Journey of a Book-Addicted Librarian: June 2015

BOOKS FOR CHILDREN: How do you know what's good?

While there are many places (especially on the internet) where you can read book reviews, how do you really know if it's a good book or not when a single book might receive anywhere from one to five stars?
The answer: read the reviews of a book-addicted teacher librarian.

NOTE:
** The age recommendations are guidelines only; whether or not a certain book is suitable for a particular child depends on multiple factors, including their maturity, reading level, interests, and in some cases their experiences.
** While the ratings are largely based on my own personal appreciation/enjoyment of the book, they are also influenced by my experiences as a teacher and the potential attraction for the target-aged child (acknowledging that what one child may love, another may find exceptionally boring). A rating of 5 indicates the book is likely to be popular with the majority.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Series: Everest (Middle Grade Fic)

AUTHOR: Gordon Korman (Canada)
PUBLISHED: Scholastic ; 2012, c2002.
PAGES/ILL: ~130 pages.
SERIES: Everest: 1. The Contest 2. The Climb 3. The Summit.

PLOT: (Book 1: The Contest)
Teenagers from across America have the chance to be on the youngest team ever to climb Everest. After winning a sports drink promotion, they must compete in boot camp to prove they have what it takes to survive on the mountain. Dominic is the smallest and the youngest and is in danger of being cut at every turn. The competition is fierce, and some contestants will go to any lengths to make the team.

REVIEW:
This adventure will appeal particularly to boys in upper primary school. I would also recommend it to reluctant readers and it could be used as a year 5 class read aloud. Themes include survival, friendship and interpersonal relationships, being highly skilled, competition, etc.

AGE: 10+.
GENRE: Realistic fiction, Adventure
RATING: 4 1/2 stars.

Friday, June 12, 2015

The Joy of Books (and Bookstores)

This stop-motion video would have taken forever! It would also have been so much fun (at least, I think so. I wouldn't have liked putting the movie together as much as making it, but we all have our gifts :) ).

I first saw the above video posted on Facebook and it was posted with "related" links. The following little movie would be perfect to show to a class (upper primary/elementary age) as a prompt for creative writing, or even as something to play during some relaxation time. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore was written by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, and was inspired by Joyce's mentor, children's book publisher William Morris. It also draws inspiration from Keaton's Steamboat Bill Jr. the tornado from The Wizard of Oz and the devastation left by the real-life Hurricane Katrina. This award-winning video is about the curative powers of a story, both in the writing and the reading. [information from Wikipedia]

A quick google search will give you quite a few reviews and analyses, and an article in the New Yorker had a more dire view of what can be read into this story. I'll leave it up to you (and your class - probably middle school if you are going to start analysing it this deeply) to get what you will out of it.