Pre-K Class Books Gone Viral!

This year, my daughter is in Pre-K, and it's so fabulous seeing her around school and even better having her in the Hub once a week. Little did she know that her nose-picking would inspire what has become a series of hilarious class books at our school. I decided to make a class book with the Pre-K classes called Don't Pick Your Nose. We brainstormed all the places we shouldn't pick our noses--on a rocket ship, in the swimming pool, in the library.




Well, it turned out to be such a fun and funny project (even the 5th graders love the books!) that I did it with the kinder classes as well. There are murmurs of 2nd graders wanting to do the same project. Fun, fun, fun! It also made me realize how fun it is to make a finished product in the library that then goes into the classroom library. I want to do more of that this year! Maybe something with taking pictures next...



To display the book online, I used Youblisher. J'Adore Youblisher, and all you need is all the photos on one big PDF file. Simply upload when that is ready!

*To turn the pages on this book, click on the cover and then place your cursor on the page and click. Turns just like a real book, complete with page-turning sound (love that part).

*Above photo is one of our Kinder teachers who made her own groovy cover for the book. She says it's one they are reading over and over!

e-Browsing Across the Ocean

I'm absolutely fascinated by all the excitement that e-readers are generating for kids and adults alike, and I love talking about how libraries are beginning to play a crucial part in all this. Despite my excitement, I've always been a paper book gal myself.

Until recently, that is.

My local library in the US now has Overdrive, the e-book platform that is super, duper cool. It took me a while to figure out how to use it (hint: download the free Overdrive app), but once I did, there was no stopping me. I now spend my Sunday nights browsing the shelves of my favorite small-town library all the way over here in Thailand, reading blurbs of new books or putting books on hold or downloading books to my iPad. And it's free! FREE! I say this because every time I am in the States, I am downright shocked at how many people do not use their public libraries. Free books! You simply can't go wrong.

Did I mention that Sunday night browsing takes place during a foot massage? Thailand is the land of fabulously wonderful and affordable massage. Combining massage with book browsing is a slice of heaven for me.

Books Too Good to Miss

As most librarians do, I host a teacher coffee morning with books every now and then. In getting ready for the morning, I spend some time writing sticky notes on the covers about how I would use the book with students or why I thought the book was so great. As I was setting up for one last school year, a parent walked by and said how much something like that would help her with her book choices.

Such a smart mama. Because of her, "Books Too Good to Miss" was born.



Our literacy coach, Tammy, and I wanted to keep the morning simple and casual--give parents time to look at quality titles and take some home with them. We chose four major areas and set up tables filled with titles related to those themes:

Reluctant Readers, Non Fiction, Early Literacy and Family Readalouds.

The morning was a smashing success! Over 65 parents showed up, and after a short introduction of reading aloud the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds (parents love to be read to as well!) and an overview of the themes, most of the 90 minutes were spent browsing books and talking, talking, talking. My big aha of the morning--parents are hungry not only for good books, but also for time to talk to librarians. Time to talk about their child who only reads Junie B. Jones or to deeper understand the importance of reading in their home language.

Two more "Books too Good to Miss" are scheduled for this school year. Hoping that is enough!