I Love to Read month

This year for I Love to Read month at school, I did something a little bit different.  In the past, I selected four authors and each week read a multitude of books by one author.  Then at the end of the week, students voted on their favorite. 
Instead of looking for four prolific authors this year, I chose 44 of my favorite picture books and read those throughout the month.  My students seemed to enjoy it just as well. What are your favorite picture books for kids?

The Perfect Nest

The Perfect Nest by Catherine Friend and illustrated by John Manders is a fun book.  Jack the cat wants an egg so he can make an omelet.  He decides to build a nest to attract a chicken which would result in getting the egg he wants.  What Jack didn't count on was a chicken, a duck, and a goose all wanting the nest.  Each lays an egg in the nest, but before Jack can figure out how to get the mothers off the eggs, they hatch.  Children will probably enjoy this book because of the ironic ending...Jack ends up taking care of those three babies.   

Stars Over Sunset Boulevard

I read Stars Over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner this week.  In 1938, Audrey and Violet become roommates, then friends, while working in Hollywood.  Both are looking for something more to their lives.  As their friendship grows, they change in ways that neither of them could have guessed.  The setting of the story also includes the filming of the movie Gone With the Wind, so if you are a fan of historical Hollywood or the movie, you would enjoy this story.  I would not rank this as my favorite by Meissner, but it is worth reading and think it would be good for a book club, too. 

valentines

It is time to make valentines!  I started yesterday on the ones for my students.  It seems like there is plenty of candy around the holiday, so I give them something not edible-a mini handmade book.  I used a piece of copy paper and a four and a half by six inch piece of cardstock.  The band around the middle is a strip of cardstock folded around the book and then glued together.  It slides on and off, and I can write the to and from part on the back of it.   Once I get done with these, I can move on to valentines for my family and maybe even my coworkers.

more than I expected

Sometimes when I start a project, it is hard to know how much time it is going to take.  Making these hexagons is an enjoyable process even though it takes time.  While in Guatemala I got a good start...but then I ran out of fabric scraps.  One day in the summer or early fall,  my sister gave me some more scraps...and yesterday I was looking through my fabric, but it looks like I am going to need lots more. It is a good project for these long winter evenings.  Maybe I can get the blocks done by the time we are done with a Minnesota winter. 

free days at National Parks

Bryce Canyon National Park

Each year, the National Park Service offers several days where the entrance fee to the park is free for everyone.  In 2016, they have chosen 16 different days where visitors can enter without a fee.  One (January 18) has already passed, but that still leaves 15 days for this year.  If you visit this web page, you can read more about it.  Maybe I will have to head west this August and revisit some of the parks I went to 2014.

Another thing I noted while reading the information is that any fourth grade student in the US can get a free park pass for that school year.  For information on that, see the website here.