Once again, we queried some of our favorite children’s and young adult authors about their summer reading lists. Take a peek to see what Kevin Henkes, Candace Fleming, and Tom Angleberger will be diving into this vacation season.
A Happily-Ever-After Ghost Story | Tom McNeal’s ‘Far Far Away’
By on June 4, 2013 Leave a Comment
Jacob Grimm, the folklorist, is dead, and stuck as a ghost. He wants to be reunited with his younger brother Wilhelm, who predeceased him. In Tom McNeal’s suspenseful and haunting new novel, ‘Far Far Away,’ fairy tale and ghost story collide and merge.
From Dangerous Journeys to Quiet Revolutions | Nonfiction Notes, June 2013
By on June 4, 2013 Leave a Comment
This month’s publications include a range of titles about people, places, and things, in tantalizing formats and glorious color. In both text and images, they’re eye-openers, each one likely to whet readers’ appetites and send them to the bookshelves looking for more information on the topics they explore.
Summer Reading and the Rich/Poor Achievement Gap | An Educator Responds to Questions
By on June 4, 2013 5 Comments
When it comes to school libraries, Richard L. Allington, co-author of ‘Summer Reading: Closing the Rich/Poor Achievement Gap’ has a few things to say, including a few that you may not want to hear.
The Summer Slide and the Rich/Poor Achievement Gap
By on June 3, 2013 1 Comment
The significant decline in reading skills many students experience over the summer is no secret, but it’s particularly damaging for children in low-income neighborhoods. ‘Summer Reading: Closing the Rich/Poor Reading Achievement Gap,’ edited by Richard L. Allington and Anne McGill-Franzen, offers an in-depth look at this disparity and offers solutions that go beyond recommended reading lists.
Reading Nonfiction for Pleasure | On Common Core
By on June 1, 2013 Leave a Comment
How can we use the summer to provide kids with more opportunities to grow confident as nonfiction readers? The authors offer suggestions and recommend a few reading lists to share with students.
An Intergalactic, Time-Traveling Duo Offer History and Geography Lessons | Touch and Go
By on May 30, 2013 Leave a Comment
Featuring a time-traveling duo, Cognitive Kids’ “Ansel & Clair ” apps have garnered an impressive list of awards for their winning combination of information and game play.
Art and Artifice: Museum Adventures on the iPad | Touch and Go
By on May 23, 2013 Leave a Comment
A museum visit can be a great learning experience for students, but when the exhibit you want to take your students to see is halfway around the world, what’s a teacher to do?
NYC Librarians Glean Tips, from Tech to Collection Development, at DOE’s ‘Exploratorium’
By on May 21, 2013 Leave a Comment
In addition to a tour of the New York Public Library’s 42nd Street landmark building and some shoptalk, attendees at NYC’s Exploratorium were treated to workshops on topics ranging from instructional strategies to databases to collection development conducted by educators and publishing professionals.
Traditional Tunes Find Modern Formats | Touch and Go
By on May 16, 2013 Leave a Comment
This week’s column takes a look at productions that incorporate music: an iPad app featuring a new setting for a classic counting tune, and iBooks that take children around the world as they drift off to asleep.
Mysteries and a Mission | iPad Apps for Older Students
By on May 9, 2013 Leave a Comment
Will Agostino Steffani the Baroque composer, Catholic priest, diplomat, and spy be able to “prevent an assassination and help a princess escape an undesirable marriage?” And what is the astute Sherlock Holmes up to? Teens can help gather the clues in two interactive iPad apps .
From Mud Huts to An American Icon | Nonfiction Notes, May 2013
By on May 7, 2013 3 Comments
Combining excellent texts and outstanding visuals, this month’s group of new titles are must-have purchases for libraries and classrooms looking to expand their nonfiction collections.
The “Radioactive Energy” of Bullies | An Interview with Meg Medina
By on May 7, 2013 Leave a Comment
Meg Medina knows firsthand about bullying—the topic of her young adult novel. In ‘Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass,’ the author explores its consequences when 15-year-old Piddy Sanchez becomes victimized at her new school.
Texas Two-Step, or Conference Hopping in the Lone Star State | IRA, TLA 2013
By on April 29, 2013 Leave a Comment
From San Antonio to Fort Worth, literacy educators and librarians converged on Texas last week to celebrate books and reading.
Things That Vroom | Touch and Go
By on April 25, 2013 1 Comment
From dump trucks to fire trucks, young children can’t seem to get their fill of vehicles that have jobs to perform. In this week’s column, we present apps from a variety of developers, featuring vibrant illustrations, song, videos, and loads of interactivity that will keep kids engaged for hours.
Apps for Earth Day | Touch and Go
By on April 18, 2013 1 Comment
If your resolve to reduce your use of plastic ever wavers, even slightly, consider the Eastern Garbage Patch, an area of the Pacific Ocean where currents converge to create a floating landfill the size of Alaska. We’re ‘Tracking Trash’—and more—in our column devoted to Earth Day.
SLJ’s Best of Apps and Enhanced Books | April 2013
By on April 15, 2013
High-res 3-D images of black holes and nebulae that you can tweet or post to Facebook are among the features of a companion app to a popular BBC series, which is reviewed this month in School Library Journal.
An Endearing Creature, A Forbidding Environ | Touch and Go
By on April 11, 2013 Leave a Comment
Spring may have finally arrived, but penguins are never out of season with kids. The latest entry in Nosy Crow’s “Rounds” series offers a blend of fact and fiction on the life cycle of these aquatic creatures, while ‘Antarctica’ by Kids Discover delivers photos and text on one of the places these birds can be found.
Confrontations & Queries | Nonfiction Notes, April 2013
By on April 2, 2013 Leave a Comment
From a teen eyewitness account of the Battle of Gettysburg to an investigation of those pointy-nose Darwin frogs (with some very unusual brooding habits) to an examination of science myths, we’ve selected a few nonfiction books publishing this month that you’ll want to display, booktalk, and put in the hands of your patrons.
Best of Apps & Enhanced Books | April 2013
By on April 1, 2013 Leave a Comment
From stardust to remote galaxies, this month’s app standouts look toward the heavens.
