Polar Express

This week in the Library we read the Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg.  The Polar Express is a story about a magical train that takes a boy on a journey to the North Pole to receive a special gift from Santa Clause.

 On Friday the school will show the movie.  It is fun to see how books and movies are different.  After we read the book we spent a few minutes comparing and contrasting the book and the movie.  It has been a fun week. The question is, "Do you Believe"?

Merry Christmas to all the students and families at Bella Vista. We will see you next year!

 http://destiny.canyonsdistrict.org

New Books Are Here!

Bella Vista Library received over 75 wonderful new books now available for you to check out! There is a variety of biographies, informational books, holiday books, and graphic novels. Sports biographies to check out: 

• Derrick Rose
• Kevin Durant
• Kevin Garnett
• Landon Donovan
• LeBron James
• Lionel Messi
• Peyton Manning
• Shaun White

Eye to Eye:  How Some Animals See the World (1st-4th grade) by Steve Jenkins is a fascinating non-fiction book with intricate paper collage artwork of each animals' eyes.


I especially love the book, Helen's Big World:  The Life of Helen Keller (Kindergarten and up) by Doreen Rappaport. This biography inspires me as I read quotes from Helen Keller and
learn about her life. She started out as a normal toddler who was struck with an unknown illness at the age of 18 months that left her unable to see, hear or speak. The illustrations by Matt Tavares are beautiful. Check this one out!

A humorous series both boys and girls will like are the Clementine (1st-3rd grade) books by Marcia Frazee. We received:

• Clementine's Letter
• Clementine and the Family Meeting
• Clementine and the Spring Trip

Great graphic novels for all reading levels are here:

• Benjamin Bear in Bright Ideas (K-3rd grade)
• The Baby-Sitters Club:  Mary Anne saves the Day (2nd-5th grade)
• Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales:  Donner Dinner Party (3rd-7th grade)
• Sisters (3rd-7th)
• Bluffton:  My Summer with Buster Keaton (4th-7th grade)

 Fiction books you should check out are:

• School of Fear:  The Final Exam (3rd-7th grade)
• Fortunately, the Milk (3rd-7th grade)
• How to Catch a Bogle (4th-7th grade)
• Zebra Forest (4th-7th grade)
• Al Capone Does My Shirts (5th and up)
• Counting by 7s (5th and up) 

You should each be able to find something great to read!                          

Elf on the Shelf

This week in the Library we have read "The Elf on the Shelf " to each of the classes.  It just so happens that this Year Santa has sent an elf on the shelf to Bella Vista.  She keeps showing up all around the school.  You never know where she will be, but we do know she will be watching to see if the Bella Vista Students are good or not.  She loves reporting to Santa all the great things that students at Bella Vista are doing. She has seen students taking turns, following teacher directions the first time, and being kind to others. The elf has brought some notes back after her report to Santa telling some of the things Santa has said. So far she has been in our library, In Principal Prescott's office and the computer lab.  Who knows where she will be next. 

Thank you to Ms. Hunt who sent a special request to the North Pole to have a Elf on the Shelf come to Bella Vista.

LEAP into Beehive Books

This year our Beehive Book Club theme is LEAP into Beehive books.  We are excited to have our Beehive Book Club back and going.  Each of our Bella Vista Students have Decorated and Colored a frog.  They are Hanging up in front of the Media Center.

Beehive Books are books that the Children's Literature Association of Utah have nominated for the Children of the State of Utah to vote on.  There are 4 categories:  Poetry, Picture, Fiction, and Informational.  For a complete list of the 2014-2015 Beehive book Nominees please visit CLAU's website at www.clau.org.

Students are encouraged to read Beehive Books and vote on them.  The books can be checked out from our school library or any other library.  After students have read a Beehive Book, They can vote on the books in our library.  We will submit the votes in April.  After you read the Beehive Books, don't forget to sign the yellow binder so that we know what books you have read.

Most important there will be a Beehive Book Club Party in May where the winning Beehive books are announced and prizes are given out for the top readers of Beehive Books.

A big THANK YOU goes out to Bella Vista's administration and the PTA for financially supporting our Beehive Book Club!

2014 Newbery and Caldecott Award Winners

This week in our library we spotlighted the Newbery and Caldecott award winning books for 2014.  

The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. Newbery awards have been given out since 1922.

This years Newbery award winning book is Flora and Ulysses by Kate Dicamillo.  A girl named Flora and a squirrel named Ulysses, whose life was saved by Flora after he was involved in an incident with a vacuum cleaner, team up to use Ulysses' superpowers to conquer villains and protect the weak.



The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.Caldecott awards have been given out since 1938.

This Years Caldecott award winning book is Locomotive by Brian Floca. All aboard! Accompany a family on an unforgettable weeklong train trip from Omaha to Sacramento in 1869. Brian Floca’s dramatic watercolor, ink, acrylic and gouache illustrations incorporate meticulously-researched portraits of the train, the travelers and the crew as they traverse the American landscape on the new transcontinental railroad.

http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal,http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottmedal, Destiny

Glad to See You Back!

Welcome to the new school year.  After a week and a half, we are in full swing.  Classes are starting in the library next week on Tuesday September 2nd.  I am excited to welcome everybody back to the Library and hear about all the fun books you have read over the summer.  This year we have some fun things planned during library time so come prepared to have a GREAT time.

One big change you will notice right away is that Mrs. Allison is not here anymore.  We miss her and wish her the best of luck with all she does.  We will have a new Media Assistant soon and we are excited to welcome her.

Have a great weekend and we we will see you next week!

Be Your Best

"Whatever you choose to do in life, be your best." This is what my father taught me when I was a child. In 2009, I chose to be a media assistant at Bella Vista and my focus has always been to make the library the best it can be so others will gain a love for reading books and visiting libraries to last a lifetime.

You don't have to wait until you're grown up to be your best. You can be your best now and the possibilities are endless! You can be the best student in class, the best daughter or son at home, the best friend to others, the best citizen in your community, even the best at reading 20 minutes every night to become the best reader you can be.

Being your best can be hard sometimes but it is worth it! I promise, you will feel good about how you live your life when you do your best.

Recently, I read a picture book called The Numberlys by William Joyce. The only thing that exists in the Numberlys' colorless world are numbers.  A few of the children decide they won't settle for what already exists. They want something more than just numbers. They work hard to come up with different ideas to improve upon what is already there. They create an even more wonderful world by adding letters, words and color to life!  When you do your best you will create a more wonderful world too!



In conclusion, I want you to know "I love you to the moon and back"and you will always have a special place in my heart. Good bye.

                                                 Mrs. Allison