Happy Holidays!
This week I am working with Christmas books and thought I’d share some wonderful ones with you. I hope you already have some of these that you enjoy.
The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden is one of my very favorite books. The story is wonderful no matter who illustrates it, but if you can find the one with Barbara Cooney’s wonderful folk art illustrations, that is my favorite. (I also love Rumer’s other doll books, but most of them are out of print.)
The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg is a wonderful story. It’s a special treat to read this book and hand out the tiny candy canes.
Christmas Tree Farm by Ann Purmell is the story of a Christmas tree farm. (Who would have guessed!) Many children may not know what happens before they buy their tree at the lot. I know that a lot of families here in the Pacific Northwest actually go out and cut their own tree, but when I was a child in Florida, that was almost a fairy tale to me.
Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon. A fictional account of the Christmas truce of 1014. My copy includes a CD of the author reading the story. He also sings a ballad that goes along with the story. The oil paintings are marvelous.
Apple Tree Christmas by Trinka Hakes Noble has some wonderful folk art style illustrations to accompany the story of an old fashioned Christmas.
Steven Layne spoke at a teacher’s convention a few years ago and we bought two of his books which are a nice lighthearted touch for the holidays. The Principal’s Night Before Christmas and The Teacher’s Night Before Christmas. You can also find many other books that play upon Clement C. Moore’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.
Patricia MacLachlan, author of Sarah, Plain and Tall has a new Christmas book out called The True Gift. It is the story of a family in hard times that had to sell most of their livestock and the children were worried that their one cow would be lonely. They put an ad out to advertise for a friend for their cow and the neighbors help out.
If you haven’t heard of Patricia Polacco, you have missed a wonderful author. She is a wonderful illustrator. Christmas Tapestry is the retelling of the classic story of an old man that donates a handmade tapestry to the church and his wife who was separated from him during the war recognizes her needlework and they are reunited. An Orange for Frankie and The Trees of the Dancing Goats are two other Christmas stories by Patricia Polacco. (Please note that she has another Christmas story called “Welcome Comfort” that is simply a fairy tale about a young boy who was ostracized by his peers, but who did make friends with an elderly gentleman and eventually Welcome Comfort (his name) became the next Santa Clause.) Not all of Patricia Polacco’s books will be appropriate for your classrooms or your libraries. You will have to make that call. She does have some wonderful books that are perfect for schools and also are appropriate for all ages.
Christmas Cookies: Bite-Sized Holiday Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal is just great. Here is an excerpt: “Responsible means, ‘You asked me to put away the cookie cutters, and you can count on me to do it.’” Need I say more?
One traditional holiday story is the one by O. Henry called Gift of the Magi. This can be found in a collection of his stories, or as a picture book. The story can be for all ages, but I think it works best for older students. I especially like the picture book version with Lisbeth Zwerger’s flowing illustrations.
Another old favorite of many is The Bird’s Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin. This is a timeless family story.
Years ago I read a darling story of Mr. Willowby who got a Christmas tree, but it was too tall, so he chopped off the tip and threw it away. An animal found the tip, took it home, but it was too tall, so he chopped off the tip and threw it away. And so it goes throughout the book with smaller and smaller animals chopping off the tip until finally it ends up in the mouse’s house in Mr. Willowby’s home so happy to have a tree just like Mr. Willowby’s. The book is called Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree written by Robert E. Barry.
Next week I will continue with this same topic. More Christmas stories! If you have some favorite Christmas books, I will be happy to include them also.
Don’t forget to check out my blog sdalibrarian.blogspot.com.
Best wishes,
Audrey
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
New Books
Hello,
I have some great titles that you might want to consider adding to your library.
Non-Fiction
• Jackson, Donna M. The name game. New York: Viking, 2009. Print. Explore the subject of names ranging from choosing the right name for a baby or your pet to naming traditions from around the world to the art of naming companies. One section that my students enjoyed especially is the section on companies that changed their names such as ‘Brad’s Drink’ changed to Pepsi-Cola or ‘Auction Web’ changed to ‘E-Bay’.
• Scott, Elaine. All about sleep from a to zzzzzz. New York: Viking, 2008. Print. Find out all you ever wanted to know about sleep in this book. Chapters include dreaming, sleepwalking, different kinds of sleep, nightmares, night terrors and how everything sleeps. Cartoonish illustrations help complete this short book.
• Hillman, Ben. How Strong is it? Singapore: Scholastic, 2008. Print. This is a book all about strength. How strong is a spiderweb? A trebuchet? Hair? A hurricane? A secret code? Glue? A black hole? Even more information is given here. Each item has a two-page spread with ¾ of the two pages dedicated to the photo and ¼ for the text. Good information is presented in a format that isn’t intimidating to the reader. Ben Hillman also wrote How Fast is It? and a brand new one titled How Weird is It? (I haven’t seen the last title. You might want to check that out before purchasing it.)
• Hatkoff, Juliana, Isabella Hatkoff, and Craig Hatkoff. Winter's Tail. New York: Scholastic, 2009. Print. You may have seen this young dolphin on TV who was rescued from a crab trap and lost her tail due to the great damage that was done. She learned to swim with a prosthetic tail made especially for her and has been an inspiration to thousands. This past October her 4th birthday was celebrated at the aquarium and through a live webcast. You can still view the 35 – 40 minute webcast online at www.winterstail.com. Other wonderful true stories of animals that have been rescued are Owen and MZee, Knut, Nubs, and Looking for Miza. These are picture books that span the age levels in your school. Through Winter’s website, you can also access websites for most of these other books.
• Bond, Rebecca. In the belly of an ox. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. Print. Two brothers, bird lovers, adventurous, photography buffs. That’s the start of the story of Richard and Cherry Kearton. This picture book tells some of the secrets and experiences of the brothers as they photograph birds, eggs, and nests and published them into British Bird’s Nests in 1895.
Picture Books
• Mohammed, Khadra. My name is Sangoel. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2009. Print. A young Sudanese refugee and his family leave their homeland and travel to the United States where no one is able to pronounce his name. Sangoel solves this problem in a creative way and finally begins to feel at home.
• Blue, Rose, and Corinne J. Naden. Ron's Big Mission. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 2009. Print. The fictionalized account of a true incident tells how Ron McNair got his own library card. Blacks weren’t allowed to check out books but Ron knew the rules weren’t fair and stood up to them and got his own library card. Years later he became an astronaut and was on the fated Challenger space shuttle in 1986.
• Stuart J. Murphy has written a number of books about math fun. These are geared for the primary grades mainly and deal with how math is used in daily life. The titles listed below are a few from the collection. Titles and subjects include:
o Probably Pistachio – probability
o The Penny Pot – counting money using coins
o The Best Vacation Ever – collecting data
o Too Many Kangaroo Things to Do! – multiplying
o Divide and Ride – dividing
o Lemonade for Sale – bar graphs.
There you have about 20 new titles to think about. Have a good time choosing and have a great week.
Audrey
I have some great titles that you might want to consider adding to your library.
Non-Fiction
• Jackson, Donna M. The name game. New York: Viking, 2009. Print. Explore the subject of names ranging from choosing the right name for a baby or your pet to naming traditions from around the world to the art of naming companies. One section that my students enjoyed especially is the section on companies that changed their names such as ‘Brad’s Drink’ changed to Pepsi-Cola or ‘Auction Web’ changed to ‘E-Bay’.
• Scott, Elaine. All about sleep from a to zzzzzz. New York: Viking, 2008. Print. Find out all you ever wanted to know about sleep in this book. Chapters include dreaming, sleepwalking, different kinds of sleep, nightmares, night terrors and how everything sleeps. Cartoonish illustrations help complete this short book.
• Hillman, Ben. How Strong is it? Singapore: Scholastic, 2008. Print. This is a book all about strength. How strong is a spiderweb? A trebuchet? Hair? A hurricane? A secret code? Glue? A black hole? Even more information is given here. Each item has a two-page spread with ¾ of the two pages dedicated to the photo and ¼ for the text. Good information is presented in a format that isn’t intimidating to the reader. Ben Hillman also wrote How Fast is It? and a brand new one titled How Weird is It? (I haven’t seen the last title. You might want to check that out before purchasing it.)
• Hatkoff, Juliana, Isabella Hatkoff, and Craig Hatkoff. Winter's Tail. New York: Scholastic, 2009. Print. You may have seen this young dolphin on TV who was rescued from a crab trap and lost her tail due to the great damage that was done. She learned to swim with a prosthetic tail made especially for her and has been an inspiration to thousands. This past October her 4th birthday was celebrated at the aquarium and through a live webcast. You can still view the 35 – 40 minute webcast online at www.winterstail.com. Other wonderful true stories of animals that have been rescued are Owen and MZee, Knut, Nubs, and Looking for Miza. These are picture books that span the age levels in your school. Through Winter’s website, you can also access websites for most of these other books.
• Bond, Rebecca. In the belly of an ox. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. Print. Two brothers, bird lovers, adventurous, photography buffs. That’s the start of the story of Richard and Cherry Kearton. This picture book tells some of the secrets and experiences of the brothers as they photograph birds, eggs, and nests and published them into British Bird’s Nests in 1895.
Picture Books
• Mohammed, Khadra. My name is Sangoel. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2009. Print. A young Sudanese refugee and his family leave their homeland and travel to the United States where no one is able to pronounce his name. Sangoel solves this problem in a creative way and finally begins to feel at home.
• Blue, Rose, and Corinne J. Naden. Ron's Big Mission. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 2009. Print. The fictionalized account of a true incident tells how Ron McNair got his own library card. Blacks weren’t allowed to check out books but Ron knew the rules weren’t fair and stood up to them and got his own library card. Years later he became an astronaut and was on the fated Challenger space shuttle in 1986.
• Stuart J. Murphy has written a number of books about math fun. These are geared for the primary grades mainly and deal with how math is used in daily life. The titles listed below are a few from the collection. Titles and subjects include:
o Probably Pistachio – probability
o The Penny Pot – counting money using coins
o The Best Vacation Ever – collecting data
o Too Many Kangaroo Things to Do! – multiplying
o Divide and Ride – dividing
o Lemonade for Sale – bar graphs.
There you have about 20 new titles to think about. Have a good time choosing and have a great week.
Audrey
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Weeding the 000's
Hello,
This month we are going to weed the 000’s. It is likely a fairly small section and shouldn’t be too difficult to weed. The 000’s are Generalities. Please remember that you aren’t required to discard any book that is important to your library. These are guidelines, not mandates.
004 (Computers)
Books about computers are seldom useful after three years. Consider your community and the students. Will these books be useful to them? Do the manuals fit the hardware or software you are now using? Series like ‘Dummies’ and ‘Idiot’s Guide’ are usually more useful and will last longer.
010 (Bibliography)
Discard most bibliographies ten years from the date of copyright or when superseded by a new edition unless your bibliography is used regularly.
020 (Library Science)
Discard all that do not conform to current, acceptable practice. Discard all that is obsolete or outdated.
030 (General Encyclopedias)
Print encyclopedias should be updated at least every five years. Older sets can circulate, but be careful with information over eight years old. Many schools use an online encyclopedia for the most current information. Older encyclopedias can be sold or circulated.
Other 000’s
Trivia books may be kept indefinitely or until they are no longer useful or interesting. Quotation books, books of oddities, and other books like this may be kept as long as they are useful. Copyright dates may not be an issue here as long as the books are worthy of a place on your shelves.
Books to add to this section of your library would include books on trivia, Guinness World Records, other world record books, books on computers and computing, question and answer books, and books with fun facts. When we get a new Guinness World Record book, I look through and cover over with a large sticker photos that may be inappropriate for younger children (such as the woman with the largest breast implants). Most children enjoy reading about oddities and the world record books are very popular. If you purchase these, it is good to be aware of the information inside. Skim through it before you put it on the shelves.
Weeding information is from CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries at http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/pubs/crew.
Have a great week.
Audrey
This month we are going to weed the 000’s. It is likely a fairly small section and shouldn’t be too difficult to weed. The 000’s are Generalities. Please remember that you aren’t required to discard any book that is important to your library. These are guidelines, not mandates.
004 (Computers)
Books about computers are seldom useful after three years. Consider your community and the students. Will these books be useful to them? Do the manuals fit the hardware or software you are now using? Series like ‘Dummies’ and ‘Idiot’s Guide’ are usually more useful and will last longer.
010 (Bibliography)
Discard most bibliographies ten years from the date of copyright or when superseded by a new edition unless your bibliography is used regularly.
020 (Library Science)
Discard all that do not conform to current, acceptable practice. Discard all that is obsolete or outdated.
030 (General Encyclopedias)
Print encyclopedias should be updated at least every five years. Older sets can circulate, but be careful with information over eight years old. Many schools use an online encyclopedia for the most current information. Older encyclopedias can be sold or circulated.
Other 000’s
Trivia books may be kept indefinitely or until they are no longer useful or interesting. Quotation books, books of oddities, and other books like this may be kept as long as they are useful. Copyright dates may not be an issue here as long as the books are worthy of a place on your shelves.
Books to add to this section of your library would include books on trivia, Guinness World Records, other world record books, books on computers and computing, question and answer books, and books with fun facts. When we get a new Guinness World Record book, I look through and cover over with a large sticker photos that may be inappropriate for younger children (such as the woman with the largest breast implants). Most children enjoy reading about oddities and the world record books are very popular. If you purchase these, it is good to be aware of the information inside. Skim through it before you put it on the shelves.
Weeding information is from CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries at http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/pubs/crew.
Have a great week.
Audrey
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