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Splendors and Glooms
I’ve seen a number of reviews about this book and they piqued my curiousity because it seemed like from what I read people either really enjoyed the story or were not a fan. I could find very few reviews of the story that were in-between the two extremes. So I was…
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Dear Blue Sky
There are a number of middle grade stories about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but Dear Blue Sky written by Mary Sullivan, is one of the most realistic, heart wrenching, and real accounts of what life is like both for Americans and for people across the globe. The story begins…
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Story Time Theme – Teddy Bears
I am currently providing three different story times for my library – the first is what I call a toddler traditional story time for 2 – 3 1/2 year olds where we read stories, have fingerplays and dance to music, the second is a parachute story time for the same age…
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What To Do If an Elephant Stands On Your Foot
What To Do If an Elephant Stands On Your Foot written by Michelle Robinson and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds is an adorable and hysterical book about safari animals. Similar in style to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie this story is laugh out loud funny and perfect for…
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Happy Banned Book Week
This is the 30th Anniversary of Banned Book Week sponsored in part by the American Library Association (ALA) that celebrates the freedom to read. It’s 2012 and banning books is still a common process in many school libraries and public libraries around the country. For many reasons this surprises me still –…
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Things I Love about Conferences:
Before I begin my conference favorites, let me take care of a few housekeeping things…. I have found that working full-time, finishing up my graduate degree with two classes this fall, trying to have a semblance of a social life, and keeping up with this blog is not always easy,…
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Books & Cooks – Update
So I posted earlier this week about providing a Books & Cooks Program for my middle school students and let me tell you – it was a smashing success! I had 12 kids registered for the program, which would have been perfect – but I ended up with 18 kids! …
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Death Cloud
If you’ve visited my blog in the past, I’ve mentioned my love of all things Sherlock Holmes and this middle grade/young adult novel does not disappoint. Death Cloud: Sherlock Holmes, The Legend Begins written by Andrew Lane is approved by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s estate and his surviving relatives, which made…
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Books & Cooks Program
I am continually surprised when people I know say that they are not very adept in the kitchen. I love to bake and cook and I even think that I’m pretty good at it! To me, cooking is usually pretty easy – there are few things in life that give…
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Prairie Evers
Prairie Evers is a ten-year old girl who has been homeschooled by her grandmother until the family moves to upstate New York and her parents decide it’s time she goes to public school to be around children her own age. Prairie is content to stay at home on the farm…