cleaning house?

If you are cleaning out your student's bookshelf, please consider sending some of your gently used books to the Cragmont Library!

We are always looking for more of our favorite series paperbacks like Magic Tree House, Junie B. Jones, Geronimo Stilton, Goosebumps, Captain Underpants and Secrets of Droon. These are all extremely popular and loved to pieces so replacements are always welcome! If the library cannot add them, I will make sure they get into a classroom library or save them for the Read-A-Thon in February 2011.

New Books!

Cragmont Library just received its Fall/Winter book order and many of our students are discovering new authors and subjects! In addition to Spanish translations of old favorites and next-in-the-series titles, we have several brand new additions that I was very excited to share.

Here are just a few of the newest additions to our collection!

Soup Day by Melissa Iwai: [picture book] Cheerful mother and daughter prepare soup together, simple, sturdy book about food and family, recipe included!

Pierre the Penguin by Jean Marzollo: [non-fiction picture book] True story about an African penguin at the CA Academy of Sciences in San Francisco who lost all his feathers and needed a special wet suit.

The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton: [non-fiction picture book] Ever wonder how we got day-glo yellows, pinks and greens? This brightly illustrated biography tells the story the two brothers who made it happen!

Smile by Raina Telgemeier : [memoir graphic novel] Author Raina tells the story of her own experiences in elementary and middle school dealing with braces, missing teeth and growing up. (One of my favorite books of the past few years!)

Spaceheadz #1 by Jon Scieszka: [illustrated chapter book] First book of a series complete with aliens, a talking hamster and new-kid anxiety.

My Life As a Book by Janet Tashjian (and her 15 year old son Jake): [chapter book with sprinkles of illustrations] Part mystery, part Diary of a Wimpy Kid, main character Derek is dreading his summer reading list and instead, decides to spend his time trying to figure out why his mother is so secretive about an odd newspaper article he found in the attic.

Mrs. Dalloway's part II

A big thank you to everyone who got some shopping done at Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore this past weekend! Be sure to send in your receipts up to me, Mrs. Overlid, in the library by November 30th so that we can be reimbursed 20% of your purchase to use towards new materials.

More reviews and updates coming soon, we have had a fun November in the library full of baseball, clocks and tsunamis!

Mrs. Dalloway's Books, School Benefit Weekend!

This weekend, November 13 and 14, Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore is hosting a school benefit for Cragmont Library!

Mrs. Dalloway's will reimburse the library for 20% of purchases made by Cragmont families! Get some holiday shopping done and bring your receipt into me, Mrs. Overlid, in the library by November 30th. We will use the funds to purchase new books and replace our favorite titles.

Books make fabulous and rewarding holiday gifts, here are some titles that Cragmont kids will no doubt love to receive wrapped up with a bow!

Chapter Books

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney: Of course, the newest installment of the Wimpy Kid series is sure to be on the top of wish lists!
• The Heroes of Olympus, The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan: This new series keeps our favourite people from Percy Jackson and introduces some Roman gods to go along with Greek mythology. Another sneakily-educational hit!
• The Popularity Papers by Amy Iganatow: Reviewed as Diary of a Wimpy Kid with more girl appeal, this brand new series is written as journal entries between two 5th grade best friends.
  

Picture Books

• Cooking with Henry and Elliebelly by Carolyn Parkhurst and Dan Yaccarino: Let's pretend we are hosting a cooking show with this sweet and funny story about a brother and sister cooking together (with recipe included)!
• Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney: One of my favorite picture book series, little Llama appears in his first holiday themed story.
  
• Knuffle Bunny Free by Mo Willems: Good news/bad news for Knuffle fans. Good news, Knuffle Bunny is back for a third adventure, this time on a plane! Bad news: This could be Trixie's last Knuffle story.
  

Non-Fiction

• The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science: 64 Daring Experiments for Young Scientists by Sean Connolly: Great for curious minds, this experiment books offers fun activities and clear explanations for the science that makes it all work.
• Pop! The Invention of Bubblegum by Meghan McCarthy: Author of lots of fun nonfiction, Megan McCarthy tells the story of how bubblegum came to be the sticky sweet treat we enjoy today!
  

Picture Book Fun!

The New York Times recently published a piece entitled "Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children" and instantly, librarians around the country cried shenanigans! Several rebuttals popped up (here for example) suggesting other reasons for lower publishing rates for picture books and expounding upon the important role those titles play.

While chapter books are fabulous for young readers, picture books can be enormously special for students of all ages, not just emerging readers. They introduce vocabulary, support connection-making skills with illustrations, build reader confidence and provide an element of comfort, like a worn-in sweater. At Cragmont, I wanted to show that the picture book is indeed applicable to any age so this week, I shared some of my favorites with the chapter-book-reading 4th and 5th grade classes. Hoots and hollers for more proved to me that the picture book still has lots of appeal!

We read:

Bark George by Jules Fieffer: I introduced this book saying that though I usually read this book to much younger ages, it has a twist that we can all appreciate it. Highly recommended, storytime favorite, especially the very last page!

Tadpole's Promise by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross: Previous knowledge of tadpoles and caterpillars is useful to appreciate this tale. Again, with a twist that left even teachers gasping and laughing, it was made to be read to young and old!
(I recommend that parents read it before sharing with their children, the tasty ending could be hard to swallow for more sensitive children, pun very much intended.)

As the holidays approach, please keep picture books in mind for all ages. Here are more titles with wide appeal!

• Gotta Go! Gotta Go! by Sam Swope: Small shape, great language, fun science connection with butterflies and monarch migration!
• Click Clack Moo by Doreen Cronin: Fabulous refrain with small details that older children can appreciate.
• Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal: Using the famous duck/rabbit optical illusion, this title shows kids that pictures can sometimes be deceiving!
• Let's Do Nothing by Tony Fucile: Can two boys who have done everything do nothing, even for just 10 seconds?

Local Author Event: Ivy and Bean!

• What: Annie Barrows, author of one of our favorite series Ivy + Bean, will be reading from her latest book Ivy + Bean #7 What's the Big Idea?
• When: Saturday November 6th at 11:00 am
  
• Where: Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore 2904 College Ave, Berkeley
  
• Why: Because Annie Barrows loves meeting her fans!

Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore will also be hosting a fundraiser for Cragmont Library on November 13 and 14th! Shop at Mrs. Dalloway's on those two days, bring me your receipts by the end of the month and 20% of your purchase will go towards the library! Get your holiday book shopping done early and help the Cragmont Library in one weekend!

Our Fall Favorites!

After a full month of school, all our classes have had the chance to hear lots of great stories during library visits. Here are brief descriptions of our favorites. Ask your student about their favorite stories because talking about storytelling and books is a crucial piece of emerging literacy!

Kinder
Each week, students have helped read stories by saying repetitive parts out loud with me. Ask your child which part of these books we all said together and the action we used with it!

• I Went Walking by Sue Williams
• Chickens to the Rescue! by John Himmelman
  
• The Napping House by Audrey Wood

1st
We have spent a few classes learning about different places in the library and how to take care of books when they go home.

• I Took My Frog to the Library by Eric Kimmel: students did a great job listening AND walking around the library finding animal books!
  
• Read It Don't Eat It by Ian Schoenher: students already knew lots of these rules and it was extra silly to see them in action!
  

2nd
Second graders learned how to decide if a book is fiction or nonfiction and have been working on storytelling styles.

• Alphabet picnic game: ask your student what they would bring to the alphabet picnic (hint, the food should begin with the same letter as their name)
  
• Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems
• The Perfect Nest by Catherine Friend
• "Poor Little Bug on a Wall" poem: Ask them to tell you the poem in an extra sad voice!
  

3rd
We have talked a lot about fairy tales and have found that sometimes stories go in circles or even go backwards!

• The End by David LaRochelle: This story starts with "The End" and moves backwards, we had to work together to think of ideas about caused the action.
  
• The Stonecutter oral story from Japan
  

4th and 5th
Older grades have really enjoyed hearing folktales and oral stories. Some of their favorites so far were the ones with sound effects. Ask your student about the sound effects for these stories!

• Roly Poly Rice Ball oral story from Japan
  
• How Camel Got His Hump oral story from Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories
  
• Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock by Eric Kimmel

Feel free to leave a comment with your own favorite readalouds or oral stories!