February is here with all the happenings it brings! Please take a look in the display case outside the library – filled with quotes and words of wisdom from our Presidents and First Ladies.

Our Kindergarten through 5th graders are so excited about their upcoming visit from Kevin Henkes. The author of Chrysanthemum, Owen, Kitten’s First Full Moon, Olive’s Ocean and many others will be visiting with our K – 5th grade students on February 29, thanks to Hicklebees. Order forms for autographed copies of Penny and her Song and other Henkes books will be coming home. I am so pleased that we are able to offer a couple of the Kevin Henkes books in paperback, making them much more affordable. As always, our library receives back 25% of the purchase price of the books from Hicklebees.

And speaking of Hicklebees, it is almost time for our magnificent Springtime Hicklebees Book Fair. The Fair is being delivered on Friday March 2 and our sales will take place Monday March 5th through Thursday March 8. If you are interested in helping with this book fair, please let me know. Sales will take place 7:45 – 6 every day.

We had a terrific turnout for our 2nd annual Build A Valentine for Mom event. What fun to see our Dads and their children creating masterpieces for Mom!

Our Middle School Book Club is meeting Friday Feb 17 to compare and contrast the 2 books they have read this month. All middle school students are welcome to join the Book Club.

It is my hope that we can inventory our library collection between now and the end of the school year . This is process that requires many hands – please let me know if you would like to help. With a school library collection that is only 6 years old, this should be a pretty straightforward task – and a very necessary one.

Children’s literature may be the most important literature you will ever read. This is the stuff you read before you’ve figured out who you are, before you’ve made your mind up on all sorts of subjects. This is the reading that shapes you.

— Unknown author

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor, Librarian

Nonfiction RULES in our library!! I have been actively encouraging our students in grades 3 – 8 to check out those No Foolin’ Nonfiction Books. Hidden in the bookshelves of our nonfiction books are some amazingly interesting, fascinating, gross, intriguing books and our students are exploring and finding them. Why am I pushing nonfiction? Students reading nonfiction are using informational books for problem solving – a necessary and lifelong skill. As our students progress into middle and high school and are expected to read content area textbooks, exposure to nonfiction will have been excellent practice . Struggling readers and good readers alike of all ages are motivated to read by the photos, illustrations and sidebars that make up a lot of school library nonfiction books. In addition to being a motivating factor, students are benefitting from the skills needed to decode graphs, diagrams and charts that are present in many nonfiction books. These skills are often present on tests and reading nonfiction provides additional practice. Besides – they say “truth is stranger than fiction” – and our nonfiction collection provides the captivating books that can prove that to our students. In a perfect world, our students would read half fiction, half nonfiction with a dose of poetry tossed into the mix. So ask your child what nonfiction book they are reading and let’s keep that appeal growing.

Did you know that Hicklebees Bookstore, in addition to hosting many award winning authors has also won awards as the best independent bookstore in northern California? We are so fortunate to have a continuing relationship with Hicklebees so they can help me provide to our students exposure to some of the best children’s authors. All author visits that are sponsored by Hicklebees are free to our school. Kevin Henkes, the author of Chrysanthemum, Owen, Kitten’s First Full Moon and many others will be visiting with our K – 3 rd grade students on February 29, thanks to Hicklebees. Order forms for autographed copies of Penny and her Song will be coming home next week.

MOMS – STOP READING HERE

Remember to send in your order form for our second annual Build A Valentine for Mom event. This special evening will take place on Feb 7 from 5:30 – 7 in the MPR. If your family cannot attend, you may order a kit and your Build A Book kit, Valentines decorations and gift wrapping will be sent home. Each family attending will receive a Build A Book kit, Valentines decorations to make the book special and free gift wrapping. Come make a treasure for Mom! Extra order forms are available in the library.

OK MOMS – START READING AGAIN

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Dr. Seuss

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor
Librarian

Happy New Year to all of our wonderful families – may this be a year filled with terrific books to read, memorable family moments and a mountain of new things learned.

Our library has been very busy during the first week back to school. Our students were all allowed to check out extra books over the Winter Break. Depending on the grade level, students borrowed between 2 and 10 books each to make sure they had enough to read during the time off. This meant there was a literal tsunami of returned books last week and my endless thanks goes out to all our library volunteers who managed that flood of books with great patience and grace and dedication.

Hicklebees Bookstore is providing our students with a couple of amazing guest speakers. On Friday, January 13, David Aguilar, Director of Public Affairs for the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics is bringing his amazing outer space presentation to our 3rd through 8th graders. Order forms have gone home for students interested in purchasing an autographed copies of the books. The amazing Kevin Henkes will be here for our K – 3rd grade with his newest book on February 29. More details will follow on the Henkes presentation as I receive them.

MOMS – STOP READING HERE

On February 7, in the MPR , I will be hosting the 2nd annual Build A Valentine for Mom event. Please look for the order form that is coming home this week. Each family attending will receive a Build A Book kit, Valentines decorations to make the book special and free gift wrapping. Come make a treasure for Mom!

OK MOMS – START READING AGAIN

It is always so gratifying to see how much our students love to check out library books. The new books from our most recent book fair have been added to the library and they are available for our students to check out.

These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds, alive on the shelves

— G. Highet

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor

Here we are in November!! What a terrific month – filled with days that honor our veterans, encourage our families to gather and be thankful AND the beginning of our annual Fall Scholastic Book Fair.

You will be receiving lots of information about the Reading is Out of This World Book Fair this week. Please check the school website for the Book Fair homepage for all the up to date information on sales dates, how to volunteer and for the new and exciting online component of the Book Fair. This year our goal is to sell $11,000 worth of books during our fair. If we meet that goal, Mr. Barber has promised to do something “out of this world”. Remember that 60% of each dollar spent at the fair returns to us for me to enrich teachers’ classroom libraries as well as adding to our school library.

Most of our classes have begun voting on their favorite California Young Reader Medal Choices. Our students in grades K – 3 are selecting from the Picture Book nominees. Many of our 4th – 8th grade classes are interested in voting on those books also, in addition to the Picture Books for Older Readers. Next week I will be booktalking the nominated chapter books with grades 3 – 8 so that interested students may vote. We only have one copy of each of those books in library, so your child may need to use the public library to get their hands on a copy.

HUGE thanks to the wonderful core team that has stepped up to help with the Book Fair planning. There is still a lot to do – please let me know if you are interested in working in our book boutique for a small or large chunk of time.

The cooler weather sure brings thoughts of cuddling up with a good book, alone or with family. Parents, remember you are welcome to check books out from our school library to add to the reading joys of your families. Parents are always welcome in the library when there is not a class in session.

“A child must make a fort for him or herself in bed and read, read read.” Gary Soto

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor
Librarian

What happens when we get “stuck in a rut” reading the same old things over and over?  If you visit the library this week you will notice several shelves marked with CAUTION tape.

Our library has become “haunted”!! NO ONE DARES check out those books this week!!  WHO KNOWS what might happen if you do —

There are dozens of other shelves full of books — find something NEW to read this week!!

Our annual Fall Scholastic Book Fair is coming – faster than we think!! Sales will be the week after Thanksgiving Break – November 28 – December 2.  Please stop by and see me if you would like to sign up to help with the Book Fair.  The Book Fair set up will be Monday November 21 and I could really use some help with that.  This year Scholastic has finally added an exciting ONLINE component to the book fair – in addition to shopping at the Fair at school, you can shop at home in your pajamas – watch for more info as the Book Fair date draws nearer.

Parent often ask me how many books students are allowed to check out from our library.  Kindergarten students check out 1 or 2 books that stay in the classroom.  Grades 1 – 3 check out 2 – 3 books,  depending on their teacher’s preference.  Grades 4 – 8 have very different rules.  I have told all students in grades 4 – 8 that they may check out as many books as they “reasonably, responsibly and maturely need” .  Students at this age KNOW how many books they require  to get through a week – and I will allow them to make that decision.  Parents of all students are encouraged to check out extra books for home – just stop by the library and I will assign you a library number.

“The Witches fly across the sky

The Owls go  Who? Who? Who?

The Black Cats yowl and the Green Ghosts Howl

Happy Halloween to you!!

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor
Librarian

Calling all student authors in grades K – 8!! We all know that our students here at Don Callejon are READERS – now they have a chance to be authors. All students are invited write a book to give to the library and I will process it in so that other students can check it out. I have several books from our 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders, but students at ALL grade levels are invited to offer their creations to the library. These student written books can be on any subject or length. As last week’s visiting author, Doreen Cronin told our 2nd and 3rd graders, “There are no bad ideas for a story.”

We also all know that we get into reading habits – many of our students reread the same series over and over again. As our classes come through – I am encouraging them to “mix it up” and check out something unfamiliar – a new series, a new author, a new genre. Who knows – our students may discover new favorites!! Many of our classes are also encouraging the reading of nonfiction. Nonfiction books are rich in vocabulary as well as facts and are excellent choices for reluctant readers and adventuresome readers alike.

You also know that my appreciation for our incredible library volunteers is endless. The hours spent each week checking books in and out, shelving books and generally helping with library maintenance is amazing and I could not run this library without these volunteers.

“When you are a writer, you have ALL the power.” (Doreen Cronin)

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor
Librarian

We have begun reading the California Young Reader Medal nominees for this year. Students throughout the state of California read these books and vote for their favorite – no adults are allowed to vote – this is a student determined award. This book award is given to books in 5 different categories for different age levels. This year’s nominees are:

Primary (being read to grades K – 4)

• On Meadowview Street
• The Odd Egg
• Let’s Do Nothing
• I Need My Monster
• Princess Hyacinth: Surprising Tale of the Girl who Floated

Intermediate (good for grades 3 and up)

• Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning
• Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School and Other Scary Things
• The Small Adventures of Popeye and Elvis

Middle School (content appropriate for students in 6, 7, 8 )

• Revolution is Not a Dinner Party
• Waiting for Normal
• Every Soul a Star

Picture Books for Older Readers (being read to grades 4 – 8 )

• Henry’s Freedom Box
• Goal!
• Wabi Sabi

Young Adult (content appropriate for grade 8 )

• Graceling
• Beastly
• If I Stay

Depending on their grade level, I will be reading the Primary Books and Picture Books for Older Readers to all of our students in grades K – 8 and students will be voting for their favorite. I would really like for our students to have the opportunity to vote for the Intermediate, Middle School and Young Adult categories, however, it is not practical for me to read several chapter books to classes. Any student who reads all the books in a category is eligible to vote. I do have 1 copy of each of the nominated chapter books for the library, but would LOVE to have several more copies of the books in those 3 categories for our students to read. These books are available in paperback and I would welcome donations of these titles to our library. Having read all these books, I know our students would certainly enjoy them.

Hicklebees is sending another terrific author our way – Doreen Cronin, New York Times bestselling author of Diary of a Worm, Click Clack Moo Cows That Type and many more. She is presenting her new book M.O. M. (Mom Operating Manual) on Wednesday, Oct 5 for our 2nd and 3rd graders. As always, autographed books are available for purchase and our library receives a percentage of all sales back for new book purchases. The order form is coming home and is also available on the website.

Our Kindergarten classes have their dioramas of their rooms on display in the library. Parents are welcome to come by and take a look – I just ask that visiting families be aware that other classes are in the library for their scheduled time. Students in all other grades are making a compliments poster for our kindergarteners in honor of their hard work on these projects.

“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside a dog, it’s too dark to read” Groucho Marx.

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor
Librarian

Things are popping in the library!! Many thanks to all who have stepped forward to be class library parents. Their personal touch with students and their much appreciated shelving work ensures that our library operates smoothly and our students have access to the books they need. I also appreciate those folks who have stepped in to help “anytime” – not just with a particular class. There is always something to be done and “thank you” just does not completely express my gratitude.

Several people have asked if the library takes donations – and my answer is yes – I will have to look at what you have to determine if it meets our collection needs. Books that I do not need or cannot include in our library I will offer to the teachers – which is always another great place to donate outgrown household books. I am also currently working on a wish list of books for the library that will be posted – more info as that is ready.

Hicklebees presents our first author visit of the year for our 6th graders on September 29. Tom Angleberger, author of the hilarious middle school drama, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda will be here with the sequel, Darth Paper Strikes Back. An order form will be coming home so students can purchase an autographed copy of these books. The order form will also be available on the library website.

“I READ: because one life isn’t enough and in the pages of a book I can be anybody.”

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor
Librarian

”The Library – where they keep the truth serum and the magic carpets”

This quote from the book Freak the Mighty describes our library to a tee!!

When our students come to the library I expect them to come looking for something thrilling and magical to read – books that will tell them the truth about things they are interested in and will magically transport them to other places. All of our classes are visiting the library for the first time this week for book check out and a review of the library rules. As always, they are reminded that they are the most important part of our library – without our terrific kids, this would simply be a room full of books getting dusty. Our students bring our library to life when they read our books.

Last week the library was bustling with our middle school students checking out and covering their textbooks. All middle school textbooks need to be covered. There are still a few book covers available in the library if your child needs one. Please remind your middle school student to keep track of their textbooks, lost books will have to be paid for at the end of the school year. My deepest appreciation to Mrs. Ferguson, Mrs. Tjanaka, Mr. Chan, Ms. Bowden for their assistance with the super intense process of textbook check out.

As book check out begins, please remember that the library is not open for parent check out when classes are in the library. As our schedule stands now, Thursday is THE day when there are no classes in the library after 2:00. Every other day the library is open for parent check out 2:40. If you are a heavy user of the library, please consider becoming a library volunteer to help with the shelving of books.

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor
Librarian

“FREE – Every Monday Through Friday:
KNOWLEDGE
Bring your own container”

What an unexpected and terrific bit of news this summer when I found out that I would be returning to our library here at Don Callejon.  I am thrilled to be back in the library and grateful to our school board for finding a way to give back to our students the essential access to a school library.

The first several days of school are completely dedicated to middle school text book check out and once that process is complete, classes will begin coming to the library and check out for families can begin.  All students check books out weekly with their classes and parents are also encouraged to check books out to share with their children at home.  Parents wishing to check books out from the library will need to fill out a Parent Library Code Request – even if you had one last year – we redo them each year.  Please stop by the library to pick up a form.  Library forms are also available from your child’s teacher.

Please consider becoming a library volunteer for your child’s class.  In my opinion, this is one of the most enjoyable volunteer opportunities – you have the chance to get to know all the students, REALLY get to know the books we have in the library and have unlimited access to our coffee/tea and chocolate.  Each K – 5 classroom will need to have library parents to help with book check out and reshelving . And anytime you are on campus and have a few spare minutes – stop by the library – there is always something going on !

We have such a wonderfully diverse community and I would love for our library to reflect that.  My plan is to hang flags symbolizing the many countries represented in our school family.  If you would like to donate a flag to hang in the library, please let me know – we can double check to make sure we do not have duplicates.  Once we have collected a fair number of flags – I will begin hanging them down the side walls of the library.

What a year it will be back in the library!!!

Happy Back to School

Mrs. Taylor
Librarian