Happy Birthday!

For the week of September 12-16 we celebrated BIRTHDAYS in the Media Center.

For kindergarten - 3rd grade we read Birthday at the Panda Palace, by Stephanie Calmenson, illustrated by Doug Cushman .

"For monkeys like us, Bananas will please. But for you, birthday mouse, Here's a big chunk of . . ." Birthday cake? Mud pie? No, it's cheese!

Can you guess what the three pigs bring? Is it made of straw or wood or brick? How about Elephant? What is his present for Mouse? The students loved using the rhymes to figure out what gift they'll find when the page was turned. And the best surprise of all comes at the end when a special visitor arrives—because friendship is what this party is all about!

Complete with cake, candles, goody bags, and games, Stephanie Calmenson and Doug Cushman throw a party you won't want to leave!

For 4th - 6th grade we read 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass.

It's Amanda's 11th birthday and she is super excited---after all, 11 is so different from 10. But from the start, everything goes wrong. The worst part of it all is that she and her best friend, Leo, with whom she's shared every birthday, are on the outs and this will be the first birthday they haven't shared together. When Amanda turns in for the night, glad to have her birthday behind her, she wakes up happy for a new day. Or is it? Her birthday seems to be repeating iself. What is going on?! And how can she fix it? Only time, friendship, and a little luck will tell. . .

Award Winning Books for 2011

The Caldecott and Newbery awards are the most prestigious awards given annually by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, to American authors' books in the United States of America. Once the winning books are announced, book stores have a difficult time keeping their shelves stocked with these quality children books.

The Caldecott Medal for 2011 goes to A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Stead, Illustrated by Erin Stead.

This book is about friends and how they take care of each other. The story is unpredictable and the illustrations are delightful. My favorite picture is when the animals are riding the bus. I highly recommend this book for all elementary students and their parents to enjoy reading. Though in the Media Center, we read it to the students from Kindergarten through Third Grade.

Read to 4th-6th Grade

The Newbery Medal for 2011 goes to Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool.

Abilene Tucker is the 12 year old daughter of Gideon Tucker. She loves to hear his stories of a town he lived in 18 years before called, Manifest. Abilene describes her father's stories about Manifest like "...sucking on butterscotch. Smooth and sweet...." The students savored butterscotch drops while we read this flavorful metaphor in chapter one.

Continuing with an introduction to the story, Gideon gets a job in Iowa with the railroad and sends his Abilene to this town of Manifest. She arrives on a train scheduled to meet Pastor Howard whom Gideon arranged for her to stay with. "Abilene's Manifest" is much different than the smooth and sweet stories Gideon told her about. The pastor she meets is an interim pastor who has been waiting 14 years for the real pastor to show up. His name is Shady and, yes, he is a bit shady. She makes friends when she goes to her first day of school which is the last day of school before summer break.

She comes upon some old Manifest Herald newspapers and reads them in hopes of finding information about Gideon's time in Manifest, She also discovers an old cigar box hidden under a board on her bedroom floor that is filled with trinkets, a map, and letters about suspicions of spies in Manifest during World War I. As Abilene and her friends begin to investigate the past, someone warns them to stop their investigation by inconspicuously posting a note to their treehouse. The adventure of past(1918) and present (1936) becomes too irresistible for the girls to leave alone!

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.



View all my reviews

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.



View all my reviews

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.



View all my reviews

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.