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!

Scholastic: Fall 2011 Sneak Peek and Summer 2011 Reading!

    Don't you just love to get a peek at what is coming our way for books? I know I certainly do! Scholastic has just put out their Preview for Fall 2011 video. This video shows the entire presentation, but if you click on the link for "Preview for Fall 2011 video" above, you can go to the Scholastic page and select the portions you would like to view individually. The sections include picture books, nonfiction, graphic novels, books for middle grades, and young adult. In the picture books feature, there is a new selection from Harry Bliss featured entitled Bailey, as well as a new book from Jon Agee entitled My Rhinoceros. A favorite easy reader series, Fly Guy written and illustrated by Tedd Arnold, will be featured in a new installment called Fly Guy Versus the Fly Swatter. These books along with several other texts, are featured in the beginning of this video.  In the segment on books for middle grade readers, an exciting preview for Brian Selznick's greatly anticipated Wonder Struck is featured. Selznick himself explains the graphic novel's storyline. After the brilliant Invention of Hugo Cabret, I cannot wait to see what his new book entails.



     Scholastic is also featuring their "Scholastic Summer Challenge" for both teachers and for parents at home. Children can spin the virtual prize wheel after logging in minutes online for independently reading. There are message boards about books, polls on reading, and a lot of other social media influenced aspects once the student has permission via a parent/teacher confirmation email. On their post on "Keep Kids Reading All Summer Long!", there are suggested reading lists for various age brackets, resources, and activities for both students and adults.  These Five Fantastic Summer Challenges can give responding to reading a different pace. Scholastic and PBS Kids have also partnered up awareness on iVillage for their Summer Reading Central site. Whether a parent, teacher, or a student, summer reading motivation awaits on Scholastic!

   

Look What's Coming Out in the Publishing World - Part One

The Newest from favorite author Kevin Henkes:

     Kevin Henkes is a versatile author who works expand from simple books for preschoolers to chapter books for older elementary students. His newest book is entitled Junonia (Greenwillow, 2011) and it will be released on May 24th. The main character is a nine year old girl named Alice who is an only child and celebrates her birthday during the annual family vacation. Alice and her parents return to a beach cottage called the Scallop on Sanibel Island in Florida. She has a clear love and curiosity about the seashore habitat and can't wait to see who will get to see what sights first for that season. Apparently the junonia shell has been an elusive search for Alice, since she is hoping that this summer will be the summer she finds it. Changes occur in Alice's life, but she likes the predictable aspects of life better. You can preview the beginning portion of the book by clicking on the Harper Collins widget here. You can see how seaside sketches are incorporated into the beginning of the text, much like a sketch in a nature notebook. In this YouTube clip, Kevin Henkes is interviewed about Junonia in his writing studio. I always love to hear the perspectives of authors as well as when you get to have a sneak peek at their creative spaces. :)

    

New from the Skippyjon Jones series:
     Judith Schachner's popular Skippyjon Jones series will be coming out with a new installment on July 12th called Skippyjon Jones Class Action (Dutton, 2011.) It sounds like it might be a fun read aloud for the beginning of the new school year! It also comes with an audio CD recording of the text which can be great for a listening center in your classroom. You can download Judith Schachner's curriculum connections PDF file here. You can see how you could tie in some fun with literacy and learning towards the tail end of the school year with other favorites in the Skippyjon Series. Be sure to check out Skippyjon's website. It is so humorous and adorable! You can check out a webisode about Skippyjon in the new Class Action book here as well.