Thanksgiving

We will be celebrating being thankful this week and next in the library. All of the kids will hear Thanksgiving at the Tappletons' by Eileen Spinelli. This book is a great reminder that Thanksgiving is not really about food and fancy dinners but about family and friends. The Kinders also helped me read I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson. Ask them what the woman stuffed herself with and what happened to her at the end of the story. We had a lot of fun with this one!

Next week the older kids will be hearing 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey, the author of the Captain Underpants series. This is a very short, very silly book and will be a fun book for our short week at school. 3rd graders will hear Thank You, Sarah by Laurie Halse Anderson, a true story about the woman who fought to make Thanksgiving a Federal holiday. The younger kids will hear A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting, This is the Turkey by Abby Levine and Gracias*Thanks by Pat Mora.

I hope you all have a restful and fun filled break. I am thankful for the opportunity to get to know each of your children. Happy Thanksgiving!

Elections and Veterans

We kicked off November talking about elections and the importance of voting. Upper grades heard either Elizabeth Leads the Way by Tanya Lee Stone or I Could Do That by Linda Arms White. Both of these books are about the fight for women to get the right to vote. K-2 got to vote on what they wanted to read so some classes heard Duck for President by Doreen Cronin while others heard President Pennybaker by Kate Feiffer. I hope all of you went out and had your voices heard on Election Day.

We moved on to celebrating our nation's veterans by reading America's White Table by Margot Theis Raven. This is a powerful book and the 4th and 5th graders who heard it were very thoughtful about the service of our troops. The younger grades heard Quackenstein Hatches a Family by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen. This is a great book that led to a wonderful discussion about what makes a family. Ask your child how Quackenstein ended up with the family he wanted. The Kinders also heard The Perfect Nest by Catherine Friend. This is one of my favorite books to read aloud and is also a great example of how families are different.

Monsters!

Last week in the library was devoted to monsters! In celebration of Halloween (for those who participate) and monsters (for those who don't) I read all of the classes I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll. This was a book I had on my wish list at the book fair and I was lucky enough to have 2 different families donate a copy. Thanks to the Brightenfields and the Browns for giving us a great read! Ms. Kasen and Ms. Bechman's class had already heard this story, because their teachers have excellent taste in books, so they heard Boris and Bella by Carolyn Crimi.

The Kinders also got to do a monster dance in the library this week. We practiced our best monster moves to If You're a Monster and You Know It. Ask your child to show you what monsters do! We finished up our Kinder program with the book Happy Halloween, Stinkyface by Lisa McCourt.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!