News From the Library--May 25, 2009

Getting Ready for Summer

In the spirit of getting ready for summer, second graders loved hearing Margaret Mahy's hilarious book The Great White Man-Eating Shark. Norvin was a good actor and although plain, looked very much like a shark. In his desire to have the swimming cove all to himself, he used his acting skills and his sharkish appearance to scare everyone from the water. What he didn't count on was how convincing his performance was....even to a love starved lady shark who set her sights on him for her mate!

Also in the Library this week...

Kindergarten--Did you ever get the dates mixed up for and important event? Stanley Birdbaum was sure this Friday was Crazy Hair Day but instead it was School Picture Day!! When he shows up with his hair gelled and in colored spikes he hide in the bathroom. He's mortified until he is coaxed back to class and finds his classmates have all turned their hair into something crazy too so that he will fit in to the school picture. This charming story by Barney Saltzberg shows the power of friendship and making the best of a difficult situation.

First Grade--A few weeks ago we read Garth Pig and the Ice Cream Lady and at the end Mrs. Lupino was tossed into the river and not heard from again for a very long time. This week, first graders were very concerned when the piglets were left with a babysitter named, of all things, Mrs. Wolf in Mary Reyner's Mr. and Mrs. Pig's Evening Out. When Garth becomes the object of Mrs. Wolf's late night snack, the other piglets rally around to save him. And in the end, Mrs. Wolf is dumped into that same river again. Wonder where she'll show up next?

Second Grade--see opening post

Third Grade--What would you do if you could have any wish? Third graders pondered that while listening to Chris VanAllsburg's The Sweetest Fig. This book has a wonderful twist at the end and it was fun to whatch the children's faces as they got it. One of the best wishes we came up with was a sprinkler system in the sky to douse any future fires here in Santa Barbara!

Fourth Grade--no library this week due to our Spring Sing.

Fifth Grade--no library due to testing

Sixth Grade--Sixth graders finished and printed out their essays on their god or goddess. These will be only display with their ceramic plates during next week's Art Faire.

One more week of classes this year! I will post summer reading lists next week and those will remain on the blog during the summer.