Cybils Superlatives: Widest

In my reading of piles of fiction picture books as a first round judge for the Cybils, I have enjoyed many fabulous and unique books. 

As a way to share a few of these titles, I give you the first of my "Cybils Superlatives": the widest book I have encountered among the nominees.

This gentle story about a sheep who doesn't feel like he fits in trying to find his way to a place that feels like home is visually striking at over 18 inches wide and only 7 inches tall.

The size alone intrigued my children, and as soon as I opened it to start reading, they were instantly by my side asking what it was about.

Digby the sheep has distinctive red and white stripes, and my 4 year old loved looking for the other things in each illustration that matched Digby.

The format forces the reader to slow down and get fully involved with the book. You have to move your arms and turn your head much more just to read and turn the pages.

A trim size that stands apart definitely fits with a character that stands apart.

Stay tuned for more Cybils Superlatives as my reading continues.

It is Monday - November 25th

Visit Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to find out more about It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? and link to other participating blogs.

Recently I traveled out to Hartford, CT for AASl 2013. 

Graphic novels and audio books are my favorites while traveling. 

(I have a tendency toward motion sickness when reading pages of standard text while flying)

During this trip I enjoyed some amazing titles:

I enjoyed this as an audio book. The narrator is fabulous - it is his voice in the book trailer below.

I am a first round Cybils judge in the Fiction Picture Books category, 

so there are teetering piles of picture books all around my house.

More on this soon.

Bell Awards Blog Tour: Read

I am so excited to be part of a blog tour for the new Bell Awards sponsored by Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy.

Melissa Depper, one of the founders of the award, explains, "The new Bell Awards are designed to support parents, caregivers, librarians, and early childhood professionals by celebrating great picture books that model and inspire the early literacy practices of reading, writing, singing, talking, and playing with young children. You can join in and share your expertise with your colleagues by nominating titles and adding to the conversation on the CLEL blog."

Each stop on the Bell Awards blog tour focuses on one of the five practices that will help a child develop the foundation upon which a reader is built: READ, TALK, SING, WRITE & PLAY.

Today's topic is READ.

Gratuitous photo of my own 5sters reading with my dad

Reading with children helps them get ready to read themselves.

We are not born understanding the logistics of how to operate this thing with a cover and floppy paper inside. It is reading with children that teaches them that turning the pages of a book is a pleasurable experience.

"We know that the more time children spend listening to stories, telling stories, looking at books, talking about books, and being read to, the more successful they become as readers. It’s simple and powerful evidence that it doesn’t take a lot of time, expertise, or money to make a measurable difference in a child’s life."
- from the CLEL Bell Awards Site

Here are 5 books I love to share with the early readers in my life.

1. Open This Little Book
written by Jesse Klausmeier
illustrated by Suzy Lee




The colorful execution of this book inside a book inside a book is so engaging, it will keep young hands wanting to turn the pages over and over again.






2. Moo!
written by David LaRochelle
illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka



Moo! tells the story of an adventurous cow using only one word, "Moo". Young ones will love saying the same word in many different ways to communicate the cow's emotions.






3. Z is for Moose
written by Kelly Bingham
illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky




Part of learning to read involves letter recognition. Z is for Moose focuses on the letters of the alphabet, and also includes a hilarious narrative about an annoying moose ruining a Zebra's plans for a straight forward alphabet book by continuing to insert himself on the page.





4. Hank Finds an Egg
by Rebecca Dudley

Wordless books are fabulous for "picture reading". All of the elements of reading are there, just without any text. Hank Finds an Egg is a very sweet story of a bear who finds an egg and tries everything he can think of to return the egg to its nest.






5. Squish Rabbit
by Katherine Bettersby



There will always be a book (or multiple books) that a child connects with in a special way. A book that they will want to read over and over and over. Young ones need and enjoy repetition of activities to develop, and that includes reading. Repeating familiar favorites can be powerful for a growing pre-reader.

Squish Rabbit was one of those favorite re-read books for my daughter. You can see her at age two and a half in the bottom video picture reading and re-telling the events that happen to the young bunny on each page.







What she is saying:
"thought he was playing...he kicked his little legs"
"big tantrum - argghhhh!"
"they broke all the rules!"
"passed him by!"
Squishing sound for when Squish gets stepped on



Those are some of my favorite books to encourage reading with the pre-reading set. If you have favorites that have been published in 2013, nominate them for the 2014 CLEL Bell Awards.  The deadline for nominations is November 15th and the winners will be announced February 15, 2014.
Click the links below for more information:

• Nominate a Title

• See Current Nominations

• View Selection Criteria

Don't miss the other stops on the Bell Awards Blog Tour:

WRITE with Amy at The Show Me Librarian
TALK with Mary Ann at Great Kid Books
SING with Dana and Lindsey at JBrary

and tomorrow: 
PLAY with Anna at Future Librarian Superhero

It is Monday... September 30

Visit Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to find out more about It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? and link to other participating blogs.

Fabulous spooky adventure for the upper middle grade and middle school set.

Loads of great spookiness without being full on scary

This book was so emotionally satisfying. However I read the whole thing on a plane and got publicly weepy at multiple parts. I don't recommend that. 
Unless you are a person who thinks it might be really effective to book talk what you are reading through sniffles and tears to strangers

Follow Author Holly Goldberg Sloan on Twitter: @HGoldbergSloan

I am so excited to be a round 1 Cybils Fiction Picture Book Judge again this year.
The Cybils nominations are opening tomorrow: http://www.cybils.com/
Get over there and nominate your favorite books!

It is Monday... September 23

Visit Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to find out more about It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? and link to other participating blogs.

The Bud and I listened to the Emerald Atlas and the Fire Chronicle as audio books in the car driving back and forth to school. 

After finishing the second installment we both wanted to know when we would be able to know what happens next.

I didn't find anything official, but it seems we will be waiting some time before we find out what happens to Kate, Michael and Emma. ~sigh~ It's a common plight of series lovers, I know.

@nephilhimrich It'll come out next fall...I promise!
— John Stephens (@johnrstephens) September 8, 2013

Sheer storytelling genius! An adventurous cow tells this story using only one word: Moo.

I love Bluffton and Around the World, but until this week I had never read Matt Phelan's first graphic novel The Storm in the Barn. The Book trailer emphasizes a creepy element in the story, but it is a great selection for the younger end of the spectrum of middle grade readers too.

Follow Matt Phelan on twitter: @MattPhelanDraws

Also this week I listened to the latest Kid's Comic Revolution Podcast which featured Matt Phelan talking about what it is like to be part of the Artist Alley at the ALA Annual conference.

Kid's Comics Revolution is hosted by the fabulous duo Jerzy Drozd and Dave Roman, and is one of my favorite podcasts. Click the image above to give this episode a listen.

The Bud chose this as our next audio book for the car.
So much flatulent fun, it really is a gas!

It is Monday... September 16

Visit Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to find out more about It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? and link to other participating blogs.

The only thing I didn't like about reading Book #2 of the Keeper of the Lost Cities series is that it doesn't come out until October 1st. And that means that it is going to be a long wait for book 3. ~sigh~

My students and I are so excited that thanks to the fabulous folks at Addendum books, Shannon Messenger will be visiting our school in October!

If you don't know the Keeper of the Lost Cities series - it is a must read for your middle grade fantasy fans.

To start off the year at my school a gingerbread man goes missing and the kindergartners go looking all over the school for him. Along the way, they get to see all the different areas of the school (the gym, the office, the library) and meet the folks (like me the librarian) associated with those areas. They come into the library with a sign they made of what he looks like, and ask if I have seen him. I get to introduce myself and say "he was here running in and out of all the shelves, but then he ran that way," and wish them good luck on their search.
They eventually find him and get to eat him. 

I met me new kindergartners on their search, and shared Gingerbread man loose in the school with them when they came back for their first official visit to the library this week.

Such a great book to start off our reading relationship.

This is the Bud's latest choice for a read-together book.