Toco Toucans

My Book of the Week

Toco Toucans by Anastasia Suen
A National Science Teacher’s Association Recommended book

Toco toucans have a surprising way of protecting themselves from predators. These birds have multicolored feathers and big, reddish-orange beaks that should make them easy to spot—or so you would think. The brilliant colors actually provide the perfect camouflage among the bright foliage of the tropical rain forest. The toucans can stay safe by hiding in plain sight!

  • Copyright: 2010
  • Dewey: 598
  • Guided Reading level: I
  • ATOS Level: 4
  • Lexile level: 900
  • Recovery Reading Level: 16
  • Hardcover and hosted e-book: 24 pages
  • Publisher: Bearport

Book Activities:

Print this simple crossword puzzle – or solve it online.

See and hear toucans in the wild and at the San Diego Zoo.

Hear more toucan sounds.

Use these simple science lessons.

Color the toucan from abcteach.

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Picture Book of the Day

Hans My Hedgehog: A Tale from the Brothers Grimm
by Kate Coombs (Adapter), Brothers Grimm (Author), John Nickle (Illustrator)

Booktalk: This retelling of the classic Grimm’s tale, paired with lush, detailed illustrations, reminds us of the power of music, the importance of belonging, and the transformative effect of love.

Snippet:

The couple so longed for a child
that one day the man cried,
“I want a son even if he’s half a hedgehog!”

Th next spring the farmer’s wife gave birth
to a child who was exactly that–
a boy from the waist down
and a hedgehog from the waist up.

For the final stop on the Hans blog tour, Kate Coomb answers just 3 questions…

Q. When did you start writing?

A. I wrote plays and stories and poems as a child. I remember writing a Nancy Drew knockoff in about 4th grade for school (a long short story), and I recall being very proud of myself for writing a sonnet in middle school. In my grade school plays, I would cast myself as the Glorious Queen and my little sister as the Quiet Servant Girl. As a teen and in college, I mostly wrote poetry.

Q. Describe your writing process.

A. I brainstorm until I come up with an idea that appeals to me. If it’s for a picture book, I just start writing. This usually tells me whether the idea will work out. If it continues to seem promising, I revisit the story every day or so for weeks, playing with the manuscript and its possibilities. If the story works, I fine-tune it over and over. At times I step away for a week or two and come back to the story with fresh eyes.

For a middle grade novel, I brainstorm, as well, and pick an idea. Then I write several pages of story development notes, often questions and answers, e.g., “If they don’t catch the dragon, why not?” I also write random scenes that pop into my head–especially a scene that will come near the end of the book and show the direction I’ll be heading throughout. After a few days or weeks of this, I simply start writing with chapter one and go in order (unless a later scene makes itself known along the way, which does happen).

My best writing time is early in the morning, but I have been known to write on scraps of paper while in line at the post office. Sometimes I get an idea while I’m driving and pull over to write it down.

Q. Tell us about your latest book.

A. Retelling Hans My Hedgehog was actually illustrator John Nickle’s idea. It’s a less well-known Grimms’ fairy tale for a reason: the original is darker than some of the other tales and has a few narrative troubles. My goal, of course, was to keep the spirit and overall plot of the original while brightening the tale and smoothing out those bumps. Basically, Hans My Hedgehog is the story of a boy who is born a human from the waist down and a hedgehog from the waist up. He learns to play the fiddle and herd pigs, but the village boys and girls shun him. Riding on a rooster, Hans takes his pigs and goes off to live in the woods. There his music and magic grow, and Hans helps two kings in exchange for two promises. The question is, will a princess marry a youth who is half hedgehog?

Plus I have another book coming out in March, a collection of ocean poems called Water Sings Blue. This spring is a pretty happy time for me!

Thanks for stopping by, Kate! I look forward to seeing the new book in March…

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Chapter Book of the Day

The Silence of Murder
by Dandi Daley Mackall (Author)
336 pages

Booktalk: Seventeen-year-old Hope Long’s life revolves around her brother Jeremy. So when Jeremy is accused of killing the town’s beloved baseball coach, Hope’s world begins to unravel. Everyone is convinced Jeremy did it, and since he hasn’t spoken a word in 9 years, he’s unable to defend himself. Their lawyer instructs Hope to convince the jury that Jeremy is insane, but all her life Hope has known that Jeremy’s just different than other people—better, even. As she works to prove his innocence—joined by her best friend T.J. and the sheriff’s son, Chase—Hope uncovers secrets about the murder, the townspeople, her family, and herself. She knows her brother isn’t the murderer. But as she comes closer to the truth, she’s terrified to find out who is.

Snippet: The first time Jeremy heard God sing, we were in the old Ford, rocking back and forth with the wind. Snow pounded at the window to get inside, where it wasn’t much better than out there. I guess he was nine. I was seven, but I’ve always felt like the older sister, even though Jeremy was bigger.

I snuggled closer under his arm while we waited for Rita. She made us call her ‘Rita’ and not ‘Mom’ or ‘Mommy’ or ‘Mother,’ and that was fine with Jeremy and me. Pretty much anything that was fine with Jeremy was fine with me.

We’d been in the backseat long enough for frost to make a curtain on the car windshield and for Rita’s half-drunk paper cup of coffee to ice some in its holder up front.

Jeremy had grown so still that I thought he might be asleep, or half frozen, either one being better than the teeth-chattering bone-chilling I had going on.

Then came the sound.

*This book is a Young Adult Edgar Nominee!
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Literary Links

The February writing workshops begin online tomorrow!

Marc Aronson booktalks his forthcoming book at Nonfiction Book Blast.

Jane Yolen Announces A New Grant For Mid-List Authors (via @leewind)

[youtube=http://youtu.be/aUWvew8_Tsk]
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Site Meter My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Nonfiction Monday

Picture Book of the Day

Polar Bears
by Mark Newman (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Explore the world of the polar bear on land and under water with wildlife photographer Mark Newman.

Snippet:
Polar bears are not really white.
Despite what they look like and what most people think, polar bears are black, not white. Under all that warm thick fur, their skin is totally dark.
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Chapter Book of the Day

Sky Sailors: True Stories of the Balloon Era
by David L. Bristow (Author)
144 pages

Booktalk: For more than a century before airplanes, people explored the sky in balloons. From 1783 to the early 1900s, aeronauts flew into storms, crossed large bodies of water, sailed over enemy armies, and soared to deadly altitudes.

Snippet: Strange creatures lurk in the dark corners of the world, and sometimes they come out to get you. Countless stories tell it that way. On August 27, 1783, the villagers of Gonesse, France, saw the stories come true.
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Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday

This week’s Nonfiction Monday Round-up host is Wendie’s Wanderings

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January 2012 Carnival Of Children’s Literature

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Children’s Book Genres Workshop

A children’s book isn’t just one kind of book – there are 6 very different children’s book genres. Each genre meets the needs of a different stage of childhood. How are books for the stages of childhood structured? What story layers do the books have? What promises do they make?

In the Children’s Book Genres Workshop you will begin at the beginning with a child’s everyday world (realistic fiction) as you read 3 books for each stage of childhood and look beneath the surface to see how each children’s book genre is put together.

The next Children’s Book Genres Workshop begins on February 1st. This online workshop does not have a physical meeting place or classroom hours. You will have 8 weeks to complete the 6 lessons in this online workshop. Turn your lessons in as you complete them, the next day…or on the due date two weeks later.

After you discover the genre that is right for you, take the Intensive Picture Book Workshop, the Children’s Literacy Workshop (for Writers), the Children’s Chapter Books Workshop or the Children’s Novels Workshop and begin writing your own children’s book!

The February workshop dates are February 1-March 14, 2012.

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Site Meter My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Friday Reads

Picture Book of the Day

Snow Wonder
by Charles Ghigna (Author) and Julia Woolf (Illustrator)

Booktalk: A rhyming easy reader about a snow day (with 2 pages of peel-off stickers!)

Snippet:
We wake and wonder
at the snow.
It puts on
such a lovely show.
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Poetry Friday

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Hey, Jim Hill!

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Chapter Book of the Day

Freaky-Strange Buildings
by Michael Sandler (Author)
24 pages

Booktalk: Some buildings look so strange that it’s hard to believe that they were actually meant for people.

Snippet: (For the building on the book cover, it says:) “It looks more like a cave than a building, but Crazy House in Dalat, Vietnam, is actually a hotel.”
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STEM Friday

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

This week’s STEM Friday Round-up is hosted by Wrapped in Foil.

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Nonfiction Monday on January 30, 2012

Nonfiction Monday is coming!

The Nonfiction Monday Round-up on January 30, 2012

is at Wendie’s Wanderings.

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Site Meter My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Cinder Book Giveaway

Chapter Book of the Day

Cinder: Book One in the Lunar Chronicles
by Marissa Meyer
400 pages

Booktalk: Even in the future, the story begins with Once Upon a Time…. Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Snippet: Tossing the screwdriver onto the table, Cinder gripped her heel and yanked the foot from its socket. A spark singed her fingertips and she jerked away, leaving the foot to dangle from a tangle of red and yellow wires.

BONUS! See the video!

[youtube=http://youtu.be/pXrMAFGWyuE]
 
BOOK GIVEAWAY! Do you want to read this debut novel? The publisher will send a copy to ONE of my blog readers (U.S. or Canada only). Add your name to the comments and I will select one name for today’s book giveaway.

Edited to add: The winner is Linda Baie! Congratulations, Linda!

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Picture Book of the Day

Bright Baby Touch & Feel Colors
by Roger Priddy (Author)

Booktalk: A board book with bright colors and stunning photos, each page has a new color and a new object to touch and feel.

Snippet:
yellow
banana
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STEM Friday on January 20, 2012

STEM Friday is coming! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

The STEM Friday Round-up on January 20, 2012

is at Wrapped in Foil.

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Literary Links

Next (online) Intensive Picture Book Workshop is Feb 1-Mar 14, 2012

74% Of Book Buyers Have Never Bought An eBook (via eBookNewser)
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Site Meter My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Great Books

Picture Book of the Day

The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred
by Samantha R. Vamos (Author) and  Rafael Lopez (Illustrator)

Booktalk: A bilingual story of how the farm maiden and all the farm animals worked together to make the rice pudding that they serve at the fiesta (with a “house that Jack built” pattern).

Snippet:
This is the goat
that churned the cream
to make the MANTEQUILLA
that went into the CAZUELA that the farm maiden stirred.

A Pura Belpré 2012 Illustrator Honor Book
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Chapter Book of the Day

Soldier Bear
by Bibi Dumon Tak (Author), Laura Watkinson (Translator) and Phiip Hopman (Illustrator)
144 pages

Booktalk: A group of Polish solders stationed in Iran during World War II trade a pen knife and some canned beef for an orphaned bear cub, and Voytek, as they name the bear, travels with them from Iran to Italy and then on to Scotland. See how they train a bear to help them in the war. (Photographs of the real Voytek are in the back of the book.)

Snippet: The air rippled with heat. At that time of day, the army camp was like a ghost town. If you ventured out into the sun, it felt like you were about to burst into flames.

But even so, one creature still came out into the blazing heat, bumbling along the path between the parked trucks and stopping to sniff at every vehicle.

*This book (shared in October) won the Batchelder Award (given to books translated into English).
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The (Theodor Seuss) Geisel Award

Winners and honor books for the (Theodor Seuss) Geisel Award for beginning readers were announced this week.

2012 Medal winner

Tales for Very Picky Eaters
by Josh Schneider (Author, Illustrator)
A father tells his son outrageous stories to try and get him to eat. Chapter book

2012 Honor Books

I Broke My Trunk!
by Mo Willems (Author, Illustrator)
Uh-oh! Elephant broke his trunk, and now he has a CRAZY story to tell Piggie. Easy reader

I Want My Hat Back
by Jon Klassen (Author, Illustrator)
Bear’s hat is gone, and he wants it back, so he asks everyone he sees about it. Picture book

See Me Run
by Paul Meisel (Author, Illustrator)
Dogs play in the park and find buried bones in this easy-to-read picture book.
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Literary Links

J.R.R. Tolkien & George Orwell Removed From Public Domain (via GalleyCat)

Take Your Child to the Library Day launches Feb 4th (via @sljournal)
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Site Meter My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

New Children’s Literacy Workshop (for Writers)

Children’s Literacy Workshop (for Writers)

The Children’s Literacy Workshop (for Writers) is a new 6 lesson email course
for writers who want to write easy-to-read books.

I will send you a new lesson each Wednesday.
You have 2 weeks to complete each lesson, so the workshop lasts 8 weeks.

Easy-to-read books have many names. These books with simple words and short sentences for children who are learning to read are also called beginning readers, leveled readers and easy readers. While picture books are read to a child by an adult, easy readers are meant to be read by the child himself. (You’ll know you’ve found an easy reader when you see the words “read,” “reader,” or “reading” on the cover.)

Learning to read takes place on a continuum, and the books reflect that. Easy readers range from 8 page books with a single word or a simple phrase on each page to 64 page books divided into chapters.

As you study 5 easy readers per lesson you will explore 3 of the 5 literacy development phases that children experience as they learn to read. You will also learn three literacy strategies that writers use in books for beginning readers.

The first session of this NEW online workshop begins on Wednesday, February 1st.

The February workshop dates are February 1-March 14, 2012.

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Picture Book of the Day

Diego Rivera: His World and Ours
by Duncan Tonatiuh (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: See and hear the story of Diego as a young, mischievous boy who demonstrated a clear passion for art and then went on to become one of the most famous painters in the world.

Snippet: Diego Rivera was born in Mexico in a city called Guanajuato, which means the “land of frogs.” As a boy, Diego enjoyed playing with his trains, but more than anything, he liked to draw.

BONUS! Hear the author/illustrator talk about winning the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award!

[youtube=http://youtu.be/ApqkcoYLMn8]
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Chapter Book of the Day

Black and White: The Confrontation between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene “Bull” Connor
by Larry Dane Brimner (Author)
80 pages

Booktalk: With careful attention to history, Larry Dane Brimner relies on oral histories, FBI files, court records, archived newpapers, and other primary source documents to capture the clash between conviction and courage, on one hand, and tradition and hate on the other in this unforgettable story of Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and his stand against Eugene “Bull” Connor.

Snippet: The first time the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) tried to kill Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth was Christmas 1956. The KKK was a group that believed white people were superior to Negroes. Its members intimidated blacks–and whites who supoorted the Negro quest for equality and justice–through threats and violence.

BONUS! Hear the author talk about winning the Sibert Honor!

[youtube=http://youtu.be/nyN8W830TuY]
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Literary Links

Supreme Court Upholds Law Restoring Copyright to Some Public-Domain Works

Publishers Show Less Enthusiasm About eReaders Increasing Reading (via eBookNewser)
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Site Meter My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

The Big Day!

2012 ALA Youth Media Awards

Today is the big day! The eyes of the publishing world will turn to Dallas at 7:45 a.m. CT on Jan. 23, 2012, when the American Library Association (ALA) announces the top awards in children’s and young adult literature as part of the ALA Midwinter Meeting, January 20 – 24.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/IkEn8kHDnyI]

The 2012 Youth Media Award announcements include:

  1. Alex Awards
  2. Andrew Carnegie Medal
  3. Coretta Scott King Book Awards
  4. Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
  5. John Newbery Medal
  6. Margaret A. Edwards Award
  7. May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture
  8. Michael L. Printz Award
  9. Mildred L. Batchelder Award
  10. Odyssey Award
  11. Pura Belpré Awards
  12. Randolph Caldecott Medal
  13. Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
  14. Schneider Family Book Award
  15. Stonewall Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award
  16. Theodore Seuss Geisel Award
  17. William C. Morris Award
  18.  YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults 

ALA will host a live Webcast from the Dallas Convention Center begining at 7:30 a.m. CT, Jan. 23.  (Virtual seating will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.) You can also follow the announcements live via twitter at @ALAyma.

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January 2012 Carnival Of Children’s Literature

Add your post about this year’s winners to our carnival!

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Nonfiction Book Blast 2012

Kathleen Krull booktalks
Lives of the Presidents: Fame, Shame (and What the Neighbors Thought)
on the Nonfiction Book Blast blog today…

Save the date! June 23, 2012 Nonfiction Book Blast 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

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Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday

This week’s Nonfiction Monday Round-up host is Shelf-employed

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Site Meter My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Bones: Dead People Do Tell Tales

Bones: Dead People Do Tell Tales
by Sara L. Latta (Author)
104 pages

Booktalk: All bones tell a story–you just have to know how to read them. See how forensic anthropologists do it.

Snippet: Forensic anthropology uses the scientific study of humans to answer legal questions. “Forensic” comes from a Latin word referring to the forum. The Roman forum was a place where legal issues and politics were discussed and debated. Today, the practice of public speaking and debating is often called forensics. The term forensic science has come to mean science used in a court of law or the justice system.

STEM Friday

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

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Young Readers

Picture Book of the Day

You Push, I Ride

By Abby Levine (Author) and Margot Apple (Illustrator)

Booktalk: A rhyming look at a toddler’s day from the child’s point-of-view. This 8″x 8″ board book is just the right size for a toddler’s hands.

Snippet:

We go outside.

You push, I ride.

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Chapter Book of the Day

Under Dogs: Three Novels

by Marcus Zusak

512 pages

Booktalk: From the author of The Book Thief, three books in one volume about the Wolfe brothers: The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe and Getting the Girl. The first book in this omnibus is also Zusak’s very first book, now published for the first time in the United States.

Snippet:

We were watching the telly when we decided to rob the dentist.

“The dentist?” I asked my brother.

“Sure, why not?” was his reply. “Do you know how much money goes through a dental surgery in a day? It’s obscene. If the prime minister was a dentist, the country wouldn’t be in the state it’s in right now, I tell you. There’d be no unemployment, no racism, no sexism. Just money.”

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January 2012 Carnival Of Children’s Literature

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STEM Friday on January 20, 2012

STEM Friday is coming! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

The STEM Friday Round-up on January 20, 2012

is at Laurie Thompson.

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Literary Links

Love children’s and YA poetry? Join the new Poetry Ambassadors listserv!

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Site Meter My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Great Books

Picture Book of the Day

Tyrannosaurus Dad
by Liz Rosenberg (Author) and Matthew Myers (Illustrator)

Booktalk: What’s forty feet long, fifteen feet high and wears a necktie? (Tobias’ Dad! He is, after all, a Tyrannosaurus.)

Snippet: With Tyrannosaurus Dad around, he never felt afraid of spiders or strange noises at night, Still he couldn’t help wishing his father would be — well, a little more part of things. His dad was always, always working.
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Chapter Book of the Day

The Buddy Files: The Case of the Fire Alarm
by Dori Butler (Author) and Jeremy Tugeau (Illustrator)
144 pages

Booktalk: On Buddy’s first day at school. someone sets off the fire alarm. Who could have set it? A kid? A ghost? Buddy is on the case!

Snippet: “There was a fire at our school a long time ago, and part of the school burned down. This girl–her name was Agatha Curry–she got burned up in the fire and now her ghost haunts the old part of the school.”
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5 Great Books About Valentines

Arthur’s Great Big Valentine
by Lillian Hoban
Arthur argues with his friend on Valentine’s Day. Level 2 easy reader

Clifford’s Valentines
by Norman Bridwell (Author, Illustrator)
Clifford makes his own Valentine. Level 1 easy reader

It’s Valentine’s Day!
by Jack Prelutsky (Author) and Marylin Hafner (Illustrator)
This classic poetry collection is back in print with new illustrations. Level 3 easy reader

Let’s Get Ready for Valentine’s Day
by Lloyd G. Douglas (Author)
A young girl gets ready for Valentine’s Day in this photo-illustrated easy reader.

Scooby-doo Reader #10: Valentine’s Day Dognapping
by Gail Herman (Author) and Duendes Del Sur (Illustrator)
Scooby-doo finds pizza and witches in this Valentine mystery! Level 2 easy reader
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Literary Links

Citing High Implementation Costs of Local Taxes, Powell’s Closes Pennsylvania Affiliates (via @publisherslunch)

Babies Don’t Just Listen, They Try Lip-Reading While Turning Babble into Words (via @washingtonpost)
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Site Meter My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.