"Imagine Your Story "
Are you looking for some books t0 read this summer? Check out these book lists of suggested titles. The summer reading theme this year is "Imagine Your Story." Read some fairy tales, folk tales or write your own story!
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Vermont Middle Grade Book Award Winner Announced
The winner of the
2019 - 2020 book award is
Small Spaces
by Katherine Arden
Vermont Middle-Grade Children’s Book
Award*
*Previously
known as the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award and Dorothy’s List.
Look for a
new name next year.
Vermont Red Clover Book Award Winner Announced
We have a winner!!
Vermont red
clover picture book award
It was difficult to have our usual voting and celebration around the books. I am sorry if you did not get to hear all of them read aloud. These ten books will be available in the library when you return to school. Here are some pictures drawn by students after we read the very silly award winning book, Potato Pants. How about if you draw your own potato wearing some fancy pants?
Wondering about the voting results for all the books?
Title Votes
Potato Pants 1664
Misunderstood Shark 1066
The Wall in the Middle of the Book 817
Drawn Together 611
Girl Running 609
Counting on Katherine 460
Hawk Rising 353
Julian is a Mermaid 133
The Day You Begin 102
Friends and Foes 65
Total Votes 5880
Friday, May 29, 2020
Lois Ehlert - author and illustrator
Our
libraries own many different Lois Ehlert books that she has written and illustrated over the years. Below
you can click on a link and listen to her talk about writing and illustrating
her books. I was motivated by Mrs. Libby to create some of my own artwork. I
hope that you will be inspired to create something for your house too!
Reading Rockets interview
Click on the
link below to listen to and read along with Lois Ehlert’s book “Planting a
Rainbow”.
Here’s a project that I created for my yard. We had some trees cut down and I found this wedge of an oak tree. It is almost finished, but it needs one more coat of paint. Then I will display it in my yard along with some colorful flowers.
I found a piece
of bark from a birch tree. What do you think I could make with it? Please post
comments and tell me what you think or tell me about your projects!
Friday, May 22, 2020
Vermont Red Clover Picture Book Award Voting
It is time to submit your vote!
Click on the google slide show to review all ten books.
The Red
Clover Book Award is a statewide children’s choice picture book award under the
auspices of the Vermont Department of Libraries. The award is named after
Vermont’s state flower and is given annually to one of ten committee-nominated
picture books that receives the most votes from Vermont children in grades K-4.
What
makes a picture book “work”?
In a
successful picture book, text and illustration work together to make an
interactive whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. A picture book
begins with an idea. Sometimes this idea is in words and sometimes it’s in
pictures. What do authors and illustrators do to turn an idea into a book? Do you think the process is easier if the same person writes and
illustrates a book? Why or why not? Which books on the list are written and
illustrated by one person? Which ones are created by two or more people?
Authors usually do not have a chance to tell illustrators how they would like
to have their books illustrated. Why do you think this happens this way? If you
were the author, would you like to tell the illustrator what you wanted? If you
were the illustrator, would you want the author telling you how to do the
illustrations? Why or why not?
It's time to
vote!! Don't worry if you did not get to read or hear all of the books. As long as you heard at least five of them, you are all set. There is a ballot below, but in order to vote this year, you will need
to make a comment telling me which book you like the best. If you are not able to comment you may have your parents help you send me an email. jrussell@rivendellschool.org
Remember that you
can only vote for one book!
Drawn Together
DRAWN TOGETHER
Written by Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat
A grandpa and his grandson find a way to bridge their culture
and language gap through the discovery of a shared love of storytelling and
drawing.
Click on this link below to watch Ms. Russell read the book
aloud. A big thank you is extended to the publisher Disney Hyperion for allowing this
book to be shared online during our remote learning.
Big Ideas and Enduring Understanding:
• Art is another way that people can find common ground even
when they don’t share the same language or background.
Overarching Questions:
• What were their differences?
What did they find out they had in common?
• How did Grandpa and his grandson find a way to “talk” to
each other even though they don’t share the same language or customs?
On the copyright page it explains what the words in Thai mean.
Thai language has its own alphabet. It is read left to right. The short video
here shows the words and pronunciation for some animals in Thai and English.
The author’s grandparents
were Vietnamese, the illustrator’s grandmother is Thai. Locate Thailand and
Vietnam on a map. It is estimated that about 50 million people speak Thai
(counting those in Thailand, Vietnam, and part of China). Why do you suppose many
Vietnamese speak Thai?
Author Information:
• For more information
about the book and author, see: http://minhlebooks.com/
• Radio interview on National
Public Radio with Minh Lê about the book: https://www.npr.org/2018/06/15/620428253/struggling-for-words-a-boy-and-his-grandfather-are-drawn-together-at-last
Illustrator Information:
• For more information about the illustrator, see: https://www.dantat.com/
Friday, May 15, 2020
Misunderstood Shark
MISUNDERSTOOD SHARK
Written by
Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Scott Magoon
During a live broadcast of
“Underwater World with Bob,” a series of incidents with Shark create some
hilarious misunderstandings and uncertainty. Is Shark truly as innocent as he
claims? Scott Magoon’s illustrations are a perfect match for this laugh-out-loud
picture book. With permission from Scholastic Publishing, Ms. Russell will read
aloud this book including a short visit from her cat, Midnight. What a silly
kitty!
Big Ideas and Enduring
Understanding:
People misunderstand and mistrust sharks. I wonder how you feel about them.
Overarching Question:
Why do people not trust
sharks?
If you can, please tell me about your favorite shark or make a comment about the book!
Check out Scholastic’s activity
pages for Misunderstood Shark
If you would like to research sharks (or other ocean animals).
Some resources are:
Author’s Website:
For more information about the book and
author, see:
Illustrator’s Website:
For more information about the book and
illustrator, see:
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