Counting the Votes…Barefoot Style

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Lana

Wow… What a FUN job I have before me!

With over 130 votes coming in from our Elementary Students this week, I have my work cut out for me adding up who voted for what. I actually don’t need to do any of this… I really just need to wait until tomorrow night to see who the ALA chooses for the Newbery and Caldecott Medal books, then see which of our students chose the same, and go from there. BUT, it is so interesting seeing who the kids voted for, remembering the lesson that their teacher or I read them that book, the discussions we had, and realizing that the book resonated with them.

I started a tally on a small piece of paper for the Caldecott’s, and soon realized I needed a bigger piece of paper to write down all of the different titles. It really is a great year for picture books, and I am thrilled that so many of our students have been exposed to the LATEST and GREATEST the industry has to offer.

Caldecott Book Tally as voted by the K,1,2,3rd grade students; the number in brackets AFTER the book title, is how many votes it earned from the 4th and 5th graders.

1 vote went to Bunnies on Ice, If you want to see a whale, the Matchbox Diary, A Splash of Red, I’m the Scariest Thing in the Jungle, and Water in the Park (love this one). Of course, the cool thing is, ANY of these books could be the actual Caldecott Medal or Honor Winner.

2 votes went to On a Beam of Light, The Snatchabook(4), Nelson Mandela, The Tortoise and the Hare, and Odd Duck.

3 votes went to Papa’s Mechanical Fish, The Day the Crayons Quit(6), Steam Train Dream Train and also to Journey(3), so of course I think one of those voters must be onto something, with Aaron Becker’s Journey being such a favorite this year around the blogosphere.

4 votes went to Mr Wuffles (1)

6 votes went to Night Light (1), the children really loved guessing what will be on the next page and Mr Tiger Goes Wild, (4) another popular favorite this year.

9 votes went to Tap the Magic Tree, Building our House, Unicorn Thinks he’s Pretty Great (3), Secret Pizza Party (2), Bluebird (6) and Flora the Flamingo proving that you don’t need words to produce a brilliant story kids love.

Doug Unplugged (3) has been really popular with the second and third graders and scored high with them when it came time to vote with 15 votes.

However, it was the teaming of Lemony Snickett and Jon Klassen with The Dark (12) that scored the highest with the K-3rd graders who gave it 21 votes, proving it to be the most popular of the picture books they’ve been introduced to these past three weeks. I certainly hope it gets an honor at least, the silence and air of suspense as I read it, time and time again, was palpable.

So, points of interest between the Caldecott books the lower ES voted for compared to the upper ES…

*Patricia Polacco’s Bully didn’t get a nod from the younger ones, but 3 upper ES voted for it.
*Locomotive got 1 vote from the older kids
*All of the books listed above that only got one vote from the younger kids, were overlooked by the older ones.
*Dark was the clear favourite overall, with 33 votes…
Right…. now on to the Newbery AND Caldecott Votes from the 4th and 5th graders… It will be interesting to see how they chose their picture books compared to the younger students. To win the ‘grand prize’ kiss from me, they need to get the Newbery AND Caldecott winner correct…. tough call.

Kenn Nesbitt is coming!

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Lana

You heard it first… We are excited to be hosting our first Visiting Author of 2014 from February 24th to February 28th here in Pudong Elementary.

We are still working on the schedule, however it is certain that Kenn will have time with each grade level as well as a full school assembly on Monday February 24th (details to follow). If you’d like to read more about Kenn, and comment on some of his funny poems, check out his fantastic blog here. We have 100 copies of Kenn’s books here for sale immediately after the Chinese New Year Holiday, and I’m sure they will sell fast. Check out these titles and see if you’d like to buy any of them, they will be signed of course, and would make a great gift.

: 15 copies @100 rmb each

: 15 copies @ 40 rmb each

: 40 copies @ 60 rmb each

: 30 copies @ 40 rmb each

7 days to go, 7 days ’til we know…

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Lana

In a way, I can’t wait ’til this time next week, when I can start sharing with the students who won the 2014 Newbery and Caldecott Medals, but another part of me really enjoys the energy and enthusiasm the countdown produces.
Right now, the classes are buzzing, arguing, debating and defending their choices with vigour… once the decision is made, I suppose there will be a new kind of buzz; again, more arguments as to why they think the decision made was right or wrong… But as for now, they OWN their choices, and they are shouting them loud and proud.

As for me, I am reading through those books like crazy… but none have jumped out at me the same way Applegate’s Ivan did this time last year. I am however, loving MANY of the picture books I’m reading (so much faster!) and can’t wait to see who takes that. Some of my favourites are:

The Dark by Lemony Snickett
I’m a sucker for Klassen’s illustrations, and I think the story is really well done, so suspenseful.

Journey by Aaron Becker
Wordless books are aplenty this year with Flora the Flamingo, Mr. Wuffles (practically wordless) and the heart-wrenching Bluebird by Bob Staake, however it is Journey that gets my vote; what an amazing creation. The early pages took me back to one of last year’s favorites, Hello Hello by Matthew Cordell.

Doug Unplugged by Dan Yaccarino
Again,I’m reminded of Hello Hello; “Dan Yaccarino’s funny story of robot rebellion is a great reminder that sometimes the best way to learn about the world is to go out and be in it.”

Now, check out Ms Lau’s students reading the Caldecott’s this morning, and see what they voted for this morning…

Ethan H: Blue Bird
Maddie: Blue Bird
Lizzie: Nelson Mandela
Daniel: Blue Bird
Han Rei: Blue Bird
William: Blue Bird
Jerry: Journey
Charlotte: Blue Bird
Oliver: Night Light
Malu: Blue Bird
Yolanda: Blue Bird

Here is a great list from the Horn Book blog with many of the books listed that we are lucky enough to have been reading this week.

Who will Win Newbery and Caldecott Gold?

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Lana

Only 11 sleeps to go until the Newbery and Caldecott Medals are awarded on January 27th.
We are running a competition in the ES Library to see if anyone can correctly guess both of them, see the end of this post for details. In the meantime, take a look at just a FEW of the possible winners here…

http://videonew.saschina.org/player/pak_player/pakplayer.swf?config=http%3A%2F%2Fvideonew.saschina.org%2Fplayer%2Fpak_player%2Fembed_player.php%3Fvid%3D6485%26json%3Dtrue%26autoplay%3Dno

http://videonew.saschina.org/player/pak_player/pakplayer.swf?config=http%3A%2F%2Fvideonew.saschina.org%2Fplayer%2Fpak_player%2Fembed_player.php%3Fvid%3D6492%26json%3Dtrue%26autoplay%3Dno

Win a KISS from Mrs. Power if you can correctly guess the winners of the 2014 Caldecott AND Newbery Awards…

To enter…
*You must have read part or MOST of both books you pick…

*Fill out the entry form and put it in the box

*BOTH books must be the winner of the Newbery Medal and the Caldecott Medal… not just Honor Awards.

*You can pick any books published in 2013, they don’t have to be books you see in our library.

*Entries open 8 am Mon 20th and close 3 pm Fri Jan 24th *Votes Tallied Mon Jan 27th
*Winners announced Tuesday Jan 28th

Example of Completed Entry Form

Your name: Kimbra Power
Your class: 1CN or PK4 or KPH or 4KK

Name of picture book you think will win the Caldecott gold medal:
This is not my Hat by Jon Klassen

Name of book you think will win the Newbery gold medal:
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

—————————————————————————————–

Answers to your questions

1. Can more than one person win?
Yes, that is possible, if so, I will give kisses to other winners too.

2. Can I enter more than once?
Yes, you can enter up to three times.

3. Are there prizes for the runners up?
Yes, there will be smaller prizes for students who choose correctly either the Newbery OR the Caldecott Winner.

4. Do the books I choose have to be in the ES Library?
No, the books and book posters inside and outside the ES Library are just SOME of the books that might win. The winning books could also be in the MS Library, or not in our school at all yet. Read my blog post http://sites.saschina.org/kpower/2014/01/07/and-the-winner-is/ or more recent posts to see many other lists of books that are also being considered.

5. Do I need to put the author’s name?
No, you don’t NEED to, but it will help us to be clear, so put it if you know it.

6. Will I really kiss you?
What do you think?

Many of you ask me how the Newbery is chosen, here is where you can read about it…

Essentially…

1. The Medal shall be awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published by an American publisher in the United States in English during the preceding year. There are no limitations as to the character of the book considered except that it be original work. Honor books may be named. These shall be books that are also truly distinguished.

2. The Award is restricted to authors who are citizens or residents of the United States.

Here is how the Caldecott is chosen, the main difference being that this is for a picture book…

1. The Medal shall be awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published by an American publisher in the United States in English during the preceding year. There are no limitations as to the character of the picture book except that the illustrations be original work. Honor books may be named. These shall be books that are also truly distinguished.

2. The award is restricted to artists who are citizens or residents of the United States. Books published in a U.S. territory or U.S. commonwealth are eligible.

The Hits just Keep on Coming!

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Lana

I had a GREAT day today, one of those… I love my life…I love my job, I’m so so lucky kind of days! Reflecting on its success…I got to do several of the things I love:

*Share amazing books with students

*Share amazing books with teachers

*Check out amazing books to parents, teachers and students

*Order new and wonderful books to add to our collection

It’s not EVERY day I get to do these things, and so joyfully… some times the ‘behind the scenes’ life of a librarian can get me down, but not today, today, everything rolled along beautifully.

I’d love to share with you some of the amazing books I’m sharing with kids, and some of the clever lists and sites I find them on.

This is one of the great blogs I follow, from School Library Journal, and in this post, Jonathan Hunt shares what is getting the votes and where from…

You can see from this list, how spread out the categories are; you’ve got non-fiction/picture books/chapter books all packed in to one great list, so you need to then sift through and find out which books are for you. We have nearly ALL of these books in the library, aren’t we lucky?

Today I read these books for the first time; and the second and fourth graders LOVED them.

The Boy who Loved Math, which was an amazing book to compare and contrast with the wonderful On a Beam of Light which you can read more about here in this great post by the Book Jeannie. I’d learned and taught about Albert Einstein before so it was fun for me to learn something new about Paul Erdos, (pronounced Air-Dish). I loved sharing with the kids about the author’s style and the similarities and differences between the books, and what made them such great non-fiction picture texts. The students were able to talk about the various elements, such as the detailed information at the back, giving us even more items of interest about the amazing lives of these two important men.

We then went on to read the book I think will be hard to beat in the Caldecott Stakes… The Dark, by Lemony Snicket. As illustrator Jon Klassen won Caldecott Honor AND Medal last year for authoring and illustrating This is not my Hat and illustrating Extra Yarn, it will be interesting to see if he will come up trumps again this year.

Meanwhile… Look which book was the best selling book across all print formats in 2013…. Can you guess?

Nielsen BookScan Top 20

1. Hard Luck (Wimpy Kid #8) by Jeff Kinney (Abrams/Amulet)
2. Inferno by Dan Brown (Doubleday)
3. Killing Jesus by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (Henry Holt)
4. Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander (Simon & Schuster)
5. The House of Hades by Rick Riordan (Disney-Hyperion)
6. Divergent by Veronica Roth (HarperCollins/Tegen)
7. Jesus Calling by Sarah Young (Thomas Nelson)
8. Sycamore Row by John Grisham (Doubleday)
9. The Third Wheel (Wimpy Kid #7) by Jeff Kinney (Abrams/Amulet)
10. Happy, Happy, Happy by Phil Robertson (Howard Books)
11. Allegiant by Veronica Roth (HarperCollins/Tegen)
12. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg (Knopf)
13. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Dutton)
14. Things That Matter by Charles Krauthammer (Crown Forum)
15. Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (Scribner)
16. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Scribner)
17. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead)
18. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (Vintage)
19. Si-Cology 1 by Si Robertson (Howard Books)
20. Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath (Gallup Press)

While I’m obsessing over lists, here is another of the New York Times Ten Best Illustrated books of 2013…. which was posted on the amazing School Library Journal… Always one to follow. This list is GORGEOUS!

EIGHT of these have arrived this week, the others are on their way!!!

My Brothers Book Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

9780062234896 0 Spread Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

My Brother’s Book by Maurice Sendak (Michael de Capua Books/HarperCollins Publishers)

Ballad Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

Ballad 1 Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

Ballad by Blexbolex (Enchanted Lion Books)

Jemmy Button by Jennifer Uman and Valerio Vidali (Templar Publishing/Candlewick Press)

The Dark Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

The Dark 1 Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

The Dark by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon Klassen (Little, Brown and Company)

Holland Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

Holland 1 Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

Holland by Charlotte Dematons (Lemniscaat)

Journey Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

Journey 1 Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

Journey by Aaron Becker (Candlewick Press)

Fog Island Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

Fog Island 1 Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

Fog Island written and illustrated by Tomi Ungerer (Phaidon Press)

Jane the Fox and Me Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

Jane the Fox and Me 11 Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

Jane, The Fox and Me by Fanny Britt, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault (Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press)

Locomotive Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

Locomotive 1 Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

Locomotive by Brian Floca (Richard Jackson/Atheneum)

Nelson Mandela Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

Nelson Mandela 1 Gallery: The New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2013

Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson (Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins Publishers)

Book Reviews

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Lana

Rarely do you get the chance to read a story this wonderful, taking you on a roller coaster ride of emotional highs and lows where you find yourself crying and laughing on the same page.

The Fault in our Stars is that story. John Green delivers in this tale of two sixteen year olds who meet at a Cancer Support Group. Hazel and Augustus, two lead characters who provide us with intelligence, humor and grace, help us navigate loaded issues of death, love and life.

If you like a book that takes you on an unforgettable journey… check out The Fault in our Stars today.

“The fault, dear Brutus is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

There are many specific elements that contribute to making a STRONG book review.

*Write a summary of the book that does not give two much of the plot away
*Using quotes from the book is a great way to catch people’s interest
*Make sure your review shares how you feel about the book, and why, and not just what the book is about
*Hook the reader in, perhaps by asking them questions

Here is a scholastic site you can go to and put your own review online for the world to see.

I also love this spaghetti book club page which includes hundreds of reviews written for children BY children ABOUT children’s books. They all follow a pretty clear pattern making it obvious to young learners what is expected of them.

Here is a review provided by A.S., aged 8, taken from here

A 12 year old girl named Mibs and her brothers and sisters have a secret. Mibs’ family, the Beaumonts, have a special tradition. For the Beaumonts whenever they turn 13 they get a savvy, a special power, Mibs is desperate, she can’t wait. It’s only a few days from her13th birthday. Rocket, her brother, can make electricity, Fish, her other brother, can control the weather, what will be Mibs’ savvy? But bad news strikes, something has happened to Mib’s father, but what? Will he ever get out of the hospital? What will happen next? Will Mibs father have to miss her birthday?
I really like this book because it has adventure and a little bit of mystery. As you read this book you might be wondering will Mib’s father wake up? What will Mib’s savvy be? My favorite part was when Mib’s figured out her savvy because it was an exciting moment, suddenly just like that, Mib’s has an awesome savvy. To me this book is both special and unique because it’s not an everyday thing, you turn thirteen and you get a super power. So, what is Mib’s savvy? Well you will have to read this book to find out.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that likes adventures and a little bit of a mystery because this book will take you on a twisty and turny trip on a big pink Bible Supply Bus with a bunch of crazy kids to who knows where!!!!!

I love that A.S. makes the recommendation to a specific audience and explains why she likes the book so much.
Well done A.S.

Book Recommendations

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Lana

Every day I am asked by teachers, students and parents to recommend books. Here are some of the favorite sites I use and some lists with some of the best new release books on them.

The Best Books from Amazon for Children and Teens have many sublists including editor’s picks, new release books, picture books and more. I often start somewhere like here because I end up with many new links to follow and a great list of books to upload on the kindles, Ipads and Ipods.
Students often ask when I can get the latest new books like “Jabba”, “Hard Luck”, “Survivors” “Hades” and “I even Funnier” and I let them know I’ll have them the VERY DAY they come out, digitally… but not til August 2014 in paperback, unless I find them (or you find them for me) on a vacation somewhere… Anyone heading to the USA? Hint Hint

Other Great Sites I use

For Boys: Guys Read where I go straight to the ‘Books for Guys’ and ‘Guys Read Library’ Tabs. Here you’ll find all sorts of recommendations from amazing authors who have contributed to a growing niche market of wonderful books for Middle Grade boys. The Guys Read series is really popular in the library and I love how it can get kids turned on to author’s they’ve never heard of before.

For Girls: A Mighty Girl has a great Facebook page I follow so I’m always up to date with the latest ‘Girl Power’ reads and issues. Here you’ll find not only empowering books for females introducing a variety of amazing role models for your daughters (and sons) but also a great range of movies, book recommendations for parents, cool clothing and some fantastic ‘best of’ lists under the ‘best of’ tab.

For Everyone: Common Sense Media has been a favorite of mine for years since my techie husband Simon Power introduced it to me. Here you’ll find a whole range of great resources including ratings on films, books, games and more. There are recommendations from parents, educators and the people who really count:your children! Check out this must have resource today and bookmark it for further use; I visit it at least once a day!

Ipods, Ipads and Kindles oh my!

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Lana

Hey there

We rolled out our e readers and audio-books in the library last week, much to the excitement of our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders.

We are very fortunate at SAS to have a multitude of options to get books into our students’ hands. In our collection, we have over

*27,000 books, including a terrific selection of non-fiction and fiction, some of the most beautiful and newly released picture books and a growing assortment of graphic novels.

*11 Ipad’s with over 60 books on each of them. The beauty of reading on the Ipad is that the interface and graphics are incredible, graphic novels and non-fiction come up a treat. I am able to get new books in kids hands straight away, a huge bonus when it takes so long to ship new books to Shanghai from the States, which we only do ONCE year! We currently check out 1 Ipad per session to each 4th and 5th grade class.

*58 Ipod nano’s with 20 more arriving next week. These Ipod’s have audio-books on them, I am able to upload the newest releases for my students, the DAY they come out. Currently we have over 60 books on each Ipod.

*60 kindles – With 20 new kindles this year, it is possible for us to check out 3-4 kindles per class to the 14 classes in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. As the demand for kindles for these grades steadily decreases throughout the school year, our plan is to allow 2nd grade to also check out kindles after Chinese New Year.

Current Check-out guidelines per class for these tech tools.

Grade 5: 1 Ipad, 2 Kindles, 3 Ipods

Grade 4: 1 Ipad, 2 Kindles, 3 Ipods

Grade 3: 2 Kindles, 3 Ipods

Library Expectations

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Lana

Teachers, please come with your class for their scheduled library check-out time. Please line your students up outside the front door of the library. Joji, Stella or I will always greet them there, and we’ll lead them into the workspace we’ll be using that day.

Students, please return your library books AS you finish them; do not wait until your library day to return books. Please return your books to your classroom library basket.

Teachers, please allocate a student/group of students in your class to return the library book basket at the START of each school day after most/all of your students have arrived, and had a chance to return their finished books to the library basket. Please make this part of your new morning routine, as it will help us exponentially in our library check out period.

Students, this year we are making a real effort to use shelf markers in the library. You must pick up a shelf marker as soon as my mini-lesson is over, you must keep it in your hand as you walk through the library, using it to mark the place where you choose books from the shelf. You are not allowed to check out your books unless you have your shelf marker in your hand to return to Ms Stella and Ms Joji.

Students, 5 of you are allowed at one time in the loft, you need your shoes, and your voices OFF up there… remember it is for the students who just HAVE to read RIGHT NOW, and FINISH their AMAZING book… or they won’t be able to stand it!

Guidelines for Check Out

EVERY student in Elementary must check out at least ONE non-fiction book each check out period.

Pre K-1st Grade you are to check out up to 5 books at a time. We’d like you to always check out ONE non-fiction book (at least). You are also allowed to check out one magazine or one DVD too, as well as fiction books in the Primary Library.

Grade 2-Grade 5 students, you guys can have UNLIMITED check-out privileges; so use your common sense and make sure you don’t check out more books than you can read. All grades are allowed to keep your books for 14 days, but we love it if you return your books as soon as you’ve finished reading them.

You can check out a maximum of:

1 Graphic Novel

2 DVD’s

3 Books in a Series

Lunch Recess Time Library Visits

Monday and Wednesday-Grades 2 and 4 are allowed to check out in the library during their lunch recess time. If the day is too hot/wet/polluted you are welcome to stay and read. If the day is fine, we’ll send you out to play once you’ve checked out your books.

Tuesday and Thursday-Grades 3 and 5 are allowed to check out in the library during their lunch recess time. If the day is too hot/wet/polluted you are welcome to stay and read. If the day is fine, we’ll send you out to play once you’ve checked out your books.

If there is a book you want to read, and we don’t have it in our library, check destiny to see if we have it somewhere else, like Middle School, or Puxi Campus. If we don’t, let me know and I’ll order it for next year, as well as buying on kindle, audio or ibooks if it is available.

I can’t wait to greet you all in the library, with over 3,000 new books, bringing our collection to nearly 29,000, there is something in our library for everyone!

the barefoot librarian

Kimbra Power

Category Archives: library