California Young Reader Medal...The Votes Are In!

Happy Spring Break!  School's out, and the relaxing begins!  However, before I can relax, I have an important job to do: tallying the 1st and 2nd graders' California Young Reader Medal votes.  Then I have to submit our votes online to the CYRM website.  We'll find out which book wins the award in May.  Here is how Alisal voted.  A pretty big landslide, I'd say.  Now we just have to see how the rest of the kids across California felt about the books!

Who Loves Mac Barnett (the author)??!!

Hello all you Alisal Bears!  Last Thursday was such an exciting day for the library.  Mr. Mario arrived with a dolly full of books -- brand new books for the students to read.  I can't wait to get these awesome books checked out to kids in the next few days!  I took a few home to try out with my own kids over the weekend.  We all loved Chloe and the Lion by Mac Barnett.  Watch the trailer for book here:

Obviously, the first reason to love it is how funny it is!  Lots of giggles from both kids and myself as we read through it.  But lots of books are funny, right?  What I also enjoyed was the fact that it highlighted the importance of the illustrator in making a picture book what it becomes.  Reading this book makes me think of many questions about authors and illustrators and how they work together… Like, do they get to pick each other? What if they don't like the other's work?

This is the third book by Mac Barnett that I have read in the Alisal Library that I have loved. The other two are Count the Monkeys (recommended to me by Franke in Room14) and Guess Again, which was loved by all the first grade classes back in January.

And we also received President Taft is Stuck in the Bath and Sam and Dave Dig a Big Hole.  I haven't read them yet but I'm sure I'll be cracking up yet again!  We'll be having some fun reading Mac Barnett's books after Spring Break!

Alisal Read-A-Thon

Woo hoo!!!  It's the Alisal Read-A-Thon!!
The Read-A- Thon promotes a love of reading and improves literacy while raising funds for PTA sponsored programs, such as the Multi-Purpose Room upgrade, in-class Technology, BOOKS, and more. Students can challenge themselves to see how many minutes they can read in this period and then collect pledges in support of their efforts! The Read-A-Thon will end on Wednesday, March 18th.  So  let's get reading!!  Stop by the library at morning recess if you need to stock up on new books!  Go Bears!

Caldecott Medal Winner 2015 Announced - iiiiiittt's BEEKLE!

It was an exciting month in the library -- the biggest awards in children's literature were announced in early February.

 
The Caldecott Medal is awarded to the best picture book of the year.  This year's winner has been a fan favorite in our library.  It's called The Adventures of Beekle, the Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat. Kids all ages have oo-ed and ahh-ed at the beautiful pictures and the touching story.  Everyone has loved finding the hidden surprises and special meanings in many of Santat's illustrations.  There is a lot more to this story than first meets the eye.

For example, take a look at this picture of the end pages of the book.  (The end pages are the very first pages when you first open the book.)   Do you see how each boy or girl has an imaginary friend next to them?  The students and I looked carefully at all the pictures and noticed that each pair has something in common.  Like the girl who likes to jump rope--so her imaginary friend is a snake.  Ha!  How clever! 
Everyone has been dying to check it out.  Well, good news! The book has finally been processed for the library and is ready to be checked out by students.  Oh wait!  Someone just checked it out!  Better come in and put it on hold today!

California Young Reader Medal - YOU choose!

The 1st and 2nd graders are doing a very important job in the library this month.  They are deciding which book should win the California Young Reader Medal for 2015.



Here's how it works.  There are five nominees that I'm reading to all the 1st and 2nd graders.  After they have read all five books with me, then they must deliberate and vote on which book they think should win the California Young Reader Medal.  The Alisal Library will be transformed into a polling station the week before Spring Break starts.  Students will vote for their favorite book and I will submit the votes.  We'll find out in May who the winner is!  All primary students in California are eligible to vote.  No grown-ups can vote!  Only kids!  The students have been excited about taking on such a huge responsibility.  They all wanted to know if the book will get a "gold medal" like the Caldecott winner gets.  I assured them it does.   Each week, the kids get to take home a special bookmark that has the book we read decorated on the bookmark.  Kind of a fun memento of our activity.  Please use the bookmarks as a reminder to ask your child about the nominated book they heard in the library that week.  Hopefully, they can recall what they heard and retell you the story!  Here are this year's nominees:

Randy Riley's Really Big Hit by Chris Van Dusen

Miss Brooks Loves Books! (And I Don't)

Too Tall Houses by Giana Marino

Exclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems

TombQuest Author Visit = Success!

Well, February 12th was an exciting day in the library world.  Author Michael Northrop came to Alisal and talked to all the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students.  He got everyone really excited about his new book, TombQuest #1: Book of the Dead.  I thought it was interesting to learn that as a kid, Mr. Northrop didn't love reading and actually struggled in school.  It sure goes to show you that you should never give up.  Look what Mr. Northrop was able to accomplish!  I know the kids enjoyed squirming as he talked about how mummies were prepared back in ancient Egyptian times.   It actually inspired me to buy some Egyptian mummy books for the library.  After the assembly, Mr. Northrop signed books for many students who bought his books.  I've been hearing from different kids that they've enjoyed Book of the Dead.  If you haven't read it, what's stopping you?  The library has two copies - put one on hold today!

TombQuest series author coming to Alisal

Mark your calendars!  On February 12th, author Michael Northrop will be coming to Alisal to talk about his exciting new book series, TombQuest.

TombQuest #1: the Book of the Dead is the first in a 5 book series. Like a preteen Indiana Jones, it is a thrilling adventure rich in Egyptian mythology and magic.  An ancient evil has been unleashed.  Mummies are awakening.  New York is overrun with scorpions.  And worst of all for Alex, his mom and the Lost Spells have both disappeared.  Alex and his best friend Ren must save the world. 

It is multi-platform:  there will be an online game where readers can build their own Egyptian tomb fill them with treasures and traps, and then challenge their friends to venture inside. 

Signed books are available for purchase.  Order forms will be sent home soon.This assembly will be for classes 3rd grade and up.  Ask your teacher if your class is attending. 

Check out the website and see what the excitement is all about!

http://tombquest.scholastic.com/