Beehive Book Club 2010-11

The very first Bella Vista Beehive Book Club kicked off in the library in October.

What are Beehive Books? Quality books that are nominated by readers of children's literature in four categories: picture books, poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Throughout Utah, children read the nominated books and vote on their favorites. Then the most prestigious Utah book awards in children's literature, the Beehive Awards, are presented to the winning books.

How do students join? Every Bella Vista student is welcome to join by signing his/her name on a bee that will be hung up around the outer walls of the library.

What does a student do as a member of the Beehive Book Club? Every student reads as many Beehive Nominee Books for 2010-11 they can. Each student is given a bookmark with the list of nominated books to choose from. When a student finishes reading a book, he/she may vote on whether or not they liked the book. Ballots are collected in the Beehive Book Club envelope in the library.

When are the winning books announced? In the Spring, when the official Beehive Award winning books are announced, Mrs. Wadsworth and Mrs. Allison will count the Bella Vista students' votes in our library and include and compare the votes to the Utah Beehive book award winners. A Beehive Book Club party will be held at the end of the year to celebrate the winning books and all the enjoyment students had reading the books throughout the year.

Three Beehive Nominee books of 2010-11 that have been introduced in the library:

K-1

Just What Mama Needs by Sharlee Mullins Glenn Illustrated by Amiko Hirao

Abby is just what Mama needs as she plays dress up and helps clean the house. This can't be work, it is too much fun!

2-3

Dinothesaurus by Douglas Florian

If your tongue is twisted by saying the title of this book just wait until you read the titles of the poems inside! Phonetic spelling of dinosaurs' names will teach the reader correct pronunciations while enjoying the delightful poetry about ancient reptiles.

4-6

Extra Credit by Andrew Clements, illustrated by Mark Elliott

Sadeed, who lives in Afghanistan, is the top student in his class. He dreams of becoming a future leader of Afghanistan. Abby, who is from Illinois, is at risk of repeating the sixth grade. She wants to spend all her time rock climbing. An extra credit project brings them together as pen pals. They learn of each other's cultures, traditions, and landscapes as their friendship grows. In one letter, Sadeed shares a secret with Abby. If he gets caught it could mean great trouble for him. Will Abby be clever enough to keep the secret to help protect Sadeed from getting punished? Will Abby pass the 6th grade? Read the book to find the answers to these questions!

Extra Credit is one of my favorite children's books. I encourage advanced readers in third grade to read this book as well as fourth through sixth graders.