EZ chapter books
Some Down Under Book Love
Jan 31st
Look what came in the mail from Australia!
That’s right, two books and a wonderful note from Miss Y in Melbourne, Australia. She is a librarian at the St. Martin of Tours Primary School. We have been blogging buddies for over a year now, exchanging ideas for books back and forth.
These Andy Griffiths books are going to be BIG hits in our library. You can’t NOT laugh when you read them. They are just that funny! Look at this photo of him from his website. Does he look like a serious kind of guy? I haven’t had a chance to read the books yet, but here’s what it says on Andy’s website:
“Andy and Terry live in an incredible ever-expanding treehouse and create very silly books together. Andy writes the words and Terry draws the pictures… well, when they’re not too distracted by all the amazing things going in their incredible ever-expanding treehouse! Last year they opened a new school with a brand new library.”
I think these books sound like some crazy fun. If you are in 3-5th grade, this might be the just-right book for you. Stop by the library and put in your reservation. They will be available for check out early next week.
It’s been quite a week for connections. First a phone call from New Zealand and then a package from Australia. I love these reading connections! Miss Y’s students have been enjoying some Mo Willems books we sent her last year and now we have some Andy Griffiths books here! It’s a full circle of reading fun!
Here’s a photo of what the school looks like outside, courtesy of the magic of Google maps! I hope you will visit Miss Y’s LRC blog soon and leave her a comment. I just watched a new book trailer she made about a new book in the Clementine Rose series for girls by Jacqueline Harvey. This is the author of the Alice Miranda books we already have in our library! Jacqueline visited Miss Y’s school last year. Here is the post about this visit. I sure hope if Jacqueline ever visits the Pacific Northwest on a book tour, she will stop by our library!
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What do you think about our surprise package?
Have you ever read any Andy Griffiths books before?
Look at the title.What word do we spell differently?
Favorite Books of 2012
Jan 27th
Have you ever read a book that you just couldn’t forget?
Did it make you laugh? Cry? Shout?
Today’s post is about my favorite books from 2012. These are the standout books from a year of reading. Even though I may have read them months ago, I still think about them and consider them book friends. When I see the cover, or think of a passage from the book, I get a smile on my face. Not all of these books were written in 2012, although most of them were. I am in the process of reading all the Newbery Medal winners, so one book was published years ago. All, except the young adult books are available in our library. I hope you will stop in and check them out!
Tomorrow the American Library Association will announce all of the Youth Media Awards at their Mid-Winter Conference here in Seattle. I will be at the press conference for the very first time! I can’t wait to see what books won medal and honor awards. Above any other books, I have my fingers crossed for The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate and Wonder by RJ Palacio.
Here are my standouts from a year of reading!
Categories: Favorite Graphic Novels, Favorite Picture Books, Favorite Non-Fiction Picture Books,Favorite Middle Grade Novels, Favorite Young Adult Novels, Favorite Audio Books
So there you are…my favorites. Not all will win awards tomorrow at the ALA conference. However, they have already won a special award in my heart because each of these books has touched me in a very personal way. I’m looking forward to lots of reading in 2013 and seeing where my reading travels take me!
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Were any of these books favorites for you this year?
Is there a book I should have included?
Leave us a comment and let us know!
Read Aloud Tuesdays Resumes
Jan 6th
“Mrs. Hembree, what’s the new read aloud book?”
“Are you starting today?”
“We’re going to choose it?”
“Wow, okay, I’ll be there! Still at noon, right? Still on Tuesdays?”
On Tuesday, the Read Aloud Club Kids chose Bigger Than a Bread Box as their next choice for me to read during our read aloud recesses.
Bigger Than a Bread Box is the story of 12 year old Rebecca who is forced to move to her grandmother’s house in Atlanta with her mom and little brother while her mom tries to figure out her marriage. Dad is back in Baltimore along with all of her friends and everything she’s ever known.
Rebecca is angry, confused and alone when she finds a magic box in the attic of her grandmother’s house. A box that delivers her wishes. Like better jeans, and a new watch and new tennis shoes. She gets everything she wants, except her dad. Is having stuff enough to make Rebecca feel happy again? We will read Bigger Than a Bread Box to find out!
Watch the book trailer by Lily, age 12 who made the trailer with a Canon SD 1300 Digital Elph camera and iMovie.
But wait there’s more!
The kindergarten-3rd grade students are starting Read Aloud Tuesdays too! From 12:30-12:55, Mrs. Hembree will be reading a chapter book to the younger students. We have something for everyone in the cold, wet, wintery months!
The men and older boys always go on a Dragonquest each year, but Darek is still too young to go. When they come back with a Great Blue, the largest and fiercest of all the dragons, Darek discovers a baby dragonling in the Great Blue’s pouch. He decides to take the dragonling back to the fearsome Valley of the Dragons.
Dragonling is a moving and adventureful fantasy story, perfect for younger readers. It is my personal favorite for introducing readers to the fantasy genre.
So, remember, come on Tuesdays to the library for your chance to get out of the rainy, cold outside and into a world of books!
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What would you wish for if you had a magic bread box?
What is the best book you’ve ever heard?
New Year 2012 = New Books!
Jan 1st
The Bulldog Readers wish you lots of reading happiness!
What better way to launch a new year of reading than with new books? The first group of books was purchased with funds from Reading with Rover.
Reading with Rover donated $250 to our school toward purchasing books for reading. It was their way of thanking Mrs. Daly and myself for our commitment to Reading with Rover with our dogs Jett, Silas and Reese. I spent my portion of the money on new library books!
I couldn’t forget our older readers, so they got a new stack of books too!
Who knows? Maybe one of these will become the next Newbery Award winner for 2011!
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Have you read any of these new books already?
Which one do you want to check out?
Do you have any suggestions for us to buy?
Look in the Baskets!
Nov 28th
Finding a perfect book to read is as easy as looking in a …..
Our early chapter book readers don’t have any trouble finding books to read because we have them all in baskets where they are easy to find! Like Junie B. Jones? Find the basket? Like Magic Tree House?
Find the basket! It really is easy as one, two, three!
In class we also have done lessons on all of the easy chapter book series available in our library! Using a worksheet with only some of the letters of book series typed in, students had to sleuth out the answers!
By the time everyone finished the paper, they had found all of our early chapter book series. We have over 20 different series to choose from! Now when someone says, “I need a good book“, we all respond, “Look in the baskets!”
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What is your favorite early chapter book?
How do you have your books arranged in your library?
Leave us a comment and let us know!
Blazing Books are Here
Nov 9th
Thanks to a generous grant from the Lake Washington Schools Foundation, our library has
118 new, blazing hot books!
- The non-fiction Blazing Books Grant shelf
If you are a younger reader, you are going to love, love, love these books! Every new non-fiction book had to pass Mrs. Hembree strict wow criteria questions.
Is it a fun book to read?
Is it an exciting book to read?
Is it action packed?
Here are the new car books to select from. No boring books in this group!
To go along with our math focus at school, some of the new books are math related.
“Crunch, crunch! The farm’s horse loves munching apples.
Can you predict which color of apple the horse will eat next?
The horse has six red apples and two green apples.
Is it more or less likely she will pick a green apple?”
So, what do you think the answer is? Find out inside the book Pigs, Cows, and Probability!
I know a lot our students love joke books, so I added more to our collection! Here’s a sample from the Jokes about Bugs:
“What did the bug say after it hit the window?
If I had the guts, I would do it again.
I also bought a new series called Easy Magic Tricks. These books teach you how to perform magic tricks with playing cards, coins, straws, balloons, and more! There are plenty of ideas here to challenge our budding magicians!
Not all of the books are fact or non-fiction books. We also have some new everybody picture books for our younger readers. They are housed on a special shelf too!
It seems like there are never enough Star Wars books in our library, so look at the new ones we’ve added!
This group of books includes early chapter books that are both fun to read and a little bit longer than the usual picture book. These are perfect for our readers who are ready to read chapter books.
Ten more Backpack Buddies have been added to our expanding Backpack Buddy collection. Inside each backpack is a book, a matching puppet, a journal and instructions on what to do. They are a super fun way to practice reading at home!
If you check out one of these books from our Bulldog Library, I hope you will let me know what you think about them! You can leave a comment on the blog or you can tell me in person! I am even hoping some people what to give me a review on film with our new Flip cameras! Imagine that….YOU can be a Bulldog Reader Star!
Our LWSF grant is also featured on the Lake Washington Schools Foundation Spotlight page! You can read the full article here.
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What do you think about our new books?
Which ones do you want to check out?
Leave us a comment and let us know!
My Australian Bindi Story
Mar 21st
Every book has a story. No…not the one between the covers. The story that got you to the book in the first place. Was it a recommendation from a friend? Did you see it on the shelf? Did a librarian hand it to you?
Image provided by and used with written consent of Australia Zoo.
My book story began with the Oprah show in January. She brought a plane load of Oprah Fans with her to Australia for an all expense paid trip. I am an Oprah fan too! However, since my invitation to join her in Australia got lost in the mail somehow, I had to watch the shows on television!
On the last day, she filmed from the Sidney Opera House and interviewed Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin. They have carried on Steve Irwin’s legacy at the Australia Zoo- Home of the Crocodile Hunter.
Bindi was talking about her new book series: Bindi Wildlife Adventures. Set in the Australia Zoo, Bindi carries on her father’s love for reptiles and other animals in an adventure book format.
It’s a win-win situation for everyone. Kids can read a fun and exciting book, and hopefully lose some of their fear of all things reptile. The Irwins share their knowledge of wildlife conservation with the world. And the Australia Zoo benefits by receiving a portion of the proceeds for each book sold!
That’s all it took for me to head for the store and buy a copy for our library.
Bindi’s books offer a different kind of adventure story to the chapter book genre. Any book that starts with a girl having a pet Burmese python wake her up, and smiling at the thought ,brings a whole new concept to the idea of an alarm clock!
Each story is set at the Australia Zoo and features Bindi, Robert, and their mother Terri.
In book 1, Bindi’s birthday party at the zoo is almost spoiled when a 10 year old visitor tries to steal one of the zoo’s water dragons. Can Robert and a very special green macaw save the day and Bindi’s birthday party? You will have to read the book to find out!
Animal Fact Files with important facts about the featured animals are included in each book. Including some non-fiction facts with the fictional story is a great way to get kids started in some research of their own. Bindi’s books are appropriate for ages 7+. Check them out! They are a fun addition to any children’s library!
Coming soon….
What adventure stories do you like?
Which Bindi Wildlife Adventures have you read?
Do you have a story about how you found a book?
Leave us a comment and let us know!
Check Out These Fairy Books! by Ola
Nov 24th
Ola is, I think, our resident Rainbow Magic Series expert. She has read nearly all of them, which means I need to get to the bookstore soon to find some more to keep her happy! Thanks for writing these wonderful reviews Ola and of course, …keep reading! Mrs. Hembree
Recently she submitted these reviews on 3 of the books….
Rachelle and Kristy are excited. It’s their last day on vacation. They want to save Heather the Violet Fairy. They spot a ribbon that says, “Follow me”, so they follow the ribbon. The Ribbon leads them to Heather. Fairy rescued! Now they need to go to the pot on the rainbow and she and her sisters are saved. Yay!
Everything in Fairyland is normal until one day a goblin comes in and steals all the “fun-day” flags. The flags help people have fun. Kristy and Rachelle are ready to help. So they find the flag and go and return it to Fairyland. Six more flags to go…
Oh No! The goblins are up to no good again! They stole all the Christmas presents! Rachelle and Kristy have to find Holly. They are supposed to find 3 special presents. So they do. They give the presents back and save Christmas Day! Now everyone will have a great Christmas thanks to Kristy, Rachelle and of course, Holly.
Now the dance fairies are in danger. They lost their ribbons. They help Bethany find her ribbon at the ballet. They make a trick. They trick the goblin and get the ribbon back. Six more ribbons to find!
Lily’s Pesky Plant Student review by Aleksandra
Oct 12th
Lily found a seed. Lily and Iris are planting the seed. Now since the seed grew, everybody is asking Lily about the stink that is coming from the plant! Is something wrong with it? Lily tells everyone nothing is wrong with it. I wonder what will happen next! Read Lily’s Pesky Plant to find out! (This book is one of the Disney Fairy Series books)
