Facing Your Fears

It's Halloween week! To celebrate the occasion, we read books about facing your fears.

In grades K-1, we read "Lu and the Swamp Ghost." As an added bonus, our copy of the book came with a CD recording of the book read by author, James Carville. Lu lives near a swamp in Louisiana during the Depression, but her family believes that you are rich if you have family and one good friend. Lu finds an unusual friend in an unusual place as she befriends someone she might otherwise be afraid of. We particularly loved hearing James Carville read the book. His accent and fluctuations made the book a unique experience for the students.

For grades 2-3, we read "Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve." This book by Mary Osborne is part of the Magic Tree House series--a wonderful educational series in which Jack and Annie visit a Tree House owned by a magical librarian and Merlin, the sorcerer. In the tree house, the two can go on many different adventures just by opening a book and wishing to visit. Merlin also sends the pair on missions to find certain magical objects and solve riddles and rhymes. In this particular book, Jack and Annie must set a castle in order, but first, they must figure out what is wrong. They enter the castle and encounter a floating bone and a chess game happening seemingly without players.

We are currently encouraging our second and third graders to read all of the books in the Magic Tree House series by engaging them in the "Passport to Adventure" activity. Students read Magic Tree House books, then they can answer three questions and earn a stamp for their passport. For more information on this adventure, visit http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/magictreehouse/passport-to-adventure.html

For grades 4-6, we read "School of Fear" by Gitty Daneshvari. In this book, four children suffering from various phobias come together at an eclectic and exclusive school where they must face their fears and hopefully overcome them. With delightful, quirky characters, Daneshvari spins an entertaining tale that will keep you laughing and hoping that these children can work through their problems. The book also drops bits of true wisdom here and there, reminding us that change is a process and big problems can't be fixed overnight.

We hope you all have a fun, safe haunting this Hallows Eve! Pull out a good book this weekend!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

The library was full of magic and art this week as we explored two Caldecott winners. One of the books we read was "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick. This unique book is unlike any other I have read. At 533 pages, students may initially be daunted by this book, but it is not your average novel. Over 300 pages are illustrations--beautiful pencil sketches that move the story along. This book contains art, toys, mystery, sorrow, creativity, magic, and movies--just about everything one could want in a novel. I highly recommend it.

The website is a wonderful addition to the book. Explore this website and see all the research and real people this book was based on. http://www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/index.htm

The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, Pictures by David Small

This week in the library, we read two Caldecott Award Winners. One was "The Gardener" by Sarah Stewart with pictures by David Small. Lydia Grace goes to live with her Uncle Jim until her father is able to find a job. Set during the Great Depression, this book celebrates a colorful young girl who brings color and light to a drab corner bakery through planting many flowers. The illustrations are particularly beautiful. Small uses color to enhance the influence that Lydia Grace has on everyone around her. By the end of the book and after almost a year together, even Uncle Jim--who does not smile--can't help but show how Lydia Grace has influenced him. This story is written through letters that Lydia Grace writes to her family back home.

Pirate Week in September

In September, Bella Vista students sailed through an adventurous Pirate Week in the Library. Mrs. Wadsworth and Mrs. Allison talk the pirate talk almost too well as they welcomed all the young Bella Vista mateys into the library donned with eye patches, swashbuckling stories, and a treasure hunt for pirate books. It makes you wonder if they've ever sailed the seven seas as pirates themselves! Kidding aside, the pirate books were a treasure and here they "ARRRRRR":

K-2nd grade

Shiver me Letters, A Pirate ABC by June Sobel and Henry Cole

The crew on this pirate ship must find all the letters of the alphabet. Will they make it before

the captain makes them walk the plank?

3rd grade

Edward and the Pirates by David McPhail

Edward loves to read. He reads everything from books to cereal boxes. He discovers a book that pirates want so much they ambush his house to get it! He finds out his parents are much more than the typical father and mother. What will they do to help him?

4th-6th grade

Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson

Mr. Stevenson wrote this book for his 12 year old step son. Fifteen chapters of the book were penned in 15 days. The story was published as a book in 1883. This classic novel is about a boy named Jim Hawkins who meets several plundering pirates. After discovering a treasure map from a dead buccaneer's box at the Benbow Inn, he takes off for an adventure of a lifetime searching for treasure with a rough lot of buccaneers including, Long John Silver!