Showing posts with label Book recommendations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book recommendations. Show all posts

Friday, October 21, 2022

Going back to work?

 I am officially retired for going on 3 years , but recently have been " helping out ' in my local public library.  They had two people out on medical leave, and now two more staff on vacation. So I am Temporary Manager for a  5 hours a day when I am most needed to cover lunches / dinners. ect. It is a 3 minute commute so it is really a dream to go to work. ( I only ever once before had a 3 minute commute when I worked at my school ( where I went to school)  before it was closed.

So I am getting used to all the circ programs ( which I had done before when I was Branch manager at another location - a 25 minute commute) .  It is great to be where all the books are- I have been going there for my books which I have done for years! And best of all I got to order the children's /ya books which of course is my specialty!

Thursday, April 22, 2021

Bookopolis- on line book-site for teachers and students

 

Bookopolis is a wonderful website to assist teachers and students in their love of books and reading. It is used for students in grades 2-7. Bookopolis give new ideas for reading .Students can also connect with other students about what  they are reading.

Students can explore new books, make a bookshelf, recommend books and invite friends to join,

  Teachers and librarians can use Bookopolis to build a team of readers in their classroom and libraries. Students can produce book reviews and they can give book recommendations to their classmates and peers  ( While doing this they are practicing their writing skills  and typing skills)  Students can keep a reading logs online. 


Bookopolis offers badges and  points for students who use Bookopolis to keep book logs, write reviews and report,  and invite friends to use the site. 


Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Books For Snowy Days~

  I have some books I like to read during the winter months- Some our old favorites and some a little newer!


  1) The Snowy Day/ Keats. This is a classic . Peter goes out into the snowy day and explores his neighborhood. When he is cold and tired , he goes home and his Mama warms him up with dry clothes and hot chocolate.


                                                              

2) The Snow Man / Briggs. Thin is a wordless picture book that the young students love to study the pictures and tell the story



3) Bear can't Sleep/ Wilson. All of Wilson's books are excellent. This one , Bear is having trouble going to sleep for winter!

Bear Can't Sleep by Karma Wilson









4.Katy and the Big Snow/ Burton- What can I say? Students love to hear the story about Katy. The illustrations can be explored over and over.




5. Christmas at Long Pond/ George. This is another of my favorites to read. The illustrations are rich and the story is a simple one about going to cut down a Christmas tree.




Monday, December 14, 2020

The Girl Who Lived in a Shoe- Book Review

 The Girl who Lived in a Shoe ( and other torn up Tales) is an independently publication written by a group of authors. ( L Smith,  B. Seward, M. Rietz, J. Quist  , & B. Warren) They are actually a writer's group who collaborated to produce this body of work.

   The book is written at a 2nd / 3 rd grade reading level. But it could be used with other grades also. The stories are updated and fractured for the 21st century. Students will love them!! 

   Each author  takes a fairy tale and makes it her own. The stories are geared for today's students  and beyond. Each story is catchy and invites student discussion and engagement.

 My personal favorite story is Rita Van Winkle ( Loreley Smith) and Tara and the Wolf ( Jesse Quist). They are fractured but still retain enough of the original story.  They have updated and unique items incorporated into the stories.

 The illustrations are also unique.. The authors used torn paper to build the illustrations which are extremely well done and very appropriate. On the verso, they also provide a link for free printable activities and information about creating  your own torn up tales, which is great in these times of virtual lessons/

 The book can be found on Amazon. This would be a great addition when you are introducing fairy tales and fractured fairy takes to students . It can be used for 2 and 3rd grades , which is when I introduce both, But I can also see it used in the upper grades!  It would work well  up to Middle school and could be a story starers  for student writers to produce their own , just to analyze differences and similarities , or just enjoy!






Sunday, August 16, 2020

Library Bulletin Boards for September

Yes I know many of  you are back in school already and probably have your "Welcome back" bulletin boards already up. We go  back  the first week in September!
 I will put up  one of the following. When I make a bulletin board I always take a photo and keep the pieces in a homemade  folder.

Fall in Love with Reading

Leaf though a Good Book

Fall in love with  your library

Rake in a good read

Welcome Back - The books missed you!

All of these can be done with a simple background,  a tree, and some leaves!


Monday, July 13, 2020

Great read!

  Marie Benedict has done it again. In Lady Clementine,  we learn about Winston Churchill's wife, and right hand ad visor. Benedict brings Clementine to life with her extensive research. We learn about her younger years and the years she was a helpmate to Churchill.
   All the characters come alive , you feel like you belong to the Churchill family. The details about the fashion, food ,and wartime activities are skillfully interwoven to make a wonderful story!  The writing is absolutely fascinating.
  I have also read  The Other Einstein and  Carnegie's Maid which were  equally  entertaining and  interesting.

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Do you know The Fussy Librarian?

  I only just discovered this and I am thinking it will be a great source for eBooks. Best part of this - the eBooks are free ( or very low cost)!!
  If you go to the Fussy Librarian  (  https://www.thefussylibrarian.com/   )   and sign up ,  you can get a daily email with the latest  free eBooks for your Kindle, Nook, Apple or google play reader!
  There are listings for both adult, children/ middle grades and non-fiction categorizes.
Each listing shows the cover and also gives a short summary/ synopsis of the work.,
   You can get the full listing or you can customize it to the genres you like to read. If you don't want daily emails , you can tell it when  and how often you want to receive the listing of free eBooks.
Check this out if you like to do eBooks! The site also as articles for readers and authors that are informative and interesting.

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Abby the Librarian

   I keep finding different websites for librarians and just want to share  in case you have not  found then yourselves. Abbythelibraian  is a great site for librarians ( school & Public) who do preschool or Kindergarten lessons or sessions.
    There are routinely Picture book Roundups which I love! She gives us brief summaries and also shows the cover. So if you are looking for  recommendations for new books you will be pleased. Some of the titles are brand new or soon to be released.
   She also gives short reviews of new books for elementary / middle school students . Again a big help for your collection development. She also gives book recommendations for special days and seasons.
   There are several other advantages to this site. Abby gives ideas for programs for preschool/ kindergarten and family reading. So if you need ideas  for story times this is a good place to check out.n There is a link on her site that gives themes    and book lists to go with them.

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Read Across America Day/ week

I read this on the Future Ready Librarians Facebook and thought it was a great idea,   I took the main idea and lent some titles that I thought would work. Use these ideas or come up with some of your favoites!

Day 1: Books about Families
         Three days oh a river in a red canoe/ Williams
          In our mother's house/ Polacco
          Tell me again about the night I was born/  Curb

Day 2: Books about taking action
         The Giving Tree/ Silverstein
          Boxes for Katje/ Flemming
           One Plastic bag/ Paul
           Stick & Stone/ Ferry

Day 3: Read a silly story
      Horton Hatches an egg/ Seuss
       Don't let the Pigeon drive the Bus/ Willems
      Any book by Jan Klassen

 Day 4:  Books about different cultures
     Brown Girl dreaming/ Woodson
     Boy who harnessed the wind/ Kamkwamba
     Goal/ Taylor
     House that Baba built/ Young

Day 5: Books about Famous People
      Abe Lincoln the boy who loved books/ Winters
     The story of Ruby Bridges/ Coles
    Let the Children march/ Clark- Robinson
    Inventors who changed the world/ Poelman



Day 5 : Books about famous people.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Book Review-The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

    The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek  by Kim Michele Richardson.   It's 1936 in Kentucky, one of the book woman is Cussy Mary, takes her books to patrons by mule. There are many miles ad obstacles to over come on her route: animals, weather, underbrush, and folks who want to harass her because she has blue skin.
  Cussy Mary and her kin have blue skin , so they are treated as "colored". Cussy is a wonderful book woman to her patrons, some of whom are cautious because of color of her skin, and some who treat her no differently at all. She reads to some of her patrons and tries to help them as much as  she is able( bringing food and medicine, and company) Her library supervisor  gives  her a hard time because of her color. Her patrons become part of her life. This is a book based on the people who delivered the books in Kentucky I did't want it to end! You've got to read this !