Poetry Friday -- Webinar

Just a quick post this week to invite you to this webinar. You do not have to be a member of NCTE to take part!

Join the National Council of Teachers of English and the Center for Learning, Literacy, and Engagement at the Library of Congress on Wednesday, March 11 at 4 pm ET for a webinar conversation with award-winning poet Willie Perdomo as he talks to educators about his life as a poet. Perdomo will introduce his own approach to writing, share and discuss two of his poems, and dedicate ample time for Q&A. Willie Perdomo is the author of four poetry collections, most recently The Crazy Bunch, recently named one of New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2019. He teaches at Phillips Exeter Academy.

 Kat Apel has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week.

2020 NCTE Charlotte Huck and Orbis Pictus Award Winners!

2020 Huck Award Winner

Click Here to view the Huck Honor and Recommended books. My review of Room on Our Rock is here.

2020 Orbis Pictus Award Winner

Click Here to view the Orbis Pictus Honor and Recommended books.

One Pagers

Our final read aloud for the 2018-2019 school year was The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon. School had already been out for almost a week when the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winners were announced, so I had to do a private happy dance that Styx Malone was the winner for fiction and poetry!

Back in November of 2018, I had read Jill Yamasawa Fletcher's blog post on the NCTE blog, "The Magic of One-Pagers," and the last week of school seemed like a good time to give one-pagers a low-stakes whirl.

I was drawn to the idea of one-pagers because I'm trying to get rid of all assignments that my students do solely for my eyes and my evaluation. We ran out of time to display these and do a gallery walk so that every student could see what others included and how they approached the requirements, but on a small scale in table groups, there was rich, rich discussion of the book as classmates reminded each other about characters and settings, and as they collaborated to represent the big themes and ideas in the book.

I'm sold. This is a reflection tool I'll use often next school year with read alouds, unpacking poems, processing science and social studies concepts, and...who knows what else?!?

Here's a bit about my process and some peeks at student work.

I had just finished reading Spark, by Sarah Beth Durst, and I used it to make my model. I didn't bother with color since I knew I'd be photocopying it as a reference for my students. I used meaningful shapes (sparks) to hold information, used characters/traits as my border, and only drew one simple line drawing from a really important part of the story. I wanted my model to provide comfort for students who don't see themselves as strong artists.

 

These are the directions I gave my students. Surprisingly, the one they got the most stuck on was #4, personal connections. Over and over I heard, "I don't have any connections to this story." The main characters in Styx Malone are black. Did my students think they didn't have any connections because they were Bengali, Egyptian, Mexican, Iraqi, Chinese, Moroccan, or white? I didn't dig in to the possibility that their lack of connection was racial. I just asked, "You don't have siblings? You've never done anything risky? You never wanted to do something and your parents refused?" Suddenly, connections were found. (It will be interesting to see if this stumbling on connections to characters who look different than the reader comes up with next year's class.)

This reader was thrilled with how neatly and well-organized her work turned out.

Naturally, my most artistic students went all out with their drawings.

Even without drawings, students produced visually pleasing work.

This is one of my favorite details, and an example of the students' deep understanding of the story's big ideas/themes. The picture is from when Caleb and Bobby Gene went against all they knew to be safe and within their family's rules to jump a train with Styx. The theme: "Don't always follow people."

One-pagers are a naturally differentiated activity that provides a way in for ELs and IEP students.

Because it was so close to the end of the school year, I knew if I sent these gems home, they would just get trashed. My students were more than willing to let me have them as examples for next year's class. They also gave me some feedback, letting me know that they wished they would have known they were going to be asked to do this when we started reading the book so they could have kept better track in their readers' notebooks. They loved how often I said, "Sure!" when they asked if they could meet the requirements in a way that differed from my model.

The best ideas come ready to be changed and modified. It will be interesting to see how this idea grows and develops next school year. After they have created a few following my requirements/guidelines, the first thing I'll change is putting them in charge of deciding what information needs to be included.

Do you use one-pagers? What are some of your success stories?

#BuildYourStack Event with NCTE and Dublin City Schools

On Saturday, NCTE and Dublin Schools partnered for a #BuildYourStack™ event for area teachers. It was a great morning --such good energy and so many good books! The day kicked off with Lynsey Burkins, chair of NCTE's Build Your Stack™ Committee talking a bit about Build Your Stack™, independent reading, and classroom libraries.  Gretchen Taylor spoke about the impact NCTE has had on her and then 6 teachers shared their go-to professional books in the quick, high energy BYS format.  There was time for visiting with friends, coffee and book shopping before the level-specific sessions began.

As part of the opening session, we learned about 6 professional books --go to books for these teachers. I was familiar with some of the books, but not all of them so I started to add a few books to my list right away during this opening session.  The books included were: Troublemakers by Carla Shalaby, A Novel Approach by Kate Roberts, 35 Dumb Things Well-Intended People Say: Surprising Things We Say That Widen the Diversity Gap by Maura Cullen, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond, The New Teacher Book by Linda Christensen, and Game Changers by Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp.

The best thing about days like this is how people come together to make it happen.  So many people pulling together to create a great day of learning for teachers. Literacy coaches, teachers, administrators, NCTE staff and students all played a part in making the day what it was. So many people planning, sharing books, setting up, etc. We are lucky to have supportive administrators who helped with the planning and participated in the event.  The day was high energy and positive because so much happened behind the scenes with so many people committed to making this a what it was for participants.

The bulk of the morning was spent in level-specific sessions (elementary, middle, secondary) hearing about books that we might want to add to our classroom libraries. In a little over an hour, teachers heard about many books from teachers and students who loved them.  We were introduced to new books and new authors as we built our stack of to-be-read books.  And of course, there was books shopping! Beth from Selections was there with the best and newest books for our classroom libraries.

It was a great day of good learning, good friends and good books!  I am hoping (hint hint) that this group plans to do this annually.  It was such a great way to spend a Saturday morning in May! Thanks to NCTE and Dublin City Schools and all the people who contributed their time to make this happen.  To learn more about Build Your Stack™ and to read more blog posts by NCTE members that will help you build your summer reading stack, visit NCTE's Build Your Stack™ page and Build Your Stack™blog posts.  You can also follow the #BuildYourStack hashtag on social media,

And don't forget to look for the Build Your Stack™stage in the Exhibit Hall at NCTE19 (November in Baltimore)!  If you were there last year, you know that it was the place to be to learn about new books throughout convention!  Planning is underway for another year of great sessions to help you Build Your Stack™!

Winter Break #bookaday and a Plan for my 2019 (Guilt-Free) Reading

I am so glad that Donalyn Miller invented Winter Break #bookaday. I always participate in Summer #bookaday and loved thinking about what I might read for Winter Break #bookaday.  I counted the days off during break and set a goal to read 15 books. I ended up reading 12 and feel good about that. I read a pretty good variety--picture books, middle grade, professional, etc. Below are screenshots of my Goodreads page of the books I completed over break. I would never had read this many and felt a bit caught up had it not been for Donalyn's #bookaday.  And I love so many of the new 2018 middle grade books that I read!

I didn't get to all 15 titles because a few days ago--a few days before the last day of break, I took a look at my stack of middle grade novels I had hoped to finish as part of Winter Break #bookaday and I decided I was finished. I realized that no matter how many books I read before awards are announced in January, there are books I will miss. I decided that the reading was starting to feel like work and the pile felt a bit overwhelming. And I realized that even though I had read a ton, I had not read the one adult fiction book I have been hoping to read for weeks.

Around the same time, Pernille Ripp wrote this piece, On Book Quantity and the Damage it Can (Sometimes) Do, on her blog. I had just reflected on my own reading goals (and not meeting them) here on the blog last week. So I have some new reading thoughts going into 2019:

Mary Lee and I started this blog 13 years ago as a way to read and predict the Newbery winner before it was announced. It was fun and I still love that part of my reading. And I love knowing so many books to recommend to my students and to talk to them about. But I have learned that no matter how many books I read, there are books I miss.  I can't read everything and that is a hard reality as someone who loves good books.  Moving to 5th grade a couple years ago, I wanted to catch up on the 5th grade books and to be current so I knew that I'd need to commit a few years to that.  So I've been reading frantically to keep up with books that might be great for my 5th graders.

But, I've realized that sometimes my goals get in the way of my bigger life as a reader. I've been following Katherine Sokolowski as she has added romance reading back into her reading life, letting go of the guilt and knowing that she still reads plenty to recommend books to her students.  I love reading middle grade books--they are not work to me--I think they are some of the best books out there in the world. But when I limit myself to reading only the books that I might share with my students, my own reading life feels more like a job than an authentic life as a reader.

I have been wanting to read Barbara Kingsolver's new book Unsheltered since I purchased it the day it was published. I started (but have not gotten very far) Michelle Obama's book Becoming on Audible. I've had YA books The Belles and Children of Bone and Blood on my stack for months. And I keep hearing about There There, another adult book. I want to read. But I have made almost no time for books like this during the last 2 years. I have so many friends and relatives who I used to talk about books with. People who continue to recommend adult fiction to me --I miss talking to those people about books we read.

So I am thinking about just being a reader this year. A reader with a goal of reading 200ish books. A reader who loves to participate in Winter Break, Spring Break and Summer #bookaday. A reader who loves to share books with my students and to have authentic conversations about books we've read. A reader who loves to predict the award winners before they are announced. A reader who recognizes times when reading begins to feel like a chore because of constraints I place on myself. A reader who doesn't feel guilty about the books that I haven't read.  This year my goal is to just be a reader.  To be a reader who reads books and other things that sound good. To read books that stretch me, that friends recommend, and to let go of the guilt I carry about not reading enough, not reading the best books, not knowing the award winners before they are announced. 

I am going to keep in mind this important quote Carol Jago recently shared in her post Why Read on NCTE's blog:

"Love for books drew us to this profession, yet in many cases as soon as we were handed the keys to a classroom, our personal reading was put on hold. With student essays piling up, we feel guilty about picking up a novel. The lure of Twitter doesn’t help, either. But when teachers stop reading, we can easily forget why we went into the classroom in the first place.

Our adult reading lives need nurturing every bit as much as those of our students. To insure that we continue to grow as readers, we need to find ways to be nourished in the company of other adult readers, doing what we love to do best. Don’t think of reading as a guilty pleasure, but rather as professional development."

To kick off the year, in January, I plan to not read any middle grade novels. I am giving myself permission to not rush to read every potential Newbery winner and I am going to give myself permission to nurture my adult reading life again --without considering it a "guilty pleasure".  I'll keep you posted!

My Year of Reading (and Other Things)

This year, I did not meet my reading goals.  I read 201 books and the goal I set was to read 250.  I looked back at my Goodreads Challenges in the past and I tend to set a goal of 200 and I tend to read about 200 books a year.  I guess I was feeling energetic and optimistic last year when I set a goal of 250.  

I am actually surprised I read 200 books. It was a very busy year of life. So many good things and not my usual amount of reading--even when I had time, I didn't seem to have the brainspace to read as much or as often as I usually do.  

In May, we moved from our house of 20+ years to a condo.

A week later, our youngest daughter graduated from high school.

In August, our oldest daughter got married.

And I was program chair of the 2018 NCTE Annual Convention in November.

It was a fabulously full year with so many good things. But it didn't leave room for much reading or blogging. I loved the year but have been glad to have some quiet time this week to get back to regular reading and to catch my breath and to try to blog again.

When I look back on my year of reading, even though I didn't get to all the books I had hoped to,  I read soooo many incredible books. I read so many books that pushed my thinking and that changed me in some way. Looking back, there are several books that have stayed with me--books that I am so glad I found time to read in 2018. These are, in my opinion, books not to be missed (so if you missed them, add them to your stack!).

It is easy to beat ourselves up over not meeting goals. It is easy to forget--when I look at my 2018 Goodreads Challenge - that I read 200+ incredible books and had a full year outside of my reading life. I think goals are fabulous IF we use them in a way that moves us forward instead of in a way that makes us feel like we are not enough or we should do better. Goals should help us grow and reflect and celebrate. I've been thinking a lot about this as I think about goal setting with students-I worry that sometimes with student goals, we give kids the message that no matter what they accomplish, they need to set a next goal, to do more. And that is not the message I want my students to get. I want them to celebrate all that they accomplish, whether they meet a goal or not.  I plan to share all of this with my students--I want them to know that I did not meet my reading goal and that it is okay -- that I still have so much to celebrate.

As with any goals or numbers, this year has taught me to be careful with the expectations I have of myself and how I measure them. Because 2018 was a year of great reading, great books and lots of other great stuff, no matter the number or the goals I didn't meet.  

The Vision of an Extraordinary Educator

Raising Student Voice: Speaking Out for Equity and Justice

“Our students’ voices matter. Their voices matter in our schools, our communities, and beyond. As teachers, we want our students to discover their own voices. We want them to know the power of their voices. We want them to know the power of others’ voices, and we want them to know the power of their collective voices. Most important, we want to help them discover how their voices might impact our world and to be empowered to use their voices to speak out for equity and justice.

“Stories can help our students discover and clarify their own voices. Stories can help us to know our world better. Stories can help us to understand our world and the people in it. Authors, teachers, and librarians work to ensure that every child has books, digital texts, and other media in which they see themselves. They also work so that students have books that can help them understand others. Our students deserve stories that impact who they are and who they can become. They deserve stories that help them understand people and situations that are different from their own. They deserve stories that help them build confidence and empathy. They deserve books that validate their world as well as books that challenge their views. And most important, they deserve to tell their own stories.

“When we meet in Houston, Texas, in November 2018, it is my hope that we will focus on the ways literacy creates change and the ways in which our students can raise their voices to impact their communities. NCTE members create spaces for students to sound their voices. In 2018, we’ll come together in Houston to celebrate our students’ voices and the impact they make in the world.”

--Program Chair Franki Sibberson

Some of the featured speakers who will be at #NCTE18:

More convention information here.

The blog's been quiet this fall, but when you see this convention that Franki's been planning, you will understand why she's gone missing. It's so...Franki! The focus on student voice, the importance of equity and justice, the diversity of the featured speakers, the innovation of the "Build Your Stack" sessions. 

Me? A bit of a rocky start to the school year and 300+ books read for the Huck Award since the middle of August.

We're both eager to be back. But first we're going to soak in the words of these (and other) amazing speakers, have joyous reunions with friends we only see once or twice a year, and do work that we love almost as much as the work we do in our classrooms.

Please join me in celebrating an extraordinary educator, my co-blogger and friend, Franki Sibberson, who will assume the presidency of the National Council of Teachers of English at the 2018 NCTE Annual Convention. A fifth grade classroom teacher with the vision, passion, and energy to lead at the national level. 

Poetry Friday -- The Poetry of US (mine)

Click to enlarge 

Click to enlarge

I'm tickled pink and proud as punch! I also can't wait to dig into the book and read all the poems...but the boxes of books for the Charlotte Huck Award keep coming and coming, so my reading life will not be my own until after NCTE! I'll try to make it around to the roundup this week, but I can't make any promises. :-(

Speaking of the roundup, Tabatha is hosting at The Opposite of Indifference.

Yet Another Lesson From a Bike Ride

The other Lessons From Bike Rides are here

I walked up to the door of the health club and saw the sign: Pool Closed for Repairs. There went my Sunday and Wednesday swims for the next 10 days.

As I turned around and headed back to the car, I was thankful for the nice weather. I would take a bike ride instead of swimming.

The Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (she'll be a featured speaker at NCTE this year--SO excited!!) warned of the danger of a single story in her TED talk. What I realized in that moment when I turned away from a swim and toward a bike ride is the danger of a single EXERCISE story. We should always make sure we have options. Otherwise, if there is a time when we can't do THIS, we will have no THAT to turn to.

The bigger lesson is about diversification. It is good to have lots of <that> in my life so when <this> isn't possible, I've got plenty of options.

Making Time and Space for Nonfiction: Mock Orbis Pictus Award

One of my goals this year is to make sure that nonfiction is more valued in the classroom. I want students to find nonfiction they enjoy reading--books they read because it's interesting--not because it's for school, a project, etc. I just want them to think about nonfiction in ways that invite joy and wonder.

One thing I noticed last year was that I didn't focus on nonfiction enough early in the year.  I didn't read enough nonfiction as part of #classroombookaday.  I didn't booktalk enough nonfiction. So this year, I hope to do better.

I think participating in NCTE's Mock Orbis Pictus Award will help us start the year thinking about nonfiction in new ways.  I spent some time this week looking closely at the Orbis Pictus Award criteria and I think talking around these things will open up great conversations around nonfiction--it will give us all a new way to think about and analyze nonfiction, which in turn will probably make us better readers of nonfiction. It will also help us think about credible sources, the ways visuals and text work together and more.

The Orbis Pictus Award criteria (taken directly from the NCTE site) includes the following:

• Accuracy—current and complete facts, balance of fact and theory, varying points of view, avoidance of stereotypes, author’s qualifications adequate, appropriate scope, authenticity of detail
• Organization—logical development, clear sequence, interrelationships indicated, patterns provided (general-to-specific, simple-to-complex, etc.)
• Design—attractive, readable; illustrations that complement text, placement of illustrative material appropriate and complementary; appropriate media, format, type
• Style—writing is interesting and stimulating, reveals author’s enthusiasm for subject; curiosity and wonder encouraged; appropriate terminology, rich language

So far, I've added several nonfiction titles to the classroom library. Some that I think will be interesting to think about as we participate in Mock Orbis are:

Otis and Will Discover the Deep,  Write to Me, Ski Soldier, The Brilliant Deep and Curiosity.

I will continue to keep up with nonfiction and am excited about approaching nonfiction in this way this fall with my students.

If you know of any great 2018 nonfiction books we should read and discuss as part of our #NCTEMockOrbis work, let me know in the comments! Hoping to see lots of people talking about this on Twitter and Instagram as we share great new nonfiction titles. Check out the link and join us!

It's All About the Books Blog Tour

We are so happy to be the first stop on the It's All About the Books book tour!  We are so excited about this book. We have always been fans of Tammy and Clare's work --loved their book Assessment in Perspective and were part of their tour then!  We love this new book and are excited about the impact it will have in schools across the country.  Make sure to stop at all the other stops on the blog tour this week!

And we are giving away a copy of It's All About the Books! To enter, post a picture of some part of your classroom library somewhere and put the link in a comment below.  At the end of the week (Friday after 5 pm), we'll choose a random winner to receive a copy of this fabulous new book! (Don't forget to check back to see the classroom library photos:-)

We asked Clare and Tammy some questions about the book. Here is what they said:

Franki and Mary Lee: How has your thinking evolved about classroom libraries over the years?

Clare and Tammy: Initially, we set up our classroom library before the students arrived at school. All of our books were organized in plastic bins and we knew exactly where each and every book was located.  Our library remained the same all year except for one book display that rotated each month. Now we include students in the process of setting up and maintaining our classroom library.  Instead of getting everything set up before they arrive, we provide the baskets, labels, and markers and let the kids set up the library.  When the students set up the library, they know where the books are and feel more invested in the space.   As they decide how to organize the books, we listen in to learn more about their interests and passions. The more students are part of the process, the more we learn about them as readers and the better we can help them find books they love.  The classroom library is now more than a place to pick books.  When we design it with our readers, and when we are set up to flexibly meet their changing needs and preferences, the classroom library truly becomes the home of an active reading community.

Franki and Mary Lee: What advice do you have for teachers about keeping up with good books to add to their classroom libraries?

Clare and Tammy: We keep up with good books by relying on our PLNs, both locally and globally.  We connect with our local PLNs by visiting book stores and public libraries to check out what is new.  We also speak with the school librarians, teachers, and reading coaches at our partnership schools to hear about what they are reading and what their students are enjoying.

Our global PLN on social media helps us know what is up and coming. We participate in #IMWAYR every Monday and join #titletalk chats on the last Sunday evening each month.  We read lots of blogs including yours - A Year of Reading, Watch Connect Read with Mr. Schu, Nerdy Book Club, and Colby Sharps book talks on Sharpread.  We have additional resources we rely on listed in the online resources in our book - OR 6.1

Franki and Mary Lee: How do you think classroom libraries should evolve over the course of a single school year?

Clare and Tammy: Readers love new books! Classroom libraries should be refreshed and revised to meet the ever-evolving needs of our students. A classroom library should reflect the growth and curricular journey of the students throughout the year. When the class studies particular authors, genres, and topics, we add these texts to the library.  As students share their personal interests and preferences we can also add these texts to our library. We are purposeful in introducing new series and authors to add complexity to the library as our students’ reading skills develop.  Throughout the year, we try to look at our library through the eyes of our students.  We ask, “Does the library offer a range of choices that will engage and support all the readers in the class?"  We take this information and use it to revise and refresh the classroom library.

Franki and Mary Lee: How has your thinking about bookrooms evolved over the years?

Clare and Tammy: We used to think about bookrooms as a place to store shared leveled texts for small group instruction (i.e. six-packs.) As we observed bookroom after bookroom not being used by teachers, we decided to revise our thinking.  Now we design bookrooms as an annex to every classroom library – we design each with the other in mind.  Teachers need books to support all aspects of reading and writing instruction, not just books for small group instruction.  As we talked with teachers, we heard again and again that they did not have the volume or range of texts they needed for their students to read independently.  It is near impossible for a classroom teacher to source a library that is equipped to meet the needs of each student year after year. We shifted our thinking and decided the largest section of the bookroom needs to support independent reading. These texts are organized by bands of text complexity into baskets of approximately 20 single titles that are categorized by genre, author, series, and topics of interest.  This design makes it easy for teachers to grab a few baskets and add them right to their classroom library.  The bookroom also has baskets of read aloud suggestions organized by grade level, mentor texts for units of study in writing workshop, texts to support content area curriculum, and even baskets of paired texts to support partner reading.  We still have some texts organized in 6-packs for small group instruction and book clubs, but this is now only one section of the bookroom.  Ideally, bookrooms supply the depth, breadth, and volume of books to supplement what each teacher needs and every student wants. All of this organized in grab-and-go baskets for a teacher to simply (and quickly) take and incorporate into her classroom library.

Franki and Mary Lee: For teachers who have very few books provided by their schools/districts, where do you suggest they start?

Clare and Tammy: This is a tough question because we believe that books are an essential tool for teachers.  When schools provide desks and chairs for students, they should also allocate funds to ensure that every classroom has a vibrant and engaging classroom library. In the first chapter of the book, we cite research to support teachers in advocating for what they need to inspire lifelong readers.

That being said, here are a few of the ideas we share in the book to get you started without school or district support …  

If you don’t have books to source a classroom library, we recommend you get in touch with your school librarian and begin by borrowing books from the school and public libraries.  You can borrow collections of texts organized by author, genre, series and topic to figure out what your students love.  Once you have a sense of what engages your students, ask the school librarian to help you gather some of these texts.  Some teachers even ask parents to help out by going to their local branch of the public library to pick up books they need for the classroom library.  Colleagues are another great option for borrowing books.  Many teachers have a wealth of books and are happy to loan books, especially texts their students are not accessing at that time of the year. Even colleagues with a small collection may be willing to rotate books between classrooms to increase their volume of books as well.

At some point, teachers do need to get some books of their own.  Scholastic book orders are a great option for teachers to earn bonus points to purchase books.  Box Tops is another way to earn money for books and families are happy to help out by organizing a collection. Families are also often willing to donate gently used books to supply classroom libraries.  Grants are another source of funding. Many schools offer grants through the parent organization or local school foundation.  Teachers also seek grants through Donors Choose and The Book Love Foundation (see question 6) to fund a classroom library.  If you do receive funds be sure to check out specials with vendors, discount book stores and even public library book sales to get the best bang for your buck!  We have many resources in our book, including lists of our favorite vendors and some of our tried and true texts, to support you once you are ready to go shopping!

Franki and Mary Lee: Can you tell us why you chose to donate all royalties from this book to Book Love. Of all the literacy organizations out there, why this one?

Clare and Tammy: When we decided to write a book advocating for more books in classrooms, we felt we had to help get more books into the hands of students and teachers.  I didn’t feel right to highlight the problem without trying to be a part of the solution. We were trying to figure out how we could make an impact.  Then we heard Penny Kittle speak at the Donald Graves Breakfast at NCTE.  She shared how Don impacted her personally and professionally, “That generosity for someone he didn’t know just became a theme in my life.” We looked at each other in that moment and knew what we needed to do.  We found Penny at the end of the session and asked her if we could join her mission for Book Love. Book Love is a not-for-profit organization founded by Penny Kittle with one goal: to put books in the hands of teenagers.  We were fortunate that Penny and Heinemann both supported our vision and helped us bring it to life by generously agreeing to allow the royalties of our book to expand that goal and put books into the hands of elementary and middle grade students as well. Each time someone purchases a copy of It’s All About the Books, the royalties go directly to the Book Love Foundation to fund elementary and middle grade libraries. This made the project so meaningful for us – a book about books that will bring books into the hands of readers – what could be better than that!

If you would like to donate directly to the Book Love Foundation simply send a check or donate online http://booklovefoundation.org/donate.  If you would like your donation to fund elementary and middle grade libraries, please send an email to booklovefoundation@gmail.com or write elementary or middle grade libraries in the memo line of your check.  Checks can be mailed to Book Love Foundation, PO Box 2575, North Conway, NH 03860-2575.