Summer Reading Challenge #1: Poetry

LP's Summer Readers are taking Biblionasium by storm!  Wow!  In all, LP's readers have read over 35,000 pages and more than 300 books so far this summer!  Some of our most inspired readers are nearing 3,000 pages as of yesterday.

Sounds like it is time for a challenge.  All Biblionasium participants should receive an invitation to the first LP Reads Summer Reading Challenge, which handily aligns with our genre goal to read one poetry book this summer.  Students will receive an invitation to the challenge the next time they log in to their account.  It will appear in their feed like this:

Click on "Here" to start the challenge, which can be completed at any time over the summer.  Students will earn a badge for reading just one poetry book.  If challenges seem seem like an effective way to motivate and or reward your reader, Biblionasium gives students the ability to create their own challenges (see below) or for parents/teachers to do so as well.

If you have suggestions about challenges you would like LP Reads to run for everyone -- or even just for your student -- let us know and we'll get those going for you.  For now, here are a few poetry book recommendations that may help with this first challenge.

"The Bug in Teacher's Coffee and Other School Poems" by Kalli Dakos

Sports! Sports! Sports! A Poetry Collection" by Lee Bennett Hopkins

"Switching on the Moon: A Very First Book of Bedtime Poems" by Jane Yolen

"Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems" by Georgia Heard

"Hailstones and Halibut Bones" by Mary O'Neill

"Around the World on Eighty Legs" by Amy Gibson

"Won-Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku" by Lee Wardlaw

Travel and Books: The Perfect Match

Linking summer reading to the places you are visiting can be a fun way to diversify the books that your kids exposed to.

For example, if you have plans to explore The Channel Islands this summer, you could read or listen to "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell in preparation for the trip.


Some older visitors to Alcatraz might be ready for "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko.




And if you're headed to Chicago or another Illinois destination, you might want to check out Illinois Reads.  This past Spring, the state of Illinois started Illinois Reads to promote lifelong reading for all of the good people of Illinois.  In addition to selecting six books each year for various grade/age bands, the program is focused on highlighting the work of Illinois authors and offering a mix of books, including titles in the science, technology, engineering, and math areas.  It is no surprise to find books that are set in Illinois on some of the lists as well.  "Children of Fire" by Harriette Gillem Robinet is a new title discovery for LP Reads and we'd love to hear what your older readers think.

Another fun title we happened upon via Illinois Reads that would be fun if you are visiting the USS Pampanito in San Francisco is  "Shipwreck Search: Discovery of the H.L. Hunley" by Sally Walker.  Granted the USS Pampanito is a World War II submarine and the H.L. Hunley is a Civil War submarine, but pairing the two could certainly invite some interesting history and science conversations!

Whether you're looking for a little additional reading inspiration or are headed to the Prairie State this summer, be sure to check out the Illinois Reads 2013 reading lists for K-2, 3-5, and 6-8!

And if you're headed some place wonderful and have a book about or set in your destination, please let LP Reads know and we'll share it with our reading community.

Welcome Ms. Black!

Hey LP Readers, did you hear?  We have a new leader at the helm and this is her first week with us.  Let's give her a huge LP Reads welcome with a few book recommendations about principals shall we?

This first one may be familiar to the second and third graders because it is one of Superintendent Burns' favorites and he has shared it with our first grade classes these past couple of years.  It is certainly good for a couple of laughs!  Check it out: "The Principal's New Clothes" by Stephanie Calmenson.

For those Black Lagoon fans out there, maybe this would be a good week to give "The Principal from The Black Lagoon" by Mike Thaler a read.
 

And lastly, how about one from the Frankly, Frankly series "Principal for the Day" by AJ Stern.

Happy reading everyone and welcome Ms. Black!  We can't wait to hear what your favorite books are this summer!

Hold That Book. Did You Know?

Over here at LP Reads Central, we are starting to dig into our summer reading lists (thanks to the Storyteller Bookstore) and every summer there is one fantastic feature at our Moraga Library that I truly adore: The Hold Shelf.

When you want to beef up the reading choices for your kids, it is an efficient and time saving way to pull together a set of books.  Head over to CCCLIB.ORG, search for the books you'd like to check out, and click on "Place Hold."  You can hold books that are anywhere in the Contra Costa Library system, not just ones at the Moraga Library.  

When your books are ready, you will be alerted and you can pop by to pick them up off the Hold Shelf.  Voila!  Now each of your children can have a full box, bag, or window ledge of well vetted options to read at their finger tips.

Here are a few that we are looking forward to picking up this week.

For the to-be 1st grader: "Grasshopper Pie and Other Poems" by David Steinberg

For the to-be 3rd grader: "Ichiro Suzuki" by Jeff Savage (Amazing Athletes Series)

For the to-be 5th grader:  "Inside Out and Back Again" by Thanhha Lai