Welcome to the New Classic Six!

Every since, well forever, I've been drooling over Sherry's adorable blog design {okay, the content's swell too but as a librarian I can't help but judge a blog by its cover}.  I finally asked her about it and she told me that Lori over at Imagination Designs had dreamed it up for her.

A few months later, wa la {okay, I know that's supposed to be voila}...the new Classic Six!

And let me tell you, dear readers, Lori got it {me?} in one take {not counting my, "Oops, did I mention I'd really like to see..." episodes}.  And did I mention she's super nice?

So thank you Sherry {I hope you work on commission} and thank you, Lori, for my new, beautiful, fresh, clean, happy, chirpy, sunny design!

Why I Bought It Wednesday {The Late Edition}

Like, the really late edition.

Like, it's totes Friday.

Thank you to my great colleague twitter.com/maggle for keeping me on task!

So without further ado...  Here is the final Why I Bought It Wednesday of my summer vaca. {SOBS!}

::  Beautiful Oops by Barney Satlzberg

Why I Bought It:  Okay, so I'm a little slow on the uptake.  I realize this book is not new, but it's new to me!  It's a perfect book for the start of the year because it encourages students to take risks and not worry about making mistakes.  This book is rather delicate, so I will probably not circulate it, but allow for much touching, ooing and ahhing over it in the Library.  I foresee many an "oops" project in the Library as well.

:: The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman

Why I Bought It:  I'm actually at a loss for words {in an entirely positive way} as to the "usefulness" of this book.  Of course, it will make a wonderful read aloud all on its own but there are so many other ways that this book fits beautifully into the curriculum.  To help us navigate, Candlewick has created a teacher/librarian guide.  I plan on suggesting this book as a companion to so many other tried and true picture books by authors such as Eve Bunting and Pat Brisson.  Books about the immigrant experience, small moments, memories, past and present...the list goes on and on.  Enjoy.

:: Arnie the Donut and the Bowling Alley Bandit by Laurie Keller

Why I Bought It:  Oh come on.  How could you NOT buy this book?  It's Laurie Keller for heaven's sake!  This is the first book in a new chapter book series feature our good friend, Arnie and his ... um ... owner (?) Mr. Bing.  I will be doing a Laurie Keller author study this year with my multiage classes (mixed first and second) but it will be a bit more than just an author study.  The entire year will be themed around Laurie Keller's books, including Scrambled States of America {lots of opportunities for learning about states and the atlas}.  

:: P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia

Why I Bought It:  Now here is a situation where I bought a book totally because my students enjoyed One Crazy Summer...and I did not.  And here is also an example of  how I am often very candid with my students but challenge them to come to their own conclusions and form their own opinions.  In other words, I do not just booktalk/recommend books I like.  I am looking forward to reading P.S. Be Eleven, though.  It just sounds so good...I hope it's as good as it sounds!

:: Robert Griffin III by Jon M. Fishman

Why I Bought It:  I rarely buy books on individual sports figures.  It just seems that as soon as they arrive the player has been traded or retired or is...er...in jail or de-medaled for steroids or something.  But I do purchase books about local team members, including this recent (and already slightly outdated) bio on RGIII.  Now if only they'd change that terrible team name...  What books do you very hesitantly purchase for your collection?

So there you have it!  See you next Wednesday!

Why I Bought It Wednesday!

Three *is* my favorite number, so welcome to week three of Why I Bought It Wednesday!

Today I stopped by "the office" and there were even more boxes of books waiting for me!  It was so hard to chose the five for this week's post, but here they are...

:: Brush of the Gods 
by Lenore Look and illustrated by Meilo So

Why I Bought It:  My second graders study Ancient China along with Ancient Egypt, so I thought this would be a perfect semi-fictional picture book.  I could pair it with several other wonderful books such as The Pet Dragon or At the Beach by Huy Voun Lee.  You could also pair this book with another book about remaining true to oneself and ones passion.  

:: Amphibians (Animal Classes Series)

Why I Bought It:  I am completely addicted to the Blastoff Readers from Bellwether Media {I have not been compensated for this recommendation!!} series of books and best of all, so are my students and teachers.  Like the A True Book series, these books are filled with large, engaging photographs, easy to read (on the eyes, I mean) text, nonfiction text features and these books pass my nonfiction text test:  a glossary MUST be called a glossary!! {So bugs me when they call it something else!  It's a glossary, people!  My kindergarteners can handle the term!}  I bought a ton, I mean a TON more of these this year after I tried them out with a few last year.

:: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

by Chris Grabenstein

Why I Bought It:  I have not read it...just the buzz.  But it has the word LIBRARY in the TITLE for goodness sakes.  And, be still my heart, it has some sort of Dewey Decimal spinner on the cover.  You KNOW I am a DEWEY NUT!  Each year I get a little more creative with my second graders and Dewey.  They love it!  It feels like cracking a code to them.  But I digress...  Can't wait to read this one!

::The Fellowship For Alien Detection

by Kevin Emerson

Why I Bought It:  Again, I have not read this one...but my 4th and 5th graders are *hungry* for science fiction that is at their level so I grabbed this one up!  I hope this one will pass their stringent requirements!

:: Tito Puente:  Mambo King
by Monica Brown, illustrated by Rafael Lopez

Why I Bought It:  This bilingual picture book was an easy pick for me.  We were fortunate enough to have Monica Brown visit our school last year and she introduced the children to many of her other books, including My Name is Celia Cruz.  After I read this book, I immediately went to uTube to watch Tito Puente in action!  A great start to biographies, music appreciation and Hispanic culture!  

Why I Bought It Wednesday!!

Welcome to the second edition of Why I Bought It Wednesday!

I stopped by my library yesterday to find eight boxes of books just waiting to be opened!  twitter.com/booksandbytes stopped by, so we spent some time pawing, oohing and awing over some of the newly arrive purchases.

:: Here are five titles and Why I Bought It (THEM!). : ) {You can see more over at my Pinterest account.}

:: Becoming Babe Ruth

Why I Bought It:  Last year, as close to opening day as possible, I read several picture book biographies about baseball players, including You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! by Jonah Winter.  This year I plan to do the same, so I scooped up several more titles.  Soon I will do a post of all the fantastic baseball pictures books - there are so many great ones and so many to keep track of...!  They get my students reading sports-related books and biographies!

:: The Wing Wing Brothers Math Spectacular

Why I Bought It:  Oh...come on.  Why WOULDN'T you buy this book?  I mean, look at the cover!  However, it also amusingly explains the concepts of greater than, less than, equal to and addition and subtraction.  Funny Math!  It's a Wing Wing situation! <--Heh, heh...see what I did there?

:: Frogged

Why I Bought It:  Okay, so here is a book that I have not read yet, but I snuck it home and have added it to the Four Books I Will Read Before School Starts Again pile.  Why?  My students are always looking for fractured fairy or folk tales that mix things up a bit.  I'm sure this will be very popular with my students and will be a great book to book talk along with Rump.

:: Doll Bones

Why I Bought It:  Well...here I cheated just a little bit.  I received this book from the publisher, but with all the buzz I'm glad I did.  It is the second book on my Four Books I Will Read Before School Starts Again pile.  My students are always looking for "scary books" and I think this will do the trick without giving them too many nightmare.  What other books would go along well with this one?

And finally...

:: Frog Song

Why I Bought It:  My guys just cannot get enough of books about animals and animal behavior.  I can't wait to introduce them to Frog Song...and the opportunities for pairing fiction and non-fiction texts are ENDLESS I tell ya...  Hello Froggy Goes to School!  Can't wait to use Frog Song this year.

What books did you buy this week and why?

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?

Room with a Review: Genie Wishes by Elisabeth Dahl

Title:  Genie Wishes

Month/Year Published:  April 2013

Author:  Elisabeth Dahl

You May Know Her: As a debut (novel) author!

You May Find Her: At her website and on twitter at @ElisabethDahl.

Review You May Not Have Seen:  Katherine Sokolowski's review on The Nerdy Book Club.

The Review

When I entered a twitter contest for two autographed copies of Elisabeth Dahl's first novel, GENIE WISHES, I had to admit that I didn't know anything about it.  I won (YAY!), received my copies in the mail and, of course, was immediately taken in by the adorable cover, but it was a tiny description about a Popsicle in the first few moments of Genie Wishes that got me hooked on this sweet and perceptive read.  

Genie Kunkle is beginning the fifth (and final) grade at her private school's lower school.  Along with the responsibilities and choices that come with being selected as class blogger, Genie struggles with many issues familiar to kids her age:  friendship threesomes (oh nothing can go wrong there!), changing relationships (with members of the opposite sex), puberty (ew), and most importantly that pull between wanting to fit in and wanting to remain true to yourself.

What I liked about Genie Wishes was that there was nothing incredibly earth-shattering about Genie's life - don't take this the wrong way...there is nothing boring about this book.  Hers are the every day worries and concerns of certain tweens, yet Ms. Dahl manages to make reading about them, and Genie's decisions, immensely readable, comforting and fresh - I was reminded of The Baby-Sitter's Club series, those books I devoured like candy back in the day and are being gobbled up in their updated form by my fifth graders.

An added bonus are the delightful line drawings sprinkled throughout the book, also by Ms. Dahl; fans of the sketches in Grace Lin's Year of the Dog series will enjoy these little touches.  Another cool aspect of the book is its pinpoint-able location, which will no doubt be of interest to many Baltimore-area readers (and writers - hello Laurel Snyder!).

I would recommend this book for readers in grade five (obvs!) and above; it would also make a perfect gift for that fifth grader moving on to middle school.

Genie Wishes gets five out of five dog ears from me!

Teachers Write!

This summer I will be participating in Kate Messner's awesome-est offer to the world: Teachers Write!

Tomorrow I will post my summer writing goals (one of which is already CHECK! Phew!) but today here is my contribution to Kate's writing prompt (head over there to get the full low-down - it's awesome; I promise)

Sometimes...

Sometimes, when they’ve stayed up too late the night before, I wake up before the children. I tiptoe to my desk; a few clicks around the universe tells me the world still exists. The sun squeezes through the slats of the dusty Venetian blinds (maybe I’ll get to them today). The birds converse outside the window; I only recognize the coo’ing of the Mourning Dove. The hermit crab chirps in his (her?) cage, asking for, well, who knows what. Even the cars that pause at the stop sign on the corner sound sleepy. A thump. Stomping feet make a run for the bathroom. Dresser drawers slam both open and shut. A call from the bottom of the stairs, “Mom?”. I stretch and head down to greet them, the day, and to coax delicious, roasty smells from the coffeemaker.