Reading & Weeding

Thanks to Matthew Winner and this month's Shelf Challenge, I am reading and weeding! Unfortunately, my blogging is falling behind!  I do suffer from self-diagnosed ADD, which is why, while I have tried to work on my blog, I have also backed up my phone, looked for graduation announcements for my daughter, checked email, etc!   :) So, although I am suppose to be reading the books on my "N" shelf of the Everybody section, I somehow weeded approximately 50 books in the Fiction section!  Anyway, here are some finds from the Everybody section:

Book #7

I found Tuff Fluff: The Case of Duckie's Missing Brain by Scott Nash to be a picture book that would definitely appeal to the older crowd!  There a a lot of words on the page and the vocabulary is more advanced. Tuff Fluff is a detective living in a stuffed animal world. He is trying to help Duckie find his missing brain. In the story, there is a distinction between the stuffed and the bean bag animals, so they go to Beantown for clues. It is a fun book and could be used when teaching descriptive writing. It has only been checked out once in the past 3 years. I am now wondering if a lot of these books aren't finding their way into the hands of readers because the "N" shelf is on the bottom.  I created a "Books from the Bottom Shelf" display recently to try to circulate some of the treasures students aren't stooping for!  ;)  I think I will encourage students to find a book from the bottom shelf this week and see what they find! 

Book #9

One thing I have enjoyed is finding books and immediately passing them on to a teacher to use in their classroom!  King of the Playground by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor was passed on to our Counselor, Ms. Fuller!  She has made bullying her focus this year, and although this was an older book it is still a great one to use during her lessons!  I could see teachers pairing this with The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill. 

And then I came to Cindy Neuschwander's math picture books. These are great to introduce and reinforce math concepts! Marilyn Burns has created math activites to accompany some of these books. The three I read focused on multiplication, capacity and patterns. I will take these to classrooms for teachers to use with last minute reviews for STAAR testing! 

Books 15, 16, & 17

Books #21 & 22

It has been a great week of reading, and I am definitely feeling good about the books I am weeding!  I can't wait to see how much better the shelves look at the end of the month!  Here are a couple that are being retired! 

Day 6- I Have a Friend

Unfortunately, it does not look like this book has a friend as it has never been checked out, or at least not under our current system.  I Have a Friend is by Keiko Narahashi and was published in 1987. It is in very good condition, maybe due to lack of check-outs. :/  The friend in the story is the little boy's shadow, and he describes the happenings of the day with his shadow.  One line that I liked was, "He is yesterday's night left behind for the day."

It is a very quick read, with vibrant illustrations.  Another one for me to try with my kinders tomorrow to get their opinion.  

Almost caught up! Happy Reading/Weeding!  

Shelf Challenge Days 3, 4 & 5

Ok, I am covering multiple days in one post since I am several days behind.  :)  

Day 3 found Little Bear written by Diane Namm and illustrated by Lisa McCue. This book was published in 1989 and, although it may have been checked out at some point, there is no check out history showing.  In the story, Mama Bear is trying to convince Little Bear to eat.  During a trip to the grocery store, she asks him if he wants peas, cheese, and other items that rhyme with each other.  Little Bear will have nothing to do with these foods.  

I'm going to read this with my kinder friends on Monday and see what they think. I will let them decide if we should keep it or not.  :)

Day 4 brought Ready to Dream by Donna Jo Napoli and her daughter, Elena Furrow.  Ally and her mom are in Australia for the summer.  Ally is a budding artist who meets Pauline, a local artist.  Throughout the story Pauline guides Ally to appreciate art found in nature.  The illustrations in this book are by Bronwyn Bancroft, an Aboriginal artist.  The illustrations definitely make this book!  This would be a great book to share with our art teacher!  I'll hand this off to her on Monday!

Day 5 happens to bring another book by Donna Jo Napoli called The Wishing Club. This is a great book to use for a math lesson on fractions! Four siblings spend their evenings wishing upon a star.  Each day they get just a fraction of what they wished for.  Samantha decides they are wishing wrong, but then figures out the pattern to what they are getting.  The children combine their wishes and hope they will get a whole pet!  I will share this with 2nd & 3rd grade teachers to see if they can use it when teaching fractions.  :)

So, two out of three of the books look like ones that should circulate now that I've "found" them!  Can't wait to see what other treasures are on the "N" shelf!

Shelf Challenge for School Library Month

April is a GREAT month!  It is a month to celebrate School Libraries!  This year, for School Library Month, I joined Matthew Winner (read about his finds here) and several other librarians, in a Shelf Challenge.  I am to read every book on the "N" shelf in my Everybody section.  I am a few days behind in my post since this week we have been testing, but so far, here is what I found!  :)

I was surprised when I realized how few picture books I have on the "N" shelf!  If I can get going, maybe I can also read the "O" shelf!  :)

Day 1 The first book on the shelf is The Lunch Line by Karen Nagel. Kim forgets her lunch at home and must decide what she can buy for lunch for her dollar.  The math activities were designed by Marilyn Burns.  It has only been checked out by a couple of teachers in the past four years.  The book is about 17 years old, and I'm thinking maybe we need to go ahead and weed it. ;)

Day 2 The second book on the shelf is Who Made This Cake? by Chihiro Nakagawa and Illustrated by Junji Koyose.  A birthday cake is being made for a little boy by his toys. The book has recently been checked out by one of our kinder students and was adopted as a "Birthday Book" in 2009, when it arrived in our library.  It is a cute book!

  
More to come!

Happy Reading!