Meet the Authors: David Shannon, Peg Kehret and Brandon Mull

Meet the Author: David Shannon

David was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Washington State. He is well known for the books he writes and his illustrations. Ever since he was a boy and could hold a crayon he drew pictures. When he got older he attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasedena, California. Some of his illustrations have been in the New York Times, Time, Rolling Stone magazine and he has illustrated several book jackets. He has received awards for his illustrations and illustrates his own books as well as for other authors. He is well known for his book No, David which was inspired by his childhood drawings he made at age five of things he shouldn't do. He also wrote, Alice the Fairy, other David books and my favorite, A Bad Case of Stripes, which I read to K-2 students during story time.

K through 3rd Grade

A Bad Case of Stripes

Camilla loves eating lima beans but she cares more about what other people think and is worried others will think she is weird for eating lima beans. She worries so much about what other people think that she makes herself sick with a most unusual sickness. As her parents seek a remedy the sickness gets worse and worse!

Meet the Author: Peg Kehret

She dreamed as a child to be a writer or veterinarian when she grew up. She became a writer of several very popular award winning children's chapter books. Some of the children's favorites include Stolen Children, Terror at the Zoo and Escaping. She is an animal rights activist as well. She does volunteer work with the Humane Society and Pasado's Safe Haven. When she was a child she contracted Polio which paralyzed her from the neck down. She was in the hospital for 9 months. Fortunately, she made a nearly complete recovery. She was married to Carl Kerhet for 48 years. He passed away in 2004. While he was alive, he would travel with Peg in their RV to schools and libraries to promote her books. She currently lives on a 10 acre wildlife sanctuary near Mount Rainier National Park and enjoys reading, watching baseball and gymnastics, playing with her animals and enjoying time with her grandchildren.

3rd through 6th Graders

Saving Lilly

This story is about two sixth grade students, Erin Wrenn and David, who discover the mistreatment of a baby elephant, Lilly, at the Glitter Tent Circus that is visiting their town. They want to help Lilly but it isn't going to be easy. Their school teacher, Mrs. Dawson, loves the circus and has fond memories of going as a child so she wants to reward her class for reading assignment they accomplished by taking them to the Glitter Tent Circus. Erin and David try to inform her of the mistreatment of the animals but she doesn't want to hear a word they say! They do not want to go on the fieldtrip. What will happen when the day of the fieldtrip arrives? What will happen to Lilly? Will Erin and David help Lilly or get in trouble for going against their teacher's point of view?

Meet the Author: Brandon Mull

Brandon Mull is the author introduced to the 5th and 6th grade students. He is from Utah! He is married and has three children. He spent 2 years of his life in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile where he learned spanish and how to juggle. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 2000. His first book was rejected by publishers but the first publisher to read Fablehaven accepted it. After the book had been on the market for 6 months it became so successful that Brandon was able to quit his day job and focus on writing. The Fablehaven Series is a New York Times Best Selling Series as well as the book, Candy Shop War which is about children who eat candy and get superpowers.

4th-6th Graders

Fablehaven

Kendra and Seth's parents drop them off at their grandparents home for two weeks while they go on a cruise given to them through inheritance. Kendra and Seth have never been to the Sorenson's home before and when they arrive, Grandma isn't there to greet them. Grandpa Sorenson, his housekeeper, Lena and the groundskeeper, Dale are all friendly and welcoming to the children. Grandpa is kind but very busy taking care of the acres of land surrounding his home. He is also very strict about the children abiding by his rules of never going beyond the lawn nor in the barn. The children have the attic to themselves to sleep in and play and a swimming pool to enjoy, but this isn't enough for Seth. He wants to go exploring beyond the lawn!

Thinking of this book (and series) makes me grin from ear to ear because of how perfectly it fits the interests and intelligence of this generation of elementary school students. Brandon Mull knows how to write books that our children will actually enjoy reading from cover to cover!

Students: Make it a goal to read the Fablehaven series over the summer! And check out the first book in his most recent series, The Beyonders, which came out in March, 2011.

Bunny Books

Hop To It, A Scholastic Treasury of Easter Tales is filled with several classic and modern Easter stories. Peter Cottontail by Amanda Stephens, Illustrated by Christopher Santoro and The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter are my favorite stories to read to children from the treasury.

Bunnicula, A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery by Deborah and James Howe
One evening, the Monroe family goes to see the movie, Dracula. They find a bunny rabbit sitting on one of the seats. They take the bunny home. Chester, the pet cat notices that the bunny acts very strange one night when the moonlight shines on its cage. Unusual things begin happening around the house as well, like a red tomato mysteriously turns white! Chester reads a book about vampires and is convinced this bunny is a vampire. What will he do to protect the Monroe family from this vampire bunny? Harold the dog tells the frightfully, funny story of Bunnicula and theMonroes. This is the first book of many in the Bunnicula series. Millions of copies of Bunnicula books have been sold worldwide.

April is National Poetry Month

We celebrated national poetry month with two favorite poets for children.

K-2 explored the work and website of poet Jack Prelutsky. Some of our favorites were "My Frog is a Frog" and "Hiccups", which required some careful reading aloud and kept everyone faking the hiccups for some time.

3-6 explored the work and website of Shel Silverstein. On his website, "Uncle Shelby" performs his own poetry, and we delighted in his vocal interpretations of his own work.

From Shel Silverstein's website, we downloaded some activities and selected a few for each of the grades to use to explore the wonders of writing poetry. Go to the Shel Silverstein site linked above, then click on "Ideas for Teachers and Parents." Look under "Event Kits" and click on "Celebrate Poetry Month".

Spring Break is next week, so enjoy your time off! Check out some poetry books!

Books about Dogs

Dog Breath

By Dav Pilkey

Read to K-1st Graders

If you like books that make you laugh, you will enjoy reading this book. There is a dog named Hally that belongs to the Tosis family. She is the perfect dog except for one BIG problem. She has really bad breath. Even the skunks walk on the other side of the street when she walks by! The Tosis parents tell their children they must give the dog away. The children do everything they can to help remedy Hally Tosis' Halitosis so they can keep her. They take her to the top of a mountain for a breath taking view and more!

The Bravest Dog Ever, The True Story of Balto

By Donald Cook

Read to 2nd-3rd Graders

This is a true story of the famous journey on the Iditarod trail in January, 1925 when some people in Nome, Alaska became deathly ill with Diphtheria and needed medicine that was 800 miles away in Anchorage. The only way to get the medicine in time was to travel by dog sled because of the extreme weather conditions. Balto was strong, calm and wise when taking his pack and even Gunner, his master, through a terrible blizzard, over cracked ice and more. Twenty hours straight and 51 miles, he lead the team to Nome. There is a statue of Balto in Central Park in New York City to honor his heroic run that saved the lives of many people in Nome.

Togo is a book about another dog that ran the same dog sled relay to help the people of Nome as Balto. He, too, faced much adversity and led his dog sled pack 350 miles on the trail before Balto's turn came at the end.

Saving Zasha

By Randi Barrow

Read to 4-6th Graders

A German Shepherd, perhaps the last one, is found in Post World War II Russia. Dogs are a hot commodity in Russia for dog thieves, the military's superdog breeding program, dog lovers, and German haters. While riding his horse, Paku, through the fields of his family's farm, a boy from the Tarkov family finds a wounded man and helps him. He realizes the man was stabbed by dog thieves who were trying to steal his German Shepherd, Zasha. The man's wound is infected. Mikhail takes the man home so his mother can help him. The dog faithfully follows. The man dies in the night and the dog is left to the Tarkov family. The children are sad the man died, not knowing who he was, but realize they have a very beautiful and obedient dog to care for. They also realize the danger for all of them to be together. They hide Zasha because they fear she could be killed if the wrong Russians find out about her.

Learn of the Tarkov's love, forgiveness, faith and courage as they try their best to protect Zasha from all her enemies. This book mentions some of the disturbing violence that happened during World War II. It is written for older elementary school students and middle schoolers. I would not read this book to K-3rd grade because of the war content. I liked this book a lot and shared the Prologue and Chapter 1 during story time because I didn't want to give too much of the captivating story away!

Leanin Dog
By K.A. Nazum

Recommended for 3-6th grade
This book is a Beehive Nominee for 2010-11. It is about a young girl, Dessa Dean, who was with her mother when she froze to death during one of their nature walks in the snowy mountains. This little girl lives with her father in their cabin home in the mountains. Her father goes hunting all day, everyday, while Dessa Dean stays in the cabin, does her schoolwork, cooks and cleans. She is afraid to leave the cabin. She suffers nightmares and daymares of her mother's death. She needs a friend to help her cope and a dog shows up by her cabin one day. Finally her thoughts drift away from sadness and toward making the dog her friend. She has adventures with other animals as well, including a skunk and a bear!
*This is a good book that will help children who have lost a parent realize that they are not alone in experiencing this type of traumatic experience and help them learn, like Dessa Dean, that you can overcome your fears, you can move on with life and find future happiness even though you will miss your loved one who passed away. This book may help other children gain empathy for peers who have had a parent die, as well.

Irish Tales for St. Patrick's Day

Fiona's Luck

by Teresa Bateman, Illustrated by Kelly Murphy

1st - 3rd Grades

Leprechauns have Ireland all to themselves and let their luck roam freely over the land. Humans come to Ireland and settle the fertile land. Prosperity abounds for the humans! The leprechaun king decides to hoard the leprechauns' luck so he sends leprechauns to gather up all the luck in Ireland while the humans sleep. The luck is gone and the humans cannot get their cows to produce milk, their chickens to lay eggs, nor the ground to grow potatoes. The people of Ireland believe they are out of luck. But they aren't completely out of luck because they have Fiona. She gets an idea to outwit the leprechaun king in a very clever way to try and get the leprechauns' luck back. A question to ponder after reading this story: Will luck or using your wits be more useful when solving problems? I liked this creative story with colorful illustrations and significant message so much I bought this book and donated it to the school library.

St. Patrick and the Three Brave Mice

by Joyce A. Stengel and Herb Leonhard

Read to K - 1st Grades

The legend of St. Patrick chasing all the snakes out of Ireland with his miraculous bell comes to life in this tale of three brave mice who help him rid Ireland of the last snake. The mice must courageously face great danger to help him! The Author's Note at the end of the book describes how this legend of St. Patrick is recognized in Ireland today.

Magic Treehouse, Leprechaun in Late Winter

by Mary Pope Osborne

2nd - 3rd Grades

Jack and Annie are on a mission from Merlin to help a girl named Augusta discover her special gift to give the world. They step out of their Magic Treehouse into an emerald green Ireland 150 years ago. They are dressed in poor clothes and seen as useless at the "Big House" because they don't know how to do farm work. (How many children today know how to milk a cow anyway?) Augusta takes Jack and Annie to her poor nursemaid, Mary, in her home in the forest. Mary tells a story of the Shee (irish fairies). Jack and Annie realize they are failing their mission to help Augusta but then a clever idea that includes a magical irish whistle and putting on a play gives them more help than they could ever imagine! Enjoy this captivating, magical story as the Shee and a leprechaun are discovered at a most timely manner for Jack, Annie and Augusta!

Tales of Old Ireland

by Malachy Doyle

4th - 6th Grades

Malachy Doyle has gathered a collection of irish tales that have been passed down from generation to generation in Ireland. The students were fascinated by the irish tale from this book called, The Twelve Wild Geese. There are other tales in the book as well but this was my favorite so I wanted to share it with them. This fourth to sixth grade level tale includes a fairy, magic, curses, kings and queens, a jealous, wicked step mother, and a bond of love between 12 brothers and their faithful sister that suffers tremendous adversity. I was delighted to hear students discussing the story amongst themselves afterward so I know this is a winning choice for them! I don't necessarily appreciate other tales in this book to read to children, but this one was wonderful in my opinion.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Dr. Seuss was born on March 2, 1904. At Bella Vista Elementary, his birthday is celebrated annually in the classrooms, the cafeteria (Green Eggs and Ham served up hot and fresh for lunch on March 2) and the library.

The Boy on Fairfield Street

by Kathleen Krull, Illustrated by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson

As a boy, Theodore Seuss Giesel, lived six blocks from the zoo. His father did some work at the zoo and shared wild animal stories with him. Ted also lived close to the library. His mother wanted him to be well educated so she took Ted to the library often. I loved learning from this book, The Boy on Fairfield Street, that when Dr. Seuss was young his mother lulled him to sleep every night by reading to him.

Dr. Seuss was voted "Least Likely to Succeed" by his college peers, took only one art class in his lifetime, where he was criticized for not following his teacher's rules of art, and dropped out of college to pursue his dream of writing poetry and drawing. Well, as we all know, he did succeed, he got paid for his art work and became one of the most famous children's book authors/illustrators in history!

After hearing the biography of Dr. Seuss, the students listened and read along to a Dr. Seuss book from our library's Seuss collection which includes Green Eggs and Ham, Fox in Socks, The Cat in the Hat, Hop on Pop, The Lorax and more. The students received "Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss" bookmarks and activity pages to take home. Look for characters from his books on the walls in and around the school library including, Horton, the Grinch, a Sneech with a star on its belly and others. A big thank you goes out to Mrs. Wilko, the Education Committee and PTA for providing the characters and biographical poster of Dr. Seuss.

Dr. Seuss wrote and illustrated 44 books. They are all still in print today. His first book was published in 1937, And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street. His books are translated into 15 languages and over 200 million copies have been sold worldwide. He died in 1991 at the age of 87 but his legacy will live on for years to come.

Black History Month

Since February is Black History Month, I chose two books related to the trials people of African-American descent suffered prior to the Civil Rights movement in the 1960's.

K-2 heard the story "Most Loved in All the World" by Tonya Hegamin. Since this book is also a Beehive Nominee for 2011, the students were able to vote on how well they liked this book.

"Most Loved in All the World" is about a young slave girl who watches her mother suffer day after day in the cotton fields. She rubs salve in her mother's cut hands and whipped back. When he mother has time away from the fields, she works on a quilt, and as she sews, she tells her daughter what the blocks on the quilt mean. The child is too young to understand that her mother works with the Underground Railroad to set as many slaves free as she can. Finally, one night, the mother sends her daughter off with the others, but she has to stay and continue her fight for freedom. Before she sends the daughter away, she gives her the quilt she has stitched, and the blocks will guide her to freedom. In the center is a block which means "this child is most loved in all the world." A heart-wrenching story, this book reveals one of the many sacrifices freedom fighters made--"These folks saw slaver as an all-out war; they lived by the strict codes of true soldiers." -Tonya Hegamin (author's notes).

3-6 heard from one of my favorite books, "Maniac Magee," by Jerry Spinelli. This novel is set during a time of segregation, and the theme of two separate worlds is present throughout the novel. Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee loses his parents in a tragic accident and is sent to live with his aunt and uncle, who pretty much hate each other. Rather than get divorced, the aunt and uncle live in separate parts of the house and spend separate time with Jeffrey. This situation doesn't sit well with Jeffrey, and he decides to run away. He stops running in a city called Two Mills, where the people living on the East End are black, and the West Enders are white. Jeffrey is taken in by a family on the East End, and fits in perfectly with them, though not all the neighbors understand. This wonderful book reads like poetry--the descriptions are lyrical and rich in sensation. Here is one of my favorite paragraphs:

"For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why these East Enders called themselves black. He kept looking and looking, and the colors he found were gingersnap and light fudge and dark fudge and acorn and butter rum and cinnamon and burnt orange."

And another:

"He especially loved the warm brown of Mrs. Beale's thumb, as it appeared from under creamy white icing that she allowed him to lick away when she was frosting his favorite cake."

Okay, one more:

"By the time Maniac and the rest of the vacant lot regulars got there, Chestnut and Green was a cross between a block party and a swimming pool. Radios blaring. People blaring. Somebody selling lemonade. Somebody selling Kool-Aid ice cubes on toothpicks. Bodies. Skin. Colors. Water. Gleaming. Buttery. Warm. Cool. Wet. Screaming. Happy."

Utterly moving and beautiful, this Newberry Medal winner gives new insight to what it means to accept people for who they are, and not judge them based on any superficial detail. Read this one with your kids!