Great 2011 Summer Reads from Battle of the Books, Reading Rockets, and the Virginia Readers Choice Books

     Although I am on hiatus with the blog for summer break until August, I can't resist passing along some ideas for summer reading! If you look to the right, my Shelfari shelf shows the fifteen books that are on the 2012 Battle of the Books list for the 4th/5th grade. You can "browse" the shelves by clicking on "next" at the bottom of the shelf and you can click on the titles to see reader ratings and feedback. 


     One of my favorite sites for promoting literacy is Reading Rockets (you can read a previous post I wrote about this site by clicking here.)  Their 2011 Big Summer Read page gives suggestions for families and educators for ages 0-3, 3-6, and 6-9 year olds. The guides can be downloaded for an easy list for summer library explorations.  


    Another great source of summer reading suggestions can be found in the Virginia Readers Choice book lists. This list is sponsored by the Virginia State Reading Association. You can find out more about the books by clicking on the Primary or Elementary listings here:

Primary Lists for 2011

Elementary Lists for 2011

Titles from the Primary List:

• Otis by Loren Long (Philomel Books, 2009)

• Harry and Horsie by Katie Van Camp (Balzer & Bray, 2009)

• We Are In a Book by Mo Willems (Hyperion, 2010)

• The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett (MacMillan Children’s Books, 2010)

• Testing the Ice by Sharon Robinson (Scholastic, 2009)

• A Isn’t for Fox by Wendy Ulmer (Sleeping Bear Press, 2007)

• What Pet to Get by Emma Dodd (Scholastic, 2008)

• Machines Go To Work by William Low (Henry Holt, 2009)

• The Big Elephant in the Room by Lane Smith (Hyperion, 2009)

• How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills (Schwartz and Wade, 2010)

Titles from the Elementary List:

• The 100 Year Old Secret by Tracy Barrett (Henry Holt, 2008)

• 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass (Scholastic, 2009)

• All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn, (Sandpiper-Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008)

• Annie Glover is NOT a Tree Lover by Darleen Bailey Beard (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2009)

• Captain Nobody by Dean Pitchford (G.P. Putnam and Sons, 2009)

• Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak by Kay Winters (Sutton, 2008)      (Find out more about Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak in one of my previous blog post)

• The Dog Days of Charlotte Hayes by Marlane Kenedy (Greenwillow Books, 2009)

• Drita, My Homegirl by Jenny Lombard (Putnam Juvenile, 2006)

• How Oliver Olson Changed the World by Claudia Mills (FarrarStraus and Giroux, 2009)

• Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff (Wendy Lamb Books, 2009)

     The staff of the Williamsburg Regional Library Youth Services Department will be happy to help you find any book, including the BOB or Virginia Readers Choice books.  The librarians are fabulous! Enjoy the remainder of the summer and keep reading!

Battle of the Books Coming Soon!

     Attention to our 4th and 5th grade teachers! Battle of the Books meetings will be here before you know it, beginning in December! The BOB coaches are Mrs. Wilson, Ms. Judy Jones, and Ms. Melzer.  Here is the list for the Winter/Spring 2011 BOB:

Click on the book titles to view the official websites and see more specific book information!
• Whales on Stilts   -  M.T. Anderson
• The Magic Half  -  Annie Barrows
• The Middle of Somewhere  -  J.B. Cheaney
• Ruby Holler  -  Sharon Creech
• Mr. Chickee's Funny Money  -  Christopher Paul Curtis
• Gollywhopper Games  - Jody Feldman 
• The Homework Machine  -  Dan Gutman
• Blown Away  -  Joan Hiatt Harlow
• The Ghost's Grave  -  Pet Kehret  
• Savvy  -  Ingrid Law  
• The Year of the Dog  -  Grace Lin
• The Willoughbys  -  Lois Lowry
• Punished!  -  David Lubar
• Tadpole  -  Ruth White
• George Washington's Socks  -  Elvira Woodruff

      One of the many wonderful things we do at MW is hold an annual sleepover in the school media center. Our requirements to participate in the sleepover is that a student needs to receive at least a 70% score on at least five of the fifteen books by our closing date. When it comes to the final team selection, there will be six students selected to be the top MW book experts. We alternate the fifth and sixth students to take turns answering questions up on stage at our competition at the Williamsburg Regional Library. There will be more details in upcoming letters to students and media center class time with Mrs. Wilson after the book fair. In the meantime, you can check the Williamsburg Regional Library website for more general information. :)  

Fantastic Local Resource: The Williamsburg Regional Library

      As everyone knows, we are incredibly fortunate to have a fabulous resource just a couple of blocks down the road from school. It's the Williamsburg Regional Library! In our busy everyday lives, I just wanted to remind everyone the resources that the library has for children. Here is their website for kids:
http://www.wrl.org/books-and-reading/youth

Battle of the Books 

      Here is the link to the book lists for the reading competition that 4th and 5th graders  can participate in. Mrs. Wilson, Ms. Jones, and I begin working with students in January after school! The library has the collection in a special spot. Ask the desk librarian for help to find it. (Books are available at MW's Media Center as well.)
http://www.wrl.org/books-and-reading/youth/battle-books

Tumblebooks Subscription

      Go through the main kid page for WRL to click on the link  for Tumblebooks. The library has a subscription to this website that shows real books in an interactive online format. There is an audio option as well.
     For those of you who saw the link for the interactive nonfiction books on dolphins and seahorses at the nonfiction staff development, this is the link to go through once you get to the Tumblebooks main site.

http://www.wrl.org/books-and-reading/youth/tumblebooklibrary

Pied Piper Picks - WRL's Blog on Picture Books

http://pppics.wordpress.com/

     Be sure to check the website for other neat opportunities to experience adventures in reading, including future visiting authors, "Lit Kits" and "Park Packs," winners of The Beacon of Freedom Award, and more!