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 l...

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 ...

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!

Both the third grade and the 4th and 5th grade battles were true battles.  They were very close and hard fought.  All the teams were very well prepared, and remembered so many details from the 20 books each team was expected to read. The 4th and 5th grade battle was particularly close, coming down to the last question.  If The Seven Amigos missed their last question, it would have been a four-way tie for first place.  The Seven Amigos answered their question about the The Fairy-tale Detectives correctly, earning them the top spot and the $25 gift certificates to Park Street Books in Medfield.  The Million Dollar Readers, the Jolly Readers, and the U. S. Bookworms all tied for second.  The Knowledgeable Knights were missing two key players, but still battled hard and did a fantastic job, and the fourth grade Reading Red Sox team also played great. The third grade battle was also a nail-biter. The score would have been tied if The Fierce Reading Owl...

The Scaredy Squirrel picture book series by Melanie Watt is hugely popular. What’s not to like about a squirrel who is afraid of just about everything–most of all germs, tarantulas and killer bees!  So when Scaredy Squirrel has a disastrous day and falls out of his tree (after being all worked up about seeing a killer bee), he makes a brilliant discovery.  Instead of falling down into a bush of poison ivy (another fear!), he realizes he is a flying squirrel and he simply glides to the next tree.  How exciting! After reading Scaredy Squirrel I read a nonfiction book about flying squirrels.  We learned all kinds of facts about flying squirrels, and saw some cool features like a glossary, diagram and a map.  We compared the photos in each book–the picture book had cartoonish drawings and the nonfiction book had photographs.  Also, we learned that  flying squirrels were nocturnal (even though Scaredy Squirrel would go to bed every night at 8:...

6th graders have had a chance to read some Christmas stories out loud to their classes.  A fun way to practice reading with expression, and it was nice for me to have the "day off!"