The Boy and The Airplane by Mark Pett

The American Library Association will announce their Youth Media Awards on Monday, January 27, 2014 @ 8am at their annual meeting in Philadelphia. We will be watching it live at  http://live.webcastinc.com/ala/2014/live/

One of the possible Caldecott books is The Boy and The Airplane.

We follow the journey in this wordless picture book of a young boy and his airplane. The illustrations are beautiful and obviously help tell the story since there are no words. If you have ever thrown an airplane and enjoyed watching it soar you will enjoy the journey of The Boy and The Airplane.

Stink and the Ultimate Thumb-Wrestling Smackdown by Megan McDonald

Book Buzz by Mrs. Tulley's class

Nick W.

What's the Buzz About?

Rating- 5 "hives"

"Crackdown! Smackdown! Thwackdown! Stink stared at the stack of super-secret sealed envelopes on Mrs. D's desk." In the book, Stink and the Ultimate Thumb-Wrestling Smackdown, super smart Stink Moody gets an unsatisfactory on his report card in Physical Education. When Stink's parents see his report card, they tell Stink that he needs to play a sport because they think it will help improve his gym grade. So Stink tries to find a sport that is just right for him. The next day, he thinks of a lot of different sports, but none are right for him. Then he watches the sports channel to see if he can find a sport. When he is about to give up, he hears the words "most fun classic sport ever!". "Hey sports fans! Have we got the sport for you! It's fab. It's free. It's fun-tastic! Strength. Stamina. Strategy. Two thumbs up for the sport that's sweeping the nation - thumb-wrestling." Stink learns the rules and practices on himself. Then he challenges his friends (Webster and Sophie) and his sister (Judy) to thumb-wrestling matches, but he keeps losing. Will he ever be good at thumb-wrestling? Will thumb-wrestling be enough of a sport to get Mom and Dad off his back? Check out this book to find out. "One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war!"

Stink's silly antics and funny word play kept me entertained throughout the story. I can relate to Stink because we are about the same age and are both little brothers.

This story inspired me to create my own thumb-wrestling character, The Mummy Dragon. (pictured below)

The Mummy Dragon

The Leaving Morning by Angela Johnson

Book Buzz by Mrs. Tulley's class

Sami M.

What's the Buzz About?

My buzz today will be about the story The Leaving Morning. This story is about two kids leaving their house as you can infer. In the story there are two girls who are feeling upset to leave. This story really captures how someone would feel if they were leaving. So if you are leaving somewhere I would recommend this book to you, and even if you are not leaving .... I feel you will still at least like this book. I love this story and think it is meaningful because I left my house during the summer. Don't wait! The adventure is coming.

Why Picture Books are Important

November is Picture Book Month. We celebrate every day in our school library.

Illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi shares why picture books are important....enjoy!

Why Picture Books are Important by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

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Picture Book Month website
Check it out!

The Salamander Spell by E. D. Baker

This year some of our fourth graders wrote book reviews for their classmates. We are pleased to say we will be featuring these reviews throughout the summer.

The book that I will be introducing is The Salmander Spell. The author of this thrilling book is E. D. Baker. The genre of this awesome book is fantasy, it is a chapter book. Summary: Grassina meets Haywood in the enchanted forest. In the forest there is an island that she was going to, to get away from her family. Her dad dies, her mom falls under a curse, and her sister is being very mean to her. All of a sudden Grassina starts getting magic. Will she become the next Green Witch? My favorite quote is a conversation, "You can fix him", "No I can't", "Yes you can. You have magic", "I can do magic?", " Yes." I like this group of quotes because Grassina didn't know she had magic, but she soon learns that she does. My recommendation of this book is excellent! This book is great for kids who like action filled book, because this book is action filled.

Reviewed by Alyssa

Note from Mrs. Adams - this is book 5 in The Tales of the Frog Princess series. Visit E. D. Baker's website for the other titles in this fantasy series.

Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret

This year some of our fourth graders wrote book reviews for their classmates. We are pleased to say we will be featuring these reviews throughout the summer.

My book is called Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret. This is a realistic fiction book. My summary is: Kyle has to babysit his sister, Beebee, while their parents are on a dinner cruise for an awards ceremony. While their parents are gone, an earthquake hits! Will Kyle and Beebee survive, what will they do to survive?  The kids realize that after an earthquake comes the possibility of a tsunami (giant wave). My favorite quote from this book is, "I don't plan on being burned alive in a forest fire and I'm not scared of getting washed away by a wave".  I like this quote because it makes him sound brave, even though he isn't. This quote is from Darren - who is a classmate and bully to Kyle. My recommendation for this book is excellent. It is not hard or easy. It has a lot of action in it, an example of the action is when they were running up the hill so the wave won't get to them.

Reviewed by Ella

Who Was Steve Jobs? by Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso

This year some of our fourth graders wrote book reviews for their classmates. We are pleased to say we will be featuring these reviews throughout the summer.

Who Was Steve Jobs? This book's author is Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso. This book is a chapter book and a biography. It is about a man with a big imagination named Steve Jobs. This book is based on his life and his inventions. He made products that many of us use ... iPod, iPad, iPhone and the Mac computers. My recommendation for this book is: it is great!. This book is about how Apple companies are different in different places and how Steve Jobs came up with these great ideas! Enjoy.

reviewed by Shelby

Note from Mrs. Adams - this is one book in the series of Who Was .... ? or Who Is ... ? biographies. In the school library we call them the "Big Head" biographies because of the caricature illustrations on the covers. The students love this series! The publisher is now publishing history books in the series What Was ... ?

Storm Warning by Linda Sue Park

This year some of our fourth graders wrote book reviews for their classmates. We are pleased to say we will be featuring these reviews throughout the summer.

My book is Storm Warning by Linda Sue Park. This is book 9 in the 39 Clues series. The man in black that has been following Amy and Dan will soon be revealed. But who is it? In this book my favorite quote was "The man in black. Who was dressed in all gray now. Amy stood paralyzed. She saw that he was holding a familiar canvas-wrapped parcel. The box." I like this quote because it is a cliff hanger. My recommendation: this book is excellent. Why do I think this is an excellent choice - the book takes you on many adventures.

reviewed by McKenna