In library visits this week the students and I will continue our participation in the California Young Reader Medal contest (grades TK, K, and 1). Grades 2 and 3 will hear books related to the Chinese New Year (grades 2 and 3). The Chinese (or lunar) new year begins this year on Friday, January 31. This coming year is the Year of the Horse.

Grades 4 and 5 are continuing with their novels. We have not done a lot of discussion of the novels yet--I'm trying to cover some ground and allow the novels to "work their magic" without my intrusion. However, the time is coming for discussion with those grades, and you are certainly encouraged to ask your sons and daughters what they think of the books. Grade 4 is hearing When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead, winner of the 2010 Newbery Medal; grade 5 is hearing Schooled, by Gordon Korman.

The book club for grade 5 met yesterday to discuss Jinx, by Sage Blackwood. It was a very interesting discussion, with many detailed and perceptive comments from the participants. I cannot overstate how impressed I am with these students--the detail with which they read, their ability to make connections within and among books, and the respect they show each other (and me) during meetings. What a pleasure to meet with them! The club's next selection is Wonder, by R. J. Palacio, and the next meeting will be Monday, February 24. 

Also yesterday was the announcement of the American Library Association Youth Media Awards, including the Newbery Medal and Caldecott Medal. Congratulations to all the outstanding authors and publishers who create and deliver excellent books for young people! A selection of the winners follows, but a complete list as well as more information on the awards can be found on the website of the American Library Association (from which I created my partial list):

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature: “Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures,” written by Kate DiCamillo

John Newbery Honors: “Doll Bones,” written by Holly Black; “The Year of Billy Miller,” written by Kevin Henkes; “One Came Home,” written by Amy Timberlake; “Paperboy,” written by Vince Vawter

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children: “Locomotive,” illustrated by Brian Floca

Randolph Caldecott Honors: “Journey,” written and illustrated by Aaron Becker; “Flora and the Flamingo,” written and illustrated by Molly Idle; “Mr. Wuffles!” written and illustrated by David Wiesner 

Coretta Scott King Author Book Award recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults: “P.S. Be Eleven,” written by Rita Williams-Garcia

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Book Award: “Knock Knock: My Dad’s Dream for Me,” illustrated by Bryan Collier

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor: “Nelson Mandela,” illustrated and written by Kadir Nelson

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award: “When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop,” illustrated by Theodore Taylor III

Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement: Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack

 Schneider Family Book Awards for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience: “A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin,” written by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet (for children ages 0 to 10); “Handbook for Dragon Slayers,” written by Merrie Haskell (ages 11-13)

Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults: Markus Zusak. His books include “The Book Thief” and “I Am the Messenger.”   

Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children's book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States: “Mister Orange,” originally published in Dutch in 2011 as “Mister Orange,” written by Truus Matti, translated by Laura Watkinson

Pura Belpré Illustrator Award honoring a Latino illustrator whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience:: “Niño Wrestles the World,” illustrated and written by Yuyi Morales

Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor: “Maria Had a Little Llama / María Tenía una Llamita,” illustrated and written by Angela Dominguez; “Tito Puente: Mambo King / Rey del Mambo,” illustrated by Rafael López, written by Monica Brown; “Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: A Migrant’s Tale,” illustrated and written by Duncan Tonatiuh 

Pura Belpré Author Honor honoring a Latino writer whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience: “Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: A Migrant’s Tale,” written and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh 

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children: “Parrots over Puerto Rico,” written by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore, and illustrated by Susan L. Roth

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished book for beginning readers: “The Watermelon Seed,” written and illustrated by Greg Pizzoli

Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor: “Ball,” written and illustrated by Mary Sullivan; “A Big Guy Took My Ball!” written and illustrated by Mo Willems; “Penny and Her Marble,” written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes

Our school week should have begun on Tuesday, January 21, this week because Monday was the holiday honoring the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. However, the library was closed Tuesday because I was out sick. I am sorry for the inconvenience and hope to return to school tomorrow.

In weekly class visits the students will be continuing with themes and projects we've begun since returning from winter break. TK, K, and 1st will be hearing more of the nominees for the California Young Reader Medal. Grade 3 is continuing to hear biographies of inspiring people, particularly Americans. To accompany our readaloud, America's Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle, by David A. Alder, we'll take a look at the short video you can see below about Ederle's swim across the English Channel. Grades 4 and 5 are continuing with their novels. Grade 2 is hearing Rocks in His Head, by Carol Otis Hurst, to support their study of rocks and minerals.

The fifth-grade book club will be meeting next Monday, January 27, in the library at lunch recess. Book club participants are encouraged to bring their lunch (rather than buy lunch) on meeting days. We will be discussing Jinx, by Sage Blackwood.

Students in grades 4 and 5 who are looking for science fair ideas might want to check out the "Science Projects" on World Book Online. These can be found on the opening page of the "Kids" version of the encyclopedia. Here is a link, but you do have to put in the Pennekamp Log-in ID and password. If you don't know those, please ask me or your child's teacher.

This week TK/K, K, and 1st grade continue with the nominees for the California Young Reader Medal. Grades 2 and 3 are hearing books in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, which is celebrated on the coming Monday (January 20). There is no school on MLK Day, as it is a federal holiday. Grades 4 and 5 are each hearing a novel read aloud. Grade 4 begins this week When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead, which won the Newbery Medal in 2010. All three 4th-grade classes chose it above two other possibilities: The Good Dog, by Avi; and The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate. With grade 5 I will continue reading Schooled, by Gordon Korman. 

If you have not done so already, please consider donating to MBEF. All MBUSD schools rely on MBEF funds to help support many programs and features that benefit our students, including all our MBUSD school libraries. Your support of MBEF is crucial to maintaining the high-quality educational experience that benefits our students and improves our community. Thank you for contributing to MBEF. 

Welcome back to school! I hope everyone had a really nice break.

January and February tend to be the months when many new books are added to the library's collection. Did you know there is a feature of our catalog that displays which books have recently been added? It is in in the Destiny Quest version of our online library catalog (basically a different, "splashier" display function of the catalog). Once you are in the catalog, choose Destiny Quest from the functions listed at the left. You should see New Books right on the opening screen of Destiny Quest.

In class visits this week TK, K, and first grade will begin hearing nominees for the California Young Reader Medal (CYRM). This is a contest in which MBUSD schools routinely participate. The nominees for this year can be viewed on the CYRM website or on the Book Contests page of this website. The nominee we are reading today is Interrupting Chicken, by David Ezra Stein. Ask your children to tell you about it! Do they think Little Chicken will ever stop interrupting Papa Chicken?

Grade 2 will hear an inspiring picture book about Elizabeth Blackwell, who succeeded in becoming a doctor when this profession was not open to women. This is an exemplary "informational" text that teaches readers a little about what life was like for girls and women in the late 1800s and uses Blackwell's story as a model of persistence.

Grade 3 will be hearing The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos, by Deborah Heiligman. What an interesting person Paul Erdos was! One "trick" this remarkable mathematician could do was to figure out, in his head, how many seconds old a person was. For that I go to the Math Cats website and use its age calculator. It turns out I am 1,653,233,115 seconds old, and counting…

Grade 4 is choosing a novel that I will read aloud during library visits over the coming weeks. Each class will vote on three possibilities, and each class will be able to choose its own preference. It will be either When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead; The Good Dog, by Avi; or The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate.

Grade 5 has already completed its participation in the CYRM contest this year, having voted on the nominees during the week of December 16, 2013. The winner at our school was The Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the True Story of an American Feud, by Suzanne Tripp Jurmain. I will send our vote count for tallying to the sponsors of the CYRM, as will schools all over the state of California. The statewide winner will be announced on May 1, 2014. Starting next week we will read Schooled, by Gordon Korman. This week we will read Belle, the Last Mule at Gee's Band: A Civil Rights Story since we will be busy with our novel on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.