Bits and Pieces of Cool Book News! :)

     I love getting updates from blogs on my blog roll, e-newsletters, and connections involving literacy on Facebook. Here are a few bits and pieces of cool book related news I've picked up in the past week. :) Have fun exploring!

Favorite "Diary" Books from Harry Bliss Coming to the Small Screen

    The Diary of a Worm, Diary of a Spider, and Diary of a Fly is being created into an animated series according to a Publishers Weekly article.  The show will most likely not debut until 2013. It is also reported that it will blend in earth science concepts into the fantasy storyline, which is super!

Video Interview of Harry Bliss on Inspirations from Official Website

Author Ingrid Law Interview from Titlewave

      Follett Library Resources has a e-newsletter that you can sign up for called Titlewave. It's full of upcoming publications, author interviews, and more. This month features an interview of Ingrid Law, the author of Savvy and Scumble. Savvy is one of the Battle of the Books novels this year, too! It was one of my favorite reads last summer, and I can wait to dig into Scumble!

Titlewave - Behind the Book with Ingrid Law

To find out more about these books, visit Ingrid Law's Official Website.




The Invention of Hugo Cabret to be a Movie!

     Publishers Weekly reported that Martin Scorsese is creating a film adaptation of the 2008 Caldecott Medal winning book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, written and masterfully illustrated by Brian Selznick. The release date is set for December 9th in theaters. This Columbia Picture's film is supposedly filmed in 3D!  I can't wait to see the adaptation, although this definitely will be a case of "the book was better than the movie." Selznick's amazingly detailed and thought provoking illustrations are irreplaceable. :)  

The Official Site for The Invention of Hugo Cabret from author/illustrator Brian Selznick

                                     Slide Show of Introduction of Hugo Cabret

    Also of related interest, PW notes that Scholastic will be publishing Selznick's newest book, Wonderstruck, which is slated for a September 13, 2011 release date. I bet it will look amazing!

Wonderstruck - Selznick's Newest Book News

Check Out the 2011 American Library Association Youth Media Awards - Including the Newbery and Caldecott Awards

     Last Monday, the American Library Association announced its 2011 award winners for the Newbery, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, and more. This is like the Oscars of the children's literature world! In case you haven't had a chance to check out the winners, be sure to visit ALA's press release announcement to explore the medalists.

     Here is the rebroadcast of the announcement provided by ALA. It's approximately an hour and 12 minutes long. You can skip ahead to the sections that you are interested in by hovering over the bottom of the video to bring up the sliding fast forward button. It can inspire you to discover a new book at our media center, public library, or from a colleague's collection. If you've read one and would like to recommend it, feel free to leave a comment. :) Enjoy!

Reading Rockets from PBS Station WETA - Fantastic Resources!

     Reading Rockets is a well-respected, in depth website from the Washington D.C.'s WETA PBS station. This website has a focus on early learners and the primary grades, and offers a wealth of information that you can link on your Edline page for parents, too. Explore some of the features I noted below to get a feel for the site if you are unfamiliar with it. Be sure to bookmark it and check out the author videos, my personal favorite! :)

Website Highlights:

• Classroom Strategies Resources - This is a new section on the website which provides ideas and reminders on what are effective instructional strategies to apply before, during, or after reading. It also highlights whether it is directed at individuals, small groups, or whole group instruction. These components are divided within these realms of reading and writing instruction for early grade learners:
• print awareness
• phonological awareness
• phonics
• fluency
• vocabulary
• comprehension
• writing

Books and Authors:

• Author Study Resources
• Author Video Interviews
• Author Study "Toolkit"
• Themed Book Lists

Additional technological resources through the website:

• You can also sign up for electronic newsletters on updates from the website. It's current and updated frequently!
• On the downloadable free guides page, you can look at the 32 page teacher's guide. It's informative!
• You'll see two boxes called widgets on the right side of my blog from Reading Rockets that you can explore as well.

Parent Resources:
       
       You can find some good links for your Edline page here. 

• Main Page for Parents
• Parent Tips
• There are numerous downloadable free guides that are available here. The Family Guide is available in Spanish and English together. Empowering Parents is also a great, full color pamphlet available through this page, too.

Reading Rockets Blogs:

• Sound It Out - This blog is written by Dr. Joanne Meier and gives advice on raising readers both at home and in the classroom.

• Page by Page - From children's literature expert Maria Salvadore, this blog highlights best book picks and how they can be used at home and in the classroom.

Other Resources on the Internet Beyond the Website Reading Rockets:

• Find Reading Rockets on YouTube: Meet the Authors Video Clips
• Find Reading Rockets on Facebook
• Find Reading Rockets on Twitter 
• Find Reading Rockets Podcasts from iTunes

Thank-you to Reading Rockets for this fabulous resource and emphasis on involving all the influential people in a child's learning life! :)

Free Poster from Eric Carle!

     I was pleasantly surprised when I was reading my subscription copy of the February 2011 Family Circle magazine. Included as a folded insert is a large poster from children's book author and illustrator Eric Carle! It's a large size and perfect for laminating and adding a splash to your classroom library. Carle has produced this in support of American Cancer Society and its strides in fighting childhood leukemia. What a worthy cause!  

To Make You Smile: Book Trailer for It's a Book By Lane Smith

Touchstone Text: Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davies & Illustrated by Sarah-Fox Davies

  

   Are you looking for a nonfiction read aloud to add to your genre study of nonfiction reading and writing? Here is a touchstone text called Bat Loves the Night written by Nicola Davies and illustrated by Sarah Fox-Davies (Candlewick Press, 2001.)  After an interactive read aloud of the text, one aspect about the writer's craft that can be highlighted is the author's rich use of descriptive language. Using the document camera, you can revisit the text and notice the adjectives used to describe the bat and other aspects within the story. The second part of the author's craft that can be noticed is how Davies made comparisons to help illustrate points. You can discuss how she does this in order to connect to the children's existing background knowledge. She particularly uses a lot of similes in the text, as you can see in the second portion of the anchor chart. 




A lesson chart by Wendy Melzer for Bat Loves the Night written by Nicola Davies  
(Candlewick Press, 2001) 


 

Looking for more ways to use this anchor text in your classroom? Check out a few of these resourceful links! :)



• Continue with an author study of Nicola Davies and her style of narrative nonfiction writing. Click here to go to Walker Books and read more about her in her own words.  Check out other books by her in the nonfiction "Read and Wonder" collection from Candlewick Press. Also on the "Read and Wonder" link, you can see additional books written by different authors as well.  

• This link will take you to Candlewick Press and their "Read and Wonder" PDF Teacher's Guide. (I happen to have a printed version they sent me if you would like to see it.)

• On Read Write Think, you can explore this lesson called Four Simple Steps to Small-Group Guided Writing created by Dr. Sharan Gibson. It uses Bat Loves the Night.

• I am a big fan of National Geographic for Kids. You can extend the lesson by modeling how to synthesize information from an online article by sharing this nonfiction article about The Amazing Bats of Braken Cave.

• Here is a wealth of additional ideas to peruse from the Oregon Reading Association's website. The document was created by Karen Antikajian. Check it out here at Oregon Reads: Learning Ideas for Bat Loves the Night.

Feel free to share your ideas in the comments section below. Do you have ideas with this book? The series? The author for an author study? I'd love to hear your ideas! :)