D.J.'s newest book, Project Alpha, is the first in a new adventure/science fiction series, Voyagers. You can order books for D.J. to sign and/or personalize with a child's name. There is an online order page, or books can be purchased wherever you buy books, such as Pages, in downtown Manhattan Beach, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon (pending availability).

Also this week grades TK, K, 1, and 2 will have visitors from the Manhattan Beach Rotary Club. By reading aloud to the students, Rotary Readers share their love of reading and model community service. The students always enjoy meeting these altruistic members of the community.

Grades 3 and 4 will hear the short, clever Voices in the Park, by Anthony Browne, which tells the same events from four points of view. Grade 5 will finish voting on the nominees for the California Young Reader Medal. Grades 3, 4, and 5 will also take a look at D.J.'s website. The Voyagers series website offers lots of back story as well as gaming features that further involve readers in the series. Be sure to take a look!

We have Pennekamp's winner for the "Primary" CYRM nominees: The Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers. Our votes will be tallied along with votes from all participating California schools, and the state winner will be announced on May 1. 

From February 22 to March 4, Pennekamp will be having a variety of book- and reading-themed events.

This week we have our visit with author/illustrator Erin Eitter Kono--on Tuesday, February 23. Ms. Kono is an award-winning picture book author and illustrator. She grew up in the midwest and spent many years traveling the world before settling down in Palos Verdes. She has published ten picture books including the cheerful Caterina series. Her next book, Every Color, comes out later this year. She will be presenting two assemblies for grades TK, K, 1, and 2, and will be signing her books. We are so excited for her visit!

Also this week grades TK through grade 4 will be voting for the CYRM nominees. During library time students will discuss the various aspects of the picture books we've read together and to choose what they consider to be the best one. Student voting will take place throughout California, and the statewide winner will be announced on May 1. (Grade-5 students will vote next week--this week they will be hearing the last nominee in their category.)

On display in the library this week are many new books for our earliest readers, from the "Emergent Reader" shelves of the library. It had been a while since there was a substantial library acquisition of these types of books. Pennekamp's "literacy event" seemed an ideal time for such a purchase.

Thanks to the Pennekamp PTA for generously funding Ms. Kono's visit as well as the purchase of new library books.

Most of the week's PK library news is shown below, but I wanted to make you aware of a very exciting event at Pages: A Bookstore this Sunday: Kwame Alexander, Newbery-winning author of Crossover, will be presenting a storytime and signing books, including his new picture book Surf's Up! That's Sunday, February 14, at 2:00 p.m. Reservations are recommended, 310-318-0900.

Grades 3, 4, and 5 have now heard two of the three books nominated for the California Young Reader Medal in the category "Picture Books for Older Readers." Grade 5 will not be visiting the library this week as that grade has some special activities going on, so those students will hear the remaining nominee (The Tree Lady, by H. Jospeh Hopkins) during the week of February 22. Grades 3 and 4 will hear The Tree Lady this week. There's a nice, very short related video at the bottom of this post. (Be advised, YouTube content is often accompanied by advertisements, sidebars, and comments that are not appropriate for children.) 

Grades TK, K, 1, and 2 have now heard all five books nominated for the California Young Reader Medal in the "Primary" category. The students will vote for their favorite during the week of February 22.

Also that week we have our visit with author/illustrator Erin Eitter Kono--on Tuesday, February 23. Ms. Kono is an award-winning picture book author and illustrator. She grew up in the midwest and spent many years traveling the world before settling down in Palos Verdes. She has published ten picture books including the cheerful Caterina series. Her next book, Every Color, comes out later this year. You can order books for Ms. Kono to sign and/or personalize with a child's name. There is an online order page, and a paper order form will go home in the Tuesday envelope on February 2. To prepare for her visit, this week we are reading alound her three Caterina books.

On Thursday, March 3, author D.J. MacHale will be presenting assemblies to grades 3, 4, and 5 as well as meeting with the 5th-grade book club. D.J. MacHale is the author of the bestselling book series Pendragon--Journal of an Adventure Through Time and Space; the spooky Morpheus Road trilogy; and the sci-fi thriller trilogy The SYLO Chronicles. His newest book, Project Alpha, is the first in a new adventure/science series, Voyagers. You can order books for Mr. MacHale to sign and/or personalize with a child's name. There is an online order page, and a paper order form went home in the Tuesday envelope on February 2. Please note, the Pendragon series is recommended for grade 5 and up.

Thanks to Pages: A Bookstore, our local independent bookstore, for putting me in touch with Ms. Kono and Mr. MacHale, and for coordinating book sales. Thanks to the Pennekamp PTA for its support of these events as well.