from a Kansas State University Introduction to Cultural Anthropology class about student learning in the 21st Century. The focus is college students, but there is lots of truth here about ALL of our students...and the disconnect between the ways we teach, the materials we use, and their lives outside of school.



Next, from Megan Germano, arguably the world's greatest Barbara O'Connor fan, and also from Barbara's blog, the book trailer for Barbara's spring release, Greetings from Nowhere.

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George was my first read of 2008 and it was a great one! I read it after Librarian, Bill Prosser recommended it on his Newbery Hopefuls post in December. I love a good fairy tale and this was no let-down. I can't wait to share it with some of my students who love fairy tales and dragon books. So many others have reviewed it that I'll link you to those rather than repeat all of the wonderful things they've said. I would HIGHLY recommend it. It was a good fantasy. I have trouble finding fantasies that are good for 9,10,11 year olds. Sometimes they are too sophisticated or complex for kids new to the genre. This one is a perfect fit. Lots to think about but one kids would enjoy! And it seems that a sequel is due out this spring! Here are a few reviews:

Miss Erin's Review

Pixie Stix Kids Pix Review

Bookish 37 Review

You can also go to Shannon Hale's blog for an interview with Jessica Day George!

So, I may need to add this to my Top 10 Newbery Picks and make a Top 11 list!

Jon Scieszka and Loren Long at Cover to Cover!

For anyone who lives local, Cover to Cover:

On January 17th, Jon Scieszka (recently named the First Ambassador for Young People's Literature!) and Loren Long will visit Cover to Cover to launch their new Trucktown series with the book SMASH! CRASH! They will speak at 4:30 and autograph until 6:00 that night.

Thank You, Tina Nichols Coury...

...for interviewing us at your wonderful blog, Tales from the Rushmore Kid!

We're in pretty amazing company at Tina's blog. She has interviewed Cynthia Lord, Ralph Nader, and Gennifer Choldenko recently, too!

HipWriterMama's 30 Day Challenge--I'm In!

So, I joined HipWriterMama's 30 Day Challenge. I figured since I already made my Boot Camp registration public, I would make an even stronger commitment by reporting to HipWriterMama. My goal--to go to all 20 sessions (4 weeks, 5 days a week) of Boot Camp.
I'll keep you posted!

I have to send a comment to HipWriterMama every Monday during the challenge so I figured I'd post it here too.


And I am trying to eat healthy. A friend told me about the EAT CLEAN diet by Tosca Reno so I picked up a copy of the cookbook. It is quite good. Today, we had the vegetable lasagna. Quite healthy, lots of protein and veggies. Very filling. I like the cookbook because there is a color photo of every recipe in the book so I know what I am working on. I need those photos. The woman who wrote it lost weight and got in shape AFTER she was 40. So that is one of the reasons I picked it up.








I also boiled a dozen eggs so that I can grab some protein when needed:-)

So I made it through the first day of Boot Camp. It was pretty good. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't pleasant but I think once I get into a routine, it could be fun. And it seems like a really good workout---he was able to meet everyone's levels which was pretty impressive.
So, one day down.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

I just finished THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN. What an amazing book! Wow! So worthy of the National Book Award that it just won. I would highly recommend it to anyone who reads books.

But, I guess I am surprised to see it on so many Newbery Lists. It seems so young adult to me. I don't remember a book that is this YA ever winning the award. The Prinz Award seems like a better match. It is definitely written for high-school kids. And most Newbery winners are for a much younger audience. I assume that every elementary school in America has copies of most Newbery winners and this one doesn't seem like a good fit for older elementary kids. Don't get me wrong, I think it is worthy of any award it can get, I just think it is meant for much older readers than the Newbery Award has gone to in the past.

But, even if you only read children's/YA books that are appropriate for the students in your class, I would make an exception and read this one for yourself. It is amazing. One of those books you'll remember for a long time. One of the best I've ever read.

New Book by Annie Barrows

I was THRILLED to see a new book by Annie Barrows, author of the popular Ivy and Bean series, at one of my recent visits to Cover to Cover. I grabbed it without even previewing it. It was Annie Barrows so I had confidence that I would love it. And I did.

THE MAGIC HALF is a fantasy book--a great beginning Time Travel book. Miri and Molly are the two main characters. Miri is the middle child--between two sets of twins. A magical piece of glass transports Miri to Molly's world--nearly 70 years ago. The two become instant friends and the adventure begins.

I liked a lot about this books and I am pretty sure that my 3rd and 4th graders will love it too. It follows that same idea of two great friends just like Ivy and Bean. And it is a great first time-travel book for readers new to this genre. Simple enough to understand, yet with enough time travel questions--can you change history--to pull new readers into the genre of time travel books.

I am very excited to see that Annie Barrows will continue to write Ivy and Bean and ALSO write some other things. As a teacher, having favorite authors write a variety of books helps me to encourage kids to stretch their reading tastes a bit. I think this new book by Annie Barrows will encourage lots of kids who are already fans to read this genre that might be new for them.