Stepping Back in Time

Recently I discovered a website that allows me to download, read and review books, NetGalley.  I thought this would be a great way to find the best books for our library at Alward.

The first book I chose to read was The Universe of Fair by Leslie Bulion.  Having grown up in Ionia, with the Ionia Free Fair...a.k.a, "The Best 10 Days of Summer", I knew this book would hit home with me.

From the beginning of this book, I was transported back to the Midway, smelling the fair fries, hearing the sounds from the Grand Stand and the rides combined.  Miller's first day at the Fair was not at all what he had planned, but what a day it was!  I don't want to give anything away, just trust me, this is a book you will want to read as a family.  I'm going to add this to my book order faster than you can say "cotton candy"!

Keep Reading!
Mrs. F

Two Amazing Books

The library was buzzing this week during Book Fair, I was buzzing too....I've got new books!  My annual book order was delivered!  I feel like a kid on Christmas when they come in, I don't know what to do first, open them to hear that "new book sound", or smell them.  Yep, I'm a book smeller.  
The first book I finished was Junonia by Kevin Henkes.

Returning to the beach cottage--a cottage named Scallop--where she has always celebrated her birthday is a special occasion for Alice Rice.

Who will see the first dolphin this time? The first pelican? What will have changed? Stayed the same? And will this be the year she finally finds a junonia shell?

Alice's friends are all returning, too. And she's certain her parents have the best party planned for her. Alice can't wait. If Alice is lucky, everything will be absolutely perfect. Will Alice be lucky?

Early Sunday morning while the rest of the house was sleeping, I finished The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.   I'm a big softy when it comes to animals.  I can't watch an animal movie without crying, it's actually quite embarrassing.  Thankfully nobody was awake to witness my blubbering this time.

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope

Both of these books are great Read Aloud choices for any family.  I hope there's a long wait list for these!  As an added bonus, there are quizzes for both books.

Keep Reading!
Mrs. Fellows

*The book reviews were taken from Goodreads.

Book Trailer

I have a big problem....I read too many library blogs!  But, the good news for kids, is that I get great book ideas from these blogs!  The one series that stood out to me was The Genius Files by Dan Gutman.  I gave the first book to a student in 4-S last week, he brought it back the next day and told me he loved it!  So here's a book trailer I found, maybe this will peak your interest also. (click the link under the photo)



The Genius Files by Dan Gutman (Book Trailer)

Keep Reading!
Mrs. Fellows

This week I've been reading two different picture books.  The first one is Homer, the Library Cat by Reeve Lindbergh, the kids seemed to really enjoy this book.  The best part was when a student was amazed at my ability to purr!  It's nice to hear that I can still entertain kids :)

The next book I actually checked out from Georgetown Public Library, I know, I have a library full of books and I'm going to the public library, what can I say?  This book was called The Incredible Book-Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers.  I adore this book!  There are so many hidden gems in the illustrations, too funny!

Keep Reading!
Mrs. Fellows

BACK IN BUSINESS!

Yep, that's right, the library is open!  Thanks to all of the amazing parents that helped me relabel the ENTIRE library, we were able to open on Monday.  I even had one student tell me "I didn't know if you even worked here anymore Mrs. Fellows".  That was a huge bummer to hear :(  I loved having kiddos back in the library, we reviewed our library policies, and kids finally checked out books.  Because of this, I wasn't able to read to all of the classes, fear not, I will do that next week.  I've been saving some extra special books to read to them!  I did read Mr. Wiggles Book by Paula Craig to Pre-K and K, this is a great book about book care.

Have a great weekend, keep reading.
Mrs. Fellows

When will the library be open?

This is a very big question on everyone's mind.....including mine!  The library is in the process of re-labeling EVERY SINGLE BOOK right now......yikes!!  Thanks to our amazing Alward parents, we have been putting Guided Reading Level labels on the spine of our books that have a Reading Counts quiz.  Reading Counts is the new reading program we're starting this year.  Stay tuned for more details about Reading Counts.  In the meantime, thank you for being patient while we finish this process.  Let me tell you, I'm REALLY missing the kiddos!  I can't wait to have my library full of life again.

Until then, keep reading!
Mrs. Fellows

Summer Reading (Audio Books)

I hope you're all having a great summer!  Have you found some great books to read?  I recently went to the public library to check out some audio books, to keep me occupied while taking a road trip with my son to a baseball tournament.  I would highly recommend this to you and your family, it was a great time filler.  The two books we listened to were When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, and Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham.

   

We enjoyed both books!  I thought When You Reach Me was one of the best books I've read in a long time, I can't wait to have kids read this when schools starts!  I have a few students in mind that I will give this to.  Riley liked Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer better than the other, but I think that's because the character is a boy.  Again, I thought it was a great book.  I've read several John Grisham books, this caught our attention from the start.
Stay cool, keep reading!
Mrs. Fellows