Our focus shifts this week to books about nature, animals, and springtime. Specific titles can be found on the Weekly Readalouds page of this website, but a few books merit mention here. First grade is hearing a new, very beautiful nonfiction book: See What a Seal Can Do, by Chris Butterworth. We'll take a look at some specific aspects of nonfiction books, such as front matter and back matter, the use of captions and distinctive fonts, and of course illustrations, which in this book are spectacular. Third grade is hearing The Eagles Are Back, by Jean Craighead George, the celebrated writer of books about animals and nature, including Julie of the Wolves and My Side of the Mountain. George died in 2012; this eagle book (published in 2013) was one of her last. 

The fifth-grade book club met Monday, March 31. We discussed A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz. This book provides so much entertainment and meaning, I am impressed with it time and time again. There are two other related books by Gidwitz that follow the first one--In a Glass Grimmly and The Grimm Conclusion, both of which are on my  list of books I plan to read this summer. The book club’s next selection is Three Times Lucky, by Sheila Turnage. Copies are available at the Manhattan Beach Public Library “bookmobile.”

With grades 4 and 5, we are almost done with our novels! I am hoping to finish with all classes of both grades by the end of April.

I received an interesting link regarding the Cook Prize--the nonfiction book contest that third grade participated in this year. Turns out the contest involves schools and libraries around the world! Here is the link to the Cook Prize 2014 map. This is a contest we will certainly do again next year--the nominees this year were all very interesting.

Happy April break, everyone! I look forward to reading a lot, in search of the best books for the summer 2014 lists of recommended pleasure reading. You might want to take one last peek at last year's lists before they are replaced with the new ones.

This is finally the official week of Pennekamp's Earth Day celebration, although in the library students have been hearing environmentally themed books throughout the month of April. Today (April 22) is Earth Day, which first took place way back in 1970 but has been consistently celebrated in the United States and elsewhere around the globe since 1990. The library has a superabundance of books promoting environmental awareness, so please come by if you'd like to pick up books for your family on any of the many topics that relate to Earth Day. Classes hearing about Earth Day in the library are kindergarten and grades 1, 2, 4, and 5. 

Grade 4 is continuing with guide words practice. Last week the students worked with the dictionary; this week is a little more challenging, as students are finding environmental topics in the encyclopedia, which requires not only using guide words but finding the correct volume of the encyclopedia as well. Congratulations to the first batch of winners of ice cream coupons, who were selected at random today during Mr. Romines's class visit.

Grade 3 is reviewing information literacy skills in preparation for state testing, and in accordance with the guidelines provided in the California Department of Education "Model School Library Standards."

May I again remind people of the Los Angeles Children's Film Festival, which is the coming two weekends. I'm hoping to make it up to Santa Monica for at least a couple of screenings!

The 5th-grade book club will meet on Friday, May 3, instead of this week. Several book club participants have asked for more time to read the book. The date of the meeting has no bearing on the due date of the students' book reports; please honor whatever due date your child's teacher has set.

The library will close at 1:30 on this Wednesday, as I must attend a districtwide meeting of library staff. Thanks for your understanding.

An exciting cultural event is coming up: The Los Angeles Children’s Film Festival will take place at the Aero Theatre from April 26 to May 5. The event is recommended for children aged 5 to 10, and of course their parents, too. Films from around the world will be shown, including big releases such as From Up on Poppy Hill, by Hayao Miyazaki and Goro Miyazaki (Japan); smaller films, including The Painting, in which paintings literally come to life (France), and Cinderella Moon, a very different telling of "Cinderella" based on the oldest version of the story (China); as well as programs composed of various short films. Come and explore the world of films made for children beyond what Hollywood has to offer. The Aero is a smaller old-fashioned theater and these films will no doubt sell out, so purchase your tickets beforehand!

This week in the library we continue with Earth Day themes. DK, kindergarten, 1st, 3rd, and 5th are hearing books about the natural world and our relationship to it.

DK and kindergarten are hearing books about insects and the rain forest, respectively, to support their in-class study of these topics. Grade 1 is looking at the differences between fiction and nonfiction, with reference to books about planting trees. (This fulfills CDE MSLS 1.3.g.) In addition to Earth Day on April 22, all fifty states celebrate Arbor Day around now—in California, it is observed for a whole week in March; in Maine, it’s not until May; but most states celebrate Arbor Day on the fourth Friday in April.) Grade 3 is considering the unexpected impact of the Chinese “Sparrow War,” as described in Sparrow Girl, by Sara Pennypacker. Grade 5 is hearing the very inspiring story of inventor William Kamkwamba, whose story is told in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. We will also watch the trailer for an upcoming film about Kamkwamba as well as a clip of  him giving a brief “Ted Talk.”

Grade 2 is either reviewing reference materials in preparation for the upcoming state testing (Fletcher & Smith), or hearing a "Cinderella" version in support of in-class work on fairy tales (Barney & Moriyama); whichever each class is hearing this week, we will do the alternative next week. Grade 4 has begun an activity to practice using guide words. This week the students are having a lot of fun looking up words in the dictionary and hoping to be the lucky winner of a free ice cream coupon! In the coming weeks they will work with the encyclopedia and the atlas.

The next book club book is Crunch, by Leslie Connor. Although I have sold out of the copies I had for purchase, the Manhattan Beach branch of the County of Los Angeles Public Library has plenty of copies to check out. Please ask for one at the reference desk. Thanks to {pages: a bookstore} for providing me with discounted copies. By the way, Tom Angleberger, author of the immensely and deservedly popular Origami Yoda books will be speaking at {pages} this Sunday. Advance tickets are required.

Please note the library will be closed Friday as I will be out of town. Sorry for the inconvenience.

The Earth Day project last week was lots of fun. Grades K, 1, 2, and 3 had the opportunity to make an Earth Day "pledge"--a commitment to do something to help the environment. They wrote their pledges on small green squares of paper, which I attached to recycled cardboard trees. Our Earth Day trees will be up until the end of the school year. Please come by and see them!

New books continue to be displayed, in particular this week new books on sports. 

Speaking of new books, if you'd like to get some for your family, the Scholastic order forms will be accepted until this Friday, May 4. This is the last Scholastic order of this school year. Thank you for purchasing from Scholastic. Your orders generate points that can be used to acquire free books for our library and classrooms.

Classes this week are hearing books about the American West, including the California missions, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Dust Bowl and resulting migration to California, and a cowgirl's roundup (of hamsters!). Having recently learned about our American systems of representative government, 5th grade will hear a book about the first American census. The younger grades are hearing about birds, butterflies, and bees. For specific titles, please visit Weekly Readalouds.

Book clubs meet on May 25 (Redwall, for grade 4) and June 1 (Wonder, for grade 5). Thanks to Mr. Warner, who is allowing any of his students who wish to read Wonder to use it for their upcoming book report. Please note, this applies only to Mr. Warner's class.

Tomorrow the statewide winners of the California Young Reader Medal will be announced! I can't wait to see how the results compare with Pennekamp's winners.   

Pennekamp celebrates Earth Day this week, so all classes will be hearing books related to environmental awareness. Many of these are new in library: Planting the Wild Garden, by Kathryn Galbraith; Blackout, by John Rocco; A Place for Birds, by Melissa Sweet; Sparrow Girl, by Sara Pennypacker; and Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins have all been recently added to the library's collection.

Scholastic flyers go home this week in the Tuesday envelope. This is the last opportunity to order from Scholastic until school resumes in the fall. Orders will be due by May 4, and you will receive your merchandise on or before May 21.

Both book clubs have chosen new books: the book club for 4th grade is reading Redwall, by Brian Jacques, a fantastic if somewhat long book, which we will discuss at the meeting on May 25. The book club for 5th grade is reading Wonder, by R. J. Palacio, a new book that I really admire, to be discussed at our meeting on June 1. The upcoming meetings will be the last book club meetings of this school year. 

The district summer reading lists for students entering grades 1 to 5 are revised every year by the district library media specialists. Lists for summer 2012 have just been posted. These lists are made up of books for pleasure reading--they are not required, nor do they represent an assignment or an expectation. If your sons or daughters want to read something else, please do not let the summer reading lists hamper their enthusiasm for books of their own choosing. If, on the other hand, you or your child is scouting around for something to read, please do consider the district summer reading lists. Students entering grade 6 and above ARE expected to read from their grade-specific summer reading list, so please consult those lists closely, as they do represent an assignment for students entering grade 6 or above.