Get Ready for Poetry Month!

April is almost here, and officially, it will be National Poetry Month. But I don't wait for April to celebrate a good poem, and I usually read many afterward as well.

But April is the time that we celebrate poetry together. Teachers and librarians will share resources, strategies, and ideas, and hopefully, everyone will find a poem they love!

In plotting out my thinking for the month, I know I will rely on these two books (among others):

Vardell, Sylvia M. and Janet Wong. The Poetry Friday Anthology: Poems for the School Year with Connections to the TEKS K-5 Edition. Princeton, NJ: Pomelo, 2012. Print.

This book is a treasure for teachers and librarians. It offers a set of 36 poems for each grade level and the suggested list of activities is a timesaver. The poets included are the best in children's literature.

Prelutsky, Jack and Arnold Lobel. The Random House Book of Poetry for Children: A Treasury of 572 Poems for Today's Child. New York: Random House, 1983. Print.

This book is a staple of most libraries. I like that it has an index of subjects. So, if you'd like to to find a poem about libraries (for example), you can find one here. I even found a great poem for St. Patrick's Day.

Our poetry section in the library is already decorated, and I look happily toward Poem in Your Pocket Day. At this point, I am looking for any reason to share a poem.

I have several ideas of great events for the library, and I'm pinning them to my Pinterest board here.
Are you excited about poetry month?

Spring is Here! I Have Some Books for You!

It may not feel like spring everywhere, but the season is officially here. In the library, my wonderful parent volunteer created a display showing gardening and spring books. Our learners have started a school garden, so in my read-alouds this week, I shared books that celebrate planting, seeds, and gardens.

Here is the book display:

I thought this book would be perfect:

Fogliano, Julie. 2012. And Then It's Spring. Ill. by Erin E. Stead. New York: Roaring Book Press. ISBN 1596436247

At the end of winter, a boy's thoughts to spring. Looking out at the land stretched before him, the boy and his dog (along with a turtle and a rabbit) plant seeds, wait for rain, and nurture a garden impatiently. As they wait, the earth turns colors, and the boy worries "about those little seeds". Delightful elements of nature act out the story: birds peck at seeds, and, unexpectedly, some playful bears stop by for a visit. As time progresses, periwinkle clouds and wispy cattails frame the edges of each page.  Readers will discover surprises Stead has thoughtfully arranged: a bird feeder hung gently on a tree branch, the dog sleeping obliviously in a wagon, and the rabbit climbing into a clay pot. The pacing is steady and serene, making readers expectant for the next page. Stead's loyal use of browns, blues and greens in subtle hues is masterful, and Fogliano's poetic text gives voice to the boy's hope for growth, change, and the peace one can only find in a beautiful spring day. 

Here are other titles I shared:

Seeger, Laura V. 2012. Green. New York: Roaring Book Press. ISBN 1596433973.
Winner, Caldecott Honor 2013

     

Wheeler, Eliza. 2013. Miss Maple's Seeds. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books. ISBN 0399257926. 

A changing of the seasons is the perfect opportunity to recommend and celebrate a picture book. 

What other picture books about spring, planting, or gardening do you recommend? 

Green Covers for St. Patrick's Day

Last night, I asked my Twitter PLN for help in recalling titles of picture books with green covers. I am so thankful to fellow librarians and teachers who sent me replies: @burnetlibrarian, @ALAJenna, @jenniferlukens, @sujeilugo, and @kelleemoye. Laura Murray, author of Gingerbread Man Loose in the School even sent me titles, as did Cristina Gilbert from Bloomsbury! I am so grateful to all of them for their time!

Here's what the display looked like! I'm so grateful to my WONDERFUL parent volunteer who got it all set up!

The result was this:
We had to keep replenishing the display with more "green" books throughout the day because they were being checked out. This is the part that makes me especially happy!

Also, I pulled Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger to read aloud today, and our readers absolutely loved it. Seeger's use of die-cuts and her brilliant art captured my students' imaginations and entertained us all.

Every St. Patrick's Day book I had in the library was checked out, too.

Indeed, it was a very awesome and LUCKY St. Patrick's Day in the library!

Authors Visit Our Library Via Skype

Wednesday, March 5th is World Read Aloud Day, and it is a special event celebrated in libraries, classrooms, and schools all around the world.

In our library, we celebrated by hearing from four wonderful authors who shared their works with us:

First, Mina Javaherbin, author of GOAL!, visited our library. GOAL! was a Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee for 2011-2012. It is a wonderful story of boys in South Africa who love to play soccer. However, each day they play, they must face bullies who want to ruin their fun and take their ball away.

The readers in our library connected with this story because they love soccer, too! I thought it was especially wonderful that Mina told us one reason she reads is so that she can share books with her friends. Isn't that awesome? 

Mina was warm and friendly, and so engaging. It was a wonderful start to WRAD!

Liesl Shurtliff, author of RUMP: The TRUE STORY OF RUMPELSTILTSKIN

Next, the amazing Liesl Shurtliff visited our library via Skype. Liesl is the author of RUMP: THE TRUE STORY OF RUMPELSTILTSKIN, one of the 20 books listed on our current 2014-2015 Texas Bluebonnet Award List.

The 4th grade class that participated in the Skype had heard their teacher read the book aloud. They asked fabulous questions and even made pixies for Liesl! Liesl read aloud to the students from one of the chapters of RUMP. One thing I loved about this visit was the excitement the book generated for all fairy tales. (The students in this class were very well-prepared for the visit and  had read the original tale.) Liesl shared that the mysteries of the original tale made her want to "look at the story from a different perspective". I love that our readers had the opportunity to interact with her and ask her questions about writing and the book. 

Kim Baker, author of PICKLE 

Next, 5th graders listened to Kim Baker, author of PICKLE. (PICKLE is on our current Texas Bluebonnet Award List for 2014-2015.) We had just wrapped up our Book Fair, and Pickle was one of the books available.

Kim told our readers about how she came up with the book, and how happy she was that was nominated for a Bluebonnet Award. She read aloud from the book, too! We were grateful to hear her all the way from Seattle! Kim told our readers the importance of feedback in writing. "It's helpful to have someone read your work: they can tell you what works and what doesn't," Kim said.

Our final Skype of the day was with Barbara O'Connor, author of HOW TO STEAL A DOG (also a Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee for 2008-2009).

Barbara O'Connor, author of HOW TO STEAL A DOG 

She read a chapter aloud, and as I listened, I thought about what an absolutely perfect moment it was! One of my all-time favorite authors was reading one of my all-time favorite books to our students! (As a classroom teacher, I loved reading this book aloud. I wrote about this for the Nerdy Book Club blog. Read my post here.)

This class made LOST DOG posters and as they showed them to Barbara. She read aloud to them, answered their questions, and shared her writing process. Our 4th grade teacher loved that Barbara gave our students very helpful writing advice. Barbara also explained how she got the idea for the character of Mookie, and what the dog Willie really looked like. It was so fascinating!

I look back on this day and marvel at all the learning that was shared! I cannot thank these authors enough for interacting with our readers!  I look forward to bringing in more authors via Skype to our library. When I connect students with authors, it helps reading come alive for everyone.

(How awesome that we now have the capability of connecting with authors in this way!) 

World Read Aloud Day/Week!

Today in the library we began our celebration of World Read Aloud Day! It's really March 5th (Wednesday), but most of my Twitter friends are celebrating all week like me!

Reading aloud to young readers is one of my most favorite things to do. I want them to develop a love of books and reading because I know what a meaningful lifetime gift this can be. By reading aloud to them, I hope to bring books alive.

World Read Aloud Day is a celebration of this!

So every day this week, I am connecting with other Twitter friends (librarians & authors) throughout the country.

Our first connection was with my friend Jennifer Reed, a fellow librarian,  in Massachusetts.  She and I read to each other's kindergarten classes via Skype. We read from:

Mrs. Reed was Elephant, and I was Piggie. It was perfect! We could hear the other students laugh, and we could share the moment together. We found that our readers shared a love of Mo Willems books, too. We also compared the weather in our areas. They waved to each other, and we looked for Pigeon on the last page of the book. 

I enjoyed our first connection, and I cannot wait for more! 

An Awesome Author Visit with Patrick Carman

Recently, I had the opportunity to take our 5th graders and their teachers to see and hear author Patrick Carman.  (Thanks to  Dr. Rose Brock, fellow librarian,  and Dr. Penny, my awesome principal, for the opportunity!) He is an amazing storyteller and so great with an audience. If you ever have the opportunity to have him come to your school, I highly recommend it!

He showed our readers his "word pictures" and told funny stories from his childhood.

He walked out among the audience, signed cards, and made the kids laugh. He was a hit!

He reminded the audience that to be great writers they must read books. He told them how their imagination was "like a snowflake" and unique to them. I loved that part! 

"Telling a good story out loud is a great way to practice writing," Carman said. That's exactly what he did for us: he told us some great stories!

The presentation was, ultimately, a writing lesson; but it was done in such a natural and entertaining way. Carman was sharing his passion for stories. That's what drew us all in.

I know our students enjoyed this visit! And so did their #happylibrarian.