What's Happening at the BSS Library?

I love all of Kevin Henkes' books, from his mouse picture books like  Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse  and  Chrysanthemum  to his chapter books like  The Year of Billy Biller  and  Olive's Ocean .  The Penny series fall in between; it is an illustrated beginners chapter book (with a mouse character of course!)  In  Penny and Her Marble , Penny is on a walk and finds a beautiful blue marble in her neighbor's lawn.  And Penny thinks that certainly her neighbor Mrs. Goodwin is too old to play with marbles, so it couldn't belong to her. Right? So she takes it, and at first she is amazed at how beautiful and blue and shiny it is.  But when she sees Mrs. Goodwin in her yard--in the exact spot where the marble was--she starts to wonder if Mrs. Goodwin is looking for the marble.  Feelings of guilt overwhelm Penny and she refuses to eat (even sugar cookies!) and cannot sleep. After reading Penny and Her Marble to second graders, I like to challenge them and ask why they think

Not Quite Narwhal and Shark Lady: the true story of how Eugenie Clark became the ocean's most fearless scientist  were the final two in this year's March Book Madness.  We watched a video of Shark Lady  in some classes this week, and the students really enjoyed seeing this book come to life.  This picture book biography about the life of oceanographer Eugenie Clark was beautifully illustrated and demonstrated the struggles that Clark had pursuing a career in zoology as a woman born in 1922.  She didn't listen to her professors that told her that women should be secretaries or housewives, and she didn't listen to all the people who thought that sharks were mindless monsters.  She discovered new species of fish, and she was also the first person to train sharks which proved they were quite smart. I loved how some of the students couldn't wait to check out the other shark books we had in   our collection.  But it could not edge out the very popular Not Qui

Second grader Kalli Aerin was Librarian for the Day a couple of weeks ago. Families were able to bid on various Teacher Treasures at our Gatsby Under the Stars fundraising event, and Kalli couldn't wait for her big day. She was a whiz on the scanner, checking in and out books all day, handing out bookmarks, and tidying the Library. Thanks for helping out, Kalli Aerin!