Book Collections/Habits

As part of helping my students think about their own reading identities, I always invite adult readers (parents, grandparents, staff members, etc.) to come to the classroom and talk about themselves as readers. It is quite fun. We spread it over the first months of school and it is a great builder of conversations. Every year I am amazed at collections and traditions people have around books. Over the years, we've heard from readers who buy a book in every city they visit for a collection of their travels. We've heard from readers who collect any version of Little Red Riding Hood that they can find. One mom collects Peter Rabbit books in every language. We've heard from people who buy books with their children's first names in them. This year we heard from a mom who buys a book for each child each year at Christmas. She picks out a special book for each child and writes the child a letter about their year in the front cover. Her thought is that when the children become adults, they'll have 21 books that chronicle their lives as readers, with a letter from mom in each one. What a gift! Last year, I started buying a few of my girlfriends my favorite book of the year as a Christmas present--what a better thing to share. And we all had so much to talk about! I love hearing about these traditions, collections, gift ideas etc. If anyone has others, we'd love to hear them. As a teacher, I love to share them with students--a vision of how readers live outside of the world of school. As a mom, friend, etc. I love the ideas--possibilities for my own life as a reader!

Comment if you have any great ideas. If we get enough, we'll compile them into a post.

Watch this film

Shannon Hale's books feature strong female characters. No surprise that I found this link at Sqeetus, her blog. Share this with all your friends, and not just the strong female ones.

Poetry Friday

Conference Comp Day Haiku

Teachers' holiday:
A one-day pause during the
Fall frenzy of school.

Fun Committees

Is "fun committees" an oxymoron? Not when the committees are for nominating or judging children's books for the newly conceived and unveiled Cybil Awards.



Here are the committees that are finalized so far:

Jen Robinson -- YA Fiction
Big A little a -- Picture Books (Franki's on this one!)
Fuse 8 -- Middle Grade Fiction

It appears that there is room left on the committees for Nonfiction Picture Books, Graphic Novels (I'm on this one!), Middle Grade and YA Nonfiction, Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Poetry. Join in! If not to be on a FUN COMMITTEE, then to nominate a favorite in each category (following the rules, of course).

(Great logo, Stephanie!)

Newbery Ramblings

Nina, over at Nina's Newbery, wants to know if GOSSAMER is or is not an adult book.

Here's my two cents.

I read GOSSAMER aloud to my 5th graders. We had great conversation during the opening of the book about trusting an author and allowing yourself to revise your understanding of what's going on in a book as the author gives you more and more clues. Case in point: when you start reading, you have no idea what kind of creatures the Dream Givers are. Lowry gives the reader a character -- Gossamer -- who has no idea what kind of creature she is, and it's through her questions and explorations that she and the reader simultaneously learn what she is and what she does.

There were great connections between the fight of good vs. evil in GOSSAMER and in the BONE series, and between the somewhat flighty (pardon the pun), playful, simultaneously immature/deeply mature characters of Gossamer and Grace in COUNTING ON GRACE.

As early Tweens, my students really wanted to believe in the magic of the Dream Givers, but they could also talk about them in a very practical, no-nonsense way as well. This is where they're at right now in their development with Santa, the Easter Bunny, and The Great Pumpkin: they believe in spite of the evidence.

I did have to give them some background information on foster care (happily, there are no students in this class who have experienced this first-hand).

The day I was out with laryngitis so bad I could not make a single sound, my sub read the ending. After I returned, and as soon as I had enough voice to read aloud again, my students insisted I re-read the ending.

The idea of "gathering fragments" has become a metaphor in writing workshop for the kind of short entries we do in our writer's notebooks when we want to hold on to a moment (memory, scent, emotion, taste, etc.).

So is GOSSAMER an adult book? I say, "No." It's a great story for readers to connect to with heart and mind. It's a finely crafted short text for writers to study. I think it should be considered for the Newbery.

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

Okay, so this is my very favorite story of the year. JEREMY FINK AND THE MEANING OF LIFE by Wendy Mass--LOVED IT! I decided to read it after FUSE #8 gave it such a great review. She was correct. It is a great book and I haven't heard much about it. I would highly recommend it. It would be a great read aloud for older kids. I got the same feel that I got many, many years ago when I was reading FROM THE MIXED UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER by E.L. Konigsburg, one of my favorite books from childhood. Jeremy Fink is a great character. His search for the meaning of life is one that is fun and one that makes you think. I've read the author's other books, but this is by far, my favorite! I don't think they give the Newbery anymore for a great story, but I would love to see this one win!

Literary Allusion

You thought The Excrement Poem was an oddly out-of-character poetry choice for the blog of elementary school teachers who are supposed to be writing about their reading lives and specifically about all of the wonderful new books that might win the Newbery Award? You allowed yourself to be deceived? You haven't wasted the last few years of your otherwise wonderful life reading THE SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS?

You didn't make the connection to THE END?

I quote, "We might even say that the world is always in medias res -- a Latin phrase which means 'in the midst of things' or 'in the middle of a narrative' -- and that it is impossible to solve any mystery, or find the root of any trouble..." In other words, WE GO ON, just as the Beaudelaire triplets and their new daughter do...or did, if I'm piecing together the clues about Lemony and Beatrice correctly, which is probably impossible, based on the circular illogicity (a word which here means "I don't get it," or some such thing) of THE SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS and of life itself.

Poetry Friday

The Excrement Poem: by Maxine Kumin

It is done by us all, as God disposes, from
the least cast of worm to what may have been
in the case of the brontosaur, say, spoor
of considerable heft, something awesome.

We eat, we evacuate, survivors that we are.
I think these things each morning with shovel
and rake, drawing the risen brown buns
toward me, fresh from the horse oven, as it were,

or culling the alfalfa-green ones, expelled
in a state of ooze, through the sawdust bed
to take a serviceable form, as putty does,
so as to lift out entire from the stall.

And wheeling to it, storming up the slope,
I think of the angle of repose the manure
pile assumes, how sparrows come to pick
the redelivered grain, how inky-cap

coprinus mushrooms spring up in a downpour.
I think of what drops from us and must then
be moved to make way for the next and next.
However much we stain the world, spatter
it with our leavings, make stenches, defile
the great formal oceans with what leaks down,
trundling off today's last barrowful,
I honor shit for saying: We go on.

-----------------

We go on.

And in case you think this is an odd poem choice, check this out for odd.

Cool Teacher Update

In our quest to list 100 Cool Teachers in Children's Literature, we are up to 84. Check the sidebar for the teachers who've been nominated so far and wrack your brains for any we've missed!

Ten Poems to Last A Lifetime

I love Roger Housden's book TEN POEMS TO LAST A LIFETIME. I like the whole idea of it. In the introduction, he writes, "What is is about honey and bees that engages a beekeeper in his work for a lifetime? Or chimpanzees---Why does the primatologist Jane Goodall spend her working life alone in Africa watching and talking to them? What does a Shakespeare scholar find so fascinating about all those plays, which most of us are glad to be done with at the end of high school? And why do some people return to a few favorite poems over and over again, down through the years, when there are so many other books and anthologies out there just waiting to be digested and absorbed? .... It must be an unending source of discovery, of reflection, solace and insight; of pleasure; and also of warmth and nourishment, in athe way a fire can warm hands, and bread can fill the stomach." I am not one to read poetry anthologies from front to back but I love to find a poem that changes me. That is why I love this book and the concept of it--poems that you can go to over and over and over. Roger Housden mentions later in the introduction that everyone will have his/her own list of poems for a lifetime. I may start my own collection. Wouldn't it be fun for kids to do this? I'd love to see an anthology like this for kids. If you want to think about poems that would make a list of a kid version of an idea like this, we will be happy to post the list--poems that provide kids with some way to make sense of the world, that they could go to over and over. Comment away!

Art Teacher Suspended for Museum Trip?

Did anyone else see this article about a Texas teacher who has been suspended because her students saw nude art on an approved museum field trip?

Breaking News For Frost Fans

A previously unpublished poem by Robert Frost has been found! The poem, entitled "War Thoughts At Home" was found handwritten in the cover of a book, and will be published in Virginia Quarterly Review this week.

Kimberly Willis Holt

Kimberly Willis Holt was at our favorite children's bookstore--Cover to Cover--last Saturday. I have heard her speak before and I always love what she has to say. She was there talking about her new book PART OF ME: STORIES OF A LOUISIANA FAMILY which I just finished and loved! I am a huge fan of Holt's so I would be happy to see this one win the Newbery too. It is pretty new so we'll see if it makes any of the Mock Newbery lists. The book is another one of her stories with characters who stay with you. Actually, it is about 4 generations of a family. The fun thing for all of you teachers and librarians out there is the thread of books and reading throughout the book. The main character was a bookmobile driver which brought back great memories of my childhood bookmobile days. This book is really a tribute to books, reading, readers and family. I loved it!

Poetry Friday for the Changing Seasons

I found this poem for Jody Scott once, long ago. Her sticky note of thanks is still in the book by the poem. I love rediscovering that note and being flooded with memories of her.

The poem is RELUCTANCE, by Robert Frost.

My favorite stanza:

The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.


The last stanza:

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?


The whole poem

NEW BABYMOUSE BOOK!

I just picked up a copy of BABYMOUSE: ROCK STAR today. I am very excited that this new addition to the series is out. I plan to read it tonight. Since so many people put BABYMOUSE: BEACH BABE on their Top 5 List for Mother Reader, I am anxious to check it out. It looks like it is going to be another good one:-)

Banned Books Week

Franki sent me a link from Outside of a Cat about Banned Books week...

...there it was, number 98 on the list of 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000: THE HEADLESS CUPID by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. The memories came flooding back...new teacher, just out of OSU with an MA in Children's Literature; parents loud and threatening and defiant; questioning myself, my judgement, my professionalism; feeling of support when my principal read the book and defended it and me when we met with the parents...and my astonishment when I learned, at that meeting with the parents, that THEY HADN'T EVEN READ THE BOOK! We cooked up some activities for the kid to do in another book out in the hall while the class (or the group...that part's fuzzy) worked on THE HEADLESS CUPID, but his parents wound up reading the book (finally) and realized it wasn't so bad, and they let the kid finish the book on his own because he wanted to find out how the story ended.

Gigantic nothing-burger with a side of ignorance. Left me with a mild case of professional indigestion, but no permanent aversion to books that fringe cases might not approve of.

Reading First News

I don't know if any of you have seen the report done on Reading First. But here is the link to the New York Times article about it this weekend. I think scripted programs for teachers are getting out of control and that we need to work to make REAL books the anchor for reading instruction. Hopefully, more money will be given to book based reading instruction in the near future.
An interesting read.

Poetry Saturday

School has taken over my life, so this poem has particular resonance:

ONCE AGAIN I FAIL TO READ AN IMPORTANT NOVEL
by George Bilgere

Instead we sit together by the fountain,
the important novel and I.

We are having coffee together
in that quiet first hour of the morning,
respecting each other's silences
in the shadow of an important old building
in this small but significant European city.

All the characters can relax.
I'm giving them the day off.

(click here for the rest of the poem)



And here are a few haiku my 5th graders wrote about favorite read-alouds from last year:

THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX by Kate DiCamillo

Despereaux is small
A mouse the size of a bug
A hero to all


Despereaux is a
mouse that gets his tail cut off
by a falling knife.


Shining warrior
he goes to save a princess
Name is Despereaux.



THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF EDWARD TULANE by Kate DiCamillo

Edward Tulane lost
his beloved pocket watch,
a cherished item.


Edward Tulane was
a rich rabbit without love.
People, though, found it.

Poetry Friday!

I found a fun, new poetry book that I thought I'd share. It is called DON'T FORGET YOUR ETIQUETTE! THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO MISBEHAVIOR. ("With advice from Miss Information"--get it?!) So, this is a cute book of poems for kids that talks all about ways to misbehave. It is illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott so if you know her other books, you know that her illustrations always add fun to the text.

Here is a stanza from a poem called "The Etiquette of Dress"

Tuck your tie into your belt
And wear it as a tail.
Put your undies on your head
And wear them as a veil.

I think my favorite part of the book is the placement of a quote above each poem. These are serious quotes about manners from manners books and experts. (Miss Manners, Emily Post, etc.). The quote above "The Etiquette of Dress" says, "You never get a second chance at a first impression, and a first impression is often based on how you look." Emily Post's Teen Etiquette. The brilliance in the choice of quotes is quite amusing:-)

I think kids will LOVE this book. I think MOST parents will too, but after reading the link from Read Roger, who knows how some parents will react to the humor.

The New Yorker in Haiku

Every New Yorker article turned into haiku.

Amazing.

Excessive, in a minimalist sort of way.

My Top 5 Books

Top 5 2006 Series Books For Struggling Readers in Upper Elementary

NIGHT OF THE NEW MAGICIANS by Mary Pope Osborne (Magic Tree House Series)
LOSE, TEAM, LOSE by R.L. Stine (Rotten School Series)
BABYMOUSE: BEACH BABE by Jennifer and Matthew Holm (Babymouse Series)
CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS AND THE PREPOSTEROUS PLIGHT OF THE PURPLE POTTY PEOPLE by Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants Series)
THE DRAGONSLAYER by Jeff Smith (Bone Series -- graphic novel)

None of these books will win the Newbery. But they're what my struggling 4th/5th graders can pick up and read independently.

Three Cool Connections

A group of my students are reading COUNTING ON GRACE by Elizabeth Winthrop. I am reading GOSSAMER by Lois Lowry for our read aloud.

The group thinks Grace, who has just started working at the mill, is like Littlest, who has just started bestowing dreams. Grace and Littlest both are playful and curious and have a hard time concentrating on their work.

Pepe is like Grandpa in CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, they think. I'm pretty sure they won't think that at the end of the book.

One of my avid BONE readers thinks the bad dreams that Thorn is having come from the Sinsteeds in GOSSAMER.

Poetry Friday, better late than never

Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone;
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own.

by A.L. Gordon
in THIS PLACE I KNOW: POEMS OF COMFORT, selected by Georgia Heard

From School Library Journal
In memory of the September 11th tragedy, this book was compiled initially to offer hope and comfort to children who witnessed the event firsthand, but has far broader application, speaking to all people, young and old, who suffer trauma.

Whining

I heard an interview on NPR this morning, "The Joys and Perils of Whining at Work."

On that note, here are my two school haikus, in response to Franki's challenge.


I really do think
we work harder every day
than anyone else.


We educate your
future generations. You
begrudge us summers?

Franki's Top Picks (so far!) for 2006

Thanks to Mother Reader for another great idea! She has asked us to pick our top 5 books of 2006 in a few categories. Since the purpose of this blog is to read books that could win the Newbery, I have my top 5 in that area on my list. At the moment, based on what I've read and the mood I'm in, here are the top 5 picture books and chapter books for middle readers.

Top 5 Fiction for Middle Readers
(Novels that COULD Win the Newbery Award)

YELLOW STAR by Jennifer Roy

PENNY FROM HEAVEN by Jennifer Holm

YEAR OF THE DOG by Grace Lin

FAIRIES OF NUTFOLK WOOD by Barb Bentler Ullman

GOSSAMER by Lois Lowry


Fiction Picture Books

SCAREDY SQUIRREL by Melanie Watt

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL by Louise Borden

THE PRINCESS AND THE PEAby Lauren Child

HIPPO! NO, RHINO! by Jeff Newman

BIG SISTER, LITTLE SISTER By LeUyen Pham

Teacher Challenge!

I am fascinated by Fibonacci Poetry (thanks to Gotta Book) and Emily Reads Haiku Reviews (thanks to A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy). I'm also quite amused by Book-a-Minute.

So, teachers, here is your challenge,
create a Fibonacci Poem OR a Haiku OR a School-Day-A-Minute describing your day at school.

Mary Lee, you go first:-)


School Fib for Tuesday, September 12

Wake,
walk
dog and
swim laps, then
it's all a blur 'til
I fall asleep reading in bed.


To Teach Fib

To
teach
is to
motivate,
inspire, encourage,
watch, listen, cajole, celebrate.


ML

The Horn Book Article

Thanks to Read Roger, whose blog I read almost daily, I found this great article from this month's Horn Book Magazine. I hadn't dug into my copy yet but checked out the Table of Contents when Roger mentioned that it was available. I always love the sneak peak at the articles online. I am so interested in getting the right books into the hands of our new chapter book readers that I loved this one. It is a letter to parents from a second grade teacher about books and book choice at this age. If anyone knows the author, I'd love to tell her how amazing this letter to parents is!

The First Six Days of School

(Disclaimer: I am a looping teacher. One of the joys of the second year of the loop is that there is a weave of connectedness to everything that happens in our classroom right from the start.)

The first book I read aloud this year was DOOBY DOOBY MOO by Doreen Cronin. Last year we read Click Clack Moo, Giggle Giggle Quack, Duck for President, Diary of a Worm, and Diary of a Spider, so predictions and connections were numerous and were rich with background knowledge about the farm, the farmer, and the duck. The kids loved how Cronin uses asterisk footnotes that sound just like the fine print in real life.

The asterisk footnotes led me to read WOLVES by Emily Gravett next. (Yes, this is the one I stole out of Franki's pile at Cover to Cover.) I won't spoil it for you, but the end of this book is similar in tone and style to Cronin's asterisk footnotes. My students were touchingly distressed by the first ending, and laughed hysterically at the sarcasm of the second ending. 10 years old and already so jaded!

After two picture books, I was ready for a novel, and we jumped right into GOSSAMER by Lois Lowry. I say "jumped right into" because we usually spend time doing what readers do when they choose a new book -- studying the cover, reading the blurbs on the back and on the flaps of the cover, thinking about all we might know about the author's other books. All I told them was that they should expect to be confused, but that one of the main characters was also confused and would be asking lots of the questions they would have. As I read the first 10 pages or so, we stopped often, trying to piece together the clues about who these creatures are and what they are doing. The way Lowry writes with such authority about these imaginary (??or are they real??) dream givers reminded us of the way one of the students in our class wrote about the alien cultures in the lunar system that she invented last year.

I'm still making my way through Katie Wood Ray's STUDY DRIVEN, but I have read enough to know that our first study in writing workshop will be of the interesting things punctuation can do in our writing. (Ray writes about such a study in a first grade class. Why re-invent the wheel, eh?) It seemed natural to use Cronin's asterisks as the example that would send some students off to gather other anchor texts for our study. They went right to Cronin's other books, so it looks like we'll be doing a combination study of how Cronin uses punctuation, and, oh, yeah, how a few other writers use it, too.

I tabbed this important statement in Ray's STUDY DRIVEN: "When students are just writing on their own in writing workshops, they must learn to answer this essential question, 'What have you read that is like what you are trying to make?' " As we reviewed what a writer needs to think about when planning a piece, one student offered up, "You need to know what you're going to make." (goosebumps) So as I circulated around the room and asked students what they had read that they thought their writing might be like, one student said she was planning to make a story that would be like DOOBY DOOBY MOO, set on a farm, with a farmer and some farm animals for the characters. Two boys have attempted to write humor in the style of CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS, but I'm going to send them back to Pilkey's books for more study. Their funniest joke so far is the one about the Barbies vs. Barneys: The Ultimate Battle video game that is rated M for Mature. The rest of the humor is gratuitous bathroom humor. Maybe they need to get some peer reviewers to look at their work, too. I could be way off on the bathroom humor.

Enough for tonight. I have to go make lunches for the week and then fall into bed and hope to get enough rest to tackle our first, full, five-days-in-a-row week of school, which will include both the unveiling of our science museum and curriculum night.

Poetry Friday!

I decided to feature two of my favorite professional books for teachers this week. If any of you know me, you know I am talking about Georgia Heard's books, FOR THE GOOD OF EARTH AND SUN: TEACHING POETRY and AWAKENING THE HEART: EXPLORING POETRY IN ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL. Neither are new books, but they are books that I go back to every year to think about poetry teaching. I am a big fan of Georgia Heard's work. She is amazing and has helped so many teachers to teach poetry well. I used to dread the idea of getting kids to write poetry. But, after discovering FOR THE GOOD OF EARTH AND SUN years ago, we have a great time reading, writing and thinking about poems. She is a poet and teacher and her strategies for teaching poetry help kids (and teachers) to love the genre of poetry and to learn to write it well. I have found that studying poetry and language the way that Georgia Heard teaches us to, helps students improve their writing across genres. Georgia Heard is a poet who has also written several poetry books for kids, such as CREATURES OF EARTH, SEA, AND SKY, THIS PLACE I KNOW: POEMS OF COMFORT, and SONG OF MYSELF: AN ANTHOLOGY OF POEMS AND ART.

"Comments are the Lifeblood of Blogs"

I couldn't agree with Graham Wegner more.

Doug at Borderland shares some tips for organizing and tracking your comments...a little beyond my skill level right now, but maybe not yours...

Links for Teachers

I updated our generic and quirky "Links" section on the sidebar to (hopefully) be more useful to teachers who read here. Any other favorites you'd like us to consider?

archy and mehitabel

From the Don Marquis website: "Archy is a cockroach with the soul of a poet, and Mehitabel is an alley cat with a celebrated past -- she claims she was Cleopatra in a previous life. Together, cockroach and cat are the foundation of one of the most engaging collections of light poetry to come out of the twentieth century."


the lesson of the moth

By Don Marquis, in "archy and mehitabel," 1927


i was talking to a moth
the other evening
he was trying to break into
an electric light bulb
and fry himself on the wires

why do you fellows
pull this stunt i asked him
because it is the conventional
thing for moths or why
if that had been an uncovered
candle instead of an electric
light bulb you would
now be a small unsightly cinder
have you no sense

plenty of it he answered
but at times we get tired
of using it
we get bored with the routine
and crave beauty
and excitement
fire is beautiful
and we know that if we get
too close it will kill us
but what does that matter
it is better to be happy
for a moment
and be burned up with beauty
than to live a long time
and be bored all the while
so we wad all our life up
into one little roll
and then we shoot the roll
that is what life is for
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
our attitude toward life
is come easy go easy
we are like human beings
used to be before they became
too civilized to enjoy themselves

and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself
on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity

but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself

archy

Happy Blogday!

We got tagged by A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy for BlogDay 2006. It sounds like fun, so here goes:

Happy BlogDay 2006! Here's how you can participate:

1. Find five new blogs that you find interesting.

2. Notify the five bloggers that you're recommending them on BlogDay 2006.

3. Write a BlogDay post today with a short description of each blog, and a link back to each one.

4. Add a BlogDay 2006 Technorati tag and/or link back to the Technorati BlogDay 2006 page.

5. Link to the BlogDay website.

So here are my five blog choices:

a wrung sponge She's thoughtful and funny, takes great pictures, and is a home-grown one-woman environmental movement.

Lowry Updates Lois Lowry is one of my favorite children's authors, and finding her blog made my day! In between the release of her books, I can still enjoy her fine writing (and smile at the antics of Alfie).

blog of proximal development Here is a PhD candidate whose thesis is on the use of blogging communities in education. Our school district's Framework for Learning stands on the shoulders of Vygotsky's "Zones of proximal development" and as a beginning blogger, I have palpably felt the edges of my ZPDs as I build my skills!

Perpetual Thursday She has the MOST AMAZING yearly reading lists. I aspire to be as widely read as she is, and as organized in my list-making. She's also the one who turned me on to Library Thing.

GottaBook He hooked me with his Ogden Nash-esque poem about Pluto's demotion. I haven't even scratched the surface of his Fibs, Oddaptations, and Poems. Fun reading here!

More On Summer Reading Lists

There seems to be more going on with the Summer Reading Requirements this summer. I read at Fuse #8 about a school district that suspended 519 students on the first day of school for not completing their Summer Reading and assignment. They were happy because this was down almost 50% from last year's suspensions.

The interesting thing was --of the 519 students, all but about 93 came back the next day with their reading assignments completed. So, do we really think those kids went home and in one day completed a summer's worth of reading?

I did a bit of investigating and found the school district's website. They have a good goal. There is big research out there that supports the idea that kids need to read in the summer. I totally agree with that. So, this district had signs all over town, reminding kids of their Summer Reading. So, from what I read, if a chid went to a local restaurant, there might be a sign reminding them that they had to read over the summer.

The teachers seemed to be very smart about this assignment. From the lists and assignments I found, they really worked hard to help kids have choice in what they read, inviting them to read books on the list or to find their own. They also gave choice within the project. Although the district announced that the assignment should be turned in on the first day of school and would count as a big test grade, the teachers created good lists and thoughtful projects.

I think where we are going wrong with all of these summer reading lists is in the message to students that you have to "work" in the summer too. It can't be good to have kids thinking that they "have to" read and that reading is "work". Instead, as teachers and administrators, we should help kids discover the amazing experience that reading is, so that they use the summer to catch up on the books that they have been dying to read. I would think a good goal would be for kids to get excited about an event like the 48 hour book challenge sponsored by the brilliant Mother Reader. How many of us were extremely excited about the idea of giving 48 hours to ONLY reading? This is the kind of reader I think we want to come out of our schools. Imagine if our high schoolers were reading for 48 hours, writing about their reading, to a real audience, as they went. Maybe if we spent our time helping kids find the right books so they become readers during the school year, maybe if instead of assignments, kids could meet over the summer to discuss and share the great books they found, we could keep kids reading over the summer AND help them become lifelong readers.

I think so often, we are trying to get kids to "prove" that they read. In my lifetime, I have turned in book reports on books I hadn't read that scored higher grades than reports on books I had read. It is easy to "fake" these assignments that are designed to "prove" that you read. What messages are we giving our children if they think reading is such an awful thing that we are going to check to see whether or not they really did it?

I found a science museum in my basement

It was in a box labeled "School--Treasures." Inside was the snake skin and snake eggs (hatched, thankfully), the star fish, the sand dollars, the fossils, the skulls and bones, the flamingo feathers, and lots of other artifacts of nature that I've collected (and been given) over the years. A science museum, waiting to happen!

Each of my 5th graders will choose an item from the "Treasures" box and will be charged with writing the informational blurb that will explain it to a visitor to our museum. This will take research (non-fiction reading benchmark), writing (all benchmarks of the writing standard), and scientific habits of mind (scientific inquiry benchmark). Valid content--cha-ching!

It will be months before the art teacher has a display ready for the shelves along the windows in the commons, so we'll have the space we need. Logistics--cha-ching!

In Friday's USA TODAY there was an article about museums that are creating podcast audio tours of their exhibits. We can create a podcast of our museum in GarageBand. Integration of technology--cha-ching!

One model that we will use for our writing will come from online virtual science museums. (The Smithsonian's 150th Traveling Exhibition, and the Field Museum's Sue at The Field Museum are two that I think will give us good writing models.)

But I'd also like to use children's books that model the kind of writing we will do to briefly explain the items in the museum. I think EYEWITNESS books will work well. They have the overview in the top left corner, and each item on the page has a short, explanatory caption.

Do you know any other children's books that would be a good model for our science museum writing, OR books about going to a museum (science or otherwise)? I would appreciate your input!

Great New Nonfiction Picture Books

I just found 2 great, brand-new, nonfiction picture books! The first one is a great one about estimation. It is called GREAT ESTIMATIONS (get it?) and it is by Bruce Goldstone. It has great, colorful photographs and invites kids to estimate something on each page. I like a lot of things about this book. First of all, the cover is inviting. Who wouldn't want to pick it up? Secondly, it really teaches kids how to estimate well. It teaches readers the difference between a random guess and a good estimate. It shows them a strategy and then gives them a photo to practice on. It also includes hints to help you out if you still need help. The photos are very fun. The reader gets to estimate lots of things (macaroni, Cheerios, doll shoes, rabbits). It feels a bit like the "I Spy" books because it is so eye-catching and interactive. You can spend lots of time on each of the pages. Love this one! GREAT ESTIMATIONS 

The other book is called EXTREME ANIMALS: THE TOUGHEST CREATURES ON EARTH by Nicola Davies. This book is a fun book about animals that have adapted to extreme conditions. The book is a great size (small) and the illustrations are fun and comical. Lots of great information for readers about animals and their environments. The book is organized in stand-alone pages so kids can read about one animal at a time if they don't want to read it from cover to cover. I think this is a great nonfiction book for middle and upper elementary kids. It is packed with pretty cool info! (If you get this one, make sure to take off the cover and look at the illustrations underneath. The endpages are pretty fun too!)

Poetry Friday--Aunt Eweginia

As I was getting the classroom ready for school, I came across one of my favorite poetry books and had to reread some of the poems. The play on language is fun throughout the book. It is called WOOL GATHERING: A SHEEP FAMILY REUNION by Lisa Wheeler. Below is one of my favorite poems from the book. Enjoy! Aunt Eweginia Eweginia is a Ewesful Ewe. Just wait, Ewe'll see what she can do. She'll knit Ewe scarves, she'll knit Ewe gloves. There's nothing more Eweginia loves, than knitting white wool Eweniforms or woolen socks to keep Ewe warm. Ewe mustn't watch Ewe see, that's rude. Eweginia knits till she is nude. By Lisa Wheeler By the way, speaking of Poetry Friday, I wanted to share something we do in our classroom every Friday--called "Poetry Friday" actually. I wanted kids to have time to relax and enjoy poetry with friends in the same way that we often enjoy donuts and coffee in the teachers' lounge on Fridays. So, we have Poetry Friday for the first 15-20 minutes at the beginning of the day on Fridays. Parents sign up to bring in a breakfast snack and drink (donuts and juice, muffins and milk, fruit, etc.) Kids come in, grab a snack and have fun with poetry--sitting around reading poetry with friends. I have done this for 2 years and kids quickly come to love poetry when they have this time to eat good food, and enjoy great poetry with their friends. I have about 100-200 poetry books in the classroom so they always find new poems to read. And when you eat donuts while you are reading poetry, you equate the two and begin to love poetry! (the Pavlov effect)

Summer Reading Assignments

I just found Rick Riordan's post about his son's summer reading requirement thanks to Jen Robinson. Rick really focused on the Newbery issue. But, I really took it to be a summer reading requirement issue. I had no idea that some schools were requiring summer reading for kids below the high school level.

Assigning summer reading to students in high school has become quite popular. My high school daughter has had summers when certain books were required or when she could choose from a list of summer reading books. This summer, the school decided not to require summer reading. Guess what?? She read about 10 books OF HER CHOICE...FOR PLEASURE!! What more could we want! She actually read a good variety. She read some good fiction, some beach/trash type novels and some nonfiction. She found a few new authors she loved and read new books from a series that she has always loved. She lived her summer as a reader and in the process grew and changed as a reader. Last summer when she had required reading for high school English, she spent the summer trudging through the 2 required books and hating every minute of it.

I am a teacher and of course I want children to read over the summer. I want them to read all summer. I would be happy if we all sat and read for 10 hours a day, every day, all summer. I think summer reading lists are an attempt to encourage summer reading and I think that there is the hope that kids will come back together in the fall excited to talk about the books. But a summer reading list can take away a child's real reasons to read. It takes away the fun of finding new authors, deciding what to read next, getting excited about a new book in a series, sharing new discoveries, etc. I have never been a huge fan of Summer Required Reading lists. But, now with this first hand experience of watching my daughter this summer, I know that this was a great summer for her as a reader. I am now 100 percent sure that I would rather my child spend the summer being a reader than reading required books on a school list. I want her to read for more than a course requirement.

It defies logic

While gigantic foundations raise millions of dollars to eradicate breast cancer, and pink ribbons become so ubiquitous that they no longer raise much awareness, there is a small non-profit based in Vermont and sponsored nationally by Orvis and The Hartford -- Casting For Recovery -- that works to improve the lives of breast cancer survivors 14 at a time. They teach them fly fishing.

"It's like whispering a prayer
In the fury of a storm"

They gather 14 survivors of all ages and stages in a beautiful natural setting, provide medical and psychological support to help smooth the turmoil of diagnosis, surgery, treatment, and reconstruction, and they teach them fly fishing.

"It's like trying to stop a fire
With the moisture from a kiss"

I attended Ohio's retreat last year as a breast cancer survivor. I was already a fly fisherwoman, so I already knew the healing power of standing in a river completely in the moment concentrating on current, rod, line, possible fish, breezes, and patches of sunlight on the water. I attended this year as a past participant and fishing instructor. This year, I got to stand in the water beside a sister survivor and help her learn to focus on how much her cast was improving, not how much it was lacking. We laughed when she hooked my hat, and when she caught a fish, we both screamed with excitement way out of proportion to the size of the fish.



"I hear them saying you'll never change things
And no matter what you do it's still the same thing
But it's not the world that I am changing
I do this so this world we know
Never changes me" (Garth Brooks)

Your donation to CFR will not change the world. It WILL make a very real difference to a breast cancer survivor who could be your mother, sister, friend, or colleague at work.

Some of My Favorite New Picture Books

Okay, so if anyone asks me how I spent my summer, I guess I have to say "buying books". I have picked up more than I realized over the last few months. I figured I might as well share a few of my favorites! 

THIS IS THE DREAM by Diane Shore and Jessica Alexander was a "must have" for me. It is an amazing picture book about civil rights. The illustrations are brilliant. One of my new favorites! 

HIPPO! NO, RHINO! by Jeff Newman is a hysterical picture book for very young readers--funny for adults too! There are very few words but the pictures are hysterical. A zookeeper incorrectly puts the Hippo sign by the Rhino and the Rhino is not happy! It is a really fun book. 

FOLLOW THE LINE by Laura Ljungkvist is a great book. Each illustration is made from a single line that kids can follow through the book. It is also a type of counting books with counting questions on each page. A fun book for young readers. 

SHIVER ME LETTERS: A PIRATE ABC by June Sobel is one I have added to my ABC Book collection. It is a great book to help young children identify letters and it is quite funny. The pirates look for all of the letter when they realize that they need more than "R". 

I loved BIG SISTER, LITTLE SISTER by Leuyen Pham. A very sweet book about sisters with fun illustrations. A great author photo on the flap too--with her little sister, of course! 

BEACH by Elisha Cooper is a good one, but one I wouldn't have just picked up. It has great, peaceful illustrations, but what I loved was the surprising language. 

HOW TO BE by Lisa Brown is a cute one for preschool and Kindergarten. It invites kid to think about how to "be" different animals and how to be themselves! 

I think that WALK ON! A GUIDE FOR BABIES OF ALL AGES by Marla Frazee is too much fun! Great fun illustrations and a message for readers of all ages. 

Andrew Clements' new book A MILLION DOTS is an amazing book that can be connected to math and large numbers. It reminds me a bit of the million books but has a different take. Great illustrations made of dots and fun number facts throughout the book. 

I am hoping that Lauren Child's THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA wins the Caldecott this year. I am a huge Lauren Child fan and I love this new version. 

And I love PUMPKINS by Ken Robbins. I am trying to add to my collection of great nonfiction--books that can serve as models for my students in their own writing. This one is a great one for that. Great word choice and great nonfiction writing. The photographs are amazing too! 

I would also tell you about WOLVES by Emily Gravett but Mary Lee purchased the last copy while we were shopping together the other day. So.... I have to wait a few days for mine. It is one that we kind of fought over in the bookstore. I loved it (and had it first) but she somehow took it out of my stack when I wasn't looking.

Poetry Friday

Forgetfulness
by Billy Collins

The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,

as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.

Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,

something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.

Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,
not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.

It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall,
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.

No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

PoemHunter.com

Twin Authors

All similarities end with twin and author. Jennifer Roy thought she would be a pediatrician when she grew up. She became a teacher and then a curriculum writer, and then her cousin suggested that she write the story of her aunt. This is the story of the character in YELLOW STAR, the story that has propelled her into the Children's Literature Limelight. It was recently named a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award Book.

Julia DeVillers knew from early elementary school years that she would be a writer, and that's what she became. She, too, has recently been propelled into the Children's Literature Limelight when Disney bought the rights to her book HOW MY PRIVATE PERSONAL JOURNAL BECAME A BEST SELLER. The movie is called "Read It And Weep".



We had a great time at Cover to Cover. Julia shared stories about the making of the movie. She was invited to the set of the movie and had great photos to share. She also shared some of her other great books. Jennifer talked about her aunt's story and the process of writing the book. We loved both authors. This was their very first Twin Author Signing! We think they'd both be great for any conferences or school author visits. We are huge fans! It was great to meet two sisters who were talented and excited about each other's work. Thanks to Sally and the staff at Cover to Cover for hosting this event!

I am officially ready to start school again

I got a letter from one of my students who had a great book to recommend, one that is "funny, somewhat scary, and compelling."

That's right, compelling.

I cannot wait to spend my days with someone who reads COMPELLING books! And whose contribution to my postcard collection is one from the Main Library ("What an awesome place!") of Theodore Geisel, Judy Blume and Maurice Sendak.

I'm ready.

New Website for Literacy Educators

I have been spending lots of time on the new Choice Literacy website. A good friend of ours (Brenda Power) started it and it just "opened" last week. I think it is going to be a great site for teachers, librarians, literacy coaches, administrators, etc. It is a subscription site but if you go to the link, there are lots of free articles too. I think there is a newsletter that you can get to by signing up there. I am loving the articles and the whole idea of it. I have written a few articles for the site so I've spent lots of time reading the articles by the other authors. I would highly recommend it for thoughtful professional reading in the area of literacy. So far the topics are really smart and the articles are a great length for really thinking about classroom instruction. Some great stuff from Ellin Keene, Debbie Miller, Ruth Shagoury and lots of others. There are also video clips, study guides, etc. I haven't had as much time to look at those yet, but it looks packed with good stuff, with more to come. We totally trust Brenda--she is very smart about literacy and learning-- so we wanted to get the word out while this site is brand new! I think it will become a hit pretty fast!

YELLOW STAR and Others

Well, I seem to be back on a lucky streak with reading. I picked up YELLOW STAR by Jennifer Roy the other day. What an amazing read! It is an amazing story. Very powerful. Loved it. I read it in one sitting. It is told beautifully. I can't imagine this one won't win some kind of an award.

I also read PENNY FROM HEAVEN by Jennifer Holm. I loved this one too. The historical piece about the Italians during this time period was interesting. The characters have stayed with me. It is a great story. I am now a huge fan of Jennifer Holm. I didn't realize that she wrote BABYMOUSE too. I am always amazed at writers who can be successful at two very different types of writing. I want to go back and read her last book (Newbery Honor) OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA. I would be happy if this one won the Newbery too!

For an adult read, I just finished THE STOLEN CHILD: A NOVEL by Keith Donohue. It was not my usual read. I am not a big fantasy reader but I have had a lot of luck with Borders "Original Voices". They are usually a nice surprise from an author I do not know. I enjoyed this one. The metaphor and the story were engaging. The writing fascinated me. The story was told from two perspectives--the grown up Henry and the child. I am always amazed at how writers do this type of writing. Amazing how the story came together. The characters were fascinating. The whole premise was pretty interesting. I would recommend it.

Book Meme: Professional Books for Teachers Version

1. One book that changed your life?
WRITING: TEACHERS AND CHILDREN AT WORK by Donald Graves. This book is responsible for launching the workshop format in my classroom. (ML)

IN THE MIDDLE: READING, WRITING, AND LEARNING WITH ADOLESCENTS by Nancie Atwell. This book was the first I had read about writing workshop. (F)
CHOICE WORDS by Peter Johnston. The most amazing book that reminds us that teaching is so much about how we talk to kids. (F) (I second that! --ML)

2. One book you have read more than once?
RADICAL REFLECTIONS by Mem Fox. She inspires me to know my own mind and follow my own heart. (ML)

LASTING IMPRESSIONS: WEAVING LITERATURE THROUGH THE WRITING WORKSHOP by Shelley Harwayne
WHAT A WRITER NEEDS by Ralph Fletcher.
Two of my all-time favorite books about writing workshop and the connection to great books. (F)

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
A book about all the cultures, religions, and political histories of the world. Then, when I got off the island, I might be a little better prepared to teach the myriad of students who are in my class each loop! (ML)

WORKSHOP OF THE POSSIBLE: NURTURING CHILDREN'S CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT by Ruth Shagoury Hubbard--a tribute to how amazing kids are! (F)

4. One book that made you laugh?
BLACK ANTS AND BUDDHISTS by Mary Cowhey. Mary Cowhey is a gifted storyteller. She brings her classroom to life with her stories of guiding young children towards critical thinking and social action. (ML)

DEAR MEM FOX, I HAVE READ ALL YOUR BOOKS EVEN THE PATHETIC ONES by Mem Fox. So many of Mem Fox's books make me laugh. This is one that I remember laughing all the way through. (F)

5. One book that made you cry?
ONE SIZE FITS FEW: THE FOLLY OF EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS by Susan Ohanian. The title says it all. (ML)
THE GAME OF SCHOOL by Robert Fried. The whole premise is sad. (F)

6. One book you wish had been written?
The one that will inspire a teacher who "laminates her lesson plans" to start thinking about teaching for student learning and not for her own convenience. (ML)

A book on how to teach, be a good mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend..., eat healthy, exercise, write, clean the house, read, and get enough sleep! (F)

7. One book you wish had never been written?
Not a wish I am philosophically able to make. (ML)
I agree with Mary Lee. (F)

8. One book you are currently reading?
School's about to start, so there are actually three:
BLACK ANTS AND BUDDHISTS by Mary Cowhey,
STUDY DRIVEN: A FRAMEWORK FOR PLANNING UNITS OF STUDY IN THE WRITING WORKSHOP by Katie Wood Ray, and
RETHINKING RUBRICS IN WRITING ASSESSMENT by Maja Wilson. (ML) All three of these books are causing me to reflect on my teaching practices, and they will all help me to keep my teaching and assessment responsive to my students' needs.

UNITS OF STUDY FOR TEACHING WRITING IN GRADES 3-5 by Lucy Calkins (F) This is a new resource that was recommended by others. I try to keep up on the new things out there on Reading and Writing Workshops.

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
I have two: GOING PUBLIC: PRIORITIES AND PRACTICES AT THE MANHATTAN NEW SCHOOL and WRITING THROUGH CHILDHOOD: RETHINKING PROCESS AND PRODUCT by Shelley Harwayne. Shelley Harwayne has had an amazing career as a public school teacher and administrator. Through it all, she has never lost her passionate belief in what children are capable of accomplishing. I admire her greatly. (ML)

WRITING SENSE: INTEGRATED READING AND WRITING LESSONS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS K-8 by Julie Kendall and Outey Khuon. I read MAKING SENSE by the same authors and was thrilled to see this one come out! (F)

10. Now tag five people.
Any teacher who reads professional books, consider yourself tagged!

Book Meme: Children's Literature Version

1. One book that changed your life?
A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeline L'Engle was the first really challenging book I ever read, and I found it all by myself -- a bonus! (ML)

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA by Katherine Paterson--was the first book I read for a children's lit class in college and I fell in love with Children's Lit again! (F)

2. One book you have read more than once?
When I was a kid, I reserved Sunday afternoons for re-reading books that made me cry. One of my favorites was LITTLE BRITCHES, by Ralph Moody. (ML)

THE LITTLE PRINCESS and THE SECRET GARDEN by Frances Hodgson Burnett (F)

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
The biggest, thickest anthology of poetry I could lay hands on. (ML)

No poetry for me. I'd want WALK TWO MOONS by Sharon Creech (F)

4. One book that made you laugh?
THE BFG, by Roald Dahl. The first children's book to showcase farts, even if they were disguised as whizpoppers. (ML)

BARK, GEORGE by Jules Feiffer (F)

5. One book that made you cry?
The whole second half of EACH LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS, by Deborah Wiles. (ML)

BABY by Patricia MacLachlan (F)

6. One book you wish had been written?
The one guaranteed to hook any struggling reader. (ML)

More books by favorite authors like Sharon Creech, Shannon Hale, Kate DiCamillo, Mem Fox, etc. I always hate waiting for their next books! (F)

7. One book you wish had never been written?
Not a wish I am philosophically able to make. (ML)

The new NANCY DREW books--I liked the old ones! (F)

8. One book you are currently reading?
One of the next on my to-read pile is A TRUE AND FAITHFUL NARRATIVE, by Katherine Sturtevant.

BREAD AND ROSES, TOO by Katherine Paterson (F)

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Now that I finished HP #6, I guess that honor goes the THE HOUSE OF THE SCORPION by Nancy Farmer. (ML)

#4-12 of THE SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS by Lemony Snicket (F)

10. Now tag five people.
If you're reading this, you've probably already been tagged. Now get busy and make your list! If you're not sure where to send it, put it in our comments and we'll get you in!

It was only a matter of time

TheBookDragon is on a quest to find 100 Librarians (great or otherwise) in children's and YA literature. They swiped the idea from our 100 Cool Teachers in Children's Literature, but let's not get carried away and forget to pay homage to Jen Robinson's lists of cool boys and cool girls that got US started!

(It really is a matter of time now before I start a list of dogs...unless someone gets there before I do!)

Poetry Friday

Awhile back, our friend Bill shared this ode to the spell checker from The Journal of Irreproducible Results:

Candidate for a Pullet Surprise
Jerrold H. Zar

I have a spelling checker,
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.

Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure reel glad two no.
Its vary polished in it's weigh.
My checker tolled me sew.

A checker is a bless sing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when eye rime.

Each frays come posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.

(click here for the rest of the poem)


The best poems are often ones that are given to us, for whatever reason. In that spirit, I give to you a few of my favorite places to find poetry on the Internet:

FOR KIDS AND TEACHERS
The Children's Poetry Archive. The idea behind this site is that poetry "lives in the sound of the words, the voice of the poet...The poetry archive is a place where everyone can listen to poetry." Mostly obscure children's poets (plus a couple of dead guys), but a work in progress with a good mission. Go listen.

GigglePoetry. Funny poems for kids. You can read and rate (the funniness) of poems, go to poetry class, have poetry fun, do poetry theater, and enter contests. Sections for teachers.

Magnetic Poetry Online for kids. There are four different kids' kits: the basic kids' kit, first words, best friends, and storymaker. Sections for teachers and lots of kits to help adults get in touch with their dog/cat/horse-loving genius Shakespearean Muse.

FOR POETRY LOVERS
The Favorite Poem Project. This one fascinates me. People nominated their favorite poems, and this is where you can read the favorites and/or watch videos of the nominator talking about why the poem is their favorite and reading it. This was a project of former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky.

Poetry 180. A poem a day for high school students, intended to be read over the PA system. This was a project of former Poet Laureate Billy Collins.

While we're on the subject of Poet Laureates (Poets Laureate?), Donald Hall is the current Poet Laureate. His project? Dunno.

PoetryFoundation. A huge archive of poems sortable by poem, poet, audio/visuals, articles, and children's.

AND MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE DAILY (NOT JUST FRIDAY) POETRY FIX COMES FROM...
The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor. You can hear this on public radio, listen via the web, subscribe to the daily email, or subscribe to the podcast.

Author of Yellow Star Coming to Town

Since we are trying to read the book that wins this coming year's Newbery, I am very happy about this latest news. I just found out that Jennifer Roy, the author of YELLOW STAR will be at Cover to Cover Bookstore on Tuesday, August 15. I am very excited! I keep seeing this book on Mock Newbery lists everywhere! So, I had it on my "Hope to Read Soon" list anyway. I am going to try to pick up the book tomorrow and read it before her visit this week. Sounds like an amazing book. And, as an added treat, her twin sister, author of HOW MY PRIVATE, PERSONAL JOURNAL BECAME A BESTSELLER will also be there. This book was made into the latest Disney Channel Original movie! Twin authors! Mary Lee, wouldn't it be great if we read the book that wins the Newbery, met the author and met her twin sister, another great author!? I'll let you know after I read it. But the reviews I've read so far have been amazing!