Boris and Stella and the Perfect Gift

Boris and Stella and the Perfect Gift
by Dara Goldman (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: O’Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” retold for kids as a Christmas and Hanukkah story…

Snippet:
Hanukkah was almost here and Stella wanted to give Boris something special. She shook her savings bank upside down. Only a few coins fell out. How could she give Boris something special if she only had a few coins?

She looked around her little apartment. All she had of value was a pine tree from her family’s farm in Italy. Her papa had given it to her when it was a seedling. It reminded Stella of her home and family during Christmas.

Suddenly, Stella had an idea.

See the book trailer.

Copyright © 2014 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
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Poetry Friday is here with Santa Clauses

Santa Clauses: Short Poems from the North Pole
by Bob Raczka (Author) and Chuck Groenink (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Want a peek at life on the North Pole? Read Santa’s 25 haiku as the December days tick down to Christmas. (Here is the poem for December 5th, this week’s Poetry Friday!)

Snippet:

December 5th

I untie knots in
strings on lights while Mrs. Claus
ties bows on presents.

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is here at Booktalking.
Come see this week’s Poetry Friday round-up on Pinterest!

And here are the links without images:

Thanks, everyone!

Copyright © 2014 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
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Memoirs of an Elf

Memoirs of an Elf
by Devin Scillian (Author) and Tim Bowers (Illustrator)

Booktalk: It’s Christmas Eve and Spark Elf has the very important job of keeping Santa Claus on schedule as he travels the globe in 24 hours delivering presents.

Snippet:
Midnight
Launch time. Santa kisses Momma Claus and waves to the other elves.
I’ve got the GPS. Bobbin is in charge of the toybag. And Nutshell has the nice list.

Copyright © 2014 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
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Kitchen Math

Kitchen Math (Math Everywhere!)
by Katie Marsico (Author)

Booktalk: Math is everywhere in the kitchen! See what’s cooking inside this book—and how we need math to finish the job! You’ll need your math smarts to help measure ingredients, calculate cooking times, add and subtract fractions, double and halve recipes, convert cups to ounces and back again, and more.

Snippet: Aunt Megan says that the roast’s size affects the cooking time. Overcooking meat makes it tough. Undercooking it can make people sick.

Tony studies the label. The roast weighs 5 pounds [2.3 kilograms]. The directions say to preheat the oven to 325F [163 C]. The beef needs to cook for 23-25 minutes per pound.

Tony and Aunt Megan need to figure our how long the beef should roast.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2014 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
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Polar Bears and Penguins: A Compare and Contrast Book

Polar Bears and Penguins: A Compare and Contrast Book
by Katharine Hall (Author)

Booktalk: Polar bears and penguins may like cold weather but they live at opposite ends of the Earth. What do these animals have in common and how are they different?

Snippet: Polar bears live in the Arctic, in the Northern Hemisphere…

TURN THE PAGE

…but penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere.

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

Copyright © 2014 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
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Dino-Boarding

Dino-Boarding
by Lisa Wheeler (Author) and Barry Gott (Illustrator)

Booktalk: The dinos are grabbing some big air–come check it out!

Snippet:
Tricera leads the veggie team,
The reigning champs–the Green Machine!

The underdogs come into view.
It’s T-Rex and his Shredding Crew!

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Tapestry of Words.

Copyright © 2014 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
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Strike!: The Farm Workers’ Fight for Their Rights

Strike!: The Farm Workers’ Fight for Their Rights
by Larry Dane Brimner (Author)

Booktalk: In 1965, as the grapes in California’s Coachella Valley were ready to harvest, migrant Filipino American workers—who picked and readied the crop for shipping—negotiated a wage of $1.40 per hour, the same wage growers had agreed to pay guest workers from Mexico. But when the Filipino grape pickers moved north to Delano, in the Central Valley, and again asked for $1.40 an hour, the growers refused. The ensuing conflict set off one of the longest and most successful strikes in American history.

Snippet: The Delano grape workers wanted better wages. Growers only paid them 90 cents an hour, plus 10 cents a log, or box, of grapes picked. At the end of the day, the average picker earned about $1.20 per hour, while some other farm workers were earning more.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2014 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
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