Welcome Back! Some Things Old and Some Things New

MMM...Many maneuvers are mingling in the minds of the Media Assistants to make each month in the Media Center magical, munchy, and monumental with Some Things Old and Some Things New.

Some Things Old that will continue to be incorporated into Story Time this year will be Meet the Author, holiday and seasonal books, the latest, cutting edge books, classics, award winning books, including Newberys, Caldecotts and Beehives. The Beehive Book Club is only one year old and we will continue it again this year with a new twist...

Some Things New include the Race to Read Beehive Books for members of the Beehive Book Club (all students are members) and the newly nominated Beehive books which are available to check out during class visits starting the second week of school. We will have a combination of fiction and non-fiction authors to spotlight for Meet the Author and much more!

Some Thing else New, well...not some thing but Some One New is our new Media Assistant, Mrs. Wilson. She will be working alongside Mrs. Allison in the Media Center. According to Mrs. Allison, she is the best part of something new in our library this year so please help her feel welcome!

A Fond Farewell--Mrs. Wadsworth Says Goodbye

As the school year winds up, we look back at all the wonderful times we've had, all the great things we've learned, and all of our progress. No matter what stage of life we are in, we learn and grow, stretch and explore. This is my last year working at Bella Vista, so I find myself looking back over the past four years, not just looking back over the last school year. Thank you to students and faculty for making these past four years great for me! I have learned a lot, had a ton of fun, and felt a great deal of love and acceptance within your friendship. This has been a fantastic place to work.

I am resigning my position for a couple of reasons. One of them is family. As many of you know, I have a daughter who struggles with autism and epilepsy. As her schedule and needs change, so must mine. If you are interested in learning more about autism, here are a few of my favorite books. Also look in the archives of this blog for "Waiting for Benjamin".

Rules by Cynthia Lord

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a great book to introduce kids to autism and what it is like to have an autistic sibling. I am often in awe of my own children and how they deal with their autistic sister. They have had their difficulties, much like the girl in this novel, but they have learned to love her and see beauty in her.



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Here's another one that I really liked, but it is not appropriate for elementary school students. Parents, give this one a read!
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This novel is not appropriate for elementary school students, but for an adult with an autistic daughter--like myself--this book was a very good read. Given my experience, this novel awoke all kinds of thoughts in me. This was a very realistic portrayal of an autistic person. My daughter is much more severe than this character, but it did make me wonder more about the world in which she lives. The language is strong in places, and this author doesn't pull any punches on the emotional difficulties this character faces. The circumstances the character finds himself in are sadly common as well. Such a good glimpse into the autistic mind.



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Also, for my creative writing students and for those who are interested, I wrote a book about autism as well. This book is based on our experiences raising an autistic child.

Faraway Child by Amy Maida Wadsworth

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Can I review my own book? :)

This book is very dear to my heart. It is based on true events, though the characters have been changed--several people were mushed together into one character, and I got creative with the characters who provided conflict. Many of the cruel things said to the main character were actually said to me and my family. This book is raw and honest and I published it with great trepidation because it exposed my weaknesses, fears, and flaws. By reading this book, you are--in a way--getting a small glimpse into a period of my life.

People often ask about our autistic daughter and how she is doing now. She is currently 18, still living at home, and is a great joy to us. She is still mostly non-verbal and will need care and assistance for the rest of her life, but her epilepsy causes more of a challenge for us than her autism.

I hope you enjoy this book.



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We have formed a team for the Walk Now for Autism Speaks 5k coming up in October of 2011. If you would like more information on this fundraiser, go to my team page.

I am also leaving to pursue my dream of being an author. As stated above, I have written books before. About 6 years ago, I left the publishing field to start working outside of my home. Now, it is time to return to publishing. If you would like to follow my writing career, check out my website occasionally. http://www.amymaidawadsworth.com/index.html I'm starting from scratch, though, so it may be a while before anything hits the shelves.

Thanks again, Bella Vista! I'll be back as a volunteer next year! Much love to you all!

The Year the Swallows Came Early

The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

This book takes place in San Juan Capistrano when the swallows do their annual migration. The children in the book learn to deal with and forgive adults who make poor decisions that affect them. The book chapters are titled by foods which relates to the culinary goals of the main character and living in Southern California. The book was enjoyable to read.

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.