I just heard about In2Books from Dr. Stein Brunvard's site. From ePal's In2Books site, they describe In2Books as a program that "promotes literacy across the curriculum by matching students with adult pen pals who read the same books and correspond online about the important issues in the books. The books are carefully selected to align with literacy, social studies and science standards."
Teachers and schools can apply to be part of the program, and Title I schools can participate for free. Yep, that's right! For free!! Other schools and teachers can participate and use some of the resources for free but they must also provide some resources, too, such as the books and the pen pals.
Now, we're talking about some content area reading with focus on social studies and science but with fiction, too. So, there definitely is a variety across the narrative, fiction and expository texts. Woohoo! Dr. Brunvard says, he can "can imagine senior citizens, retired educators, preservice teachers and even responsible high school students participating as pen pals. What a great way to tap into a population of volunteers that might not be able to come into the classroom to help out but could be very helpful as 'virtual volunteers' ."
If you're using it or going to find out about using it, let me know.
Tony DiTerlizzi, bestselling author of The Spiderwick Chronicles, will be at Barnes & Noble Wolfchase (2774 N Germantown Parkway) on Sunday, August 24 at 2:00 pm to sign his new book Kenny and the Dragon. This is in conjunction with a Bookfair for
Make a Wish Foundation
If you like the patterns in If You Give a Pig a Pancake or ...a Mouse a Cookie, then you're about in time for the new If You Give a Cat a Cupcake. Author Laura Numeroff has a new book coming out September 30. You can find out a little more about the story and preorder online at Barnes & Noble.
Title: Ruby Lu Brave and True.
Author: Lenore Look
Ages: 2nd - 5th grades
Quick Review: Cute. Loved it. Easy read. Funny. Peer into the world of Asian Americans. Sheryl McFarlane offers a nice short review, too.
Title: Feathers
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Ages: 6th - 9th grades
Quick Review: Beautiful story. Deserves every award it receives. Liked it so much, I made it into a Sunday School lesson for my 8th graders. Prejudice comes in so many forms. Didn't like the very end so much, but the first 98% is wonderful. Read a contrasting point of view at Jeanette's blog.
Title: Doing Time Online
Author: Jan Siebold
Ages: 4th - 7th grades
Quick Review: Nice, thoughtful story. Do-the-right-thing-kind-of story. Check out Nancy Keane's book talks for possible lesson ideas.
AUTHOR: Melinda Long
AGES: Preschool - Elementary
REVIEW: How I Became a Pirate will make you laugh...if you're a kid or an adult. The story of Braid Beard offering Jeremy Jacob to join his crew will keep you wondering where the story goes. The pirate language and humorous observations by Jeremy Jacob will make you giggle, and if you use your best pirate voice, then every kid will pay close attention, laughing at all the right parts. Not be missed are the incredible illustrations by David Shannon. the detail and humor in all the paintings are awesome.
I read this one to my duaghter's preschool class (in my best pirate voice) and they were mesmerized and laughing at all the antics from the pirates. They especially like the very end when Jeremy Jacob takes off for soccer practice and they find out what his team is called. While pirates might seem like a "boy's" topic, the girls liked it, too. Everyone kept inching up closer and closer to investigate the illustrations.
Melinda Long's Web site has a short synopsis of the story, and Hallsville Intermediate School's Book Blog has an audio recording of the students reading the book. This would be a great addition if you had emergent readers or struggling readers and they wanted to follow along. Melinda visited my sister Lisa's school and read to the kids. At Melinda's site you can also check out her schedule to see where she'll be and when you might could meet her. Also, at Melinda's blog, you can see updates from the author herself and recommendations for integration into your curriculum. If you like this one, then be sure to check out the sequel in Pirates Don't Change Diapers. Just as funny and entertaining.
AUTHOR: Mo Willems
AGES: 2 – 6
REVIEW: Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity is the sequel to Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale. In Knuffle Bunny Too, our half-pint heroine Trixie is off to preschool with Knuffle Bunny for show and tell, but she finds out he's not so "one-of-a-kind." For a complete synopsis of the story, check out Books Recommended by Robin's post.
What I like most about the Knuffle Bunny stories is the portraits of Trixie's dad. In Knuffle Bunny, the dad somehow allows Trixie to leave/lose Knuffle Bunny at the laundromat. In Knuffle Bunny Too, the dad has to make a middle-of-the-night exchange not dissimilar to an FBI hostage negotiation. I think I may like how Willems handles the dad, because I believe dads get treated like second class parents in many publication. So, author Willems portrays the dad a the humorous one that somehow is expected to create miracles.
Like the original Knuffle Bunny, Knuffle Bunny Too was also awarded a Caldecott Honor Book. You can find out more about Knuffle Bunny and Mo Willems' books at his site, where there is artwork, updates and information about sites for his book tour.
This so rocks! The American Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children announce that The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick won the Caldecott Medal for picture book this year. In an earlier post, I reviewed The Invention of Hugo Cabret and advocated for it to win the Caldecott medal. I wasn't sure, however, it the judges would consider it a complete picture book. Read About.com's notice of the winner, and they include a synopsis of the book as well. At the homepage for Hugo Cabret, you can find out more about the history of the author, the history of the book and the history in the book. You can also watch a slideshow for the opening sequence of illustrations in the book.
Janice Harayda at One Minute Book Reviews does an excellent job of reviewing the novel. She gave it an 'A' for packaging and a 'C' for writing. I liked it a lot more. But what I like even more about Janice's review is that right below the review she includes s reading group guide to Hugo Cabret. Awesome! Michele Norris, one of the voices of NPR, also offers up a review of Hugo Cabret. This one has a audio podcast, illustrations from the book and an excerpt.
If you would like to find out more about the Caldecott Medal, then check out About.com's article or to the ALA/ALSC's page for Caldecott for a list of winners back to 1938.
AUTHOR: Eoin Colfer
AGES: 4th – 10th grades
REVIEW: Finally, we see redemption in Artemis Fowl. He's able to build an uneasy allance with the People. Barnes and Noble offers this synopsis. EmilyP has a cute take on this one as well.
This quick read is pure fun. The action is fast and the technology and magic pretty incredulous. You gotta love this one.
AUTHOR: Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black
AGES: 7 – 12 years old
REVIEW: I just finished all five of the original Spiderwick Chronicles, and I have to say that I was pretty impressed for such short books. These novels are quick reads and really targeted at second through fifth graders. So, the plot lines are pretty simple, and the language is very accessible for children. For a review of The Spiderwick Chronicles, see Blais' article for USA Today.
While many movie and books sites, such as Cleveland Free Times and About.com, will give you the synopsis of the storyline about faeries, hobgoblins, boggarts, gryphons, dragons and ogres, the main story of Spidewick as us to suspend our disbelief about the world of Fey. As we follow the children's introduction into the Faerie world, we are also initiated into the new world around us. With each book, we delve deeper into the fantastical world.
However, the most real aspect of this book is the much less obvious subplot about "bad dads." As soon as The Field Guide begins, we meet the Graces, who are recovering from the separation of mom and dad. In later installments, we come to understand that Aurthur Spiderwick became obsessed with his field guide and the world of Fey, which caused his disappearance and broke his family. Finally, in The Wrath of Mulgarath, we understand just how self-absorbed Mr. Grace is and how angry the children are at him for collapsing their family and sending them into this dangerous spiral of events.
I believe the books improve over the series. Mulgarath to me is the bes of the five. The action, setting descriptions and emotions are all best portrayed in this book. I would certainly recommend The Spiderwick Chronicles to anyone. They are certainly appropriate for the 7th through 5th grader, but I would encourage a teen to pick through them as well.
Nickelodeon brings us the motion picture adaptation of the The Spiderwick Chronicles open in theatres February 14, 2008. Here's the trailer courtesy of YouTube. I think because of the relatively short stories, the movie adaptation may be very good at following the storyline. We'll see.
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