Amazon Editors' Top Picks for 2009 Picture Books!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=pe_31480_13828680_fe_txt_1/?plgroup=1&docId=1000446401

Check it out!

Looking for Great Interactive Software for Your Children?

Here is a list of software recommended by the American Library Association:

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/childrensnotable/gisk/index.cfm

Check it out!

Janet

For Those Who Love the Wimpy Kids Diaries:

They might also like:

The Geronimo Stilton series
Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey
One-Handed Catch by MJ Auch
Middle of Somewhere
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Chet Gecko Lawn Boy by Paulson
No Talking by Clements
Stink books by Megan McDonald
Camp Creepy Time by Gershon
Just Grace Claudia Cristina Cortez series
Little Wolf series by Ian Whybrow
Amelia series by Marissa Moss
Regarding the... series by Klise
Max's Logbook by Marissa Moss
Alvin Ho series by Lenore
Look Melvin Beederman series
Oggie Cooder by Sarah Weeks
Bone series and other comic books

New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2009

Click here to see which books the New York Times says are the best illustration children books. Judges include Bank Street School's librarian!

http://www.nytimes.com/gift-guide/holiday-2009/20091108_best-illustrated_gg/list.html

Jigsaw Jones: The Case of the Class Clown Performance!!!


Where:
Central Library, Dweck Center
When:
Saturday, Dec 12 1 PM
Audience:
For Kids
Athena Lorenzo has been slimed and she doesn't think it's very funny. Someone in Ms. Gleason's class is playing practical jokes. Theodore "Jigsaw" Jones claims to be the very first dectective in the whole school. It's up to Jigsaw and his friend Mila to investigate the sliming and track down the class clown. This could be their stickiest case yet! Brimming with music, charm and humor, ArtsPower's new production - based on the book by renowned author James Preller - will make audiences laugh and think as they learn the secret codes that Jigsaw must decipher to solve the mystery. Events for Youth and Families are supported by The Hearst Foundation, Inc.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to the 2009-10 School Year! We have some great things in store for the whole Colears community! New books! Great old classics! Cool web sites! Please check here often to updates on book events, reading suggestions and more!

We have new check out polices for the 8/9s. It is really complicated, so ask them! But basically, we are attempting to let them check out three books this year, but only when they return all three. The 6/7s can check out two books and the 4/5s get one. BUT, we WELCOME parents to come in and check out books also - and they can check out four.

And for parents, we have 295 books on parenting in our library. Please come and check them out - literally!

Please help your students remember to bring their library books back on time so they can check out more books.

And all are welcome to come into the library before and after school to check.

Also ---- if you are interesting in volunteering in the library, please let us know. There is always more to do!

Public Library Summer Reading Clubs for all ages!

http://www.summerreading.org/

This is for the New York Public Library, the Queens Public Library and the Brookyn Public Library! It has sections for babies all the way to adults!

Check it out!

Summer Reading Suggestions

Picture Books (Chapter Books below)

Abe’s Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln by Doreen Rappaport. Hyperion Books for Children, 2008.

The Doghouse by Jan Thomas. Harcourt, 2008.

Katie Loves Kittens by John Himmelman. Henry Holt Books for Young Children, 2008.

The Little Bit Scary People by Emily Jenkins. Hyperion Books for Children, 2009.

Night Boat to Freedom by Margot Theis Raven. Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2006.

Nothing but Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson by Sue Stauffacher. Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.

Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen by Cari Best. Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2006.

Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton. HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2008.

Traction Man Meets Turbodog by Mini Grey. Alfred A. Knopf, 2008.

Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival by Kirby Larson. Walker and Company, 2008.

A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker. Candlewick Press, 2008.

When Dinosaurs Came with Everything by Elise Broach. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2007.

Wind-Wild Dog by Barbara Joosse. Henry Holt & Co., 2006.

Woolbur by LeslieHelakoski. HarperCollins Children’s Books. 2008.


Chapter Books

Cracker!: The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadahota. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2007.

Diamond Willow by Helen Frost Farrar. Straus, & Giroux, 2008.

Edward’s Eyes by Patricia MacLachlan. Atheneum Books, 2007.

Extreme Animals: The Toughest Creatures on Earth by Nicola Davies. Candlewick Press, 2006.

Found by Margaret Haddix Peterson. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2008.

Frogs by Nic Bishop. Scholastic Non-Fiction, 2008.

Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech. Joanna Cotler Books, 2008.

The Long Gone Lonesome History of Country Music by Bret Bertholf Little. Brown and Company, 2007.

Moving Day by Meg Cabot. Scholastic Press, 2008.

Savvy by Ingrid Law. Dial Books for Young Readers, 2008.

This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness by Joyce Sidman. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2007.

The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry. Houghton Mifflin, 2008.

At Your Library Song

To be sung at the Friday Assembly:

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/initiatives/kidscampaign/kidssong.cfm

Enjoy and sing often!

The Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature

This is from the Bank Street College Children's Library:

The winner is:

Mail Harry to the Moon by Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberely.

For more info, go to:

http://streetcat.bankstreet.edu/children/winners1.html

NY Library Association announces:

The Youth Services (YSS) and School Library Media (SLMS) Sections of the New York Library Association (NYLA) proudly announce: The 2009 3 Apples Children's Book Award goes to:

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (Harry Abrams).

Those of us who at the Corlears School Library are not surprised! and volume 3 is on it's way to the library!

Top Ten Check-Outs This Year to Date

1) Katie the Kitten Fairy by Daisy Meadows
2) Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules by Jeff Kinney
3) Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman by Dav Pilkey
4) Bella the Bunny Fairy by Daisy Meadows
5) Amy the Amethyst Fairy by Daisy Meadows
6) Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal by Jeff Kinney
7) Emily the Emerald Fairy by Daisy Meadows
8) I Spy Super Challenger: A Book of Picture Riddles by Walter Wick
9) 101 Cataclysms: For the Love of Cats by Rachel Hale
10) Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants by Dav Pilkey

School Librarian speaks at NYAIS Teaching with Technology Conference

May 1, 2009. I gave a workshop on creating a virtual school tour with 6/7s, from my afterschool specialty classes. thank you Kristi for taking pictures and to Chelsea and Mary Ellen for attending.

Post Office Haiku from the 6/7s

Gold on the outside
Mailboxes on the inside
Get your stamps, get them!

When you get your stamps,
You put stamps on the letters.
Letters than get mailed.

The line is so long.
It is very hard to wait.
It is my turn now.

It was lots of fun.
the elevators are big.
They move lots of mail.

Buy a stamp to mail.
Write a letter to your friend.
Receive happily.

More Poems

Group 1:

Sarah's Baby

Cute Sweet

Sliming Drinking Drooling

We are super proud

Owen

Group 2:

Teacher's Baby

White Brown

Sleeping Loving Closing Eyes

We are really happy

Cutie Pie

4/5s Poetry!

Group 1:

Princesses

Silly Cute

Getting Married Kissing Dancing

I like their jewelry

Queen

Group 2:

Money

Green Circles

Buying Giving it away Getting it back

Makes me feel good

Change

Our Very Own Kyle's blog!

Cool things for kids at www.coolthingsforkids.blogspot.com really is cool! Check it out!

William Shakespeare's BDay!

Check out this site in honor of Shakespeare and his 445th birthday!

http://www.talklikeshakespeare.org/

Poetry from the 6/7s

Group 1:

Post Office

slow tiring

deliver drive fly

waiting for the mail

letters' place

Group 2:

Post Office

metal medium

sends carries sorts

mails your letters quickly

stamps

More cool National Poetry Month Sites

Go here for info on the Poem in Your Pockets events in NYC including an all-day open-mic at Bryant Park on Thursday, April 30. You can take your kids right after school! Open for NYC school students:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/poem/html/home/home.shtml

Also, go here for poems written for children by such poets as Jane Yolen just for this year's poetry month:

http://gottabook.blogspot.com/‏

Amazing stuff in our own backyard!

National Poetry Month - Poetry in Motion with the NYC MTA

Create and print an original poem about public transportation. Click and drag the poetry "magnets" using the very cool link below to assemble your poem:

http://www.transitmuseumeducation.org/poetrymagnets/

ALSO: Consider going to this:

A Poem as Big as the City
A project of the Teachers & Writers Collaborative
Sunday, April 26 at 2:00 PM
New York Transit Museum, Brooklyn Heights

For more information on the MTA Poetry In Motion program, go to:

http://mta.info/mta/pim/

Enjoy!

It's a Fact --- Reading Reduces Stress!

According to a report in the English newspaper, Telegraph: "Reading is the best way to relax and even six minutes can be enough to reduce the stress levels by more than two thirds, according to new research. " For the full article, click here.

And then there is Book Wizard!

Thank you, Mary Ellen, for pointing this out!

Book Wizard, sponsored by Scholastic, is another great resource for finding just that right book - and this one narrows in on precise reading levels.

Click here to check it out:

http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/homePage.do

Looking for Age-Appropriate Books!

Bookhive is an amazing resource to help you find just the right book. The site includes 24 different genres, including beginning chapter books and realistic fiction, and six age groups, from baby to adult. Each book is reviewed by a librarian and/or a reader. Check it out!

http://www.plcmc.org/bookhive/books/

Lois Lowry's Birthday

Tomorrow is Lois Lowry's birthday and I am going to booktalk her books today to the 8/9s! Her web site is at:

http://www.loislowry.com/

Check it out with your children!

New Books for Parents

Thya has donated a copy of Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen in honor of her son, Julian, as well as versions for our students.

Another recent acquisition is Helping Children Cope with the Death of a Parent by Paddy Greenwall Lewis and Jessica G. Lipman.

Parents, please come by! You can check out up to 4 books for two weeks!

What's Up?

What are your students doing in library classes?

2/3s:
Charles/Suzanne/Betty’s class are working through the George and Martha stories, by James Marshall. Patti/Sara/Deb’s class had fun participating in a reading of: Let’s Play in the Forest While the Wolf is Not Around, by Claudia Rueda.

4/5s:
Dorrey and Andrea’s class got involved in the Rotten Ralph stories by Jack Gantos, based on a real-life cat. Sarah and Alice’s class have been sampling books on babies and growing up. Amanda’s and Kristi’s class has been questioning gender stereotypes and we have been helping by reading fairy tales such as Princess Knight by Cornelia Funke and Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne.

6/7s:
Val and Chelsea’s class have been reading the book, Rosy Cole’s Worst Ever, Best Yet Tour of New York City by Sheila Greenwald to support their realistic fiction and mapping units in school. Patricia and Sarah’s class have just started a biography on Ida B, Wells-Barnet, a famous African-American journalist from the 1800s, to support their newspaper theme.

8/9s:
Both classes are finishing up their science/library joint project on biographies of scientists and inventors, culminating with PowerPoint presentations. We are also reading The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis and I am thrilled that some students have checked the book out in other venues to read ahead.

Five Ways to Help Develop Your Child's Spirituality

Suggested by Corlear's Robin Donath:

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/features/best-sites/5-Web-Sites-to-Help-Develop-Your-Childs-Spirituality.html

Newbery Award Announced!

Newbery Medal:
"The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman, HarperCollins Children's Books

Newbery Honor Books:
"The Underneath" by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by David Small, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

"The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom" by Margarita Engle, Henry Holt and Company, LLC "Savvy" by Ingrid Law, Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group in partnership with Walden Media, LLC

"After Tupac and D Foster" by Jacqueline Woodson, G.P. Putnam's Sons, a division of Penguin Books for Young Readers

2009 Caldecott Awards Announced!

2009 Caldecott Medal:
Beth Krommes, illustrator of "The House in theNight," written by Susan Marie Swanson, published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

Three 2009 Caldecott Honor Books were named:


"A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever,"written and illustrated by Marla Frazee and published by Harcourt, Inc.


"How I Learned Geography," written and illustratedby Uri Shulevitz and published by Farrar Straus Giroux


"A River of Words: The Story of William CarlosWilliams," illustrated by Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant The book is published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Nikki Giovanni Rap for Obama

Very cool inaugural rap by child's author and poet Nikki Giovanni:

http://bit.ly/obamarap

4/5s in Library for Inauguration

The library was graced with the presence of the entire 4/5s group to watch the inauguration on our wall-size LCD monitor. We streamed the CNN version. It was awesome! The students were especially impressed by the canons! And Aretha Franklin's hat.

Want to watch the inauguration speech and swearing in again? Try the White House blog at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/

8/9s PowerPoints

The 8/9s are nearing the end of their Internet Research PowerPoint projects. They looked up information on the Internet ( see November posting for our four favored search engines) and put together the information they gathered into PowerPoint presentations. The results were very impressive and much quieter than usual!

For our next project, we are teaming with Sarah our science teacher to create PowerPoint presentations on scientist and/or inventors. Very exciting!

2/3s Checking Out!

Patti/Sara/Deb's class had their first library check out last Friday! It was an exciting time! Parents should have received a memo with library policies and the name of the book their child checked out. Remember: books are due again on Friday!

To get more info on library policies, please go to:

http://www.corlearsschool.org/educationalprogram/lib_policies.asp