Why I Bought It Wednesday

I've started my 2013-2014 book ordering which, as I've tweeted before over at twitter.com/classicsixbooks , makes me want to alternately leap for joy and poke my eyes out.  There is a method to my ordering madness.  I thought I would share on Wednesdays five titles and Why. I. Bought. It!!!! <-- {Say as if announcing a game show...}

Why I Bought It:  Gennifer Choldenko's Al Capone Does My Shirts and Al Capone Shines My Shoes are perennial favorites in my library.  I own multiple copies and they are rarely on the shelf.  Even over the years, these books have remained popular.  Ordering Al Capone Does My Homework was therefore, a no brainer!

Why I Bought It:  There's nothing quite as comforting as a book from the A True Book series.  I still have some versions from the...ehem...long ago so I eagerly snatch up any new additions to the series.  The photographs are engaging and the reading level is just right for many of my students.  A nice crisp, clean format that never lets me down.  Why Birds?  I have a second grade teacher who is nutty about our fine-feathered friends, so this book will be especially welcomed by her students.

Why I Bought It:  When I first came to my school six years ago, I did a major weed of the biography section.  Out went sports personalities from the early 2000s, for example, and added were some pretty fabulous replacements.  While many of them relate to the Virginia Standards of Learning, others I buy purely based on student interest.  The Who Is... is extremely popular with my students.  I buy them in paperback and purchase multiple copies of each.  They do not stay on my shelves for long.  Who Is Bill Gates? will be a great fit for my tech-savvy students.

Why I Bought It:  This is not a new book, but it is absolutely one of my favorite books ever.  David Roberts has got to be one of my favorite illustrators ever...having also inked The Dunderheads series.  This also fits the bill because both second and fourth grades concentrate on fairy/folktales, and among all grades modern versions of these traditional tales are always popular.  Can't wait to get my greedy little hands on this book once and for all!

Why I Bought It:  To be honest I'm not even sure if my students know or remember who Cal Ripken, Jr., is...after all we now have the Washington Nationals so the Baltimore Orioles may now be a distant memory.  However, this book is a perfect reading level for my higher reading 2nd & 3rd graders and, of course, it is sports-related.  The first book I tried Hothead did very well in my library, so I snatched up Wild Pitch.

And that's the first edition of Why I Bought It!  I hope you picked up some suggestions for your library...any title you'd like to share and why you bought it?