SLD's Resources

Research Paper Writing

2009-05-17T10:43:00.003-04:00

NC Elizabeth II Roanoke Island

2009-05-17T10:08:00.005-04:00

Sailing the Elizabeth II

Festival Park: Elizabeth II

Outer Banks Elizabeth II

Outer-Banks Elizabeth II

Visit NC Elizabeth II

Step Into History Elizabeth II

NC-Outer Banks Elizabeth II schematic

Learn NC Elizabeth II

NC Classroom Distance Learning Elizabeth II

Pirates, Plankton, and Pelicans: Sailing

2009-05-15T17:20:00.002-04:00

Explore the sailing vessel the Spirit of South Carolina.

Take a Virtual Tour and explore the ship's galley, bunks, engine room and more with 360* panoramas.

With the Interactive Model learn about the essential components of a sailing schooner with this interactive version of the Spirit of South Carolina,

WiKiPeDiA

SC Maritime Foundation

Spark Notes from Barnes and Noble Jr & Sr High

2009-05-15T13:12:00.002-04:00

LINK
Study Guides,
NO FEAR Shakespeare,
Fact Charts,
Test Prep,
Subject Browser,
College Texts Condensed

Pink Monkey.com

2009-05-15T12:39:00.004-04:00

LINK
We offer hundreds of free study guides, chapter summaries, plot analysis, book notes, chapter notes, synopsis, essays, downloadable notes.
is a "G" rated study resource for junior high, high school, college students, teachers and home schoolers. What does PinkMonkey offer you? The World's largest library of free online Literature Summaries, with over 460 Study Guides / Book Notes / Chapter Summaries online currently, and so much more. No more trips to the book store; no more fruitless searching for a booknote that no one ever has in stock!
You'll find it all here, online 24/7!

Vocabulary Games

2009-05-15T12:25:00.002-04:00

LINK

Starfall.com

2009-05-15T12:18:00.003-04:00

Starfall.com
ABC's, Phonics, Beginning to Read, Read Alone.
Interactive with sounds and word pronunciation. Stories are read. Great colors and graphics.

2009 Summer Reading

2009-05-15T11:58:00.001-04:00

Kids can earn a free book with the 2009 Summer Reading Program from Barnes and Noble - LINK.

Here's How It Works:

1. Kids read any eight (8) books of their own choosing.

2. Kids use the Summer Reading Journal to tell us their favorite part of each book. A parent/guardian signs the journal when it's complete. You can also get a Spanish-language Reading Journal.

3. Children bring their completed Reading Journal to a Barnes & Noble store between May 26th & September 7th, 2009.

4. We'll give them a coupon for a FREE book! They choose from a list of exceptional paperback titles.*

* Eligible books will be listed on the coupon. Choices must be made from available stock. No special orders. Limit of one (1) form per school-age child (grades 1-6), please. Incomplete forms will be ineligible for free books.

Book Adventure Sylvan Learning 7000 Titles

2009-05-15T10:49:00.005-04:00

Book Adventure is a FREE reading motivation program for children in grades K-8. Children create their own book lists from over 7,000 recommended titles, take multiple choice quizzes on the books they've read, and earn points and prizes for their literary successes. Book Adventure was created by and is maintained by Sylvan Learning.

http://www.bookadventure.org/qt/excelBookList.asp?type=html

Find a book at specific Reading Level

AudioBooks and eBooks Resource

2009-05-15T10:45:00.001-04:00

http://www.carolinahomeschooler.com/books.htm#Free_Digital_Audiobooks

One More Story

2009-05-15T10:09:00.002-04:00

A one-year home subscription is $44.00. Take the Tour.
What We Are
One More Story is an online library of the best of children's classic and contemporary literature. Through a simple point and click process, children can choose a book, see the illustrations and have the book read to them whenever they want.

Library
The One More Story library features the highest quality children's books (including Caldecott Medal winners) from ten different publishers. Books will be continually added to the One More Story library until we reach one hundred and eight books.
See a list of the books in the One More Story library >>

See a sample book

Hear and See a Book
A child can easily choose a book by clicking on the green button under that book. As the narrator reads, words are individually high-lighted in the text box at the bottom of the screen. Each story is professionally narrated, and original music has been written for each book.

See I Can Read It mode

I Can Read It
One More Story offers the I Can Read It mode for beginning readers. Clicking on the "I" button (in the upper right hand corner) mutes the sound, allowing the child to read the book. If a word is unfamiliar, the child can click on it and hear that word spoken by the narrator. This is available for every word in each book in the One More Story library.

MrsP.com Classic Children's Stories

2009-05-15T09:17:00.004-04:00

www.MrsP.com is a fun storybook entertainment site that celebrates reading and books. Classic children’s stories are brought to life by TV star Kathy Kinney as Mrs. P.

Reviewed by Common Sense Media

What's the story?

Reviewed by Susan Yudt

Actress Kathy Kinney played cantankerous secretary Mimi Bobeck on The Drew Carey Show. But on MRSP.COM, Kinney -- one of the site's co-creators -- dons a pair of reading glasses as Mrs. P., a storyteller with an Irish brogue and a dry sense of humor. Mrs. P sits in her flash-animated study, surrounded by quirky, clickable objects. Click on her bookcase and Mrs. P will read whichever book you choose. There are fairy tales aplenty, along with other children's classics like "The Tale of Peter Rabbit." Older kids can check out Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" (but maybe not right before bedtime).

Is it any good?

Though a high-tech endeavor, MrsP.com aims to preserve the very low-tech pastime of reading and storytelling. The sophisticated animation and high level of interactivity are undoubtedly digital age, but Mrs. P. also employs some delightfully old-fashioned touches, like prefacing her tales with personal anecdotes. The stories are light on illustration, compelling kids to use their imaginations to flesh out the tales. Well done overall, with the promise of more stories to come.

FactCheck.org reviewed by: Common Sense Media

2009-05-15T05:42:00.002-04:00

What's the story?

Reviewed by Jacqueline Rupp

During election season, TV programs become awash in political advertising. With emotionally-charged music and images and dramatic voiceovers, these ads can be quite compelling. That is until you look at the facts behind the melodrama. But sorting through news reports, candidate Web sites, and editorials can be a lengthy process. That's where FACTCHECK.ORG comes in handy. This 2008 Webby Award-winning site provides daily analysis of U.S. political players, monitoring factual accuracy of what's said on TV and in debates, speeches, and interviews through detailed articles that provide both a summary and lengthy study of a specific subject. FactCheckEd, the educational section, interprets political lingo and catch phrases, and has a dictionary and a resource which helps kids sift through other sites by identifying them as partisan, public, or general.

Is it any good?

Like a breath of fresh air, FactCheck.org cuts through the political mudslinging and propaganda to provide real, factual information about the abstract claims made by political candidates. Just the Facts is a CNN-esque video report that dissects timely topics such as the creative video editing of campaign ads. With young correspondents and a clean look, the videocasts judiciously use news clips and commentary, making the videos easy to watch and understand. This is probably the department most accessible to kids.

Ask FactCheck is also a clever timely feature and allows visitors to ask the site's staff questions about the political campaign. As far as Web designs go, FactCheck is nicely organized and easy to navigate. It doesn't overwhelm the user with too many features, but instead presents deliberately detailed analysis that's hard to find these days.

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/FactCheck.html

Dance With Me Ages 7-12

2009-05-09T10:31:00.004-04:00

A joyous collection of poems celebrates many kinds of traditional and original dances, from the classic waltzes and tap dances to a dance with the wind and a gardener's dance with her hoe.
Subjects

Nature, American poetry, Children's poetry, American

Dance with Me

By Barbara Juster Esbensen

Illustrated by Megan Lloyd

Published by Harpercollins, 1995

ISBN 0060228237, 9780060228231

32 pages Ages 7, 8, 9, 10

A lovely collection of 15 poems, graced ...

... with iridescent pastel illustrations. Everyday objects and events are given a new charm in these verses that capture a rhythmic dance, from the tap-dancing of raindrops falling on the roof in a summer storm to the hidden music as a baby dances with her reflection in the mirror. Even such unlikely ""dancers"" as a gardener and basketball make appearances. Esbensen (Baby Whales Drink Milk, 1994, etc.) has a talent for choosing subjects, using rhythms, and finding language with ready appeal for her audience. Sunny or dramatic, Lloyd's illustrations deftly capture the tone of the accompanying verse. The pacing of the book is particularly nice: It begins with an invitation to the wind and the wind's reply, and ends with the still dance of sunlight through a dusty room. A fine addition to poetry and picture book collections, this is simple enough for reading alone and strong enough for group sharing.

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.
"Gr 3-6, Ages 9, 10, 11, 12 -- In 15 poems, all manner of dancers move to all sorts of rhythms and reveal unexpected images in the most delightful ways. Introducing the book with an invitation to partner the wind, Esbensen highlights such diverse subjects as bubbles, waves, and dust, and sees surprising choreography in everyday experiences. Even the visual arrangement of words on the page reinforces the verbal images and cadences that explore movement. Trees '...lock crooked arms/ and step across the lawn.' Mirages '...slide on invisible feet.' Raindrops are '...high-stepping/hoofers of summer.' There are people here, too; a baby tapping a beat to her mirrored reflection, a woman dancing a staccato rhythm as she weeds the garden, two grandparents gliding to a melody of memories. Lightning takes the exuberant stance of swordsmen, and children shadow dance and race in the sun. Lloyd's lovely crayon and pastel drawings add a floating lightness to each page and suggest, rather than tell, what the poet imagines. (As in Esbensen's Cold Stars and Fireflies (1984), Who Shrank My Grandmother's House? (1992), and Words with Wrinkled Knees (1987), all Harper/Collins), readers will find new discoveries and fresh delight in repeated readings." -- School Library Journal by Barbara Kiefer, Teacher's College, Columbia University, NY City

Honey Bees Ages 4-12

2009-05-09T10:28:00.005-04:00

While visiting The Storyteller's Bookstore I found these!

How do bees make honey? Why are they so sweet on their queen? What hours do they work in their honey factories called hives? For all the buzz about honeybees, this Jump into Science title really is the bees' knees!

Honeybees

By Deborah Heiligman, Carla Golembe

Illustrated by Carla Golembe

Edition: illustrated, reprint

Published by National Geographic Society, 2007

ISBN 142630157X, 9781426301575

31 pages Ages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.7 x 0.1 inches

The Life and Times of the Honeybee PREVIEW

Charles Micucci offers a wide-ranging and spirited introduction to the life cycle, social organization, and history of one of the world's most useful insects. "A solid, fascinating treasure trove of bee stuff, as enriching to the mind as it is pleasing to the eye. Micucci's book is a wonderful example of how good children's nonfiction can really be." -- Booklist, starred review

By Charles Micucci

Edition: illustrated

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1997

ISBN 039586139X, 9780395861394

32 pages

The author of The Life and Times of the ...

... Apple (Orchard, 1992) uses the same breezy, colorful format to introduce the honeybee, its history, anatomy, odd facts, and daily life. He describes the bee from egg to adult in brief text and soft-colored pictures. Each spread offers a dozen or more drawings and tidbits, e.g., bee communication through dancing, beekeeping, wax and honey products, bees through history, and around the world. This is a charming browsing title, but the text lacks precision and the author gives no sources. Micucci notes, ""8000 B.C. After the Ice Age, people hunted bees with torches."" Maybe, but how do we know? He states that the round dance is used when the flowers are ""less than 100 yards away."" Encyclopedia Americana (1994, Volume 3) says that when the nectar source is closer than about ten yards, the circular dance is used. For nectar from 10 to 100 yards away, the dance becomes sickle-shaped and eventually the figure eight. Honeybees are fascinating and have been extensively researched; most enthusiasts will want more information than this title provides.

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4 Ages 8, 9 , 10. Information about honeybees has never been more interesting. As in Micucci's The Life and Times of the Apple (Orchard, 1992), text and illustrations perfectly complement one another in a concise presentation of facts about the insects both within and outside the hive. Their physical characteristics, division of labor, and role in pollination are fully described. Additional fascinating facts about a bee's year-round activities, the job of the beekeeper, the many products that contain beeswax and other natural products from the hive, and ways honey has been used throughout history are included. Excellent organization with attention to clear labeling of diagrams and correct juxtaposition of text and illustrations combine with a direct writing style that makes the material easy to understand. Even the "tail-wagging dance" that directs bees to flower locations is simple to follow. The author's naturalistic watercolors are beautifully rendered in soft hues that reflect the true colorations, and a whimsical little bee in glasses appears periodically to lend a touch of humor. There is no index, but a table of contents leads to specific topics. A book that is right on target for young readers, and one that would be a fine companion to photographed titles such as Barrie Watts's Honeybee (Silver Burdett, 1990). Diane Nunn, Richard E. Byrd Elementary School, Glen Rock, NJ
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 3-5, Ages 9, 10 , 11, younger for reading aloud. Every bit as nicely designed and packed with information as The Life and Times of the Apple (1992), this book reminds us that original artwork can be more precise and just as spectacular as photographs in children's nonfiction: here, for example, there's a large, striking, double-page-spread illustration of a worker bee guaranteed to make kids gasp. Most of the drawings, however, are small, finely detailed, and many to a page. Along with reinforcing and expanding upon the text, they lighten the information load--a bespectacled cartoon bee adds a bit of comedy by flitting from page to page among his more realistically drawn relatives. Each nicely organized double-page spread deals with a different aspect of the honeybee variety we know best (Micucci is not concerned with African or Africanized bees). The information, which appears in concise, clearly written blocks of text, covers everything from distribution, reproduction, behavior, and honey manufacture to the honeybee's niche in history. A solid, fascinating treasure trove of bee stuff, as enriching to the mind as it is pleasing to the eye, Micucci's book is a wonderful example of how good children's nonfiction can really be. Stephanie Zvirin --

Honey Bees and Honey PREVIEW

Young readers love the rich photographs in these books as they explore the world of honey bees. The book "Honey Bees identifies the body parts of these insects. The other three books focus on pollination, the hive community, and the production of honey. Labeled photographs support readers' understanding of content-area vocabulary. This series explores and supports the standard "The Living Environment: Interdependence of Life," as required by Benchmarks for Science Literacy: Project 2061.

By Lola M. Schaefer, Gail Saunders-Smith

Edition: illustrated

Published by Coughlan Publishing, 1999

ISBN 0736802339, 9780736802338

24 pages
Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 6.3 x 0.3 inches

Key Terms

PREVIEW

From "Baby Bumblebee" to "The Ants Go Marching," children learn about the insects they encounter in their own backyard with these songs. The book features more than 250 activities that teach children about colors, counting, growing things, friendship, and bugs. 40 illustrations.

Bugs, bugs, bugs!: 21 songs and over 250 activities for young children

By Pamela Byrne Schiller, Clarissa Willis

Illustrated by Deborah Johnson

Edition: illustrated

Published by Gryphon House, Inc., 2006

ISBN 0876590202, 9780876590201

128 pages
About the Author
Pam Schiller, Ph.D., is an early childhood author, consultant, and highly sought after speaker. She has written numerous articles for early childhood journals, including Child Care Information Exchange and Texas Child Care Quarterly. Pam is the author of five early childhood curriculums, eleven children's books and more than 30 teacher and parent resource books.

Destination: Space & Galaxies Ages 9-13

2009-05-06T18:51:00.004-04:00

For over a century the idea of a black hole was merely a theory, one that was fiercely debated. Then, while using the Hubble Space Telescope to observe a distant galaxy, scientists were able to take the first pictures of a black hole. A mystery that existed for over a hundred years was solved!

Launched in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope is still sending us images of the cosmos never before seen by the human eye. There are more pictures and new discoveries every day. Orbiting above the atmosphere, the Hubble Space Telescope can see into space ten times more clearly than the most powerful telescope on Earth.

In Destination: Space, stunning visuals illustrate major discoveries as Seymour Simon explains what each carefully chosen image has shown us about the universe. Capturing fascinating and complex scientific discoveries in dramatic photographs and an easy-to-understand text, Seymour Simon once again shows why he is widely regarded as one of America's most exciting and informative authors.

Destination: Space

By Seymour Simon

Edition: illustrated

Published by HarperCollins Publishers, 2002

ISBN 0688162894, 9780688162894

32 pages

The dean of science-writers for the ...

... grammar-school set offers comments on over a dozen big, dramatic photos and photo collages generated by the Hubble Space Telescope, from a sharply focused triple image of Mars to a tiny red arc identified as the most distant galaxy every observed. Most of the pictures look thousands of light years into space—to star "nurseries," remnants of massive explosions, clouds surrounding black holes, colliding galaxies, and less identifiable phenomena. In his characteristically matter-of-fact way, Simon (Seymour Simon's Book of Trains, p. 51, etc.) describes just what the viewer is seeing, puts it into astronomical context, and even mentions, sometimes, how or why certain shots were taken. Though this is nothing like a complete picture of what the Hubble has added to our knowledge of the visible universe, it will leave even readers who are not scientifically inclined with both a clearer understanding of modern astronomy's frontiers, and an enhanced sense of wonder at the starscape's vast, turbulent beauty. (Nonfiction. 9, 10, 11)

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

Gr 4-7 , Ages 10, 11, 12, 13-In this handsome and fascinating ...

... oversized book, Simon discusses the many new discoveries scientists have made because of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), which has been orbiting Earth since April, 1990. On each spread, the large-print, easy-to-understand text is supported by a stunning, full-page color photograph. The author explains what discovery each image produced and how the information fits into our existing knowledge. His enthusiastic descriptions create vivid pictures in and of themselves.-Linda Wadleigh, Oconee County Middle School, Watkinsville, GA

This close-up look at our own Milky Way and other enormous clusters of stars describes the many different types of galaxies, how they were formed, and how they got their different shapes. "A dazzling photo-essay."--School Library Journal.Galaxies

By Seymour Simon

Edition: illustrated, reprint

Published by Harpercollins Childrens Books, 1991

ISBN 0688109926, 9780688109929

32 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Like an afternoon at the planetarium watching a sky show, this is a step-by-step introduction to and description of the many galaxies in the universe. Simon, the author of many science books, uses 20 color photographs, most of which are from the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, to accompany the text. He includes discussions of the ways in which astronomers classify galaxies, black holes, smaller satellite galaxies such as the Magellanic Clouds and supernovas. The terms are explained within the text; however, a glossary might have been a nice addition. As fascinating and accessible as this book is, with its straightforward writing, the concepts may be difficult to comprehend for some readers in the designated age group. They may gain more by sharing Simon's splendid work with adults or older siblings. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 6 This dazzling photo essay immerses readers in a night sky no human eye ever beheld, full of long exposure color photos and computer-enhanced pictures, to introduce the galaxies: the Milky Way and a variety of others we can detect. Simon gives a clear, sure overview of the subject, occasionally surer than the experts. In one place, he states, ``The Galaxy has three spiral arms,'' ignoring the mixed nature of the evidence. Galaxies and Quasars (Watts, 1987) by Heather Cooper and Nigel Henbest offers considerably more detail for grades 4 to 8, in colorful but less alluring oversize format, and with its own set of errors. Simon's Galaxies is worth having just for the inspiration. Margaret Chatham, formerly at Smithtown Library, N.Y.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Home Ages 6-10

2009-05-06T18:38:00.004-04:00

PREVIEW

Home. In this unique volume, prominent American writers from the past and present--Willa Cather, Henry David Thoreau, Eloise Greenfield--give voice to the region of the country each calls home. Thomas Locker's lavish oil paintings accompany each passage, transporting the reader from the crashing waves of the Pacific coast to the bluebonnet fields of the Texas prairie. Come along on a spectacular journey through our home--America.

Home: A Journey through America

By Thomas Locker, Candace Christiansen

Compiled by Thomas Locker

Illustrated by Thomas Locker

Edition: illustrated

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1998

ISBN 015201473X, 9780152014735

32 pages

Lush and romantic paintings of a broad ...... range of landscapes illustrate the poetry and prose of a dozen American authors and poets, whose homes ranged from the Hudson River Valley to the midwestern prairies and beyond. Each spread includes a poem or other brief block of text about home, as well as a biographical snippet about the featured writer. On the opposite page is a painting that illuminates an aspect of the writing; in general, Locker's landscapes are august and riveting. The selection of those included is a hybrid: some names seem written in stone (Frost, Irving, Thoreau, Cather, Sandburg), while others are still very much of the earth (Bruchac, Yolen, Greenfield, Locker). Nevertheless, from the East Coast to the West, the book shows how individual feelings about nature and home have shaped the artistic efforts of writers.

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.
From Publishers Weekly
This visual pilgrimage to the native terrain of a variety of venerable writers suffers from Locker's visually homogeneous treatment of America's diverse landscapes. The journey begins in San Francisco, Robert Frost's birthplace (though most readers likely equate the poet with New England). His "Once by the Pacific" is comprised of strong, clear images: the "great waves" that "thought of doing something to the shore/ That water never did to land before"; the clouds, "low and hairy in the skies." In Locker's painting, however, power is diverted from Frost's fierce flexure of the sea to a purple-to-black sky brooding over agitated water and cliffs glanced by light. Throughout Locker's tour, his brush seems dipped in the Hudson Valley light of his own homeland, and not surprisingly, the standout paintings here are those paired with an excerpt from Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle"?depicting a leisurely sail up the Hudson River, the boat dwarfed by the dramatic Kaatskill mountains aflame at sunset?and his own "Birches in the Fall" with white trunks leaning inward, inviting readers down an autumn trail of golden grasses. But when called upon to conjure the Southwest of Pat Mora's "Gold" or the Amish country depicted in Merle Good's "Song of a People," Locker fails to capture the indigenous palette and mood. Unfortunately, the book seems driven by its theme, rather than a celebration of it. Ages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 3 Up-American landscapes as viewed via paintings and words. Locker and Christiansen have collected poetic and narrative views of scenes from across the continent by such well-known writers as Robert Frost, John Muir, and Washington Irving as well as modern writers such as Pat Mora, Jane Yolen, and Joseph Bruchac. The oil paintings, in true Lockerian tradition, reflect an inner view of landscape, one reminiscent of early British painters who came to paint American scenes but made each of them look like home. This romanticized approach, relying not on accuracy, perspective, or detail, but rather on creating a mood, may appeal to adults but the use of the same color palette, massive cloud effects, and little action will not capture the imagination or hold the interest of children.
Ronald Jobe, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Cinderlily Ages 5-9

2009-05-06T18:31:00.004-04:00

Where have all the flowers gone? They’re dancing up a storm in this whimsical, wondrous rendition of a well-known fairy tale, created by the one and only David Ellwand.

For hours beneath the velvet sky they dance without a care,
Until the clock chimes midnight . . . then she’s no longer there!
Just a single lily petal and her fragrance in the air.

One magic night, a poor cinder girl is granted an impossible wish. It may be the most familiar of tales, but under the inimitable wand of David Ellwand, this timeless story blooms as never before. Here, the innocent heroine is a delicate flower, a lily whose faded petals spring to new life as she arrives at the Sultan’s ball in a butterfly-drawn coach. When the smitten Prince sets out in search of the shy, retiring flower who has vanished into thin air, leaving but a petal behind, it’s clear that Cinderlily’s comically garish, pansy-faced stepsisters won’t stand a chance.

With singular vision, humor, and a touch of computer magic, David Ellwand directs a delightfully expressive cast of flowers in a breathtaking production sure to enchant lovers of fairy tales - and lovers of flowers, too.

Cinderlily: A Floral Fairy Tale in Three Acts

By David Ellwand, Christine Tagg, Charles Perrault

Illustrated by David Ellwand, Christine Tagg

Contributor David Ellwand, Christine Tagg

Edition: illustrated

Published by Candlewick Press, 2003

ISBN 0763623288, 9780763623289

32 pages

Waving his digital wand, Ellwand poses ...

... balletic figures made from flower parts against black backgrounds for an uncommonly elegant, theatrical rendition of the fairy tale. Just an upended stem with slender, graceful lily stamens for limbs and a twist of dried petals for dress, Cinderlily arrives at the Sultan's palace in a pumpkin coach with sunflower wheels; those petals open to dazzling white curls as she enters, and she leaves one behind when they revert at midnight. In the pared-down plot, the Sultan, quite dashing in his iris-petal pantaloons, quickly tracks Cinderlily down, upon which her stepsisters, instead of suffering just deserts, merely slip offstage. Written in stumbling meter and printed in a set of ornate typefaces, the text doesn't measure up to the inventive art—but children will know how the story goes anyway. An eye-catcher. (Picture book/folktale. 7, 8, 9)

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

K-Gr 3, Ages 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 -In this visually intriguing twist ...

... on the traditional tale, Ellwand has replaced the human protagonists with flowers. Using Adobe Photoshop, he has arranged lilies, pansies, tulips, roses, and other petals in graceful poses against stark black backgrounds. While the pictures are technically well executed, it is unlikely they will engender other than a passing interest in children. Tagg's text, written in reasonably well-rhymed couplets, is thin on plot, character development, and imagery. In addition, the alterations she makes in the original tale are incongruous. The prince has become a Sultan, but nonetheless the "band strikes up a waltz" at his Royal Autumn Ball. The fonts, which change frequently in an apparent attempt to match the action of the story, are often hard to read, particularly when placed against those black backgrounds. For a more effective use of natural objects as characters, stay with Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffer's How Are You Peeling? Foods with Moods (Scholastic, 1999).-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

Mozart Finds a Melody Ages 5-9

2009-05-01T21:34:00.003-04:00

PREVIEW

For the first time in Wolfgang's life, the famous composer was at a loss for a tune. He tried every trick to get his imagination going. He sang standing on his head. He played his violin in the bathtub. He even threw darts at the blank music paper. Alas, nothing worked.

An imaginative story about Mozart's many inspirations

Wolfgang Mozart must compose a new piano concerto to perform at the famous Burgtheatre in Vienna. But Mozart can't think of a note to write. When he hears his hungry pet starling sing out melodiously, his creativity begins to flow. Before he can put notes to paper, however, his muse escapes through the window, and Mozart is off on a frantic search to bring her back. Will Mozart find both his friend and song in time?

Based on a true story about the famous composer and his beloved pet starling, this enchanting tale celebrates inspiration in any form it takes.

Mozart Finds a Melody

By Stephen Costanza

Edition: illustrated

Published by Macmillan, 2004

ISBN 0805066276, 9780805066272

40 pages

Costanza spins an upbeat tale from a ...

... wisp of fact in his solo debut. A case of writer's block keeps young Mozart staring at a blank page, until his pet starling chirps an intriguing fragment of melody before escaping out the window. The composer's ensuing search takes him through Vienna's streets, where he hears laughter and other sounds that add to the birdsong—and by the weekend, there's a new piano concerto to perform. As in his art for April Pulley Sayre's Noodle Man: The Pasta Superhero (2002), Costanza suffuses his scenes with a golden light that falls alike on Mozart's flyaway mane, on the elaborately costumed Viennese, and on that starling (colored here more like a hummingbird, but call it poetic license)—who returns in the end to perch on the composer's baton. As chronicled in Mordicai Gerstein's What Charlie Heard (2002), the later composer Charles Ives actually did create music inspired by ambient sounds, though to very different effect. But either tale makes a thought-provoking study of the creative process. (afterword) (Picture book. 7, 8, 9)

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

K-Gr 3 Ages 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 -In this fictionalized version of ...

... how the composer wrote his "Piano Concerto no. 17 in G Major," Mozart is facing a case of writer's block and a looming deadline. His pet starling begins to sing and the notes provide a fine melody. When the young man opens her cage, she flies out. He looks for her all over the city but doesn't find her. However, the sounds of the streets give him additional inspiration so that he can complete the piece and perform it as planned. During the concert, Miss Bimms hears the music and flies to the theater where she is reunited with her owner. Done in gouache, acrylic, and colored pencil, the sepia-toned illustrations provide beautifully detailed glimpses of Vienna and the concert hall. Unfortunately, Mozart is shown with a round head, big eyes, and wild hair-slightly stylized features that give him the appearance of a Cabbage Patch doll. There is a silliness about the story that seems to detract from the man and his talent. In an author's note, Costanza indicates the source for his ideas. Though not outstanding, this tale can be used to introduce Mozart and to open discussion about how a composer might get inspiration from life around him.-Susan Lissim, Dwight School, New York City

A Play's the Thing Ages 5-9

2009-04-30T12:33:00.004-04:00

PREVIEW
Miss Brilliant is full of ideas. With her students she celebrates everything: teeth, corn, mummies, spiders -- and plays!
Only José isn't interested in "Mary Had a Little Lamb," or being a Brilliant Player, or even his surprise role. But as José learns about drama and tension and working with his classmates, he finds that he, too, has his own special place in Miss Brilliant's class and in her heart.
Aliki has created a memorable teacher and a class full of personalities that all readers will want to join.
A Play's the Thing By Aliki
Illustrated by Aliki
Edition: illustrated
Published by HarperCollins, 2005
ISBN 0060743557, 9780060743550
32 pages
Inventive and jolly, Aliki tells a tale in her familiar comic-strip style, with shiny bright colors and enough sly references to convulse adults, even if the kids sail past them. Miss Brilliant, who must have gone to the same teachers' college as Ms. Frizzle, announces to her class that they are going to put on a play based on "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Her multicultural cast hops to with a will, except for José, who bears a passing resemblance to a certain Pierre who didn't care and who spends almost the whole story acting out against everyone else. They write the script—Miss Brilliant assigns them their roles (Bandana, whose English isn't big yet, is a musician; Steffi, who uses a wheelchair, is the narrator)—lines are written and learned, costumes and scenery prepared. The parents are invited, and it's a great success even for José, who not only plays the teacher but whose mom leaves work early to see him. The children are a rainbow of the American classroom, and the lessons gently taught. (Picture book. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

Gr 1-3-Aliki's latest production ...

... explores how an experienced teacher uses a student-led performance of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" to help one of the children deal with his bullying behavior. When Miss Brilliant's class decides to put on a fractured version of the story poem, Jos must learn to work with his classmates and overcome his antisocial tendencies. Children will readily identify with the variety of characters and dynamics that populate this class. The students represent a smorgasbord of nationalities and often make references to their cultural heritages. The format of the book resembles comic strips with blocked pictures in various sizes used to contain the action and conversation bubbles. An independent narrative runs beneath these boxes. This text needs the dialogue to flesh out the plot. It is in the conversation bubbles that Jos 's defiant attitude and self-awareness are evident. Using the book with a group may prove difficult because children will not be able to appreciate the nuances of the boy's expressions and his deliberately unkind actions. This is, however, the type of work that children will be drawn to again and again because they recognize their world so aptly captured in both word and art. Each time they revisit, they will find something new in the colorful cartoon illustrations that prove that Aliki knows her audience.-Maura Bresnahan, High Plain Elementary School, Andover, MA «

On Stage: Theater Games and Activities for Kids Ages 6-13

2009-04-27T21:25:00.004-04:00

Kids learn about theater with games and activities that cover basic theater vocabulary, puppetry and pantomime, sound effects, costumes, props, makeup, and more.
On Stage: Theater Games and Activities for Kids

By Lisa Bany-Winters

Edition: illustrated

Published by Chicago Review Press, 1997

ISBN 1556523246, 9781556523243

180 pages
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-6, Ages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 A compendium of theater games that is sure to delight young thespians. While the material is not new and many of the games are classics ("Mirrors," "Change Three Things," and "Freeze"), Bany-Winters has a clear and concise way of explaining both the activity and its purpose, making her work a useful source for ensemble-building games for student-run drama groups and rehearsal techniques for adult teachers/directors. Often renamed for greater child appeal, the activities range from vocal warm ups to improvisational scene work, and many include helpful suggestions for variations on familiar games. Exercises in puppetry, mask making, costuming, makeup, and set design, as well as several short scripts, round out the presentation. Explanations of theatrical terms are smoothly incorporated into the text. Tips for young actors and short anecdotes about theatrical figures or plays are featured throughout. Simple black-and-white graphics add touches of humor. One drawback is the list of "Suggested Plays and Stories for Kids," which includes some titles that are beyond both the abilities and interests of preteens. Nevertheless, this will be a terrific addition to drama collections. Purchase an extra copy for the professional shelf as well. Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence,
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 4-7, Ages 10, 11, 12, 13. Here's a welcome addition for libraries that have calls for theater-related topics. Bany-Winters, who has taught children's theater, has compiled a varied and interesting assortment of theater games that will stimulate the imagination and get young thespians ready to perform on stage. The games are divided into different categories, among them improvisation, creating characters, using and becoming objects, and ideas for pantomime and puppetry. There are also suggestions for monologues, scenes, and plays. A clean design, highlighted by ink drawings, makes the book accessible for kids who want to use this on their own (though teachers, scout leaders, and other interested adults may be the book's best audience). There are also plenty of tips for costumes, makeup, sets, and props. Glossary; bibliography. Ilene Cooper

Show Time!: Music, Dance, and Drama Activities for Kids Ages 9-12

2009-04-27T21:08:00.005-04:00

Kids can learn to develop their skills as singers, dancers, and actors through more than 80 activities that include imitating a musician or musical instrument, acting out a song, or creating a mirror dance. Illustrations.
Show Time!: Music, Dance, and Drama Activities for Kids

By Lisa Bany-Winters

Edition: illustrated

Published by Chicago Review Press, 2000

ISBN 1556523610, 9781556523618

194 pages

Gr 3-6, Ages 9, 10, 11, 12 -An introduction to musical ...... theater. The author covers the history of musicals from those inspired by Shakespeare to those written by Sondheim in one- and two-page chapters with added tidbits in sidebars. Creating musicals from poetry, basic acting preparation, rhythm and dance, and creative dramatics form the basis for activities. There are games, scenes for experimentation, and short scripts to stage. Many activities are physical in nature, and would work well with groups of young actors. The directions are given in organized steps. Some of the activities are quite creative and will challenge even the more seasoned performers. A few games involve vocal expression, but adults could add sound to any number of the activities; indeed, many invite experimentation. Simple drawings add a friendly touch. Since the book looks at musical theatre from so many points of view, it will be useful for different pursuits, e.g., teachers, directors working with young actors, and children looking for direction in theatrical ventures.-Cris Riedel, Ellis B. Hyde Elementary School, Dansville, NY

I Know a Shy Fellow Who Swallowed a Cello Ages 4-7

2009-04-27T20:58:00.003-04:00

PREVIEW

He's shy, a wallflower. He's the man at the side of the room listening to a duet for cello and viola. Even now you wouldn't notice him. But our shy fellow suddenly has an urge to swallow a cello, which is precisely what he does. And he doesn't stop there. He follows it with a harp, a sax, and a fiddle. On and on he goes, trying to satisfy his voracious appetite for musical instruments. A strange diet, you say? It's the perfect diet for a strange fellow, a strange, shy fellow. Barbara S. Garriel's wacky take-off on the old woman who swallowed a fly is the perfect match for John O'Brien's fertile and funny imagination.

I know a shy fellow who swallowed a cello

By Barbara S. Garriel

Illustrated by Barbara S. Garriel

Edition: illustrated

Published by Boyds Mills Press, 2004

ISBN 1590780434, 9781590780435

32 pages

Surreal illustrations add disturbing and ...... enjoyable vigor to this adaptation of "I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly." The shy fellow is listening to a string duet when, much to the consternation of the cellist, he swallows the cello—"perhaps he'll bellow." This strange gentleman, now shaped like the cello he has swallowed, follows up with the harp from an Irish dance troupe, the saxophone from a jazz band, a cowboy's fiddle, a marching band's cymbal, the flute from a revolutionary war piper, and a birthday party's kazoo. With each addition to his strange meal, the shy fellow becomes more and more strangely shaped. At last he swallows the bell off a passing cat's collar—one snack too many!—and the resulting explosion returns the instruments to the musicians in a delightfully vibrant musical blast. The dynamic line of the illustrations, full of swoops and squiggles, provides excellent accompaniment to this silly reworking of a familiar rhyme. (Picture book. 4, 5, 6, 7)

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

Meet the Orchestra Ages

2009-04-27T20:47:00.003-04:00

PREVIEW

Have you ever met an orchestra? Well, here's your chance!

Meet the rabbit with her flute... The koala cellist...the tuba-playing warthog...the alligator on the drums...

This unusual introduction to the orchestra describes the instruments - strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion - and offers interesting information about them.

Playful illustrations show the animal musicians as they gather for an evening's performance. Then the conductor lowers his baton, and the wonderful music begins...

Meet the Orchestra

By Ann Hayes, Karmen Thompson

Illustrated by Karmen Thompson

Edition: illustrated

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1995

ISBN 0152002227, 9780152002220

32 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Working within the framework of an evening at the symphony--the title page features concert-goers buying tickets, the last page shows musicians and audience members heading home--these collaborators have drummed up a treasure of a book for musically inclined children. Each instrument of the orchestra--from oboes and violas to tubas, trumpets and timpani--is explained, with clear definitions as well as more subjective information as to how each one sounds (the clarinet's "cool tones melt in your ears just like ice cream melts in your mouth"). Thompson's illustrations are sumptuously silly--but musically correct--featuring an array of formally dressed animal musicians (check out the otter in tails on the piccolo). Readers also meet the conductor and learn his role, and are treated to a glimpse of the orchestra seated and in full cry. It's a smashing introduction to classical music, and a must prior to a first visit to the symphony. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-- An attractive, well-planned book that introduces the orchestra's families (groups of like instruments) and its members. In clear and understandable prose, each instrument's function, especially as it relates to the other members of its family, and its sound are described in sometimes poetic phrases--"its song can be bright as laughter, light as air, soft as a whisper, or sad as a tear." Single- or double-page spreads feature a large watercolor illustration of an animal playing the instrument under discussion. Although most are aptly chosen for their instruments--a polar bear playing a bassoon and a lion as the conductor--some are disconcerting. The sight of a chimpanzee in a pink dress and frilly pantaloons sitting at a grand piano lessens the effectiveness of that instrument's description. Overall, however, these creatures add a lively note and enable the book to be friendly and accessible without exhibiting the overriding silliness found in Eugen's Orchestranimals (Scholastic, 1989). A good book to use in the classroom as well as individually, this is a collaboration between two artists whose love for music and the orchestra is evident throughout. --Jane Marino, White Plains Pub . Lib . , NY
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Zin! Zin! Zin!: A Violin Ages 4-8

2009-04-27T20:35:00.005-04:00

When this book begins, the trombone is playing all by itself. But soon a trumpet makes a duet, a french horn a trio, and so on until the entire orchestra is assembled on stage. Written in elegant and rhythmic verse and illustrated with playful and flowing artwork, this unique counting book is the perfect introduction to musical groups. Readers of all ages are sure to shout "Encore!" when they reach the final page of this joyous celebration of classical music.
Zin! Zin! Zin!: A Violin

By Lloyd Moss, Marjorie Priceman

Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman

Edition: illustrated

Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1995

ISBN 0671882392, 9780671882396

32 pages
Amazon.com Review
"The STRINGS all soar, the REEDS implore, / The BRASSES roar with notes galore. / It's music that we all adore. / It's what we go to concerts for." In this exuberant tribute to classical music and the passionate, eccentric musicians who play it, author Lloyd Moss begins with the mournful moan and silken tone of one trombone. A trumpet sings and stings along, forming a duo, then a fine French horn joins in, "TWO, now THREE-O, what a TRIO!" The mellow cello ups it to a quartet, then ZIN! ZIN! ZIN! a violin soars high and moves in to make a quintet. The flute that "sends our soul a-shiver" makes a sextet, and "with steely keys that softly click," a sleek, black, woody clarinet slips the group into a septet. We move on! A chamber group of ten! And the orchestra is ready to begin. Moss should be congratulated for creating a playful, musical stream of rhyming couplets that seamlessly, slyly teaches the names of myriad musical groups. Marjorie Priceman, the whimsical, masterful illustrator of Elsa Okon Rael's When Zaydeh Danced on Eldridge Street and Jack Prelutsky's For Laughing Out Loud, won a Caldecott Honor Award for this swirling, twirling, colorful musical world worthy of thunderous applause and a standing ovation. (Ages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly
This debut book by author Moss, as kids today would say is boss. Its clever, jazzy verse presents (In language that is never dense) a helpful intro to each orchestra instrument-how some are alike but rather more are different. He starts with the trombone's "mournful moan," playing solo (i.e., alone); then adds a trumpet, French horn and cello-all sounding forth a signature "hello." Each musical portrait (in quatrains) abounds with perfectly chosen, alliterative sounds. Thus the flute, notes Moss, "sends our soul a-shiver; flute, that slender silver sliver." And Priceman's zany art's just right, with loose-limbed figures taking flight around each spread in garb bizarre, if proving how funky musicians are.With every new instrument joining the throng of diligent players practicing song, Moss incorporates numbers and stops only when his team finally reaches a "chamber group of ten." So the book can be used as a counting tool (A great way to perk up a dull day at school): but it really works best, it's easy to see, as a deft means of meeting the symphony. So a plentiful praise to this finely matched pair, whose pictures and words show unusual flair.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

My Chocolate Year Ages 8 to 12

2009-04-27T12:58:00.003-04:00

My Chocolate Year

PREVIEW
Charlotte Herman
Illustrated by LeUyen Pham
FictionAges 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Simon and Schuster, 2008, 1-4169-3341-7 163 PAGES
Dorrie Meyers is starting fifth grade, the year of the Sweet Semester baking and essay contest at school. Dorrie is determined to win, but her cakes fall flat, her cookies look like pancakes, and she learns the hard way that chocolate-covered gum is NOT a good idea.

Then Dorrie meets her cousin Victor for the first time. Victor is an immigrant from Europe, and he is about to teach Dorrie that a loving family and a safe homeland are the sweetest things of all. With some top-secret tips from Victor's family's bakery and a big slice of confidence, Dorrie Meyers might just have the yummiest year of her life.

The anticipation of "Sweet Semester ...

...," the fifth-grade dessert-making contest, has Dorrie and her Chicago classmates planning all sorts of recipes. This year, Mrs. Fitzgerald has made the contest more exciting and important by including a fundraiser for children of post–World War II Europe with the promise of newspaper coverage for winners of the best dessert and essay. Dorrie and best friend Sunny try out recipes for several favorite chocolate treats, often with humorous setbacks and unforeseen disasters. But the real tragedy is the news that most of Dorrie's Jewish Polish family perished in the war with only 16-year-old cousin Victor surfacing from his hidden Holocaust life. Herman's autobiographically inspired short novel captures the essence of a 1940s Jewish-American lifestyle filled with the love and hard work of an immigrant family determined to reunite with their sole surviving relative. Her lighthearted first-person narration, studded with 12 recipes for successful chocolate desserts, reflects a certain childhood sweetness that evolves into a more poignant understanding of the realities of war and the importance of family ties. Pham's black-and-white drawings add a nostalgic flavor to the book's time period and setting. (Fiction. 8, 9, 10, 11,12) «

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) 2/19/2008 VNU Business Media, Inc.
Margaret O'Brien, Aunt Esther, DP camp, Yiddish, Sunny, Hanukkah, Sweet Semester, Bubbie, muggle, Ruth Wakefield, Journey for Margaret, Rosh Hashanah, vanilla ice, caramel apples, egg creams, whipped cream, Chicago Daily, Fred Astaire, Aunt Jenny, stuffed cabbage

2008 Read Aloud Award When Dinosaurs Came With Everything Ages 3-8

2009-04-27T12:13:00.003-04:00

PREVIEW

Get a WHAT!?

Free WHAT!?

DINOSAURS?

Just when a little boy thinks he's going to die of boredom from running errands with his mom, the most remarkable, the most stupendous thing happens. He discovers that on this day, and this day only, stores everywhere are giving away a very special treat with any purchase. No, not the usual lollipop or sticker. Something bigger. Much, MUCH bigger. It's a dream come true, except...what exactly do you do with these Jurassic treats? And how do you convince Mom to let you keep them?

When Dinosaurs Came with Everything
By Elise Broach, David Small
Illustrated by David Small
Edition: illustrated
Published by Simon and Schuster, 2007
ISBN 0689869223, 9780689869228
40 pages

What if one day every merchant in town ...

... offered up, and indeed, insisted that shoppers take home a live dinosaur (free) with every purchase? That's what happens to a boy and his mother in this sweet, absurd story that unfolds very much like a dream—or a nightmare, depending on the reader's perspective on having a large dinosaur as a pet. In Small's comical, wonderfully expressive watercolor-and-ink drawings, it's easy to identify the mother's reaction to the bonus triceratops (free with a dozen doughnuts); stegosaurus (from the doctor instead of stickers); and pterosaur (from the barber instead of the usual balloon): unmitigated horror, inversely proportionate to her son's delight. The hulking beasts are irresistibly endearing, though, as they wait patiently, doglike, for their new owners outside all the town establishments and ultimately, once at home in the family's backyard, prove their worth as household laborers, cleaning gutters and rescuing far-flung Frisbees. In the end, the boy's friends bring their own newly acquired dinos over to his house for a poolside party—and he knows Mom has truly come around when she calls the baker for more doughnuts. (Picture book. 4, 5, 6, 7)

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) 9/25/2007 VNU Business Media, Inc.

PreS-Gr 1 Age 3, 4, 5, 6 — In a playful take on the ...

... stickers and lollipops that bored kids sweep up at businesses as parents do errands, Broach imagines what would happen if a dinosaur were the giveaway of the day. A boy's increasing delight at the freebies he collects from the bakery, the doctor, and barber contrast with his mother's increasing panic and dismay as the lumbering beasts start to accumulate. When they acquire the fourth behemoth, Mom decides that the errands are done and whisks everyone home. Once there, she finds some unique ways to put the stegosaurus, triceratops, hadrosaur, and pterosaur to good use doing household chores. Small's sketchy, tongue-in-cheek watercolor-and-ink artwork perfectly captures the boy's exuberance, the dinosaurs' mass, and the hubbub that a city full of these reptiles would create. Dinosaur lovers will enjoy seeing their favorite creatures pictured and named, though the book's appeal won't just be for them. Both listeners and independent readers will appreciate the humor in the text, and the book will spark imaginations and discussions on what else might make great giveaways.—Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha Public Library, WI

School Library Journal vol. 53 iss. 9 p. 158 (c) 09/01/2007

2009 List of Books Nominated for the E. B. White Read Aloud Award

2009-04-27T11:26:00.002-04:00

http://theabfc.wordpress.com/the-eb-white-read-aloud-awards/

Read Aloud 2004 Award SkippyJon Jones Ages 4-8

2009-04-27T11:08:00.004-04:00

2004 Winner

SkippyJon Jones, by Judith Byron Schachner PREVIEW

Unique, quirky and memorable, SkippyJon Jones is chock-full of rhyme and rhythm. A Siamese kitten, who imagines himself to be a Chihuahua and a sword fighter - anything except an ordinary cat - is the star of this book. The story takes young readers on a wild ride in which they can't help but join along with sing-along songs and chants. Peppered with Spanish expressions and full of energized fun, SkippyJon Jones is not only entertaining for the listener, it's also enjoyable for the reader.

Judith Byron Schachner has been illustrating and writing children's books since 1992.She has illustrated many of her own stories as well as those written by others. Her artwork has been called "absolutely delightful" by School Library Journal. In 1999, her book Mr. Emerson's Cook was among the Carolyn Field Notable Books.

To find out more about Judith Schachner, visit her web site.

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3 Ages 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 -This is a wildly wonderful book about a hyperactive kitten, Skippyjon Jones, whose head and ears are too big for his body, and whose imagination is too intense for his mama. According to her, he needs to do some serious thinking about what it means to be a Siamese cat instead of a bird (Skippyjon always wakes up and eats worms with his feathered friends). She sends him to his room, where he imagines he is a Chihuahua ("My name is Skippito Friskito./I fear not a single bandito"). Chock-full of rhyming chants and Spanish expressions, the feline's adventure as a doggy Zorro ends in chaos. His frazzled mother gives him a hug anyway and says, "Say good night, Skippyjon Jones." "Buenas noches, mis amigos," says the kitten, as he bounces on his bed all ready for another adventure. The buoyant and colorful cartoon illustrations match the exuberant text perfectly. Spanish-speaking children will be especially delighted by the words and humor; others may be a little bewildered by all of the foreign phrases and will need some explanation, but the story definitely has the potential of a fun read-aloud. A good multicultural offering.
Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Read Aloud Winner 2005 Wild About Books Ages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

2009-04-27T10:43:00.003-04:00

2005 Winner

Wild About Books
By Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown

Wild About Books is a rollicking rhymed story of Molly the librarian who accidentally drives her bookmobile to the zoo and introduces the birds and beasts to a new something called reading. Molly finds the perfect book for each animal --- tall books for giraffes, small books for crickets, joke books for hyenas - and has them going "wild, simply wild, about wonderful books." Author Judy Sierra combines clever prose with laugh-out-loud book selections for the animals:

"She even found waterproof books for the otter,
who never went swimming without Harry Potter."

Judy Sierra is renowned for her funny and brief retellings of folktales, most recently in the delightful collection of Silly and Sillier. Equally adept at rhyme, she wrote a collection of amusing poems about penguins, Antarctic Antics, which was a bestseller. Ms. Sierra devotes considerable time to storytelling and reading to children at schools and libraries, endeavors that help her know exactly what makes children laugh. Judy lives in Castro Valley, California. Click here to visit Judy Sierra's web site.

A rollicking, loving tribute to Dr ...

.... Seuss (to whose memory this is dedicated) and to books and libraries. Here's a rhyme that works, without clunking but with inspired silliness in the best Seussian meter. Librarian Molly McGrew, resplendent in hot-pink trousers and a tropical striped jacket, drives the bookmobile into the zoo, with delightful results. The animals become fascinated by reading, and by words, and she strives to satisfy them: tall books for the giraffes—titled Skyscrapers, Redwoods, and Basketball in Brown's clever take—books in Chinese for the pandas, "And llamas read dramas while eating their llunches." The insects write haiku, critiqued by the scorpion—not only a lesson in verse, but quite hilarious: the Dung Beetle writes: "Roll a ball of dung— / Any kind of poo will do— / Baby beetle bed." The scorpion sniffs, "Stinks." Brown's paintings, rich in pattern and detail and wonderful color, show graceful, cheery animals. A storytime spectacular. (Picture book. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

PreS-Gr 2-In a rhyming text that is both ...

... homage to and reminiscent of Dr. Seuss's epic rhyming sagas, Sierra spins the tale of librarian Molly McGrew who mistakenly drives the bookmobile to the zoo. The various denizens are attracted to her read-alouds and soon are reading, writing, rhyming, and going wild about those wonderful books. With Molly's encouragement, the animals start their own Zoobrary so they can read to their hearts' content. Sierra's text has a wacky verve and enough clever asides and allusions to familiar characters to satisfy bibliophiles of all ages. The author's sense of playfulness in plot and language ("llamas read while eating their llunches"; a hippo wins the "Zoolitzer Prize") creates a lavish literary stew. Comic moments abound, including bugs writing haiku and unruly bears licking illustrations right off the page (until Molly gently teaches them how to treat books properly). Brown's cheerful, full-color illustrations stretch his trademark art with ever-so-slightly stylized spreads that are rich in pattern, texture, and nuance. On each spread, he plays with perspective and layout to create an electric sense of excitement as the animals discover what kids have known for a long time-reading is fun!-Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha's Public Library, WI

Houndsley and Catina and the Quiet Time Ages 4-8

2009-04-27T10:38:00.003-04:00

The creators of the E. B. White Read Aloud winner HOUNDSLEY AND CATINA offer a charming sequel about taking time out from the hustle and bustle.

The first snow of winter has fallen, and Houndsley is very happy, as he loves the quiet time. Catina does not like the quiet time, however, and she does not enjoy being snowed in. What about all her plans for the day? What if their evening concert has to be canceled? With a bit of pretending, a few books and board games, a flourish of creativity, and
some time to dream, Houndsley helps Catina let go of her worries and enjoy the snowy day, wherever it might take them.

Houndsley and Catina and the Quiet Time

By James Howe, Marie-Louise Gay

Illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay

Edition: illustrated

Published by Candlewick Press, 2008

ISBN 0763633844, 9780763633844

42 pages

From Booklist
Emergent readers will enjoy the latest outing featuring this appealing cat-and-dog friendship. The first winter storm finds the duo snowed in while preparing for the evening’s community concert. Houndsley loves the quiet time, while Catina is hopping mad that she is stuck inside. Finally, neighbors shovel them out and the concert takes place after all. Gay’s delicate watercolors capture the delight of a wintry day, and Howe’s on-target portrayal of friends who get along despite bumps along the way make this special. Grades K-2, ages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. --Bina Williams

Houndsley and Catina and the Birthday Surprise Ages 4-8

2009-04-27T10:31:00.002-04:00

"Published in beginning-reader format, this gentle story will appeal to children’s compassion as well as their sense of humor." — BOOKLIST

Houndsley is sad. Not because it’s raining or because there are holes in his sweater, but because he doesn’t know when his birthday is. And now Catina is sad, too. But friends are good at cheering each other up, and Houndsley and Catina are the best of friends. So it won’t be long before they each discover, in a most surprising way, how a first-rate friend can brighten even the saddest days.

Houndsley and Catina and the Birthday Surprise: Candlewick Sparks

By James Howe

Illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay

Edition: illustrated, reprint

Published by Candlewick Press, 2007

ISBN 0763636401, 9780763636401

48 pages

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2 Ages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 –The personable canine and feline friends continue their adventures in this early reader. Houndsley tells Catina that he is sad because he doesn't know his birth date. Worried that he has made her sad, too–she doesn't know when her birthday falls, either–he decides to surprise her with a cake. Catina is up to her own surprises, though, and arranges a birthday party for her pal. Gay's soft watercolor-and-pencil illustrations with collage details are fun and lighthearted, and scenes are filled with activity and assorted sweet-looking animals. The ratio between text and pictures will appeal to new readers.–Sandra Welzenbach, Villarreal Elementary School, San Antonio, TX
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
This sequel to Houndsley and Catina (2006) begins with Houndsley the dog feeling blue and his best friend, Catina the cat, wondering why. Walking in the rain with his pal, Houndsley admits that he is sad because he doesn't know when his birthday is. Catina confesses that she doesn't know her birth date either. Within days, each animal has found a way to cheer the other. Published in beginning-reader format, this gentle story will appeal to children's compassion as well as their sense of humor. Though the setting is a cold, sometimes-bleak autumn, Gay's pencil, watercolor, and collage artwork glows with warmth, style, and quiet pizzazz. An appealing book for independent readers in the early grades, the story will also make a good fall read-aloud for preschool classes. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

2006 Read Aloud Award If I Built a Car Ages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

2009-04-27T09:55:00.003-04:00

2006 Winner, Picture Books

If I Built a Car, by Chris Van Dusen
$15.99 Penguin Young Readers Group PREVIEW

Young Jack is giving an eye-opening tour of the car he'd like to build. There's a snack bar, a pool, and even a robot chauffeur named Robert. With Jack's soaring imagination in the driver's seat, readers are off on a wild ride of imagination!

Chris Van Dusen's interest in art began at a young age when his mother gave hiim and his four brothers pencils and paper to keep them busy. After high school, Chris pursued his interest in art by studying painting and illustration at the University of Massachursetts at Dartmouth, graduating in 1982 with a BFA. In 1985 he returned to Maine and settled in the coastal town of Camden. He is also the auhtor of Down to the Sea wit Mr. Magee, and A Camping Spree with Mr. McGee. In his spare time, Chris likes to hike and bike all over the Maine coast with his family. Click here to visit Chris Van Dusen's web site.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-With descriptions and a rhyme scheme clearly inspired by Dr. Seuss, a little boy relates all of the wonderful things about the car he plans to design, including safety features, a pool, a robot driver, and the ability to go underwater and fly through the air. The rhyme scheme works well enough, although at times the rhythm falters. The artwork is the real draw here. The brightly colored, crisp, cartoon-style illustrations, reminiscent of the Jetsons, are likely to keep viewers' attention. The full-bleed pictures are animated and detailed, and the boy's dog, which appears in each picture, ties the images together nicely. This slight story may attract young fans of vehicles, but readers looking for a plot will be disappointed in what is essentially an extensive laundry list of the automobile's attributes.-Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
K-Gr. 2. A young boy decides to design a better car than the old family station wagon. Driven by a robot, his sleek, supercharged vehicle can drive underwater and fly, and the interior includes a snack bar and swimming pool. The story is told in jaunty rhyming couplets, but the fun really comes from the illustrations, which perfectly parody 1950s' visions of the future, as depicted in such magazines as Popular Mechanics. The car glides past neat suburban homes with wide and perfect lawns, where everything is bathed in pastels. This may appeal more to parents (or, perhaps more accurately, to grandparents) who remember these renderings of technological dream worlds. Still, children will enjoy the exuberance and goofiness of the double-page spreads, such as the close-up of the expansive snack bar, which dispenses burgers, fries, and Cheez Whip on command. Todd Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

ABC Read Aloud Award Winner 2007 Alabama Moon Ages 9-14

2009-04-27T09:47:00.004-04:00

Winner - 2007 E.B. White Read Aloud Award For Older Readers

Alabama Moon
by Watt Key
$16.00 Farrar, Straus & Giroux Ages 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 PREVIEW

I could trap my own food and make my own clothes. I could find my way by the stars and make fire in the rain. Pap said he even figured I could whip somebody three times my size. He wasn't worried about me.

For as long as ten-year-old Moon can remember, he has lived out in the forest in a shelter with his father. They keep to themselves, their only contact with other human beings an occasional trip to the nearest general store. When Moon's father dies, Moon follows his father's last instructions: to travel to Alaska to find others like themselves. But Moon is soon caught and entangled in a world he doesn't know or understand, apparent property of the government he has been avoiding all his life. As the spirited and resourceful Moon encounters constables, jails, institutions, lawyers, true friends, and true enemies, he adapts his wilderness survival skills and learns to survive in the outside world on his own terms.

From the Committee:
Described by one ABC bookseller as Hatchet meets Holes, the committee loved this coming of age novel for its freshness of voice, originality, and blend of humor and drama. Tested by several of the committee members on target audiences, the language and pacing of the book made it a great read-aloud that grabbed listeners' attention and didn't let go.

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-8, Ages 12, 13, 14–Moon, 10, has spent most of his life in a camouflaged shelter in the forest with his father, a Vietnam veteran who distrusts people and the government. Pap has educated him in both academics and survival skills. His life suddenly changes when the land is sold to a lawyer and his father dies. The lawyer discovers him and, believing what he is doing is best for the child, turns him over to Mr. Gene from the local boys home. When Moon escapes, Mr. Gene alerts the constable, an emotionally unstable bully who becomes obsessed with capturing him. Once at the home, though, Moon makes his first real friends and learns what friendship is all about. Much of the story revolves around multiple chases, captures, and escapes. The ending might be a bit too perfect, but it is a happy one for Moon. The book is well written with a flowing style, plenty of dialogue, and lots of action. The characters are well drawn and three-dimensional, except for the constable–but then, maybe thats all there is to him. Even those who knew him as a child have nothing good to say about him. The language is in keeping with the characters personalities and the situations. Although Moon is only 10, older readers will also enjoy the book and will better understand the adults perspectives.–Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* This excellent novel of survival and adventure begins with the death of young Moon's father, an antigovernment radical who has been living off the land in rural Alabama with Moon for years. Moon has never known any truth but his dad's, and so he tries to continue his father's lifestyle. Unfortunately, Moon quickly finds himself in the claws of civilization, as personified by a sadistic cop. After a brief stint in jail (a lifetime of hunting and gathering leaves Moon hilariously pleased with the prison food), Moon again lights out for the territories, only to be recaptured and end up in reform school. Of course, no reform school is gonna keep Moon in check. Key's first novel is populated with memorable characters--such as Moon's reform-school buddy's dad, whose life is devoted to drinking and shooting machine guns--and studded with utterly authentic details about rural Alabama and survivalism. Stylistically, the book is perfectly paced, and Moon's narration is thoroughly believable. A terrific choice for reluctant readers and also for fans of Gary Paulsen's Brian novels. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

ABC Read Aloud Award Winner 2007 Houndsley and Catina Ages 5-7 Aloud, Ages 7-10 Alone

2009-04-27T09:38:00.004-04:00

Winner - 2007 E.B. White Read Aloud Award For Picture Books

Houndsley and Catina
By James Howe
llustrated by Marie-Louise Gay
$14.99 HC / $4.99 PA
Candlewick Press

Catina wants to be a famous writer. Houndsley is an excellent cook. Catina thinks Houndsley is a wonder. Houndsley thinks Catina is a very good friend. So what should Houndsley say about Catina's seventy-four-chapter memoir? And can Catina find the right words of comfort for Houndsley after the big cooking contest fiasco? James Howe's funny and endearing world of ginger tea, no-bean chili, and firefly watching is brought to life in cozy watercolors by Marie-Louise Gay in this tender chapter book about what it means to be friends.

From the Committee:
Although this book falls in the Early Reader category, the committee chose this book as the recipient of the E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Picture Books because of the wonderful relationship between James Howe's writing and Marie-Louise Gay's illustrations. Committee members felt that the lovely relationship between the two main characters was an evocative update on classic friendship stories like Frog and Toad and George and Martha.

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2 Ages 5, 6, 7 Catina, who has just completed Life Through the Eyes of a Cat, looks forward to winning prizes and being famous. Houndsley thinks that the book is terrible, but spares her feelings by telling her that her writing leaves him speechless. He is such a good cook that Catina and their friend Burt convince him to enter a cooking contest, but he is so nervous that he undercooks the rice and leaves out the beans in his three-bean chili. In the end, Houndsley realizes that he is happy to experience the joy of cooking; he can live without fame, and Catina confesses that she does not enjoy the process of writing. Houndsley suggests that she can be famous for something else and tells her that she is good at being a friend. Catina purrs: Being your friend is better than being famous. Gay presents distinctive watercolor, pencil, and collage illustrations in varying layouts to illuminate the story. The dog and cat exude emotion and motion in modest, vintage homes and beautiful outdoor settings. This intimate look at friendship is a welcome addition to series such as Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad (HarperCollins) and Elissa Haden Guest's Iris and Walter (Harcourt). Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 2-4 Ages 7, 8, 9, 10, younger for reading aloud. Catina (a cat) and Houndsley (you guessed it, a dog) are best friends, and they encourage each other as best friends do. Houndsley is mortified when he reads his friend's novel-in-progress, and realizes that Catina has little writing talent. "I'm at a loss for words," he finally musters, satisfying Catina, who seems focused on literary prizes and fame instead of the actual writing. Then Catina encourages Houndsley to enter a cooking competition, and he's so nervous that he fouls the recipe and endures the judges' mockery. Together the friends confess that, rather than simply enjoying their activities, they secretly wanted to become famous. This early chapter book, while emphasizing doing what you love, not what will bring acknowledgment, is heavy-handed. But it will still hit home with kids just learning about their own particular talents and passions, and the lively, brisk writing is wonderfully extended in Gay's airy watercolor-and-pencil illustrations, which keep the focus on the caring friends. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Association of Booksellers for Children Members in North Carolina

2009-04-27T09:26:00.003-04:00

North Carolina

Author Squad Bookshop and Publishing Center
Huntersville, NC
Phone: 704-992-6290

Black Forest Books & Toys
Charlotte, NC
Phone: 704-332-4838
Email us

Books to be Red
Okracoke, NC
Phone: 252-928-3936
Email us

Bookshop By the Lakes
West End, NC
Phone: 910-673-5900

Country Bookshop
Southern Pines, NC
Phone: 910-692-3211
Email us

Quail Ridge Books
Raleigh, NC
Phone: 919-828-1588

Spellbound Children's Bookshop
Asheville, NC
Phone: 828-232-2228

Websites of Authors and Illustrators, Members of ABC

2009-04-27T09:14:00.002-04:00

Association of Booksellers for Children has a web page of Authors and Illustrators who are members of ABC. There are links to their individual web pages.
http://web.archive.org/web/20080108050702/www.abfc.com/authors.html

The E. B. White Read Aloud Awards

2009-04-27T08:59:00.004-04:00

The Association of Booksellers for Children's E. B. White Read Aloud Awards are a series of Web Pages from September 2, 2004 through December 18, 2007 which are now available through the Way Back Machine of webarchive.org.

Here is the link to the list of them: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.abfc.com/ebwhite.html

Websites of Awards for Childrens Books

2009-04-27T08:48:00.003-04:00

Here are websites where you will find complete lists of:

The Caldecott titles

The Newbery titles

The Golden Kite Award titles

The Boston Globe-Horn Book Award titles

The Kate Greenaway Award titles

The Carnegie Award Winning Titles

The Book Sense Best Children's Book Award titles

The Scott O’Dell Award For Historical Fiction

The E. B White Read Aloud Award

Through the Looking Glass Reviews of Award-winning Books

2009-04-27T08:42:00.002-04:00

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS CHILDREN'S BOOK REVIEW
An Online Children's Book Review Journal
This link is for Award Winners
http://www.lookingglassreview.com/html/award_winners.html

Princess Baby Ages Ages 1-5

2009-04-26T22:39:00.003-04:00

Poor baby, no one calls her by her real name! “I am not a buttercup, or a giggly goose. I am not a cupcake. Please don’t call me Little Lamb, and never ever Gum Drop,” she insists. With a curtsy and a twirl, again and again our protagonist makes it abundantly clear who she is. She wears a shiny crown, a fancy dress, sparkly shoes, a velvet cape, and glittery jewels.

There are more clues too–she dances with princes, has perfect manners,
and makes sure that everyone in her kingdom is happy. Her persistence
pays off in the end, and even the youngest readers will be cheering,
“Princess Baby!” From the Hardcover edition.

Princess Baby

By Karen Katz

Illustrated by Karen Katz

Edition: illustrated

Published by Schwartz & Wade Books, 2008

ISBN 0375941193, 9780375941191

32 pages Ages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Science Verse Ages 7-12

2009-04-25T10:32:00.004-04:00

What if a boring lesson about the food chain becomes a sing-aloud celebration about predators and prey? Only the amazing talents of John Scieszka and Lane Smith, the team who created "Math Curse," could make science so much fun. CD Recording Included
Science Verse

By Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith

Illustrated by Lane Smith

Edition: illustrated

Published by Viking, 2004

ISBN 0670910570, 9780670910571

40 pages

In 1995, Mrs. Fibonacci laid a Math ...... Curse; this year, it's Mr. Newton who says, " . . . if you listen closely enough, you can hear the poetry of science in everything." What follows is a madcap collection of science poetry that lampoons familiar songs ("Glory, glory, evolution") and poems ("Once in first grade I was napping"). The whole lacks the zany unity of its predecessor, opting for an impressionistic tour of scientific terms and principles; the illustrations are less integrated into the text as well, if individually often quite inspired (a set of antiqued nursery rhyme panels are just perfect). Some of the poems rise to the level of near genius (" 'Twas fructose, and the vitamins / Did zinc and dye [red #8]"), while others settle for the satisfyingly gross ("Mary had a little worm. / She thought it was a chigger"). If this offering falls short of the standard set by Math Curse, it will nevertheless find an eager audience, who will hope that the results of Mr. Picasso's curse will soon be forthcoming. (Poetry. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

Gr 2-5- Ages 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 In Math Curse (Viking, 1995), a ...

... teacher's chance comment causes a girl to see every aspect of her life as a math problem. This time around, the fun starts when a boy hears this remark: "-if you listen closely enough, you can hear the poetry of science in everything." What follows is a series of poems that parody the styles of Joyce Kilmer, Edgar Allan Poe, Lewis Carroll, Robert Frost, and many others, as well as familiar songs and nursery rhymes. "Once in first grade I was napping/When I heard a scary yapping" begins a lament about studying dinosaurs year after year. In "Astronaut Stopping by a Planet on a Snowy Evening," the narrator bemoans the fact that he can't figure out what planet he's on because "In science class I was asleep-." Children need not be familiar with the works upon which the spoofs are based to enjoy the humor, but this is a perfect opportunity to introduce the originals and to discuss parody as a poetic form. The dynamic cartoons are an absolute delight. The expressions on the face of the beleaguered boy keep readers smiling and the pages are chock-full of funny details that are in perfect sync with the poems. Printed in a cream-colored, readable font and set against solid backgrounds, the text is never overwhelmed by the frenetic illustrations. Fans of Scieszka and Smith will be in heaven, but the book will appeal to one and all.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar Ages 3-7

2009-04-25T10:05:00.003-04:00

Keeping watch over a caterpillar leads to amazing surprises in a bright, buoyant read-aloud inspired by a children’s verse.

When Arabella Miller finds a tiny caterpillar, she brings him home and feeds him lots and lots of leaves. Soon the not-so-tiny caterpillar sheds his skin and disappears inside his chrysalis. Arabella misses her friend, but when he finally emerges, she is filled with wonder at the beautiful creature he has become. Clare Jarrett’s sweet story and vibrant illustrations weave details about a caterpillar’s transformation into this elaboration on the song "Little Arabella Miller."

Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar

By Clare Jarrett

Illustrated by Clare Jarrett

Edition: illustrated

Published by Candlewick Press, 2008

ISBN 0763636606, 9780763636609

32 pages

Expanding a familiar preschool finger ...

... rhyme, Jarrett delivers an appealing (and singable) confection capped with a double spread of facts about the life cycle of the butterfly. By leading with two new verses, before inserting the well-known one, the author signals to children and caregivers that something fresh and new is in store. Carrot-haired Arabella, after the inevitable admonishment from mother, builds a shoe-box home for the caterpillar, feeds it ("Curly cabbage, crisp and crunchy, / frizzy parsley, fresh and munchy") and observes its changes, from multiple skin-sheddings, to chrysalis-building and metamorphosis. Jarrett's airy pencil-and-paper collages utilize variable perspective, a chiefly pastel palette and ample white ground to carry the simple text. Cleverly, saturated primary hues link the butterfly's markings with Arabella's bright hat and shirt. Pleasing and useful, for storytimes as well as one-on-one sharing. (Picture book. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) 2/1/2008 VNU Business Media, Inc.

Let Me Bee Apiphobia Ages 4-8, All Ages

2009-04-25T09:33:00.006-04:00

LIFE STARTS WHERE FEAR ENDS!

Let Me Bee is about unfounded fear and how children can reduce these anxieties as they learn and understand more about the source of their alarm. A little boy is, undehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifrstandably, afraid of bees. "You don't know how I feel when I see a bee and it seems like they always come straight after me!" But the bee responds, "I'm no wasp or hornet, I'm a sweet honeybee. I don't think you're seeing the actual me." The dialogue continues as the boy and the bee learn about each other with Mom helping our little boy understand that there are many places to learn about bees and how they help us and overcome his fear.
Let Me Bee

By Vanita Oelschlager, Kristin Blackwood

Illustrated by Kristin Blackwood

Edition: illustrated

Published by Vanitabooks, 2008

ISBN 0980016215, 9780980016215

40 pages Ages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and everyone who want to overcome fears
BEE SURE TO ZOOM IN AND READ THE FLAPS IN THIS PREVIEW!
Unique Illustrations!

Vanita Books Website

The Everything Book Ages 2-6

2009-04-23T22:47:00.006-04:00

PREVIEW

ABCs, 1-2-3s, colors, shapes, nursery rhymes, finger games, and more...The Everything Book has something for everyone!

The Everything Book

By Denise Fleming

Edition: illustrated

Published by Macmillan, 2000

ISBN 0805062920, 9780805062922

64 pages Ages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

PreS-Animals of all kinds, lively ...... insects and birds, and a diverse array of small children romp through this collection of simple rhymes, numbers and letters, and listings of familiar objects. The book includes everything needed to make it an anthology of preschool interests and concerns, from mealtimes to body parts. It even has traffic lights and trains. The very attractive illustrations, done in Fleming's characteristic bold and energetic style, were produced by pouring cotton pulp through hand-cut stencils, the result being simple forms that are attractively textured, with edges that are just fuzzy enough to look soft and friendly. The brilliant, warm colors are given depth and interest by the inevitable small differences in color produced by this process. Small children will enjoy pointing out the ladybugs crawling or flying or perched quietly on grass blades or leaves in almost every picture. There are, in all, 119 of them to be found, and doubtless young readers will spot every one. This is, indeed, an "Everything Book."-Marian Drabkin, Richmond Public Library, CA

Alice the Fairy Age 5-7

2009-04-23T22:32:00.002-04:00

Imaginative Alice has a nose for trouble, but luckily she's a fairy--a temporary fairy. She has a magic wand, fairy wings, and a blanket, all of which she uses to disappear, to fly, to transform her dad into a horse, and to turn his cookies into her own.
Alice the Fairy

By David Shannon

Illustrated by David Shannon

Edition: illustrated

Published by Blue Sky Press, 2004

ISBN 0439490251, 9780439490252

40 pages Ages 5, 6, 7

Young David, who ran bare-bottomed into ...

... the hearts of zillions, has a sister—or at least a kindred spirit! Unlike her nonverbal relative, though, she's quite a chatterbox. Introducing herself as a "Temporary fairy," she proceeds to demonstrate tricks she can do—magically turning Dad into a horsie, a plateful of Dad's cookies into her cookies, and, by waving her wand too close to a glass of juice, a white dress into a red one—and can't—making the dog, or her strewn clothes, float off the floor. A peg-toothed child sporting tied-on wings, and a sequined tiara atop blonde curls, Alice dances through Shannon's blotchy, scribbled domestic scenes. Her big personality shines forth from both pictures and hand-lettered nattering, and the touch of vulnerability that he adds to her brash self-confidence makes her all the more likable. Watch out, Olivia. (Picture book. 5, 6, 7)

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

PreS-Gr 1-Donning a fairy costume ...

... inspires a little girl's imagination in this droll picture book. Alice speaks for herself, claiming she can fly (not too high but really fast), can change her dad into a horse (for a horsey ride), can make herself disappear (by flicking off the light switch with her wand), and can turn oatmeal into cake by pouring on fairy dust (sugar). There are elements of danger, such as broccoli poisoned by the wicked Duchess (Mom) and baths (fairies hate baths), as well as mischief ("-my mom made cookies for my dad. So I turned them into mine") and mishaps ("Once I accidentally turned my white dress into a red one"). Alice knows that Permanent fairyhood requires a lot of tests, attending Advanced Fairy School, and learning how to "make clothes get up off the floor and- line up in the closet," so she'll "probably be a Temporary fairy forever." With his signature cartoon-style art and childlike lettering, Shannon has created a winsome, exuberant heroine whose wide eyes and toothy smile bring David to mind, though Alice's blond ringlets are all her own. Variety in page and text layout and the use of brilliant color make the pictures dance and occasionally pop right off the pages. An enjoyable romp.-Marie Orlando, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

25 Science Plays for Emergent Readers: Ages 5-7

2009-04-23T10:37:00.003-04:00

PREVIEW

Offers a collection of plays designed to help children learn about science.

25 Science Plays for Emergent Readers: Delightful, Reproducible Plays with Extension Activities That Build Literacy and Invite Kids to Explore Favorite Science Topics

By Sheryl Ann Crawford, Nancy I Sanders, Nancy L. Sanders

Published by Scholastic Inc., 2001

ISBN 0439117607, 9780439117609

64 pages Ages 5-7

Polar Bear, Koala Bear, Wampanoag, Little Monster, Little Turtle, Teddy Bear, construction paper, Venn diagram, Conifer, food chain, Anteaters, place like home, Uranus, Groundhog, Pluto, Little Spiders, nighttime comes, Toot, chrysalis, butterflies

25 Just-Right Plays for Emergent Readers: Reproducible, Thematic, with Cross-Curricular Extension Ages 5-7

2009-04-23T10:27:00.004-04:00

PREVIEW

This delightful collection of short, simple plays on themes kids adore will turn the classroom into a readers' theater. Illustrations support the text of plays about pets, dinosaurs, space, birthday parties, making new friends, and going to school.

25 Just-Right Plays for Emergent Readers: Reproducible, Thematic, with Cross-Curricular Extension

By Carol Pugliano, Carol Pugliano-M'artin

Edition: illustrated

Published by Scholastic Inc., 1998

ISBN 059018945X, 9780590189453

64 pages Ages 5, 6, 7

Popcorn, Spring Lover, Sunflower Group, Guinea Pig Friend, Uranus, Pluto, Mail Carrier, Leaf Cruncher, Bird, Duckling, Student Fish, SHADOW PUPPET, Plink, Drizzle, Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter, am a snowflake, Name Game Player, Mother Duck

My Teacher's in Detention

2009-04-23T07:40:00.002-04:00

My Teacher's In Detention contains 50 hilarious poems about school that cover everything from homework and tests to detention and gross-out school lunches. The book contains poems by well-known poets, including Bruce Lansky, Jack Prelutsky, Kenn Nesbitt, and more great "giggle poets." Editor and contributor Bruce Lansky is one of North America's three bestselling authors of children's poetry books. His kid-tested, giggle-filled children's poetry books have sold over 2.5 million copies. This book follows on the success of Lansky's other school poetry anthologies, No More Homework! No More Tests!, and If Kids Ruled the School, which have sold over 500,000 copies in all editions and are among the best selling children's poetry books at retail.

About the Author

Bruce Lansky has been crowned the "King of Giggle Poetry" by his elementary school admirers. As editor of the successful poetry anthologies, Rolling in the Aisles, If Kids Ruled the School, A Bad Case of the Giggles, Kids Pick the Funniest Poems, No More Homework! No More Tests! and Miles of Smiles, he learned what makes children laugh by testing poems on panels of elementary and middle-school kids. He used this feedback to create books of his own original poetry, If Pigs Could Fly...and Other Deep Thoughts, and My Dog Ate My Homework.

http://www.poetry4kids.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=135

Poetry Fun Webpage

2009-04-23T07:33:00.001-04:00

How to Get Kids Excited about Reading Poetry:
Make It Fun!

by Bruce Lansky

http://www.poetryteachers.com/poetclass/excitedpoetry.html

The Nutcracker Ballet Mystery Ages 9-12

2009-04-23T07:12:00.002-04:00

Madame Dugrand's Dance Academy is rehearsing for "The Nutcracker." Shana Edwards, a recent graduate who has made a big splash in New York, is returning to River Heights to star in the show. But the closer the dancers get to show time, the clearer it becomes that the stage is set for disaster. Nancy will have to conduct her investigation with extreme precision and agility.

The Nutcracker Ballet Mystery Number 110

By Carolyn Keene

Edition: reissue

Published by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 1992

ISBN 0671730568, 9780671730567

160 pages Ages 9, 10, 11, 12

House Rabbit Society Ages 5-12

2009-04-22T13:33:00.003-04:00

House Rabbit Society
Information and Activities for children about Rabbits in general and as pets.
http://www.rabbit.org/kids/index.html

Ages 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Animal Diversity Web University of Michigan Museum of Zoology

2009-04-22T12:52:00.002-04:00

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/img/montage.jpg

Information, pictures, specimens, and sounds.

Ages 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

Within the Fairy Castle: Colleen Moore's Doll House at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

2009-04-22T12:15:00.003-04:00

This renowned doll house, conceived as a fairy castle, is one of the most beloved permanent displays at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. A gift to the museum from Colleen Moore, star of the silent-film era and the original "flapper, " the Fairy Castle has appealed to the imaginations of thousands of children since 1949. The minute and precious detail of this cherished residence of Moore's imaginary fairy prince and princess has been captured in color photography, giving the reader a close-up tour of the nine-foot-square and twelve-foot-high castle's rooms and their treasures. We enter the miniature palace of make-believe through the Magic Garden, with its working fountain and weeping willow tree that cries "real tears"; travel through the Library of diminutive books, with contributions from F. Scott Fitzgerald, Willa Cather, and others; move on to the Great Hall, with its tiny paintings, dainty chandeliers made of diamonds and emeralds, Cinderella's glass slippers, and more; and explore the castle's wonders from top to bottom.
Within the Fairy Castle: Colleen Moore's Doll House at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

By Colleen Moore, Terry Ann R. Neff, Scott H. Rose, Barbara Karant, Ill.) Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago, Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago, Ill.)

Edition: illustrated

Published by The Museum, 1998

ISBN 0821225197, 9780821225196

127 pages Ages 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle All Ages

2009-04-22T11:44:00.003-04:00

Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle
at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry with Audio Tour
http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/fairycastle/the-exhibit/

Experience the enchantment of a fairy’s dream home in Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle.

This elaborate miniature house was created by silent film star Colleen Moore in the 1930s, and was donated to the Museum of Science and Industry in 1949.

It will delight you with its tiny treasures—including murals and paintings painted by Walt Disney himself; chandeliers adorned with real diamonds, emeralds and pearls; the tiniest Bible ever to be written, dating back to 1840; and ancient statues more than 2,000 years old.

By 1935 more than 700 individuals had lent their expertise—including surgical instrument lighting specialists, Beverly Hills jewelers and Chinese jade craftsmen. The price tag for this 8'7" x 8'2" x 7'7" foot palace, containing more than 2,000 miniatures, was nearly $500,000.

Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone Ages 9-11

2009-04-22T09:17:00.004-04:00

King Arthur's knights try to find a sword using geometry principles.Sir
Cumference and the Sword in the Cone

By Cindy Neuschwander

Illustrated by Wayen Geehan, Wayne Geehan

Edition: illustrated

Published by Charlesbridge, 2004

ISBN 1570916004, 9781570916007

32 pages Ages 9-11

Gr 3-5-Neuschwander retells "The Sword ...

... in the Stone" from a mathematical angle. Readers follow along with Sir Cumference and Lady Di of Ameter as their son Radius and his friend Vertex set out to find Edgecalibur. Filled with riddles and puns, the story is sure to delight students with some geometry background. Geehan's bright oil, acrylic, and pen-and-ink paintings include all the visual details that the text needs to help solve this geometrical mystery. If your students have enjoyed the first three books in the series, they will certainly want this one. Make sure to share these gems with your math teachers. The books can be used to support educational initiatives such as multiple intelligences, and students who are strong in verbal/linguistic areas will appreciate the integration of literature into their math lessons.-Christine E. Carr, Lester C. Noecker Elementary School, Roseland, NJ

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Ages 5-8

2009-04-22T09:08:00.002-04:00

Award-winning artists, using hilarious illustrations, present their own verison of the classic joke, from Mo Willems's chicken who confesses his motives to a police officer, to Marle Frazee's chicken who is searching for a luxury "coop."

Subjects

Chickens/ Caricatures and cartoons/ Juvenile literature, American wit and humor, Pictorial/ Juvenile literature, Chickens/ Cartoons and comics

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

By Jon Agee

Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Published by Dial Books for Young Readers, 2006

ISBN 0803730942, 9780803730946

40 pages

Fourteen artists, nearly all of them ...... household names, offer answers to the classic title question. The punch lines are as varied as the visuals, with chickens fleeing threats such as dinosaurs (Jon Agee); "mutated zombie chickens from Mars" (Harry Bliss); running toward a more glamorous henhouse (Marla Frazee), or an enticing tangle of mysterious creatures and shapes (Mary GrandPr). Some are crossing because the light changed (Lynn Munsinger, David Shannon), a baseball went through a window (Chris Sheban) or a tasty treat beckons (Judy Schachner, Jerry Pinkney, David Catrow). Chris Raschka closes with a sphinx looking up at the viewer, murmuring, "You tell me," and all of the contributors' chickens march across a final spread with jokey answers to another query: "Why did the artist cross the road?" Evidently offered not to support a charity but just for fun (plus a little promotion), this gallery of clever pullet surprises will draw crows of delight. (Picture book. 5, 6, 7, 8, adult) Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc

Read Aloud Questions for Ages 10-12

2009-04-19T12:55:00.003-04:00

The following should help you develop ideas for questions to ask during the read-aloud session to children ages 10, 11, 12 and above.

Knowledge

• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• How?
• List the facts in order.


Comprehension

•	What is meant by... ?
•	Can you describe... ?
•	What is the difference... ?
•	What is the main idea... ?
•	Why did... ?
•	Explain why... ?


Application

•	Who would you choose...?
•	What would happen if...?
•	How would you...?
•	Do you know someone like...?
•	Would you do the same thing in the same situation...?
•	If you had to...what would you do?


Analysis

•	What part of the reading was funniest?
•	What part was the most exciting?
•	What part was the saddest?
•	Tell some things that could not have happened in real life.
•	Which things were fact, and which were opinions?
•	What could you do that was just like what the person in the story did?
•	Find five words in the story which begin with the same sound.
•	List five compound words from the story.
•	What was the purpose of...?


Synthesis

•	Retell one event from an animal's point of view.
•	How could we/you...?
•	Make up another ending to the story that still fits the details.
•	Rewrite a sentence from the reading but change one thing in it.
•	Write a new title for this story.
•	Write a two-line poem about the reading.


Evaluation

•	Was the main character in this reading good or bad? Why?
•	Which is better...?
•	Would you agree that...?
•	What is your opinion of...?
•	Were they right to do...? Why? Or why not?
•	Compare two characters in the reading. Tell which one you think is better and why.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! Ages 4-7

2009-04-19T12:28:00.003-04:00

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

By Bill Martin, John Archambault, Ray Charles

Illustrated by Lois Ehlert

Contributor Ray Charles

Edition: reprint, illustrated

Published by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2000

ISBN 068983568X, 9780689835681

40 pages Ages 4, 5, 6, 7

A told B, and B told C"I'll meet you at the topof the coconut tree."

Countless children -- and their parents -- can joyfully recite the familiar words of this beloved alphabet chant. The perfect pairing of Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault's lively rhymes, and Caldecott Honor artist Lois Ehlert's bright, bold, cheerful pictures made Chicka Chicka Boom Boom an instant hit and a perennial favorite.

This full-sized, quality paperback edition will bring even more fans to this endearing, enduring classic.

Chicka chicka boom boom! Will there be enough room?

There will always be room for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom on every child's bookshelf!

Fun with the Book

Dragon Reading List

2009-04-19T08:34:00.002-04:00

http://www.storyplace.org/eel/activities/readinglist.asp?id=55&themeID=12

Buy this book online	Day of the Dragon King Mary Pope Osborne Illustrated by Sal Murdocca Jack and Anna are on their fourteenth adventure through the door of the magic tree house. Now, Master Librarians, they have been given the assignment of saving another story. They are sent to Ancient China in the time of the first emperor. Can they find the story before the Dragon King destroys all the books? This is an exciting series for beginner readers.

Buy this book online	Dragon's Fat Cat: Dragon's Fourth Tale Written & Illustrated by Dav Pilkey When Dragon rescues a fat cat out of the snow he isn't sure how to take care of her. She doesn't seem to like ketchup on ice cream for meals nor the box full of dirty rags and trash Dragon has made up for her as a litter box. And what exactly are those smelly yellow puddles? Just when Dragon thinks he knows what to do Cat has another "surprise" for him. Through bright watercolor illustrations Pilkey creates a hilarious story that any pet owner will love.

Buy this book online	Eyes of the Dragon Margaret Leaf Illustrated by Ed Young When a huge wall is built around a village for protection, it looks rather plain. So the magistrate of the village decides that a famous dragon painter should decorate the wall. The painter's conditions for the work are that he can paint in his own manner and the village accepts it. The magistrate agrees. However, when the painter finally finishes the magistrate refuses to honor the conditions, because the dragon has no eyes. Despite a warning of what can happen, the magistrate persuades the painter to add the dragon's eyes. After doing so the painter quickly leaves. What happens next is surprising and terrifying; an example of what can happen when one does not honor one's word.

Buy this book online	Saint George and the Dragon Retold by Margaret Hodges Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman In this retelling from Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene, the Red Cross Knight is sent by the Queen of the Fairies to save a knigdom from a fierce dragon. A three-day battle takes place ending with the dragon's death. The Red Cross Knight's bravery wins him the kingdom, a wife, and his title, Saint George of Merry England. Hodge's dramatic retelling of this legend is accompanied by beautifully detailed illustrations that won Hyman a Caldecott Medal.

Buy this book online	The Paper Bag Princess Robert N. Munsch Illustrated by Michael Martchenko Princess Elizabeth lives in a magnificent castle, wears beautiful expensive clothes and is going to marry her Prince Charming. Unfortuntely though, her plans are destroyed when a fierce dragon demolishes her castle, burns all her clothes and kidnaps her beloved Ronald. With nothing else to wear but a paper bag the Princess follows the dragon's charred path determined to save her Prince Charming. Soon she has devised a clever way to outwit the dragon and rescue her Prince, but what will Ronald's reaction be when he is finally saved? The answer is surprising. Witty illustrations and a flowing storyline create a funny tale with a great message.

Buy this book online	The Paper Dragon Marguerite W. Davol Illustrated by Robert Sabuda Mi Fei, a humble painter, likes his simple quiet life. But all this changes when he is chosen to combat the mighty dragon Sui Jen, who is destroying villages everywhere. Through fold-out pages filled with bright, expressive illustrations, we watch as Mi Fei trys to outwit the fearless dragon. The illustrations, made from cut and painted tissue paper, vibrantly tell this Chinese tale. An exciting and visually appealing story that should not be missed.

PS Music Book List Ages 4-5

2009-04-19T08:23:00.003-04:00

PS Music Book List
StoryPlace
http://www.storyplace.org/preschool/activities/readinglist.asp?id=52

Buy this book online	Charlie Parker Played Be Bop Written & Illustrated by Chris Raschka Charlie Parker was a great saxophone player. He played a kind of jazz called be bop. Meet Charlie Parker in this musical book and chant such phrases as "fisk fisk" and "Boppitty, bibbitty, bop. BANG!" The colorful, bold illustrations reinforce the bouncy humorous tone. This book is a great introduction to jazz and should definitely be read aloud to get the full rhythmic effect.

Buy this book online	Going to the Zoo Tom Paxton Illustrated by Karen Lee Schmidt What fun! With a rollicking beat, the reader accompanies a family on their trip to the zoo. The children describe each animal at the "zoo, zoo, zoo" as they go along. The illustrations are bright, lively, and very fun. The melody for the song is included so you can sing along with the story.

Buy this book online	Miss Mary Mack: A Hand-Clapping Rhyme Mary Ann Hoberman Illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott This well known hand-clapping game comes to life with fun, colorful illustrations. Included are a few verses not so well known. The elephant falls "so hard... he made a hole,...in her backyard..the soda popped...the picnic stopped." The elephant eventually stays with Mary Mack and gets his own silver buttons. Instructions are given for the hand-clapping game in the front end pages. This is a great, fun book to share with children of all ages.

Buy this book online	Possum Come a-Knockin' Nancy Van Laan Illustrated by George Booth This is a very funny story about a mischief-making possum. possum loves nothing better than playing tricks on people, so when a knocking is heard coming from outside the door, everybody inside stops what they are doing and goes to investigate. Grandpa, Granny, Ma, Pa, and even the cat and dog look to see who could be making that terrible noise, but when they open the door - no one is there. Read along to see if possum will ever be caught in the act, or if he'll get a chance to play some tricks another day. The cartoon-like illustrations add another level of humor to this already funny story.

Buy this book online	Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp Carol Diggory Shields Illustrated by Scott Nash What happens when all the dinosaurs get together for a dance? Well, the earth quakes and volcanoes erupt, of course. All the dinosaurs are getting ready for the Saturday Night Stomp, a music and dance party. They come from far and wide to do the Conga, the Triassic Twist, and the Brontosaurus Bump. The rhyming text makes a great read aloud, but practice pronouncing your dinosaur names first! The cartoon style illustrations are bold and colorful. This is a fun book for dinosaur fans.

Buy this book online	Sing, Sophie! Dayle Ann Dodds Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger Sophie is a young cowgirl who loves to sing, but her family is too busy to listen. When a summer storm hits the farm, Sophie's family learns to appreciate her music when she saves the day! Sing Sophie is a delightful book with downhome country lyrics that kids will love.

Buy this book online	The Hippo Hop Christine Loomis Illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott The Hippo Hop is the hippest happening place in town where animals can unwind after a hard day's work. Zebras, monkeys, tapirs, and lemurs get in the groove and move to the tropical beat in this Calypso club. Plenty of fun is shared in this rhyming and rhythmical book. You will find yourself clapping along to the beat and enjoying the feast of color and motion captured on every page. The vibrant watercolor and ink pictures are perfect mediums to show the animals in their dizziest moods as they swing and sing to the music and get crazy at the Hippo Hop.

Pirates Don't Wear Pink Sunglasses Age 11

2009-04-19T08:06:00.002-04:00

Pirates Don't Wear Pink Sunglasses

By Debbie Dadey, Marcia Thornton Jones

Edition: illustrated

Published by Tandem Library Books, 1994

ISBN 0606066713, 9780606066716

78 pages Age 11
The Bailey School's new rowing coach acts suspiciously like a pirate.

There are some pretty weird grown-ups living in Bailey City. But could the boat instructor at Camp Lone Wolf really be a pirate searching for buried treasure? The Bailey School Kids are going to find out!

Pirates companion to Pirates Past Noon Ages 7-8

2009-04-19T07:12:00.002-04:00

Pirates: A Companion to Pirates Past Noon

By Mary Pope Osborne, Will Osborne, Sal Murdocca

Illustrated by Sal Murdocca

Edition: illustrated

Published by Random House Children's Books, 2001

ISBN 0375902996, 9780375902994

128 pages

Reading Level 4.9 Companion to Age 7, 8

Pirates Past Noon Ages 7 - 8

2009-04-19T07:02:00.003-04:00

Pirates Past Noon

By Mary Pope Osborne, Sal Murdocca

Illustrated by Sal Murdocca

Edition: illustrated

Published by Random House, 1994

ISBN 0679824251, 9780679824251

67 pages Age 7, 8

Illus. in black-and-white. Jack and Annie are in deep trouble when the Magic Tree House whisks them back to the days of desert islands, secret maps, hidden gold--and ruthless pirates! Will Jack and Annie discover a buried treasure? Will they find out the identity of the mysterious M? Or will they walk the plank?
Activities Resource
Other Resources

Junk Mail Green Tips from the National Zoo

2009-04-19T06:44:00.003-04:00

Junk Mail

Now is the perfect time to cut down on junk mail. Did you know that each year millions of trees and billions of gallons of water are used to create junk mail, most of which never gets recycled? There are several things you can do to reduce how much junk mail you receive.

Get off of national mailing lists by sending your name, address, and signature to: Mail Preference Service, c/o Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512.
Every time you subscribe to a magazine, buy something from a catalog or online store, or donate money, be sure to say (by phone or email): "Please do not rent or sell my name or address." If you don't want to receive catalogs or solicitations from charitable organizations, ask that your address not be added to any mailing lists.
Sign up for the free service Catalog Choice to opt out of catalogs.
Call your credit card companies and banks to make sure your address isn't sold. Say no to credit card offers by calling the credit reporting industry's opt-out number: 888.567.8688.
Have your address removed from the Valpak and Advo mailing lists.
Get more junk mail reduction tips.
When you receive unwanted mail, take a minute to call the company (usually toll-free) to remove your address from its list.
Some companies will remove you from mailing lists for a fee. You can find them by doing an Internet search for "reduce junk mail."

After using junk mail—and any other paper you don't need to keep—as scrap paper, recycle it. Find out what you can recycle in your neighborhood.

Wildlife Friendly Garden

2009-04-19T06:38:00.001-04:00

How to Create a Wildlife-Friendly Garden from the National Wildlife Federation

	Provide Food for Wildlife Everyone needs to eat! Planting native forbs, shrubs and trees is the easiest way to provide the foliage, nectar, pollen, berries, seeds and nuts that many species of wildlife require to survive and thrive. You can also incorporate supplemental feeders and food sources. Learn More...
	Supply Water for Wildlife Wildlife need sources of clean water for many purposes, including drinking, bathing and reproduction. Water sources may include natural features such as ponds, lakes, rivers, springs, oceans and wetlands; or human-made features such as bird baths, puddling areas for butterflies, installed ponds or rain gardens. Learn More...
	Create Cover for Wildlife Wildlife require places to hide in order to feel safe from people, predators and inclement weather. Use things like native vegetation, shrubs, thickets and brush piles or even dead trees. Learn More...
	Give Wildlife a Place to Raise Their Young Wildlife need a sheltered place to raise their offspring. Many places for cover can double as locations where wildlife can raise young, from wildflower meadows and bushes where many butterflies and moths lay their eggs, or caves where bats roost and form colonies. Learn More...
	Let Your Garden Go Green How you maintain your garden or landscape can have an important effect on the health of the soil, air, water and habitat for native wildlife--as well as the human community nearby. Reducing chemical use, composting, mulching and reducing turf grass in your yard are important steps to gardening greener. Learn More...
	Ready...Set...Certify! Once you have provided these essential elements to make a healthy and sustainable wildlife habitat, join the thousands of wildlife enthusiasts across the country who have earned the distinction of being part of NWF's Certified Wildlife Habitat™ program. Learn More...

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices Ages 6-12

2009-04-16T16:28:00.002-04:00

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

By Paul Fleischman

Illustrated by Eric Beddows

Edition: illustrated

Published by Sagebrush Education Resources, 1992

ISBN 083358555X, 9780833585554
Ages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

In this remarkable volume of poetry for two voices, a companion to "I Am Pheonix," Paul Fleischman verbally re-creates the "Booming / boisterous / joyful noise" of insects. The poems resound with the pulse of the cicada and the drone of the honeybee. Eric Beddow's vibrant drawings send each insect soaring, spinning, or creeping off the page in its own unique way.

Paul Fleischman has created not only a clear and fascinating guide to the insect world - from chrysalid butterflies to whirligig beetles - but and exultant celebration of life.

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices is Paul Fleischman's Newbery Medal-winning book for the year 1989.

The book is a collection of fourteen children's poems about insects such as mayflies, lice, and honeybees. The concept is unusual in that the poems are intended to be read aloud by two people. Some lines are spoken by the readers simultaneously, while others are read alternately by the speakers. It is very good for young people to learn to work together. Some lines may also be said together but have different words. Young students could experiment with literal voice by reading these poems in different ways. This literacy event could be integrated with science content. WIKIPEDIA

Bing Bang Boing by D Florian Ages 6-12

2009-04-16T16:07:00.004-04:00

Thirty-five Pages of Preview

Bing Bang Boing: Poems and Drawings

By Douglas Florian

Illustrated by Douglas Florian

Edition: illustrated

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1994

ISBN 0152337709, 9780152337704

144 pages
Meet Genny Glubber, who’s fat like blubber, and Mr. Giles, who has seven smiles. And Little-Naughty-Nasty Ned, who glued his brother to a bed. Come along and join the fun--this book has a poem for everyone! “From the sunlit yellow of its jacket to the humorous tone of its verse, this should prove a popular choice for poetry shelves.”--Booklist

Bing Bang Boing

By D. Florian

Published by Tandem Library, 1996

ISBN 0785778276, 9780785778271

An illustrated collection of more than 150 nonsense verses. Recommended by the AES Advisory Committee.

Ages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Laugh-eteria Ages 6-12

2009-04-16T15:43:00.003-04:00

Thirty-eight Page Preview

Laugh-Eteria

By Douglas Florian

Illustrated by Douglas Florian

Edition: illustrated

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1999

ISBN 0152020845, 9780152020842

160 pages Ages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Karate Kids
One was a black belt. One was a brown. One had a loose belt; His pants fell down.
Silly, irreverent, and always clever, these poems showcase Douglas Florian’s talent for turning plain old language into outrageously entertaining verse. Page after page of witty wordplay and droll black-and-white drawings are guaranteed to knock the socks off devoted poetry fans and newcomers alike.

Florian's seventh collection of verse is ...

... also his most uneven; though the flair for clever rhyme that consistently lights up his other books, beginning with Monster Motel (1993), occasionally shows itself--""Hello, my name is Dracula/My clothing is all blackula./I drive a Cadillacula./I am a maniacula""--too many of the entries are routine limericks, putdowns, character portraits, rhymed lists that fall flat on the ear, or quick quips: ""It's hard to be anonymous/When you're a hippopotamus."" Florian's language and simple, thick-lined cartoons illustrations are equally ingenuous, and he sticks to tried-and-true subjects, from dinosaurs to school lunch, but the well of inspiration seems dry; revisit his hilarious Bing Bang Boing (1994) instead.

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

Poetry by Douglas Florian Ages 6-12

2009-04-16T15:07:00.005-04:00

April is Poetry Month

BEAST FEAST: POEMS

MAMMALABILIA

INSECTLOPEDIA

All by Douglas Florian

Ages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars Ages 6-12

2009-04-16T14:46:00.004-04:00

PREVIEW

Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings

By Douglas Florian

Illustrated by Douglas Florian

Edition: illustrated

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007

ISBN 0152053727, 9780152053727

56 pages
Blast off with Douglas Florian's new high-flying compendium, which features twenty whimsical poems about space. From the moon to the stars, from the Earth to Mars, here is an exuberant celebration of our celestial surroundings that's certain to become a universal favorite among aspiring astronomers everywhere. Includes die-cut pages and a glossary of space terms.

Stunning mixed-media illustrations ...

... accompany a series of poems that celebrate the wonder and mystery of space. From the universe, the sequence narrows its focus to the galaxy, the solar system and then each body in turn, from the sun to poor demoted Pluto, and beyond. The verse is characteristically playful, wrapping itself around astronomical facts with ease. Readers will learn about the temperature and size of the sun, our moon's phases and Voyager 2's discovery of Neptune's rings. Delightful as the poems are, however, it's this volume's illustrations that surpass. Bright gouache on brown paper bags lend texture to each spread; stamped words allow the illustrations to incorporate such details as names of moons and "sun" in several different languages; collage elements add further whimsy to the whole. To top off this feast for the eyes, occasional die-cuts provide telescopic windows onto adjoining spreads, firmly establishing for the reader the truth that space is a vast continuum, with new surprises in every corner of the sky. Each poem receives a thumbnail gloss at the end, offering additional facts or extending the information presented earlier. Glorious. (Picture book/poetry. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

Gr 1–5 Ages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11— Nothing gladdens the heart of ...

... believers in good poetry for children more than a new collection by Florian, whose verses and paintings consistently capture the essence of his featured themes. This one literally sings the music of the spheres. Twenty playfully lyrical poems treat topics such as the universe, the individual planets, constellations, and black holes. Each selection is presented on its own spread and adorned with a magical painting done in gouache, collage, and rubber stamps on brown paper. Circles abound in the artwork, and many pages have round cut-outs that lead into the next picture. For example, "the earth" ("Two-thirds water./One-third land./Valleys deep./Mountains grand") is illustrated with a colorful globe decorated with circled collage prints of animals and plants. A smaller orb appears nearby, made from a cut-out circle that reveals part of the illustration for the next selection, "the moon." Some of the paintings incorporate mythological names and images. The pleasing blend of faded shades and brilliant colors, of old-fashioned prints and fanciful sketches, makes the illustrations seem both antique and high-tech. An appended "Galactic Glossary" provides additional information. In both language and artwork, Florian strikes the perfect balance between grandeur and whimsy. Like Myra Cohn Livingston and Leonard Everett Fisher's Space Songs (Holiday House, 1988; o.p.), this book is a work of art worthy of the vastness of its subject.—Kathleen Whalin, York Public Library, ME

School Library Journal vol. 53 iss. 7 p. 90 (c) 07/01/2007

10 Reasons Why Children Need a Garden

2009-04-15T13:38:00.004-04:00

Thanks, Loreen, for a great blog! Link to see her book recommendations.

10 Reasons Why Kids Need a Garden

• It’s fun to grow your own food whether it’s just one pot of herbs or a multi-rowed mini-farm.
• Homegrown crops taste great!
• Kids are more likely to eat previously rejected goodies they grow themselves.
• Fresh picked fruits and veggies have more nutrients than produce that’s been sitting around.
• A much greater variety of cultivars can be grown that won’t be found in grocery stores.
• Chemicals can be minimized or avoided.
• Gardening saves money. A few dollars worth of seeds can yield a harvest worth much more.
• Gardens save energy. Many food products must be shipped hundreds or thousands of miles to the grocery store.
• Growing your own food is empowering, teaches valuable skills, and encourages self-sufficiency.
• It’s Spring!

http://inkrethink.blogspot.com/search/label/Kathleen%20Krull

April Calendar Events from SurfNetKids

2009-04-15T13:25:00.004-04:00

Micetro Mozart: The Opera House Mouse

2009-04-14T15:19:00.006-04:00

Reading is Fundamental http://www.rif.org/

RIF's READ ALONG STORIES FOR KIDS

Animated Stories read & Story Songs sung aloud
with highlights word by word.

"Mice-tro" Mozart: the Opera House Mouse

TEXT OF MICE-TRO MOZART

RIF'S Calico Pie - Story Song

MOONSHOT: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca

2009-04-13T11:48:00.007-04:00

MOONSHOT: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca

Gr. K-4 Ages 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 44 pages Atheneum, 2009

In the end, what started out as a fierce race between the two fiercest enemy nations on Earth—the U.S. and the Soviets—became a ride with three guys locked in two containers they’d nicknamed Charlie Brown and Snoopy with most of the world watching from 238,00 miles awa.—Apollo 11.

With all the technology and politics involved in the first moon landing, the simple beauty of the event is easily overlooked. And since the astronauts were equipped with the most advanced camera technology in the world, what could an illustrator’s pen and brush bring to the story that hadn’t already been captured “for real” by their cameras? In celebration of that historic event’s 40th anniversary, artist-writer Brian Floca brings his considerable talents to the roundtrip ride and gives us a beautiful bird’s eye view from both outside and inside.

As the image top-right shows, he sometimes gives us a simultaneous view, from the spectators on the beach at Cape Canaveral to inside the space capsule with the astronauts as the blastoff-countdown progresses. His text is not only uncomplicated, but poetically informative. Take, for example, his description of the crew’s first taste of weightlessness (image right, bottom):

Onboard Columbia and Eagle,
Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin
unclick gloves,
unclick helmets,
unclick the straps
that hold them down,
and float inside their small ships,
their home for a week.

Here there is no up or down;
an astronaut can spin in air and
turn a floor into a wall
or a ceiling to a floor . . .

. . . There are food and clothes
packed into corners.
There are flight plans, flashlights,
pens, and cameras—and they float too.
They drift from hands and pockets.
That’s why there’s Velcro everywhere:
for holding things so they stay put.

All the facts a young child would wish to know about this trip are here, never crammed, but floating beside the illustrations. And in those pieces of art, Floca demonstrates what great art can offer that cameras cannot: every camera must have a lens and each lens has its edges and limits beyond which it cannot focus. What the artist has instead of a lens is an imagination that is limitless. When Armstrong and Aldrin walked the surface of the moon with Collins looking on from above in the orbiting Columbia, there was no camera to give us the perspective of both the men, their landing craft, the moon, and mother Earth. Floca gives us exactly that. Artist over technology.

For those who want more, Floca’s endnotes and sources will take you there.

http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/whatsnu-reviews.html

Teach Reading with TV Closed Captioning & Recorded Books

2009-04-13T08:54:00.008-04:00

THE most economical device to teach
reading is already in your home.
Finland’s children have the highest reading
scores in the world and they use
this device more than any other country
—and it’s free!
It’s closed-captioning on the TV.
Turn it on by using the “menu” button
on the remote to reach the “cc” area.
Children unconsciously absorb the sight
of the words and their sounds,
making connections to how print is used.
It’s like having a free magazine subscription in the home.
All print counts.
What about recorded books—do they count?
Read on.
WHILE a recorded voice is not as good as
a live adult who can stop and explain something
in the story, it’s better than nothing.
It’s also a great assist for the parent
who has a reading disability or
for whom English is a second language.
(Incidentally, reading to a child
in a foreign language accomplishes
many of the same things
—feeds vocabulary and builds a
bridge to the love of reading and books.)
Public libraries have huge collections of
audio books—all available for free.
http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/10-reading-facts-brochure.pdf

Jim Trelease Read Aloud Handouts about Reading

2009-04-13T08:45:00.005-04:00

"Do you have a free handout about reading
that we can give parents at our school?"

o many teachers and administrators asked Jim Trelease that question, one of his first retirement projects was to create a series of such free handouts. Based on his books, lectures, and films, the tri-fold double-sided brochures are aimed at parents, teachers, librarians—even future teachers and parents.

Written in an uncomplicated, to-the-point style, along with some of the charts and statistics Jim has used in his books and lectures, the brochures are free for downloading and may be easily duplicated by nonprofit institutions dealing with parents and community members.

The subject matter includes:

Why reading is the most important subject in school;
How a child becomes competent in reading;
The importance of a child reading outside school;
Why it's essential for parents to read aloud to children;
Listening levels versus reading levels;
How the mere presence of print in the home influences a child's reading skills;
The negative impact of over-viewing of TV and video games;
How TV's "closed-captioning" can help a child's reading;
The positive effects of recorded books.
The things to be sure to do when reading to children and the things to avoid;
Why is it that some people read a lot and some (even very educated people) read very little?

How do we obtain the brochures?

First, email Jim Trelease (Jim Trelease) and seek permission to print the brochures, including in your correspondence the name and address of the requesting organization, its nonprofit status, and how it will be used. Jim's email response to you (usually within 48 hours) will allay any fears your printer may have about reprinting a copyrighted item. Then control/option-click on the name of the brochure below and the brochure's PDF file will be downloaded to your computer. Each is a megabyte in size and may take a minute to download. Burn it to a disc (or email it) for your printing facility. The item should be printed to both sides of a single sheet. It's easier than pie, if you've ever tried to bake a pie—a lot easier!

Ten Facts Parents Should Know About Reading
Why Read Aloud to Children?
Thirty DO's to Remember When Reading Aloud
A Dozen DON'Ts to Remember When Reading Aloud
Why Some Read a Lot and Some Read Very Little (perfect for faculty/parent discussion)
The Connection Between TV & School Scores
Ages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

Naming Liberty Ages 7-12

2009-04-13T08:17:00.007-04:00

http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/whatsnu-reviews.html

Naming Liberty

by Jane Yolen; illustrated by Jim Burke Gr. 2 -5 Ages 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 30 pages Philomel, 2008

In facing single pages, award-winning author Jane Yolen tells two parallel stories: one portrays a Jewish family in the Ukraine in the 1800s and the other pictures a young French sculptor named Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. The converging tales add up to an excellent portrait of both the American immigrant experience and the American dream.

Bartholdi's dream was to produce a gigantic statue in the mouth of New York harbor that would welcome the dreamers arriving from other countries and beginning anew in a land called America. Those dreamers are personified in the book by the author's ancestral family (the Yolens) whose hopes and fears are presented in the first person by Gitl, the young girl relating the trials and insecurities of transplanting a family from one side of the world to the other.

Just as insecure was the sculptor's dream as he lobbied American an French politicians and businesses to secure permission to erect the statue and raise the funds for it. Along the way, the name of the statue -- Liberty Enlightening the World -- was shortened to simply the Statue of Liberty. The young Gitl, in turn, would wrestle with a similar name challenge: should she keep her Ukrainian name or adopt an American one like "Libby" -- short for Liberty.

Along with being a portrait of the immigrant family (yesterday and today), the book is brimming with fascinating historical tidbits: the same man who designed the Eiffel Tower also designed the interior staircase of Liberty; the model for Liberty's face was the sculptor's mother and took one year to construct; after being constructed in France, it was carefully deconstructed and packed into 214 crates and loaded aboard 70 train cars for the trip to the harbor; the only "local" part of the Liberty package was the pedestal, designed by Richard Morris Hunt, an American.

2009-04-13T07:58:00.005-04:00

New Children's Literature
* * * REVIEWS * * *

http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/whatsnu-reviews.html

2009-04-12T14:29:00.005-04:00

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge

By Mem Fox

Illustrated by Julie Vivas
http://www.storylineonline.net/

Edition: illustrated, reprint

Published by Kane/Miller Book Publishers, Incorporated, 1989

ISBN 091629126X, 9780916291266

30 pages Ages 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

AUTHOR WEBSITE
Read by BRADLEY WHITFORD.

Young W.G.M.P. wasn't very old. He lived next door to an old people's home and he knew all the people there and enjoyed their company. His favourite person of all was Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper, because she has four names just as he did.

KinderSITE Ages 2 - 12 in 12 languages & 157 countries

2009-04-12T11:57:00.008-04:00

http://www.kindersite.org/

Twelve foreign languages plus English

Welcome to the Kindersite Project for ALL preschool and Kindergarten age children and English learners.

The Kindersite has 1,000s of links to the best games, songs and stories for young children.

The Kindersite is designed for kinder, child-care, preschool, kindergartens, elementary, primary schools and Special needs plus homeschool, libraries and the home. In fact everywhere where young children access computers.

To use the Kindersite content

Register - for full featured access (Free)
Children's Links Directory - age related links (no registration required)

Your child's safety is our foremost concern, every link and site that the Kindersite uses has been checked as conforming to Department of Children, Schools and Families (UK) guidelines for safe sites for children.

News - The Kindersite is growing, see the new 'Educational Games' for 7 to 12 year olds or teachers and parents can learn more about this new feature

News - Animated lullabies in 7 languages have been added to the Kindersite plus 35 sample lullabies. These are a result of a funded education project

News - The Kindersite has now received registrations from 17,108 schools and authorities in 157 countries

News - Prof. Dr. Mª Dolores Ramírez Verdugo Ph.D. (Autonomous University of Madrid) has recently had a refereed research published, on using the Kindersite for ESL
Ages: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,12

Not One Damsel in Distress: World Folktales for Strong Girls Ages 8-12

2009-04-10T21:47:00.004-04:00

PREVIEW

Not one damsel in distress: world folktales for strong girls

By Jane Yolen, Susan Guevara

Illustrated by Susan Guevara

Edition: illustrated

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000

ISBN 0152020470, 9780152020477

116 pages Ages 8,9,10,11,12
These thirteen folktales have one thing in common: brainy, brawny, brave heroines--and not one damsel in distress! From Bradamante, the fierce female medieval knight, to Li Chi, the Chinese girl who slays a dreaded serpent and saves her town, these heroines use their cunning, wisdom, and strength to succeed.
Drawing from diverse cultures around the world, renowned author Jane Yolen celebrates the smart, strong, and sassy heroines of legend and lore in a collection that will encourage bravery in every girl.

In her introduction, the author states ...

... that the 13 stories in this book "have always been around, hidden away in the back storeroom of folklore." No more. Yolen has managed to present these legends and folktales as originally told, with their spunky, canny, and courageous girls and women heroes as feisty and funny as they were to the people of their time. The tales come from all over the world; some of their protagonists are well-known, such as Greece's Atalanta the Huntress, but many others have been either lost over time or distorted in one way or another to make them palatable to readers who refused to recognize that women were fully capable human beings. There's Nana Miriam of Niger, who uses the powerful potions in her juju bag to save her father from a vicious hippopotamus. Or China's Li Chi, who refuses to be sacrificed to the serpent who has terrorized her village and instead uses her wits, a snake-hunting dog, and a sharp sword to slay the creature. Then there's England's Molly Whuppie, who serves her king by outwitting a giant and ends up a queen, in a rollickingly funny story that's only equaled by the Ozark tale of Pretty Penny, who uses her wits to save her father's money and make a lot more from the highway thief who tries to rob her. There are many more, all of them splendidly told by an author who can not only spin a mean folktale, but makes some nice subtle points in doing so. The book is strengthened even more by Yolen's extensive "Notes on the Stories" and an excellent bibliography for those who want more, making it a useful reference tool for classroom or library. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

2009-04-10T16:22:00.002-04:00

Submitted by Kern Kelley (not verified) on January 30, 2008 - 01:40.

In our district, we've been promoting the use of audio books (and iPods) pretty extensively. Here's a list of sites we've compiled with some free, audio recordings.

http://www.podiobooks.com/ Look for Family Friendly listings.
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/categories/1
http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/ Florida Educational Technology Clearinghouse. Search by reading level, subject, title or author.
http://www.simplyaudiobooks.com/Free_Audiobooks/dp/202/ One free book each month.

When Pigasso met Mootisse Storyline Online AudioBook

2009-04-10T14:56:00.005-04:00

When Pigasso met Mootisse

By Nina Laden

PREVIEW
http://www.storylineonline.net

Edition: illustrated

Published by Chronicle Books, 1998

ISBN 0811811212, 9780811811217

40 pages Ages: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Read by ERIC CLOSE.
When Pigasso met Mootisse, what began as a neighborly overture escalated into a mess. Before you can say paint-by-numbers, the two artists become fierce rivals, calling each other names and ultimately building a fence between them. But when the two painters paint opposite sides of the fence that divides them, they unknowingly create a modern art masterpiece, and learn it is their friendship that is the true work of art. Full color throughout.

During their youth in Paris, Picasso and ...

... Matisse had a brief falling out after a competitive spat. Here, art imitates life as Laden takes that episode and, through transformation and embellishment, turns it into neat little lessons in art history and ego reduction. Pigasso and Mootisse have separately garnered such fame that they each must flee the hordes to concentrate on their art. When they become neighbors in the countryside, all is bonhomous until their temperaments--and their artistic visions--clash, so much so that they build a great wooden fence between their houses. Gradually their hearts soften. To make amends, and since neither knows how to simply apologize, each simultaneously paints a tribute to the other (and, of course, to himself, as befits such self-importance) on the fence. There are plenty of good (modified) examples of the real artists' works, as well as a couple of surprises, such as a Jackson Pollock--style explosion between the painters. The characters come across as bumptious, strong-willed, and appealing. Laden further lightens the story with goofy wordplay--moosterpiece, pork of art--that adds little when the quality of the artwork and the book's detonation of color are already such pleasures.

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

A Bad Case of Stripes Storyline Online AudioBook

2009-04-10T14:14:00.005-04:00

A Bad Case Of Stripes

By David Shannon

http://www.storylineonline.net/
Illustrated by David Shannon

Published by Demco Media, 2004

ISBN 0606305815, 9780606305815 Ages 6, 7, 8, 9
Read and Acted by Sean Astin

In order to ensure her popularity, Camilla Cream always does what is expected, until the day arrives when she no longer recognizes herself.
RearWriteThink Lesson Plan
After she refuses to eat her lima beans, Camilla finds herself covered with stripes. The stripes change into stars, polka dots, and other patterns. Camilla overcomes her "illness" when she learns to be herself. INDIVIDUALITY, POPULARITY

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother Storyline Online AudioBook

2009-04-10T13:56:00.004-04:00

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother

By Patricia Polacco

PREVIEW
http://www.storylineonline.net/
Illustrated by Patricia Polacco

Edition: illustrated

Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1994

ISBN 0671727516, 9780671727512

32 pages Ages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Wonderful animated reading aloud by MELISSA GILBERT.
USE THIS FOR READER'S THEATER.
There's nothing worse than a rotten redheaded older brother who can do everything you can do better! Patricia's brother Richard could run the fastest, climb the highest, and spit the farthest and still smile his extra-rotten, greeny-toothed, weasel-eyed grin. But when little Patricia wishes on a shooting star that she could do something -- anything -- to show him up, she finds out just what wishes -- and rotten redheaded older brothers -- can really do. Patricia Polacco's boldly and exuberantly painted pictures tell a lively and warmhearted tale of comic one-upsmanship and brotherly love.

Patricia has an older brother who looks ...

... ""like a weasel with glasses,"" but that's just for starters. The real problem with him -- besides his red wiry hair and his freckles -- is that he's always telling her he can do everything better than she can. He can pick more blackberries, he can eat more rhubarb without puckering; he can run faster, climb higher, burp louder, and spit farther. Worst of all, he's four years older, ""always has been and always will be."" When Patricia's babushka -- her grandmother -- teaches her how to wish on a falling star, Patricia wishes to do something better than he does. She gets her wish and winds up seeing a different side of her brother as well. Polacco's (Babushka Baba Yaga, 1993, etc.; Pink and Say, see below) text is smooth, effortless, and completely natural-sounding. Her drawings are funny and vivacious -- as usual, her characters are drawn with wonderful facial expressions and limbs akimbo. She has the ability to transport you to her settings -- in this case, to a Michigan farm where you can practically feel the sun and smell the pies baking. Polacco has proved time and again that she is masterful both as illustrator and storyteller, and this book is no exception.

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.
Barnes and Noble Info

Thank You, Mr. Falker Storyline Online Audiobook

2009-04-10T13:22:00.004-04:00

Thank You, Mr. Falker

By Patricia Polacco
http://www.storylineonline.net/

Illustrated by Patricia Polacco

Edition: illustrated

Published by Book Wholesalers, Incorporated, 2002

ISBN 0758737793, 9780758737793 Ages 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,11

Little Trisha is miserable because she can't read. One day a new teacher recognizes Trisha's secret and sets out to help her overcome her problem

An autobiographical tribute to Polacco's ...

... fifth-grade teacher, the first adult to recognize her learning disability and to help her learn to read. Trisha begins kindergarten with high hopes, but as the years go by she becomes convinced she is dumb. She can draw well, but is desperately frustrated by math and reading. In fifth grade, Mr. Falker silences the children who taunt Trisha, and begins, with a reading teacher, to help her after school. A thank-you to a teacher who made a difference is always welcome, but this one is unbearably sentimental. Although the perspective is supposed to be Trisha's, many sentences give away the adult viewpoint, e.g., ""She didn't notice that Mr. Falker and Miss Plessy had tears in their eyes."" The extent to which Trisha limns her own misery and deifies Mr. Falker (complete with a classroom version of a ""He who is without sin among you"" scene) is mawkish. Mr. Falker's implicit sense of fairness--""Right from the start, it didn't seem to matter to Mr. Falker which kids were the cutest. Or the smartest. Or the best at anything""--is contradicted when Trisha is the object of praise: Mr. Falker, watching her draw, whispers, ""This is brilliant . . . absolutely brilliant. Do you know how talented you are?"" Polacco's disdain for all the other teachers and the students intrudes on Trisha's more profoundly heartbreaking perspective; the book lacks the author's usual flair for making personal stories universal.

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.
SEND A POSTCARD

Read Aloud Books Child's "Firsts"

2009-04-10T13:12:00.004-04:00

Special Occasion Reading for Your Child’s “Firsts”
United Through Reading®
http://www.unitedthroughreading.org/documents/booklist-for-military-families-by-occasion.pdf
Every child experiences its first day of school or their first time on a bike. And every parent should share in these joys, whether you are at home or at sea. The following list was initiated by the USS Belleau Wood Home Front Coordinator 2002 as a resource to help you share in your child’s “firsts.” Consider taking one of these special books with you so that even at sea, your child knows you are sharing in their exciting experience.
FIRST BOOKS TO READ ALOUD
Barnyard Banter-Fleming
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See-Martin Jr.
Good Night Moon or Buenas Noches Luna- Brown
1, 2, 3 to the Zoo - Carle
LOSING A TOOTH AND CARE OF TEETH
Brush Your Teeth Please – McGuire
The Real Tooth Fairy – Kaye
FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL
First Day-Mackall
The Kissing Hand – Penn
Oliver Pig at School – Van Leeuwen
What Did You Do Today? – Forward, Toby
Will I Have a Friend? - Cohen
POTTY TRAINING
On Your Potty - Miller
DOCTOR’S APPOINTMENT OR HOSPITAL VISIT
The Berenstain Bears Go to the Doctor – Berenstain
When I See My Doctor – Kuklin
A Trip to the Hospital:A Little Bill Story) - Watson
DENTIST APPOINTMENT
A Visit to the Dentist (A Little Bill Book) – Fremont
The Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist – Berenstain
BIRTHDAY
Birthday-Brown, Marc
Happy Birthday Everywhere – Erlbach
Hello, Amigos! – Brown, Tricia (Mex.-Amer.)
Happy Birthday - Bailey
RIDING A BIKE
Curious George Rides a Bike – Rey
Duck on a Bike – Shannon
Annie Flies the Birthday Bike - Dragonwagon

BookList Children & YA NYPL.org

2009-04-10T12:44:00.005-04:00

Children's & Young Adult
http://www.nypl.org/publications/children.cfm

These title are available ONLY through the Office of Collections and Services (212) 340-0912. See Ordering Information for specific details as well as an Order Form.

Booklists:

Recommended titles on a variety of subjects compiled by the Children's and Young Adult Librarians of The New York Public Library.
The Black Experience in Children's Books 2004
An annotated list of recommended books on the black experience for children ages 2-12, selected by a committee of The New York Public Library's children's librarians. Sections include picture books, stories, folklore, history, celebrations, and reference.
2005, 64 pages, paperback, $8.00, ISBN 0-87104-768-3
Books for the Teen Age 2008
A list of approximately 1,000 books arranged by subject for teenagers and compiled annually by Young Adult librarians in The Branch Libraries. This year's edition also includes interviews by teens with some of today's most exciting authors, as well as book reviews by teens.
2008, 32 pages, paperback, $10.00, ISBN-13: 978-0-87104-779-3
Celebrating the Dream, 2001
A booklist compiled for teenage readers on the black experience; subjects include fiction, the arts, poetry, sports, and politics.
2001, 35 pages, paperback, $10.00, ISBN 0-87104-753-5
Children's Books 2008: 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
One hundred titles published in 2006, selected as the best picture books, stories, and nonfiction for children from preschoolers to age 12.
2008, 16 pages, paperback, $3.00, ISBN 978-0-87104-777-9
Global Beat 1998
A list of multicultural books for teenagers including Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, India, the Far East, and Native Americans and the immigrant experience.
1998, 36 pages, paperback, $10.00, ISBN 0-87104-742-X
Stories: A List of Stories to Tell and Read Aloud
A selected list of favorite stories and poems to tell and read aloud, as well as resource materials for the storyteller.
Third edition, 1990, 104 pages, paperback, $6.00, ISBN 0-87104-709-8

Sophie's Masterpiece Storyline Online AudioBook

2009-04-10T12:28:00.003-04:00

Sophie's Masterpiece: A Spider's Tale

By Eileen Spinelli, Jane Dyer
http://www.storylineonline.net/

Illustrated by Jane Dyer

Edition: illustrated

Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2001

ISBN 0689801122, 9780689801129

32 pages

Sophie's no ordinary house spider. She's an artist; and every web she spins is more wondrous than the one before. But don't mention that to the guests at Beekman's Boardinghouse, because they don't like spiders. No one there wants anything to do with Sophie or her magnificent creations -- no one except the woman on the third floor. She's a new mother "weaving" something herself; and when she runs out of yarn, Sophie knows the time has finally come to create the masterpiece of a lifetime.

Eileen Spinelli and Jane Dyer, the award-winning duo who created the best-selling When Mama Comes Home Tonight, team up once again to tell the charming and bittersweet tale of an exceptionally gifted spider and the lengths she's willing to go to share her gifts with those around her.

The creators of When Mama Comes Home ...

... Tonight (1998) weave another affecting tale, in which a gentle, eight-legged artist spends her last strength on a gift to a newborn baby. Though Sophie's ingeniously patterned webs are the delight of her Mama and playmates, when she moves into a drab boarding house, its residents react to her presence with fear and disgust. Most of its residents, that is—weary and aging, Sophie finds a home and quiet welcome at last when she crawls into an expectant young mother's yarn basket. Sophie's webs, all finer than the finest lace, ripple with stars, flowers, and geometric patterns in Dyer's delicately detailed watercolors. She herself cuts a stylish bohemian figure, with long, slender legs in multicolored stockings radiating from a black body topped by a flaxen-haired human head. Learning that the young woman is too poor to knit or buy a blanket, Sophie gathers strands of moonlight, wisps of night and pine, old lullabies, snowflakes, and, last of all, her own heart to create a gift that the new mother receives with "love and wonderment." Sophie may physically resemble the proud, angry protagonist of Kate Hovey's Arachne Speaks (2000), but her generosity of spirit gives her a very different character. (Picture book. 7, 8, 9)

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

Sebastian's Roller Skates Storyline Online AudioBook

2009-04-10T10:39:00.004-04:00

Sebastian's Roller Skates

By Joan De Deu Prats, Joan De Prats
http://www.storylineonline.net/

Illustrated by Francesc Rovira

Edition: illustrated

Published by Kane/Miller, 2005

ISBN 1929132816, 9781929132812

32 pages
Sebastian doesn't talk much, even though he has a lot to say. But a pair of roller skates may unlock more than Sebastian's coordination?

In this story about the power of self ...

...-confidence, Sebastian is a reserved boy to the point of stifling shyness. He lives within his thoughts, unable to express himself to others, though full of fascinating ideas. When an abandoned pair of roller skates piques his interest, he tries to learn to skate with a quiet determination. Alas, his fear of falling down and failing prevents him from becoming proficient. An impromptu rescue of a runaway dog provides the impetus he needs to use his new skills on skates—instilling him with confidence and unleashing his self-restraint. Rovira skillfully conveys the changing tenor of Sebastian's moods in a distinctive manner: The illustrations are primarily full-bleed watercolor and ink; however, he uses his collages to indicate Sebastian's internal thoughts. At first, the collages consist of monochromatic ripped pieces of paper, full of detail, but in blacks and grays. As Sebastian overcomes his reticence, the collages increase in clarity and vibrancy until tale's end where they become a torrent of joyful, brightly colored images. Sebastian's triumph provides inspiration for timid readers to seek out their own strengths. (Picture book. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

Guji Guji Storyline Online AudioBook

2009-04-10T10:11:00.004-04:00

Guji Guji

By Chih-Yuan Chen, Zhiyuan Chen, María Fernanda Pulido Duarte

PREVIEW
http://www.storylineonline.net/

Translated by María Fernanda Pulido Duarte

Illustrated by Chih-Yuan Chen

Edition: illustrated

Published by Kane/Miller Book Publishers, Inc., 2007

ISBN 1933605340, 9781933605340 Ages 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

36 pages Read ROBERT GUILLAUME the voice of Rafiki in The Lion King

Raised from an egg by Mother Duck, Guji Guji is quite content with his life as a duckling, despite the fact that he doesn't look anything like his brothers. Then he meets three nasty creatures who not only convince him that he is, like them, a crocodile, but also try to persuade him to deliver his duck relatives for their dinner. Suggested level: junior, primary.

PreS-Gr 3-One day, an extra-large egg ...

... rolls right into Mother Duck's nest. She is busy reading and doesn't notice the new addition, but this lucky event will change her life. Her hatchlings include a yellow duckling; one with blue spots; another with brown stripes; and a rather unusual, crocodile-shaped youngster, named after his first words. Guji Guji grows bigger and stronger than his siblings (and more crocodilelike), but Mother loves all her offspring the same. When three duck-hungry crocodiles make fun of Guji Guji's ways and try to tempt him into betraying his family, he is put to the test. This beautifully written story has much to say about appreciating families and differences, and it will resonate with children long after the final page is turned. Chen's unique illustrations are compelling, down to the beautiful silhouette endpapers. The rich blues and earth tones and dramatic page layouts create moving scenes, but the quirky details and characters' expressions are hilarious. This charming spin on the ugly duckling theme is a must-have for any collection.-Julie Roach, Malden Public Library, MA

TAIWAN REVIEW

To Be a Drum Storyline Online AudioBook

2009-04-10T09:55:00.005-04:00

To Be a Drum

By Evelyn Coleman
PREVIEW
http://www.storylineonline.net/

Illustrated by Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson

Edition: illustrated

Published by Albert Whitman and Company, 2000

ISBN 0807580074, 9780807580073

32 pages Ages 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Read by JAMES EARL JONES who discusses his reluctance to speak, his stuttering, and his dyslexia.
Daddy Wes tells his children Mat and Martha that the drum has long been a powerful symbol to their African roots, and shares with them how the drum was the underlying heartbeat of their people through slavery, war, and the civil rights movement. Full-color illustrations.

The drum is a mytho-poetic symbol that ...

... links people to their African roots and to the rhythm of the earth, or so Daddy Wes tells his children, Mat and Martha. In broad sweeps of history--covering slavery, war, civil rights--and in the struggle for intellectual and artistic pursuits, Daddy Wes declares that the underlying heartbeat of a people is the drum. Metaphorically extending the idea, he explains that when the literal drum was taken from the slaves, the rhythm was internalized: ""When we talked to each other, we made our speech drums. When we stitched our quilts, we made our hands drums."" The message hovers, rising from the core of African-American experience, even when the image becomes abstract, even when the moralizing momentarily overtakes the drumbeat. That's the moment, in this joyful and robust chronicle, to turn to the art, where the energetic montages bustle with multi-textured backgrounds and figures, employing cloth, cotton, old buttons, sisal, wool, clay, and more, in theatrical, pulsing settings.