Pie

  

Pie

Sarah Weeks

October 2011

When Alice's Aunt Polly, Pie Queen of Ipswitch, Pennsylvania, passes away, Alice is shocked to find out her inheritance: Lardo, Aunt Polly's beloved cat.  Even more shocking is that Aunt Polly has left her prize winning pie crust recipe to Lardo!  Suddenly, mysterious things start to happen: Polly's pie shop is broken into, and Lardo disappears.  Alice must discover what is going on and save her aunt's precious cat.

One of my favorite children's authors has done it again.  Pie is a charming story about loss and friendship, family and, naturally, pie.  With a recipe at the start of each chapter, I wanted to try my hand at pie making.  And, yes, the end made me cry!  Don't you just love a book that makes you cry?

Buy it now at Barnes & Noble.

Mudshark

Mudshark

Gary Paulsen

May 2009

Mudshark is cool.  He doesn't mean to be cool; he just is.  Lightning quick reflexes and a photographic memory have made Mudshark a legend in his own time.   His fellow students know he is the go to guy for missing items - Mudshark always knows where they are!  When the school's supply of erasers start to go missing, the principal is desperate and, naturally, turns to Mudshark for help with this school wide mystery.  With help from his friends and a strange new addition to the school library, Mudshark works diligently to put things to right again. 

Laugh out loud funny, Mudshark should be on everyone's must read list!  Slightly too hard for most of my fifth graders to read alone, I read it aloud and they love, love, loved it!  The language is perfect for a read aloud - lots of sarcasm that would be lost on most children if they didn't hear it out loud.  I have taught this book as a small group novel, but it really worked better as a read aloud.

Buy it now at Barnes & Noble.

Witches

Witches

Cheryl Christian

Wish Williams (illustrator)

August 2011

From preparing a special brew to flying through the skies, this group of witches is preparing for Halloween.  The most creative aspect of this story is the juxtaposition between the text and the pictures.  The text describes the creepy, scary things witches do, and without the accompanying illustrations, might be a bit spooky for a very young audience.  But the illustrations lessen the fright factor by showing readers from the beginning that this is a group of children trick-or-treating and celebrating Halloween.

WITCHES is meant to be read by a very young audience.  It is written in rhyme, and the pictures are gorgeous.  I can imagine my students reading it to their younger prayer partners at Halloween.  

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Fall Mixed Up

Fall Mixed Up

Bob Raccka

Chad Cameron (illustrator)

September 2011

"Every Septober, every Octember..." starts a fun romp through my favorite season.  Everything is mixed up, but the narrator doesn't seem to notice.  It was engaging and I couldn't wait to see what would be mixed up next.  The illustrations were fabulous and added another layer of silliness to the story. 

At my school the 5th graders participate in a year long Nature Scopes program, and this book fits perfectly into the introduction of the Fall section of their journal.  In younger grades, teachers could use this book as a discussion about the changes fall brings; perhaps illustrating a 'mixed up' change as well as a 'true' change and writing paragraphs or captions for their drawings.

I loved this book and will be adding it to my collection as soon as it becomes available!

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Back-to-School Rules

Back to School Rules

Laura Friedman 

Teresa Murfin (illustrator)

September 2011

Percy Isaac Gifford is ready for a new school year.  And he has lots of advice for kids who are or aren't as excited as he is.  Ten rules, things NOT to do, to make the school year stress free.  Told in rhyming stanzas, BACK TO SCHOOL RULES  is delightfully silly and, in my opinion, must be read aloud!

I cannot wait to share this fun book with my students on the first day of school this year and for many years to come.  I am considering turning it into a class book on the last day of school for next year's students, too.  If every child wrote a new stanza specific to our 5th grade class, they would collectively write a great book for the new class!

Love it!

Buy it now at Barnes & Noble