Spring Break Follow-Up!

Well I had an enjoyable if somewhat uneventful spring break, and I hope you all enjoyed your spring break as well! I saw a lot of tanned faces at school today, and I think I should go on a sunny getaway next year! But I basically had a few mini vacations, because I read quite a few books! I went on quite the adventure with a lost china rabbit, spent some time in Iowa with a sweet library cat, and even travelled to a magical land of gryphons and enchanters.

The Pihhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones
This one was an enjoyable read, a bit of a different kind of fantasy with enchanters and magical creatures.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

If you are fascinated with Greek mythology you'll love this adventure about a boy who finds out he is the son of a Greek god and a mortal mother, and monsters are after him... I'll be reading this one aloud to Gr. 7s to tie into their Greek mythology studies.




The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Dicamillo
Edward Tulane is a somewhat arrogant and vain china rabbit who is always dressed in very fine clothes and sits at the dinner table with the little girl who loves him dearly, but finds their conversations too boring to listen to. When Edward is lost overboard the ship that is taking the family on a trip he soon realizes how good he had it. This is a really wonderful story and I want to share this as a read aloud as well one of these days!


Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

I took a break from reading books from our library for one that is about two of my favourite things: cats and libraries! How fun it would be to have a library cat like this public library did in Spencer, Iowa. Dewey was found in the library's book drop one freezing winter morning and became the resident library cat and became the dear friend of many.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

Thirty fun stories for the students in the class on the 30th floor of Wayside school, accidentally built sideways. After Mrs. Gorf is turned into an apple and eaten by Louis the yard teacher, Mrs. Jewls becomes the teacher of the very eccentric class of chimpanzees… wait or are they just really cute children? You might think they are silly, but they probably think the same thing about you…

Currently Reading: Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson

What I'll Be Reading

Here's a little update on a few of the new books that I'll be reading during spring break:

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron with illustrations by Matt Phelan
Winner of the Newberry Medal

"Lucky is mostly happy in Hard Pan, California (population 43), with her guardian, Brigitte, and her beloved dog, HMS Beagle. But Lucky knows that the difference between a guardian and an actual mom is that a mom can't resign. So when she becomes convincd Brigitte is planning to return to France, what can Lucky do except run away from home, with HMS Beagle and the world's heaviest survival-kit backpack in tow?" from back cover.


The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones

"Spells always have consequences and it's Chrestomanci's job to make sure everything is safely under control. Even so, in the village around Chrestomanci Castle, all sorts of secret magical misuse is going on. And when Cat Chant finds the Pinhoe egg, chaos is just the beginning!" from back cover.

I'm looking forward to reading this one especially becuase I've read another book by Diana Wynne Jones that I really enjoyed, plus a Japanese anime movie based on the book which I've watched twice!

I also hope to finish the book I'm currently reading: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.

Spring Break is Near!

The last week of school before spring break is here and time for relaxing in sight! To make that vacation even better, you can take out twice as many items from the library for spring break! Students can borrow 10 items and they will be due Mon. March 30 when we get back to school, so remember to put your library books in your backpack before coming back to school. I know I am planning to get a bunch of our new books read over my spring break so that I have lots of good recommendations for you when we get back. Have a great spring break!

Book Review Blogs

I don't quite remember how I found out about this blog, but awhile ago I discovered cleanreads.blogspot.com with reviews of books that are wholesome and enjoyable. I hadn't looked at it in awhile, and when I went online to see if there were any new reviews, I mistakenly thought it was called goodcleanreads.blogspot.com and discovered another great book review blog that gives reviews as well as rates each book for it's content in the areas of violence, sexual content, and profane language. Both blogs review adult and young adult and children's books, so it's a great place for me to find books to add to our collection in which I know there won't be any problems with the content, but others can find suggestions for good books as well. It's so handy to have a resource like PluggedIn from Focus on the Family where you can find out about the content in movies and music, and for some, they like to know about these things in books too! So take a look and find a good new book!

Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art

New Item in the Library:

Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art


Many will recognize the names of such children's illustrators as Quentin Blake, Eric Carle, Tomie dePaola, Chris Van Allsburg, and recall enjoying their stories and illustrations in beautiful children's books. In this wonderful book these illustrators and many others share a self-portrait, some pictures of them in their youth, pictures of their studio, some sketches and early work, as well as a letter to kids sharing insight on the life and work of an artist. Get some inpsiration from fellow artists!