Are you looking for a Christmas gift for your NDA student? If you are, take a look at the display of favorite authors generated by students in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades. You might also want to click over to Beth Novey's article which provides links to book recommendations for kids and teens from NPR's Book Concierge. Another great gift option is Rory's Story Cubes. These special dice will turn everyone in your family into a storyteller!
Are you looking for a Christmas gift for your NDA student? If you are, take a look at the display of favorite authors generated by students in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades. You might also want to click over to Beth Novey's article which provides links to book recommendations for kids and teens from NPR's Book Concierge. Another great gift option is Rory's Story Cubes. These special dice will turn everyone in your family into a storyteller!
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Notre Dame Academy has a wonderful collection of picture books about Christmas and it has been so nice to enjoy some of them with the younger students this week. Here are a few of my favorites: Who doesn't love David Shannon? Have you read his book Too Many Toys? Well, The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza could be the story of when little Spencer grows up. Here we have Mr. Merriweather going completely over the top to create the most amazing Christmas display ever seen. Mr. Merriweather is inspired, enthusiastic, and dedicated, but what will the family and the neighbors have to say about his extravaganza? Only a Star, by Margery Facklam, takes the opposite approach to the Christmas Extravaganza. In this book, a little girl asks her father what the decorations were for the first Christmas. The dad explains that the only decoration was a star, but then he describes how the star magically transformed everything, from a spider's web to the hay in the manger, into spectacular ornaments to welcome the Child. The final pages provide information about the animals that appear in the book. Colleen Monroe tells the story of some legendary little creatures in her book The Christmas Humbugs. At first glance, one might think that these small bugs are up to nothing but mischief as they sneak into homes to bowl with ornaments and shake pine needles off the tree. The truth is, however, that they are actually on a mission to test Christmas spirit. How will you react this season when something bugs you? How strong is your spirit? Okay, we didn't have real chickens in the school, but we did have the lovely Lisa Bullard visit us in the Middle School Library on Monday. She is the author of the recently published Turn Left at the Cow, which features a rousing scene of real chicken poop bingo. This comic mystery is set in Minnesota and is filled with endearing, witty, and memorable characters. The students had plenty of questions for Ms. Bullard and she answered them with entertaining anecdotes and chances to play a simulated version of the "fowl" game. Because many students were enthusiastic about this book, I created a display with other novels featuring similar story elements. Some of the books on display were even recommendations from Ms. Bullard herself. Thank you Ms. Bullard and thank you to Mrs. Horn for planning the visit! As of last Friday, all of the Middle Schoolers have been introduced to how the Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award works and the books that are nominated this year. This award is also known as Minnesota's children's choice award because the winners are chosen based on the votes of Minnesota students. Students who would like to vote must read at least three of the nominated books. We will be voting at Notre Dame Academy in March and I will submit the votes to the state organization to be counted! If you'd like to learn more about the award, check out this prezi by Colleen Monroe. To get the middle schoolers excited about the books, I talked about six of them, showed book trailers for three, and read haiku about the last three. Here is what I shared: Cody Saron, the main character in Alibi Junior High, is not your typical 13 year-old. He has spent much of his life traveling with his dad on missions for the CIA. He has become an expert in military defense and martial arts and is fluent in five languages. Unfortunately, things get too dangerous in the world of espionage, and Cody is sent to live with his aunt in CT and must attend a regular school for the first time. Now all he has to do is fit in at his junior high. How hard can that be? Let’s just say it makes his former life seem like a walk in the park and to top it off, danger comes looking for him in CT. (realistic fiction) Twelve year-old Foster McFee also finds herself in a new town in Close to Famous by Joan Bauer. This teenage master baker and her mom have fled her mom’s abusive boyfriend and landed in the town of Culpepper, WV where they have to make a fresh start. Read this book to find out how Foster manages to deal with her biggest challenge, which happens to be learning to read, and how she pursues her dream of becoming the star of her own Food Network show. (realistic fiction) Jessica in The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen is another girl with a challenge and a dream. She has always been passionate about running and so she is more than devastated when she wakes up after a serious accident and finds that she has lost part of her leg. Add to this two parents who don’t know how to help, people who don’t know what to say, and a crazy amount of school work that she missed while she was recovering. Luckily, she finds herself seated in the back of the class next to a heroine named Rosa. Read the book to find out how Rosa gives Jessica the support she needs to get her life back on track. (realistic fiction) Doug Sweiteck, the main character of Gary Schmidt’s Okay for Now, has plenty of challenges of his own to deal with in this historical fiction story. His father is abusive, his oldest brother is away fighting in the Vietnam War, his other brother is a bully, and his family has just moved to a new town. Fortunately, it’s not all bad: Doug develops a friendship with a feisty girl named Lil, gets a job as a grocery delivery boy, and finds a passion and talent for drawing. But will these anchors get him through more tough times with his family and the town? Melody in Sharon Draper's Out of My Mind is an incredibly smart girl but nobody at her school has any idea because her cerebral palsy has always prevented her from speaking. This book is about how her classmates react when Melody is finally able to communicate through a specialized computer. Will they finally learn to understand and respect her? Who can Melody really count on? (realistic fiction) According to book reviewers and Alan Silberberg himself, Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze is funny, sad, hopeful, and helpful. It stars a 13 year-old guy named Milo who is dealing with typical teenage drama such as annoying neighbors and the fact that Summer Goodman is unaware of his existence. Milo, however, is also dealing with bigger problems like the death of his mom. If it weren’t for his new friends, Marshall, Hillary, and Sylvia, how would Milo ever make it? (realistic fiction) Escape Under the Forever Sky by Eve Yohalem (realistic fiction) Lucy is thirteen lives in Ethiopia Ambassador mom Kidnapped for ransom Escapes into wilderness Can she survive wild? Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Perry (realistic fiction) Ranch in Oregon Military family Brother is youngest Left with grandparents to tend the ranch by himself This is not for him Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (historical fiction) Lithuania Lina is fifteen 1939 Sent to Siberia Cold, hungry in labor camp She risks by writing
We have been very busy in the Middle School Library cataloguing books that are new additions to the collection. In particular, we are excited about some new non-fiction titles and new books for our series section. If you haven't stopped in lately, come see what's new! Yesterday, Notre Dame Academy had the pleasure of a visit from author-illustrator David LaRochelle. He helped the students in grades 2, 3, and 4 flex their creative muscles in writer's workshop sessions and he read to the preschoolers. Each of these classes also enjoyed watching Mr. LaRochelle draw a picture for them with his signature style. In addition, the library now has three new beautifully signed picture books! Check out Mr. LaRochelle's website to learn more about this talented Minnesotan. Thank you Mr. LaRochelle for teaching and entertaining us and thank you to Mrs. Horn for making the visit possible!
I had a nice surprise one morning last week when Jon and Joe S. stopped by with two new books for the library. The two books pictured above are the first birthday books that Notre Dame Academy has received and we are so happy to be able to add them to our collection. Thank you Joe and Jon!
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