Cinder

Meyer, M. (2013). Cinder. Square Fish.

Overview: Cinder is a cyborg human. She does not remember anything before she was a cyborg. She was adopted and taken in by a family with two daughters. Shortly after she was taken in the husband died. Her unkind stepmother continued to allow her to live with them as long as she pulled her own weight. So she had a booth in the market place and worked as a mechanic. Her world begins to change when the crowned prince shows up in her booth needing her to help fix his android. Before long the one sister she cares for becomes ill with the plague. Her stepmother turns her over to the royal testing lab to try and find a cure for the plague. Cinder's adventure in self-discover begins once she meets the royal research doctor. During this time Queen Levana the ruler of the lunar people wants to take over the earth people. She wants to make an alliance with the ruler of Commonwealth. The king has become ill also with the plague. Kai the crowned prince, wants to save his father and his people. He is researching the rumors that Queen Levana killed her niece the Princess Selene. The princess supposedly dead in a fire. But rumors say she was brought to earth and is still alive. He wants to try and find her to return her to her throne and get rid of the hateful and mean Queen. The 126th Annual Ball to celebrate the Eastern Commonwealth is about to happen. Who will attend the Ball? The prince wants Cinder to be his guest. She wants to leave and get as far away from everyone after Peony dies and she discovers she is lunar, plus a cyborg. What other secrets might be discovered from Dr. Erland.

This is book one of the Lunar Chronicle's. Book two is Scarlet.

Grade Level - The publisher suggests 7 - 12 grades. I definitely think it is appropriate in middle school and high school. I think some 5th and 6th advanced readers would also be able to read the book and enjoy it. The lexile level is 790. The genre is Sci-fi/Fantasy with a fairy tale twist.

Resources:

Lunar History

Author's Website

Lesson Plan and other Resources

Activity Guide from California Young Reader Medal

This Bear's Birthday

Capucilli, A. S. (2017). This Bear's birthday. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Overview: Bear is growing up. He is one year older. He begins to learn some independence. He struggles with some tasks like putting on his coat. He is able to get help from an adult, yet still feels proud of himself for the task of getting dressed on his own. Then he learns that some things no bear can do no matter how old. He wanted to put the leaves back on the tree after they fall off. The book has many themes that could be used in the classroom. Some possible themes - celebrations (birthdays), Independence, working together.

Grade level - Pre-k and kindergarten

Resources:
Author's Website
Young Children Social and Emotional Milestones
Life's Little Lessons with Daniel Tiger

An Assortment of Children's Books from Publisher at TLA

While at TLA I visited the publishers. I was able to get several books to read. Some have already been published and others are new books not yet published that are sometimes called a galley. 

Guided Readers

Long, E. (2018). Dance, dance, dance! New York: Holiday House.

Overview: Silly book that reminds me of Mo Willems books about Piggy and Gerald. Young readers will like the silliness of the characters while reading. The pictures are great and will make you laugh.

Resources: 
Guided Reading Flashcards
Ethan Long

McCully, E. A. (July 17, 2018). Min makes a machine. New York: Holiday House.

Overview: A level E book. It is about a girl elephant who is hot and wants to cool down. She sets out to find a solution to the problem. The other elephants do not help because they are too hot. She is determined and creates a solution for all to enjoy and cool down. The text is simple and includes lots of quotation marks for the reader to learn how to read.

Resources:

The Publisher Resources

Emily Arnold McCully

Henry, S. (July 17, 2018). Hide! New York: Holiday House.

Overview: A level D book. Very simple text. Perfect for an emerging reader. Fun picture and story. A fish and an elephant are on a boat. The fish takes a swim when he sees other fish. The elephant is taking a nap. The fish has fun with other fish until a shark comes. He tries to hide but gets caught. Who will save him? Elephant, of course! Then elephant has fun until he can't get back to the boat then all the fish come to the rescue.

Resources:
The Publisher Resource

McPhail, D. (2018). Jump. New York: Holiday House.

Overview: Level A. I like to Read series. I like this series it is very colorful for our beginning readers and most of the books are silly. Jump is about things that can jump. Very simple sight words. The pictures support the new more difficult words for beginning readers. My favorite is the cow jumping over the moon in the book. Reminds me of the nursery rhyme

Resource: 

Holiday House

Glaser, R. (2016). Dolphins play. Mankato, MN: Amicus Ink.

Overview: A board book with great photographs of dolphins in action. The text is broken into two parts, simple words that express action and simple sentences. Young readers will enjoy this beginning nonfiction book.

Mattern, J. (2019). All around the world India. Minneapolis, MN: Pogo Books.

Overview: This nonfiction book introduces students to the country of India and the people of that region. At the beginning of the book is a great section for teachers and parents. There is suggestions on ideas to use while reading before, during and after. The book has wonderful pictures and nonfiction features - table of contents, fact boxes, vocabulary bubbles, map, glossary, index, and a website to learn more.

Resources:

Fact Surfer

Babymouse Tales From the Locker: Miss Communication

Holm, J. & Holm, M. (July 24, 2018) Babymouse Tales From the Locker: Miss Communication. New York: Random House Books for Young Readers.

Overview - Babymouse is in Middle School. She notices everyone who is anyone has a phone. She wants one! She desperately wants to be cool and popular. She convinces her parents to get her a phone. The Whiz Bang mini is the best thing ever. The book which is humorous and partially a graphic novel format focuses on the trials and tribulations of social status and digital technology presence. Super cute and light hearted way to ponder the digital world versus the real world peer interactions.

Grades - 3 - 7

Resources -

Jennifer Holm's Website

Matthew Holm's Blog

Graphic Novel Educators Guide

Babymouse Website

Refugee

Gratz, A. (2017). Refugee. New York: Scholastic Press.

Wow! What a powerful book. My eyes have been opened. Each child's attempt and search for freedom is separated by generations. But the struggles are still parallel. This bluebonnet 18-19 read will be a powerful teaching resource in our communities. Helping children to learn empathy for others in different situations that they don't have to face. Also, a great book to talk about bullies by comparing the oppressors to bullies in our schools. I loved how Gratz has all three stories connected in some way even though years have passed. 5 degrees of separation.

Overview:

Josef - Nazi Germany Jewish boy who tried to flee Germany before the world war breaks out. His father is taken to a Nazi camp and sees things he is not able to recover from. The family flees Germany on the Ship the St. Luis sailing to Cuba. When they arrive in Cuba, they are not permitted in due to political reasons.

Isabel - Cuban girl who in 1994 flees Cuba on a make shift raft in hope of reaching America. The barriers the family has to overcome to get to America are relentless. Eventually the boat does make it to dry land so they can stay in the US, but everyone does not make it.

Mahmoud - Syria refuge in 2015. I am appalled that our world is so broken. He and his family had the shortest journey but such a dangerous one. The civil war in the middle east is so scary for the innocent. His family is forced to flee when his apartment building his hit by missiles.

All three of the characters are forced to grow up to soon and take on adult roles and decision making. I feel so blessed to live in a free country. Stepping up and helping those who need help just to feel safe is so important. It can be done in our own backyard and across the world.

Resources:

Organizations that can help UNICEF and Save the Children.

Alan Gratz Website

Scholastic Discussion Guide

Author Interview

Horn Book Interview with Author

Gratz talks about his Characters

The Girl In Between

Carroll, S. (2017). The girl in between. New York: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books.

Overview: The girl in between is a book that covers the topic of homelessness. It is about a girl and her Ma who wonder the streets to find a safe place to stay away from the authorities. They find an old mill that the girl calls their castle. She is not allowed to leave the castle only Ma can. They panhandle for change to survive. The girl spends her day exploring the building. She is fine until her Ma starts to drink and do drugs again. Then her world starts to spiral out of control. This book is for a more advanced middle age reader who is able to make higher level connections to the text. Lots of jumping around in the book between present and past. The ending was unexpected by me, lots of surprises in story for a reader. The book made me think about what it might be like for a family living on the streets, but also at the end the super natural twist made me reflect on the whole book to think about how much of the book was taking place in the present. I still have questions. Is Ma alive or dead? Is caretaker a ghost?

Resources:
Interview with the Author
Publisher Information about the book.
An Article about effects of Homelessness on Youth

Texas Library Association Conference - April 2018 - Dallas

Wow! What a fantastic week of learning! I attended three of the four days. I meet lots of great vendors and authors, but the best part of all was learning from other librarians from around the state.

So I will share a few great resources that you can add to your collection if you were unable to attend or missed the session I went to.

My absolute favorite is from Round Rock ISD - The librarians have a great program called Armadillo Readers Choice Award. If you are looking for great books and lessons for K-2nd grade check out their website. They have posted all the books from each year since the award began, plus all the lessons. Check it out, there is no reason to reinvent the wheel! Each lesson has a digital component if possible. 

A great resource for students to share in the discussion, or to use in a professional development session - TodaysMeet 

Andrea Keller from Elliott Elementary from Irving. She presented on family engagement in your library. This is one of my passions. I believe families need to be invited into the library for access to information. Not all families can or will access the public library but they will come visit their child's school library if invited. Educators need to help educate the whole system not just the child, but parents as well. Check her out on twitter - @akbusybee or her blog 

I went to the 2X2 Showcase and was entertained by Mac Barnett and Greg Pizzoli. They are teaming up and have created a young readers early chapter book called Jack. It is about a Monkey, a dog and a lady. Super funny! Check out the 2018 2X2's. Also visit A Kid's Book A Day blog for more picture book reviews.

Are you looking for Inquiry help? Well visit the Library Door by Paige Jaeger. She shares lots of great hand outs to use while doing inquiry in her Symbaloo.

An lastly, are you wanting some new education sites that promote interactive lessons. Visit Interactive Sites for Education. 

I survived my first TLA Conference and look forward to next year. If you have never been I highly recommend trying to write a grant or asking your principal to send you. It is pricey for 4 days if it is not local, but it is well worth it for the learning and networking opportunities.