Since this is our last full week before Thanksgiving, I'm reading a Native American story in the library. Fry Bread is written by Kevin Noble Maillard- Oklahoma native, professor and journalist who is a member of the Seminole Nation. In this book, he shares how fry bread represents the story of Native Americans. It is a food, a shape, a sound, a color, a flavor, a time, an art, history and place - it is a nation. Despite colonial efforts ...
Week of 11/8
This week we are reading the Beehive Book nominee Naughty Ninja Takes a Bath by Todd Tarpley, illustrated by Vin Vogel. After crossing raging rivers and tromping through the jungle, Naughty Ninja returns to his secret ninja training camp for lunch. But after seeing how scruffy he looks, Ninja's parents tell him it's time for a bath. As long as he doesn't say "Ninja to the rescue," his dad will be happy. But how long can a Ninja go without ...
Week of 11/1
This week during library time, I am introducing the Battle of the Books Jr. program to all students in grades Kindergarten through 3rd grade. This is our 3rd year implementing this reading incentive program at Upland Terrace and participation has grown each year! The program is designed to help students try different types of books and reward them for reading and recording their progress. It is OPTIONAL, but we highly encourage participation ...
Week of 10/25
This week we are reading a new book I just bought for the library, Are You Scared Darth Vader? by Adam Rex, who is the author of the highly popular The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors and the 2022 Beehive Book nominee, Pluto Gets the Call. Darth Vader isn't scared of anything; not a wolfman, a vampire, a ghost, or a witch. But there must be something he is scared of? Could it be children when they take off their masks and try to take off his?? ...
Week of 10/18
With the short week before Fall break, I'm reading to K-2nd grades this cute story, The Little Ghost who Lost Her Boo, by Elaine Bickell. "Little Ghost went out in the middle of the night and flew up to someone to give them a fright...she opened her mouth - but her boo wasn't there! All that came out was a rush of cold air." And so the story begins with Little Ghost losing her Boo and searching through the book to find it. She tries an owl, a ...
Week of 10/11
This week we are reading a fun origin story about how pencil got together with eraser. It's one of our Beehive Book nominees for 2022 in the picture book category. We vote in each class after I read it, and so far, many kids are loving it! Pencil loves to draw landscapes, cityscapes and seascapes. But when eraser comes along, he always changes the drawings. This makes pencil mad, until he gets trapped in a maze and needs eraser to get him ...
Week of Sept. 27
This week we are thrilled to welcome back the Story Cupboard Book Fair to the Upland Terrace library! There are so many great books to choose from, it's one of my favorite weeks of the year. We have two options this year - in person and online. The Book fair will be open in person on Wednesday, 9/29 and Thursday, 9/30 from 4 - 7:30 p.m. to conincide with SEP conferences. There will be a sanitizing station outside of the library and masks are ...
Week of 9/20
This week I am introducing the first of our Picture book Beehive Book nominees for 2022. Swim Swim Sink is a delightful story by Jenn Harney about a little duck who can't swim! He follows his mother duck and siblings right into the water, but instead of swimming like them, he sinks. So he tries a variety of funny ways to stay afloat, including water wings, scuba gear, a jet ski and stilts. But the solution comes in a much simpler form - this ...
Week of 9/13
The last few weeks in the library we have been going over routines and rules about book care, where to find good fit books and how to check in/check out. This week we are finally getting to the good stuff - reading books! I'm excited to be sharing with students this beautiful book by Phung Nguyen Quang. It's the story of a boy taking his first solo journey in a small boat on the Mekong River -but it's not obvious where he is going! I ask ...
Welcome Back to Upland!
LIBRARY TIME STARTING SOON It's so fun to see everyone in the halls and classrooms again and I am working hard to get the library ready for students! I'll be dropping by every classroom the week of Aug 23-26 to say hi to students and get them excited about the library. Regular library time will begin Monday, Aug. 30. I just put in my first book order of the year (do you love new books as much as I do?!) and I'm working on my new theme for ...