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Great Books

Picture Book of the Day

Pickles, Please!: A Dilly of a Book
by Andy Myer (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Alec Smart loves pickles! But no one understands why, and that makes Alec sad…

Snippet: “It isn’t good to eat so many pickles,” said Alec’s Mom. “You’ll grow up to be a small green man who smells like vinegar.”
“I’ll smell PICKLICIOUS,” replied Alec.

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Chapter Book of the Day

Zitface
by Emily Howse (Author)
202 pages

Booktalk: Thirteen-year-old Olivia Hughes has always considered herself a lucky girl. She knows what she wants to do with her life–be an actress. And she’s already on her way. She just

launched a national ad campaign that should get her noticed. Then her luck runs out. A little pimple turns into a full-blown case of acne…

Snippet: Wendy switched gears. “What happened to your face?”

Of course that question was coming, but I wasn’t going to get into it. Wendy means well, but she simply cannot keep her trap shut.

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5 Great New Fall Books

Animals in Fall: Preparing for Winter
by Martha E. H. Rustad (Author) and Amanda Enright (Illustrator)
Five short chapters show how animals get ready for winter. (Do the craft and make “blubber gloves!”) Nonfiction picture book

Fall Apples: Crisp and Juicy
by Martha E. H. Rustad (Author) and Amanda Enright (Illustrator)
Pick the apples and make apple crisp! (Recipe in the back.) Nonfiction picture book

Fall Leaves: Colorful and Crunchy
by Martha E. H. Rustad (Author) and Amanda Enright (Illustrator)
See how leaves change through the seasons in three short chapters. Nonfiction picture book

Fall Mixed Up
by Bob Raczka (Author) and Chad Cameron (Illustrator)
Fun rhymes and silly mix-ups! Can you find them all? Picture book

Fall Pumpkins: Orange and Plump
by Martha E. H. Rustad (Author) and Amanda Enright (Illustrator)
Plant pumpkins in the spring for pumpkins in the fall (and roast pumpkin seeds). Nonfiction picture book

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Literary Links

New @pubperspectives newsletter launched, will focus on children’s publishing (via @galleycat)

LAST CALL! Looking for bloggers with early literacy backgrounds to judge the 2011 Cybils Awards. (Sept 15th deadline)

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My NEW book is here!
Read and Write Sports: Readers Theatre and Writing Activities for Grades 3-8
Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

I Can Read Carnival, Eat and Play

Picture Book of the Day

Welcome to the September 2011 I Can Read: A Carnival for New Readers

Join us for this monthly meme that celebrates easy readers and illustrated chapter books to encourage kids working to become successful readers.

Around the middle of each month, we’ll collect reviews of easy readers and/or short chapter books. Each host picks a 3 to 5-day window where visitors leave links to favorite easy readers and illustrated chapter books, offer tips or ideas about reading with new readers, or personal stories with memories or experiences with the kids in your life.

Don’t have a post that fits those criteria this month? Not a problem, your review can be from the previous year. So in September 2011, feel free to pull a post going back to September 2010! To learn more about Easy Readers and Early Chapter books, click this link.

Please leave your links in the comments and I will add the to the roundup from September 13-15. (If you have not commented on this blog before, your comment will need to be approved. Thanks!)

And now for my easy reader, yes on this picture book blog! Holiday House has a new picture book series for emerging readers, called I Like to Read Books. These books are for kindergarten and early first grade reading levels. This one is Level E.

Boy, Bird, and Dog (I Like to Read)

by David McPhail (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Boy and Bird can go up to the tree house, but Dog cannot. Boy has an idea…

Snippet:

Boy went up.

He pulled the rope.

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Chapter Book of the Day

The Water Seeker

by Kimberly Willis Holt (Author)

310 pages

Booktalk: What would you do if you knew you had a special gift–a sixth sense–that was passed down from one generation to the next?

Snippet: “When I was a boy, my pa dowsed to earn extra money when we had a lean year. And when he put the branch in my hands for the first time, I felt a burning inside me because I had that gift, too. Just be thankful I didn’t hand that gift down to you.”

Amos figured it was probably best not to tell his father it was too late.

BONUS! See the video!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pBhfoUJwU0]

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My Book of the Week

Look what just came out from Chronicle! I had fun creating the activities for this Eat and Play kit…

Little ones will devour the fun served up in this totable set of 40 place mats, 24 plate sheets, and fork, knife, and spoon crayons. At a restaurant or at the kitchen table, kids will have a blast playing games, drawing their favorite foods, and writing notes to the chef.

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Literary Link

Scholastic & Ruckus Media to target out-of-print kids’ books with new transmedia imprint (via @galleycat)

Need some guidance on implementing the common core #standards? Download our free spotlight (via @educationweek)

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My NEW book is here!

Read and Write Sports: Readers Theatre and Writing Activities for Grades 3-8

Friday Reads

Back-to-School Rules
by Laurie B. Friedman (Author) and Teresa Murfin (Illustrator)

Booktalk: School’s in session! When it comes to surviving school, Percy’s at the head of the class. Just follow his ten simple rules…

Snippet:
Another rule to abide by
(And from this, I never sway):
Do NOT take forever
If you’ve got something to say.

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Chapter Book of the Day

Search and Rescue Dog Heroes (Amazing Working Dogs With American Humane)
by Linda Bozzo (Author)

Booktalk: Search and rescue dogs use their noses to find people. Read about the history, training, what being on the job is like for a search and rescue dog, and what happens when the dog retires.

Snippet: Hundreds of dogs and their handlers, known as K-9 teams, from around the country arrived in response to the fallen towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. K-9 teams worked long hours until the list of the missing became shorter and shorter.

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Poetry Friday

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Secrets and Sharing Soda

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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 Ana’s Nonfiction Blog

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Literary Links

Looking for bloggers with early literacy backgrounds to judge the 2011 Cybils Awards

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My NEW book is here!
Read and Write Sports: Readers Theatre and Writing Activities for Grades 3-8
Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Great Books

Picture Book of the Day

The Little Little Girl with the Big Big Voice
by Kristen Balouch (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: One loud little girl is on the hunt for a friend. She searches the jungle high and low, but her BIG voice scares all the animals away! Now what?

Snippet:
There was a little, little girl…
with a big, big voice.

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Chapter Book of the Day

It’s the First Day of School…Forever!
by R.L. Stine (Author)
192 pages

Booktalk: On the first day of school, Artie falls out of his bed and hits his head. Hard. He tells his mom he’s dizzy and she says:

“You’re just worried about your first day in a new school.”

On the second day of school, Artie falls out of bed and hits his head. Hard. He tells his mom he’s dizzy and she says:

“You’re just worried about your first day in a new school.”

Huh? Today is just like the day before. Can Artie find a way to change it, before it’s the first day of school…forever?

Snippet: I was so happy to get out of that basement. I ran all the way back to Ms. McVie’s class, holding heavy textbooks in my arms.

The rest of the morning, I kept thinking about Mr. Blister and everything I had seen down there. It was all strange and frightening–not like a normal school basement.

BONUS! See the video!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVMbRygchlQ]

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5 Great Books About School

Miss Mingo and the First Day of School
by Jamie Harper (Author, Illustrator)
Miss Mingo has all kinds of students in her new class. Picture book

Pencil Talk
by Anastasia Suen (Author) and Susie Lee Jin (Illustrator)
These easy reader poems about school are also available in Spanish.

Pinkalicious: School Rules!
by Victoria Kann (Author, Illustrator)
Pinkalicious brings her imaginary unicorn friend to school. Level 1 easy reader

Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes
by Eric Litwin (Author) and James Dean (Illustrator)
Pete the Cat is rocking in his school shoes…all round the school. Picture book

Wow! School!
by Robert Neubecker (Author, Illustrator)
It’s Izzy’s first day of school. Picture book

BONUS! See the Pete the Cat’s video!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUVgSWsyIE8]

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Literary Links

2011 Cybils Call for Judges

Literature connections for teaching the events of September 11

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My NEW book is here!
Read and Write Sports: Readers Theatre and Writing Activities for Grades 3-8
Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Great Books

Picture Book of the Day

A Storm Called Katrina

by Myron Uhlberg (Author) and Colin Bootman (Illustrator)

Booktalk: It is August 2005, and a hurricane named Katrina is bearing down on the Gulf Coast. See how Louis Daniel and his family cope with this natural disaster…

Snippet:
Finally the rain stopped, and everything got real quiet.
Daddy opened the door. “Water’s rising fast,” he said. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

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Chapter Book of the Day

The Popularity Papers: Book Two: The Long-Distance Dispatch Between Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang
by Amy Ignatow (Author, Illustrator)
208 pages

Booktalk: After spending all of fifth grade studying popularity together, Julie and Lydia are finally ready to put their hard-earned lessons to use in junior high. But before they can, tragedy strikes: Lydia’s mom gets a job in London for six whole months! (A graphic novel journal)

Snippet: Today is the first day without Lydia, and until the Goldblatts hook up their computer I have no idea what she’s doing.

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5 Great Books About Starting Preschool

Maisy Goes to Preschool
by Lucy Cousins (Author, Illustrator)
Maisy has a busy day with her friends at preschool. Picture book

My First Day at Nursery School
by Becky Edwards (Author) and Anthony Flintoft (Illustrator)
As the school day goes by, a girl misses her Mom less and less. Picture book

Preschool Day Hooray!
by Linda Leopold Strauss (Author) and Hiroe Nakata (Illustrator)
A rhyming look at the preschool day. Picture book

The Night Before Preschool
Natasha Wing (Author), Amy Wummer (Illustrator)
It’s the night before preschool and Billy can’t fall asleep. Picture book

What to Expect at Preschool
by Heidi Murkoff (Author) and Laura Rader (Illustrator)
Angus the Answer Dog answers questions about preschool. Picture book

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Literary Links

2011 Cybils Call for Judges

Keeping House in a Literacy-Rich Classroom

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My NEW book is here!
Read and Write Sports: Readers Theatre and Writing Activities for Grades 3-8
Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Great Books

Picture Book of the Day

Wild Alphabet: An A to Zoo Pop-up Book
by Dan Green (Author) and Julia Frohlich (Designer)

Booktalk: An A-Z of the fiercest, friendliest, and fastest animals in the world. From antelopes to zebras, discover fascinating facts about your favorite animals with the help of amazing pop-ups and moving parts.

Snippet:
Xantus:
I’m a bird with a sweet tooth.
I flit from flower to flower,
slurping up nectar.
I’m super
speedy— my wings beat
so fast you can hardly see them!

BONUS! See the video!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6jwVngeM6M]

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Chapter Book of the Day

The Buddy Files: The Case of the Mixed-Up Mutts (Book 2)
by Dori Hillestad Butler (Author) and Jeremy Tugeau (Illustrator)
128 pages

Booktalk: Buddy has been adopted from the P-O-U-N-D by Connor and his mom, but he is still searching for his first family and his beloved Kayla. He hopes to solve that mystery soon, but right now he’s got another urgent case–two dogs, Muffin and Jazzy, have been switched!

Snippet:
Obedience is a big word. It means humans learning to say what they mean.

Some humans are easier to train than others.

I don’t mean to brag, but Connor and his mom are the best trained humans in the class.

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5 Great Labor Day Books

A Day in the Life of a Firefighter
by Heather Adamson (Author)
See a fire fighter at work in this easy reader.

Career Day
by Anne Rockwell (Author) and Lizzy Rockwell (Illustrator)
Family members visit class to talk about their jobs. Picture book

Labor Day
by Carmen Bredeson (Author)
Learn how and why we celebrate Labor Day. Easy reader

Labor Day
by Mari C. Schuh (Author)
This easy reader explains the origins of Labor Day.

Whose Tools Are These?: A Look at Tools Workers Use – Big, Sharp, and Smooth
by Sharon Katz Cooper (Author) and Amy Bailey Muehlenhardt (Illustrator)
A picture book of tools!

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Literary Links

NaNoWriMo Writer Lands 6-Figure Deal After 30 Rejections – GalleyCat

From Education Week Teacher: Teaching Now: The 10-Year Lesson Plan

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Nonfiction Monday

Picture Book of the Day

The Great Moon Hoax
by Stephen Krensky (Author) and Josee Bisaillon (Illustrator)

Booktalk: New Telescope Sees All! Amazing Secrets to Be Revealed! So the headlines read in the New York Sun one day in the summer of 1835. For a week straight, the newspaper printed stories and pictures of the discoveries made using a new telescope in far-off Africa. And on the streets of New York City, hundreds of newsboys shouted the headlines at the top of their lungs: Heavens Filled with Buffalo! Moon Beavers! Man Bats! We Are Not Alone! But was it true?

Snippet: The boys were already in line when Jake and Charlie arrived. Each would pay sixty-seven cents for every hundred copies of the Sun they bought. The newspapers sold for a peny each, so a newsboy could make a profit of thirty-three cents on each hundred. But if he wasn’t careful, he could lose money, because unsold papers could not be returned.

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Chapter Book of the Day

The Middle Eastern American Experience (USA Today Cultural Mosaic)
by Sandy Donovan (Author)
80 pages

Booktalk: See how Middle Eastern Americans contribute to the United States’ cultural mosaic, enriching our nation with a wide range of traditions, customs, and life experiences.

Snippet: Middle Eastern Americans speak many languages. Many people who come from the Middle East speak Arabic. People from Iran speak Persian, and people from Turkey speak Turkish. In Israel, Hebrew is the most common language. Each of these languages has its own alphabet. So immigrants to the United States who don’t already know English, learn a new language and a new alphabet.

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Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday

This week’s Nonfiction Monday Round-up is Ana’s Nonfiction Blog

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September 2011 Online Workshops

I begin new workshops on the first Wednesday of the month.
The August 2011 workshops will begin on Wednesday, September 7th.

Which workshop is best for you?

New to children’s books?
Learn about the different types of children’s books in the Children’s Book Genres Workshop.

Ready to write?
Write and edit your book in the Intensive Picture Book Workshop or the Children’s Novels Workshop.

An 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.

The September workshop dates are September 7-October 26.

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Literary Link

National Book Awards Accepts Its First Interactive eBook – GalleyCat

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Hot Topics columns update

I’ve added links for my latest Hot Topics columns to my webpage.

Batter Up!

Hot Topics: Batter Up!

Summer at the Ocean

Hot Topics: Summer at the Ocean

And a column that led to a new Write a Comic workshop!

Creating Comics

Hot Topics: Creating Comics

You can have these columns sent to you by email each month by subscribing to Booklist Quick Tips for Schools & Libraries newsletter.

Here’s the 411: Booklist’s Quick Tips for Schools & Libraries delivers easy, practical ideas and activities that help you integrate children’s and young-adult books into the curriculum, and many of the resources may already be on your shelves. With thematic bibliographies, author interviews, and useful ideas for connecting kids and books, each monthly e-newsletter also features a sneak peek at what’s coming up in future issues of Book Links and Booklist magazines. You will receive approximately 12 newsletters per year.

Join me on Google+

Have you heard about the new social media platform called Google Plus? I joined over the weekend and I have to say, I like it. It has the best of Facebook and Twitter.

I give it 4+!

Like Twitter, it allows people to connect with to me without any “approval” process. (In Facebook I have to take action on each and every connection before anyone is connected to me.)
Like Facebook and Twitter, it allows me to create lists…but the biggest difference is, I can read each list by itself! This is HUGE! (And also why I have churned through several Facebook and Twitter accounts over the years. I like to see info in small bytes. So I tried to make an account for each part of my life, but the people I wanted to connect with added themselves to the social media list they found first, whether it was for their “type” or not. So I regrouped and regrouped time and again… and now… I can have my lists… and
I can mail to ONE list at a time. (This is not possible on Twitter and too difficult to manage on Facebook.)
And to top it all off, I can EDIT my comments AFTER I post. (I can’t type and spell at the same time, so this is another HUGE development for me.)

So about those circles… how do you know who is where?

Well, I’m already on the Book Blogger Google + list and the Kidlitosphere folks to follow list. The Children’s Book Illustrators have a list and Susan Taylor Brown also has a Poets to follow list.

For me, the next step is, creating a new “list” for my picture book writers. If you’re on Google Plus and you WRITE picture books (whether you are published yet or not) add yourself to my G+ picture book writers list! Thanks!

It’s STEM Friday!

I have a new blog meme logo on my Chapter Book of the Day blog today:

STEM Friday

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

I write a monthly column for Booklist’s Quick Tips for Schools and Libraries and as a result have stacks and stacks of GREAT nonfiction books. As you know, I created Nonfiction Monday a few years ago, and now we have a new Nonfiction Monday Round-up host each week.

Nonfiction Monday

The only thing is, once a week is NOT enough when you have all of these great books to share. So…I added another day for nonfiction! (Why not?) On Monday at Chapter Book of the Day I blog about social studies and on Fridays I blog about science and mathematics. Win-win!

(I’ve been blogging STEM Friday books since May 20, so I’ve gone back and added the logo to the older posts as well. I also wanted to send a very special thanks to my daughter, the designer, who created this new logo for me. You’re a genius! 🙂 )