Library Happenings

It's crunch time! We are at the end of reading our Beehive Book nominees for 2022-2023. All votes are due the end of March and with that deadline looming, we have some serious deciding to do. We have 3 books that are within 5 votes of each other! So this week, I'm asking each class to select their favorite of the three. We have a great track record at Upland of picking the winning picture book for the state, so we'll see if we get it this year ...

This week we are reading a 2023 Newbery Honor-winning book by Christopher Denise called Knight Owl. Owl has wanted to become a knight since the day he hatched. And even though he's small and not sure if he can do it, owl is happily surprised when he gets accepted to Knight School. Turns out, he's well-suited to the life of a knight, especially when he's on night duty. But his biggest challenge comes when he's up against a dragon who is sure ...

We've made it to our last picture book Beehive nominee for this year and it's so cute! Can We Be Friends? by Erica Sirotich tells the story of unexpected animal friendships from around the world. These are all documented examples of animals befriending each other. Some of them are well-known, for example: Koko the gorilla, who learned sign language, told her human friends she wanted a cat, which is exactly what she got! In fact, Koko received ...

This week we are reading a fantastic picture book by Jory John called Something's Wrong! A Bear, a Hare and some Underwear. Jory John is the author of the wildly popular series The Food Group, which includes The Good Egg, The Bad Seed, The Cool Bean. Students love these books at Upland! They are also really loving this book as well. Jeff Bear has a sneaky suspicion that something is wrong, but what could it be? He's feeling oddly off, but ...

This week we are reading a delightful book by the wonderful author and illustrator team, the Fan Brothers. Lizzy and the Cloud is the story of a girl who loves clouds and buys one to keep in her room. It comes with a set of instructions to keep the cloud healthy and happy. But the longer Lizzy keeps her cloud, the more she realizes the cloud needs something she hasn't given it yet: freedom. Terry and Eric Fan have produced some of the most ...

This week we continue reading our Beehive Book nominees with a fun, graphic novel-style book by Ross Burach. Burach is also the author of The Very Impatient Caterpillar series, which is very popular here at Upland and won the Beehive Book Award in 2021. This book is also part of a series from Scholastic's Acorn line, which is ideal for new readers who are building their skills. It's also really funny! With three short stories, we meet ...

Thank you to everyone who supported our Scholastic Book Fair Monday and Tuesday in the library! Your purchases went toward Scholastic Dollars that were donated to our hard-working teachers to purchase books for their classrooms. This is such a generous community and every dollar counts! The rest of this week we are reading Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast by Josh Funk. When Pancake and French Toast find out there is only one drop left of ...

We have another great Beehive Book nominee to vote on this week in the Upland library. See the Cat by David LaRochelle won the prestigous Theodore Geisel award in 2020. This award anually recognizes the best books for beginning readers. What I love about this book is it's simple to read, so emergent readers can try it themselves, but it also has a clever premise and it's laugh-out-loud funny! I'm excited to see how our students vote on this ...

This week we are reading and voting on another Beehive Book nominee, Mel Fell, by Corey Tabor. When little Mel decides it's time to leave the nest, she doesn't let her fears get in the way. She takes a straight dive all the way down to the bottom of the tree. The bees, the spider, even the snail try to break her fall, but she whizzes right past them and into the pond below. Then Mel flies right back up with none other than a fish in her ...

Adam Rex has some of the funniest children's books out there and this week, we are reading his book, On Account of the Gum as one of our 2023 Beehive Book nominees. When a girl sleeps with gum in her mouth, it ends up in her hair and everyone has a solution to get the gum out. Scissors, butter, grass clippings, bacon and noodles, a bunny, a cat, and a vacuum cleaner are all items that might work, except when they don't! It's fun to hear ...