We’ve been in 4th and 5th grade classes in the last week to talk about the Personalized Reading List (PeRL) program. The PeRL program is straight-forward and, in my opinion, amazing. I visited Tam Valley, Old Mill and Strawberry Point last week (our Edna visits will be tomorrow and Friday) and, during my conversations with [...]
The Cloud Spinner (2012) by Michael Catchpool, illustrated by Alison Jay. A boy who spins exquisite yarn from clouds makes two magical scarves that he wears for hot and cold weather. His mantra, “Enough is enough and not once stitch more,” is the refrain of a song taught to him by his mother. When a [...]
Hello Folks, The end of One Book One Marin 2012 is closing in! Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this year’s pick and are planning on attending the culmniating event–author Michael David Lukas will converse with none other than KQED’s Michael Krasny on Wednesday April 25th, 7pm at Dominican University’s Angelico Hall. Please come–it’ll be fantastic. Prior to [...]
Billions of Years, Amazing Changes: The Story of Evolution (2011) by Laurence Pringle; illustrated by Steve Jenkins It’s hard to find a book for kids that explains the somewhat tricky concepts of evolution and natural selection – but this one fits the bill and does it in a thoughtful and engaging way. Nonfiction heavyweights Pringle [...]
Every year, as the daffodils pop up, our national literary attention turns to poetry. This annual ritual gives us a chance to highlight some the great poetry books we have in the Children’s Room. I wanted to highlight a couple of my favorites: Here’s a little poem : a very first book of poetry, collected by [...]
Fellow Readers, I thought it might be interesting to take a peek into the real life Sultan Abdulhamid II, and compare it with Michael David Lukas’ fictional version. According to Caroline Finkel’s Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Abdulhamid II has been “more harshly judged by history than any other sultan”(488). The Sultan [...]
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