Scranimals by Jack Prelutsky

I read the book Scranimals by Jack Prelutsky with Mrs. Carreon's class today.

 It is a poetry book where the author takes two things, like a mango and gorilla, for example, and combines them into one weird animal: a MANGORILLA.  So each page features a poem about a scranimal and where it lives, what it eats, etc.  They were pretty silly!  I think the students' favorites were the BANANACONDA and the POTATOAD...judging by the laughter on those pages!

Let's make our own scranimal island in the library!  If you want to add a scranimal to my map, all you need to do is create your own scranimal and draw a picture of it with a label of its name underneath.  Bring it in to the library and I'll add it to our Library Island!

I let Mrs. Carreon's class check out the book because they were so excited about scranimals and wanted to spend more time looking at them.  But eventually I will have it rotate to the other classes.

I just thought of one myself!  A FRUMPKIN!  (A frog and a pumpkin!)  Now I have to draw one! :)

Life of Zarf -- have you read it???

Lots of kids out there love Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries....right?  Well, if you like those two book series, or if you like funny books at all, you should check out Life of Zarf, Trouble With Weasels by Rob Harrell.  It's about a troll named Zarf  and his life at Cotswin Middle School with his best friends Kevin (a pig) and Chester (a jester).  They have to rescue the king and deal with nasty, unlikeable Prince Roquefort.   I read this aloud to my own kids last spring and it was FUNNY!  Here's a little trailer to show you what I mean:

We have the first book already, and the second book should be in the library right around Thanksgiving.  I already know two kids who are dying to read it....the question is...will YOU be reading it?

Learn more about the Life of Zarf books at the website:

Life of Zarf

October 100% Class Book Returns

We had a lot of classes with 100% returns in October! This means THE WHOLE CLASS had NO overdue books! What an accomplishment! The classes that had 100% days in October are:

• Salcido (THREE TIMES!) 
• Breazeale 
• Willis/Gabbani 
• Digirolamo (FOUR TIMES!) 
• Crawford 
• Fitz (TWICE!) 
• Mackin 
• Letona 

 Awesome job, teachers and students! I'm so happy with our new system of turning books in a day beforehand. It's really helping, I think. So, the winners of the free book for October are:

CRAWFORD 
LETONA 
DIGIROLAMO

Magic Treehouse Tote Bag Giveaway

Raise your hand if you're a fan of the Magic Treehouse book series!  Would you like to win a free Magic Treehouse tote bag?  It would be perfect for bringing to the Pleasanton Library and carrying all your library books in.  If you are interested in winning this cool tote bag, just fill out the Google Form below by Nov. 18th.  All Alisal students who correctly answer the questions will be entered into a raffle to win the tote bag.