It's All Things Dr. Seuss!
This week in the media center we are going to be celebrating the birthday of one of our most celebrated authors, Dr. Seuss!  We have stories, contests, and all things "Seussical".   Because our students are so familiar with the work of this amazing author, we are going to be re-reading some of our favorite titles like The Sneetches; The Lorax; Gerald McBoing, Boing; And to Think that I Saw it on Mulbery Street; Horton Hatches the Egg; Green Eggs and Ham; and The Cat in the Hat.  We will also explore some lesser-known titles such as The Butter Battle Book (our 4th graders will be deciding whether they enjoy their bread buttered on the top or the bottom and we will graph our results-stay tuned for the winner), Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose, Yertle the Turtle, and a variety of others.  In addition to reading these awesome stories, we will be participating in a variety of contests including guessing how many socks are in our clothes basket (How many Sox are there for Fox?),  how many goldfish crackers are in our goldfish bowl (One fish, Two fish, how many Goldfish?), and a coloring contest to see who can color Horton in the most artistic way.  Fourth and Fifth graders may also participate in a Dr. Seuss on-line scavenger hunt.  Our winning students will receive $5.00 gift certificates to our March Scholastic Luau Book Fair!  This week will be fun-filled as well as informative, educational, and play-based--goals we always strive to fulfill in our media center.  Parents, feel free to stop by and visit-we love your participation and interest!


Great News!  The Lorax will be coming out in theatres on Friday, March 2.  Being a tree-lover, it is a favorite story of mine and I am looking forward to seeing the movie.  Hopefully, it will live up to the book that so beautifully and effectively portrays the need for us to protect our precious resources--especially our trees (and that is spoken from a hard-core knitter!).

Love is in the Air!  It seems fitting to blog about some books with love in them.  Throughout my years as a librarian, my students and I have discovered some favorite picture books as well as chapter books abounding with this theme!  For the younger crowd :

Porcupining: A Prickly Love Story is written by Lisa Wheeler and illustrated by Janie Bynum and is the story of Cushion the Porcupine.  Cushion lives in a petting zoo, but because he’s so prickly there isn’t any petting for him.  All of the other animals have families to keep them company, but Cushion lives alone.  He decides to remedy this by visiting the other animals in the petting zoo in search of a wife armed with his banjo and a very sad song.  However, his song falls flat until he meets Barb the Hedgehog.  This is a sweet, charming book for all ages.  You can read about Cusion and Barb's other adventures in Hokey Pokey - Another Prickly Love Story.                                            

My fourth graders and I discovered a wonderful Roman myth this week titled Cupid and Psyche told by M. Charlotte Craft and illustrated by K. Y. Craft.  One of the greatest love story's of all time, we learn of Psyche's prophecy from the oracle that she will "marry a creature feared by even the gods themselves", her journey to an enchanted castle with an invisible host, and her ultimate betrayal.  Psyche must then complete three impossible tasks in order to win back Cupid from the goddess Venus's hold.  The magic of the book rests not only in wonderful storytelling but the magnificent illustrations which add layers of richness and drama to the story.   

A favorite of my fourth and fifth grade girls is The Wedding Planner's Daughter by Colleen Paratore.   This is the first book in a series starring Willa Havisham, a twelve year old girl struggling to put down roots in Bramble, Cape cod, where she and her mother have recently moved.  Willa's mother is a successful wedding planner (whom Willa secretly helps by sewing cherry pits into the hem of gowns for good luck) who has no interest in putting down permanent roots or ever finding love.  Willa plays cupid for her mother and grandmother in this charming story that continues on in The Cupid Chronicles, Willa By Heart, Forget me Not, and Wish I Might:  from the life of Willa Havisham.   

What about the boys?  There is a series boys will love called The Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan.  While it is short on the love theme, it is rich in adventure.  15-year-old Will is an orphan, small for his age, and has been chosen to be a Ranger's apprentice.  The Rangers are a secretive group thought by the villagers to have the power of invisibility which helps them protect the village from harm and evil.  Are the Rangers magical and how are they so highly skilled?  These are questions Will finds answers to as he begins his training.  He learns that he must be at his best in order to join the Rangers as they prepare to fight the exiled Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, who is planning an attack on the kingdom.  There are nine other books in the series that continue Will's exciting story.  

Mark you calendar for the Scholastic Book Fair.  It will be a Reading Celebration held in the Miller media center the week of March 19 -23rd.   Look for volunteer forms coming home and stay tuned for more information as the fair draws near!                         

Welcome to the Miller Media Center Blog!  My hope is to be able to communicate media center news to our Miller families and teachers who visit regularly.  Currently we are very busy encouraging all of our students to participate in our reading incentive programs.  Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students have the opportunity to take part in our "Growing Readers" programs.  So far, we have had very encouraging comments from students and their families!  They are especially excited about attending the ice cream sundae party in May if they finish the program!  Many of our 4th and 5th grade students are taking the Newbery Challenge.  This is our fifth year challenging our students to read five books written by Newbery award winning authors and they are doing an awesome job so far!  Keep up the great work Miller students and families.  If you need a listing of the Newbery award winning authors, visit this link:  http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal