The coming Sunday, February 10, 2013, marks the start of the new year in Chinese culture. The lunar new year is celebrated in many places with large Chinese populations, including Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and "Chinatowns" in U.S. cities. Many activities are planned in Chinatown Los Angeles, including a spectacular parade on Saturday, February 16, starting at 1:00 p.m. The coming year is the Year of the Snake.
I will return to work this week after missing several days last week due to illness. I plan to pick up with the nominees for the California Young Reader Medal, and I hope to complete our voting before the February break week, starting February 18. Classes (including all DK/TK classes) that have completed the voting will hear stories in honor of Chinese new year.
The book club for students in grade 5 will meet Tuesday in the library at lunch recess. We will finally have our discussion on Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and choose a new book, this time from the historical fiction genre.
This is the last week that the library's books for adult readers will still be in the library. These books are available for "adoption" by Pennekamp parents, staff, and teachers; donation requested is 50 cents per book. After this week, the books will be moved to the staff lounge for a couple of weeks, for one last chance at local adoption; after that, they will be donated to a public library that can use them.
Don't forget the Access Books fundraiser featuring Jeff Kinney at Pages: A Bookstore. The event is Tuesday, February 5, at 5:30 p.m. This ticketed event will almost certainly sell out, so if your child is interested in attending, tickets should be obtained right away from the Access Books site. Click on this link:
Jeff Kinney at Pages for Access Books