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Books Between is a podcast to help teachers, parents, and librarians connect kids between 8 and 12 to books they'll love.
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Now displaying: October, 2016
Oct 24, 2016

Intro

 

Hi and Welcome to Books Between - a podcast to help teachers, parents, and librarians connect kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love. I’m your host, Corrina Allen - a 5th grade teacher, a mom of two girls, and super excited about my Hermione Granger Halloween costume this year!

 

This is Episode #9 and today we’re talking about common classroom library mistakes (and how to fix them), three spooky series, and I’ll answer a question about read aloud options for a 4th grade class.

 

Main Topic - Common Classroom Library Mistakes (And How to Fix Them) - Part 1

 

It’s pretty clear just how important it is to have a library within your classroom. In fact, our main focus of Episode #2 was all about why your students need that vibrant classroom library. But I will admit that I’ve made some major mistakes that really limited how effective my classroom could be.  In fact - when I went to go list them all, it ended being too much for one episode. So this one will be a two-parter. And if you are a librarian or parent listening today, there’s still a lot you can take away from today’s topic when thinking about your books and other materials you have for your kids.  So here are six common mistakes that teachers sometimes make with their classroom libraries - and some ideas on how to fix them.

 

#1 - Not getting rid of old books.

This took me so long to learn. It literally still PAINS me to even think about just throwing away a book.  But about a year ago, I started to notice that copies of old, yellowed, dusty titles with ripped pages and outdated cover art were taking up a lot of precious real estate in my class. And for no reason - they were NEVER getting checked out. They just didn’t have any curb appeal. And they were bringing down the overall vibe of our library.

 

So give yourself permission to purge. Finally just last year I let myself take the 12 tattered copies of The Voyages of Dr. Doolittle and those other musty old books and box them up and put them away. And I truly felt guilty about that. Some were donations from parents or other teachers.  It’s okay to recycle them.

 

#2 - Not having an easy check-out system.  

I’ve tried just about every system on the block - from a simple form on a clipboard for name, date and title to using the Booksource App where students scan the barcode on the book to check out and then check it in.  But eventually I found that even the seemingly quick and simple act of writing down their name and the title of the book was slowing down that free exchange of books and had the unintended effect of kids not wanting to check books out of the library because it was too cumbersome.  Also - it added a small element of tension when kids would forget to sign a book back in or keep it out too long. And I want the tone of our library to be all positive.

 

I do know that many teachers are having success with quick procedures and systems to check out books.  I just have never been able to make it work. So as much as I would love a beautifully ordered library where I know the whereabouts of every title - it’s more important to me that kids can swap books easily with each other and there’s no barrier to trying something. For example, just yesterday I pulled a stack of 5 books that Logan might like, set them on his desk, and he was free to browse them leisurely and bring one or two home to read.  Do I have books Missing in Action?  Yeah - you bet! But I’m willing to risk it so my students have more access to books. And they also really appreciate being trusted in that way.

 

#3 - Not changing how books are displayed

So for example, for months I had my bins of Realistic Fiction front and center in my classroom library. They were top shelf - most visible and most checked out.  While my biographies and historical fiction languished on the bottom shelf. And I didn’t even think anything of it until I switched them on a whim one afternoon and noticed that - a ha! -  more kids were taking out the biographies and historical fiction when they didn’t have to bend over to get them. Also - if you have your library organized by bins - another idea is to switch which title is in the front sometimes.  

 

#4 - Not having enough non-fiction

I have to say - this has been a major error on my part, and I’m still working on fixing it.  I tend love the story - a heartfelt narrative. And I didn’t intend to ignore non-fiction, I just had blinders on.  But I’ve been hearing from a lot of other teachers who are in the same boat.

So - I’ve made a conscious effort to get more informational books for my students and listen for topics they are interested in. The more I started to pay attention to non-fiction, the more I realized how many fantastic titles are out there now. And I made a deal with myself that I would get at least one non-fiction title every time I bought books.  

 

#5 - Not Having a Clear Organizational System

It’s tough to keep a classroom library organized - our days are hectic, and it’s all you can do sometimes to keep up with everything. But having some system in place is really key. Whether you alphabetize by author’s last name, sort by genre, or pick a different route - make sure your students know where to find things and also how to put them back. Another fantastic idea that I’ve seen is to get your students’ input about how to organize the classroom library and have them in charge of it. If you do that at the beginning of the year, what an amazing way to have them examine every book offered and take some ownership of it.

 

#6 - Not having student input into what books are included in the library.  

When I first got my own classroom, I could not wait to stock it full of my own favorites from my childhood - Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden mysteries, all the Little House books, my extensive (and yellowed) collection of Baby-Sitters Club novels, and tons of Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary books.  But honestly, the 6th graders I had at the time rarely checked them out.

 

Instead - have your students help you. One thing I’ve seen teachers do is post a Wishlist on the wall next to your bookshelves so when students have an idea of a title you should have, they just jot it down.  Then you can take that list with you when you’re headed to your local bookstore or submitting your Scholastic order, and you KNOW you’re getting books they want to read. It also helps to simply listen when they rave about a favorite series or author so you can include those as you build your library.  Making sure that the student’s choices are at the forefront really drives home the fact that this library is THEIRS - not all about you. And I think they’re more likely to get attached to that library when they know their voices are heard and their opinion matters.

 

This is a big topic and we’ll continue it in the next episode. But for now, what classroom library mistakes have you made and more importantly - how did you go about fixing them? Let’s connect and learn from each other. You can tag me on Twitter or Instagram or

email me at booksbetween@gmail.com and I’ll share some of your thoughts and ideas in an upcoming episode!


Book Talk - Three Spooky Series

 

In this segment, I share with you three books centered around a theme and discuss three things to love about each book. This week I’m sharing three delightfully spooky series: The Haunted Library, 43 Old Cemetery Road, and The Books of Elsewhere.

 

The Haunted Library

 

The first book we’re talking about today is The Haunted Library by Dori Hillestad Butler. It’s about a young ghost named Kaz who finds himself separated from his ghost family when the old schoolhouse they were living in is demolished and they are all carried off in different directions by the wind. Kaz ends up in a library where he meets a girl named Claire - unique because she can see ghosts and hear them when they talk. Among his problems, Kaz doesn’t like to pass through objects or walls like other ghosts so his movements are limited. And Kaz is very afraid of Claire and all the non-ghost humans he encounters. At least at first. Eventually Claire and Kaz do team up to figure out the identify of the ghost who is haunting the library. So here are three things to love about Dori Butler’s The Haunted Library:

 

  1. Fun Glossary  - At the front of the book is a one page list of really cute ghostly terms used in the novel. Again - this is a cute spooky and not a scary spooky book. For example, “skizzy” is when a ghost feels sick to their stomach - like when people walk through Kaz. At one point he even pukes on Claire! And “Solids” are what ghosts call living humans and animals and also objects they can’t see through.
  2. Illustrations - There are lots of black and white drawings throughout the book, and I love that vintage 50’s style that Aurore Damant has captured here. It fits the tone perfectly. Plus the little details of the dotted scrolls around each page number and the matching chapter headings add that special touch of ornamentation that makes you feel like you are reading something well put-together.
  3. The fun of figuring out the rules of the supernatural system in this series. That is part of what I think makes fantasy so fun to read because you have to figure out that world. Just like when I start a new vampire book and I ask myself, Okay - are these sparkle in the sun Twilight-type vampires or are they sizzle in the sun Sookie Stackhouse-type vampires? Or something entirely different? In The Haunted Library, we’re asking ourselves - Can the ghosts eat? Do they sleep? Can they make sounds that humans can hear? And most interestingly here - where do they come from? Typically, ghosts are presented as the souls of once living people, but in this world, they seem to have no memory of a past life and they have families with kids and grandparents. Almost like they are from another parallel dimension. There is SO much to explore in this series and so much get your kids wondering.

 

The Haunted Library is really cute and not too scary. At 125 pages with larger print, it’s perfect for younger middle grade readers or older kids who want something light and playful.  And there are at least 8 in the series so there’s plenty of semi-spooky fun to look forward to.

 

43 Old Cemetery Road

 

Another fun and spooky series is 43 Old Cemetery Road by Kate Klise with illustrations by M. Sarah Klise, her sister. The first book in the series, Dying to Meet You, is the story of a formerly-famous children’s book author, Ignatius B. Grumply, who rents an old run down Victorian house on Cemetery Road. He thinks he’s getting a quiet place to write his latest overdue novel so his publisher will get off his back and he can get out of debt. Instead, he discovers that he is sharing the house with a ghost (he doesn’t believe in ghosts), a young boy (he hates kids), and a cat (he’s allergic to cats). And there begins the conflicts and hilarity. This series had some of my most devoted fans last year. And with good reason. Here are three reasons my students and I loved about this book and this series:

 

  1. Character’s Names - The wordplay in these books are oh-so-clever - especially with the names of the characters. Grumply’s publisher is called Paige Turner, his real estate agent is Anita Sale, the young boy living in the house is Seymour Hope, and the ghost is Olive C. Spence.  It’s just a really fun read.
  2. How letters and articles tell the story - The 43 Old Cemetery Road series is the perfect way to introduce your kid to the term “epistolary novel.” And boy do they get it right here. The letters from each character have their own clear tone and their own individual font. Your kids will love the articles and drawings that go with the letters and it’s a book that you can read quickly.
  3. The authors - Kate & Sarah Klise are sisters and have teamed up to write an impressive number of really fun books like The Three-Ring Rascals series and the Regarding series, which are also mysteries told in letter form. My students really got into exploring their website and blog last year where they share letters they get from fans and pictures from their travels. I just LOVE them - and they make such a great team.

 

If you want to know more about the 43 Old Cemetery Road books, take a peek at their website kateandsarahklise.com. And I’ll pop a link to that right in the shownotes for you.

 

The Books Of Elsewhere

 

Our last featured spooky series this week is The Books of Elsewhere by Jacqueline West. The first book, The Shadows, is about an eleven-year-old girl named Olive who has recently moved into a spectacularly creepy house. When the previous owner, Mrs. McMartin, died without heirs, everything was left behind - including books, clothes, and dozens of mysterious paintings that will not budge from the walls. Olive’s parents, both genius Math scholars, are a little distracted and Olive has the run of house. So she sets off to explore every nook and cranny and eventually notices that there are windows on the outside that don’t match the rooms on the inside. When she finds an antique pair of spectacles, she realizes that she can go into any painting in the house. And the story gets deliciously dark from there…  So on to three things to love about The Books of Elsewhere:

  1. The Cats - Like any great paranormal mystery, there are strange cats in this novel. In fact, I just realized that all the three books I’ve talked about today have cats in them. In this book - we get three: Horatio, Harvey, and Leopold.  Olive first discovers that something is magical in this house when Horatio jumps through her bedroom window and has a conversation with her about being on her guard in the house. What I enjoyed the most about the cats were that you couldn’t tell whose side they were on.
  2. Morton - Morton is a young boy who Olive discovers hiding in one of the creepiest, darkest paintings in the house - the one big painting of the moonlight and dark forest. Morton is dressed in an old-fashioned white nightshirt and when Olives tries to ask him questions, he’s both confused and stubborn all at the same time. Eventually we piece together the clues about where (and when) he might have come from, and oh - poor Morton!
  3. The House - Much like Jason Segel and Kristin Miller’s book Nightmares and Clive Barker’s The Thief of Always, the house in this book seems to have its own personality. It’s beyond haunted and seems to try to lure Olive into its grasp. Like many old Victorian houses, this one has a terrifying basement. And a chilling secret.

 

The Haunted Library, 43 Old Cemetery Road, and The Books of Elsewhere are three great paranormal series for getting into the perfect creepy mood - whether that’s in October or anytime of year.

 

Q & A

Our last segment this week is Question & Answer time.

 

Question:

Within the span of a week, I had two friends ask essentially the same question: “What are some great and engaging read-alouds for 4th graders?”

 

Answer:

I have three suggestions. (If you haven’t noticed, I kinda like the number three….)  

 

Suggestion #1 - Deborah and James Howe’s Bunnicula

I am reading this out loud right now to my own 4th grader, and it has really held up well from my own memory of it. And I had totally forgotten that cool editor’s note at the beginning that says the manuscript was dropped off by a dog who claims to be the author. So now you have to wonder - is this dog really a reliable narrator or does he have his own agenda?

 

Suggestion #2 - Phil Bildner’s A Whole New Ballgame  

I’ve talked about the Rip & Red series previously in Episode #4 but it is worth another plug. This book is fast-paced fun with likeable characters going through real-life school related stuff. I have no doubt 4th graders would love it.

 

My third suggestion that would be a phenomenal 4th grade read aloud is Peter Brown’s The Wild Robot - It’s about a shipwrecked robot named Roz who gets washed up on the shore of an island inhabited only by animals. And she ends up caring for an orphaned gosling and making a mark on the island. It’s just so different than anything else out there and the small chapters work perfectly to read aloud during the small moments of your day. Plus - doing the voice of Roz is a riot. I had more fun reading this book out loud than any other novel I’ve ever read aloud.


Those are my three suggestions for awesome 4th grade read alouds - Bunnicula, A Whole New Ballgame, and The Wild Robot. You can’t go wrong any of them!


Closing

 

Alright - that’s it for the Q&A section this week. If you have a question about how to connect middle grade readers to books they’ll love or an idea about a topic we should cover, I really would love to hear from you. You can email me at booksbetween@gmail.com or message me on Twitter/Instagram at the handle @Books_Between.

 

Thank you so much for joining me this week. You can get a full transcript of this show with links to every book and resource I talked about today by going to BooksBetween.com/9 which will take you to our home at All the Wonders where you can discover other wonderful kidlit resources. And, if you are liking the show, please help others find us too by telling a friend, sharing on social media or leaving a rating on iTunes or Stitcher.


Thanks and see you in a couple of weeks!  Bye!

Oct 10, 2016

Intro

Hi and Welcome to Books Between - a podcast to help teachers, parents, and librarians connect kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love. I’m your host, Corrina Allen - a teacher, a mom of two girls, and so excited to announce that this podcast has a new home at AlltheWonders.com - the place for readers to discover fabulous new books and experience those stories in amazing ways. I am beyond thrilled to be part of their team and help inspire more connections to books and authors. And to celebrate that, we have a gorgeous new logo designed by the incredible illustrator and author Brianne Farley. Her new picture book, Secret Tree Fort is a huge favorite in my home.  Also - we are celebrating with a great giveaway which I’ll tell you more about at the end of the podcast, so stay tuned!

This is Episode #8 and today we’re talking about keeping track of your reading life, three incredible new school-centered novels, and I’ll answer a question about how to talk with kids about their book when you haven’t read it.

Main Topic - Tracking Your Reading Life

Lately I have noticed a lot of conversation and push back against the practice of requiring students to keep a daily signed-by-parents reading log to attempt to hold kids accountable for their reading.  As a parent and a teacher, I understand that impulse to encourage our children to read every day and to have something tangible as evidence of that. But I do think there are more authentic ways to help kids track their reading life that are based more on what strong readers actually do in real life.  

 

I think about this conversation today as having two layers. First is tracking your own reading life to get more out of your reading and to be a strong role model for the children in your life. And second, guiding children to keep track of their reading lives.

 

So with that in mind, today we’ll discuss why you and your students should consider keeping track of your reading, thoughts about what to track, and then finally a few ideas for different digital or analog ways to track your reading life.

Why You Should Keep Track of Your Reading Life

To begin with, let’s talk about why you should keep track of your reading. I have gone through periods in my life when I am recording all different aspects of my reading, and there have been times when I’m not. But when that’s going well, you feel such a sense of accomplishment. It’s fulfilling to look back and see how many books or pages you’ve read. And that motivates you to keep going. Another thing that naturally comes out of recording your reading is that you start to notice patterns that otherwise you might miss. For me, I noticed that I was reading a lot of fantasy and very little historical fiction. Bringing awareness to those patterns and ruts can lead you to set goals and strive toward them. Another benefit of tracking your reading life is that it helps you remember more details about what you read, especially if you jot down a little bit of information about the setting, characters, or topics in a nonfiction text. Having that information really helps you make better recommendations to children and when they are recording what they read, they can make better recommendations to each other. And that’s really what you want to see - kids connecting kids with books.  And one more long-term benefit of tracking your reading is that after many years, those documents become nostalgic. They are a snapshot in time of who you were at that moment. One of my most treasured items from high school is the “To Be Read” list I started my senior year when I was really inspired by a teacher to push my reading in a different direction. So hang on to them!

What to Track

Now that I have hopefully persuaded you to track your reading and encourage the children in your life to do the same, let’s talk about what you could track. A good place to start is the basics of what you read: title, author/illustrator, date you started and finished. I also like to include a rating, a note about genre and who recommended it to me. Those are all items that I also ask my students to record as well. Another great thing to record is an ongoing TBR (To Be Read) list of books you want to read so you’re never left with that “I don’t know what to read next!” feeling. Of course, sometimes you can have the opposite problem of having TOO many awesome books to read next.  Also - recording progress toward reading challenges can be fun. I participate in the #SixtyBooks challenge and many of my students are doing the 40 Book Challenge so they keep track for that. Jotting down inspiring quotes or “Wow!” moments from non-fiction as well as your own reflections and connections to books, can be another way to get the most out of your reading life. And encouraging students to do that as well keeps things authentic.

Reading habits are another really interesting thing you can record. For example, you could record the number of minutes you read each day, the number of pages, numbers of days in a row that you read at least 20 minutes, or track the genres you’ve read over a certain time frame. Some adults and some children really love to get into the nitty-gritty with keeping track of all kinds of things. During last summer’s library reading program, my older daughter got into setting a timer and inputting all the minutes she read into the computer to watch that number grow. And if something like that inspires a kid to read more, then great. For me, I’m always thinking of the balance between reading time and recording time and putting the emphasis more on the reading. Especially in the classroom where time is so precious.

Ways to Track Your Reading Life

Finally, let’s chat about some different digital or analog ways to track reading. Let’s start with digital. Some favorite spots for adults and older children are websites like Goodreads or LibraryThing where you can track books read, participate in challenge groups, and connect with other readers. Those sites are nice because they generate great statistics for you about your reading habits. If you are looking for something similar to Goodreads but for younger kids, Biblionasium and Bookopolis are worth checking out. A spreadsheet or word document works, too - and Google Docs are nice if you want to share your lists with someone else. There are also some apps you can use like Book Crawler, Litsy, or BookBuddy or even a basic To-Do app with “reading” as one of the items you track. I notice too that more and more people use Instagram and Snapchat as a spot to post the books they’ve read. All of those can be really engaging ways for you and your kids to connect with others about their reading.

 

On the other hand, you could go with a pen and paper analog method. During the first week of school, my students and I set up our reading journals with sections to record the books we’ve read, our TBR lists, and our new colorful circle genre tracker. If you are interested in taking a peek at that, I’ll post a picture in the shownotes and a link to where you can download the student version. The kind of notebook you use is really all about your preference. My students use spiral notebooks but composition notebooks are good, too. For me, I am very attached to my black Leuchtturm 1917 dotted hardcover notebook which I use as my bullet journal. So, if you’re not familiar with bullet journaling, it’s essentially a combination of planner, to-do list, and habit tracker. I use my bullet journal to keep track of everything including my reading life. I’ll post a few pictures on the website if you’re interesting in seeing how that looks.

However, I’m really interested in seeing and sharing your ideas. What benefits do you see for tracking your reading life and what methods do you prefer? If you have a second, email me at booksbetween@gmail.com or tag me in a photo on Twitter or Instagram to share how you keep track of your reading life.



Book Talk - Three Incredible New School-Centered Novels

 

In this segment, I share with you three books centered around a theme and discuss three things to love about each book. This week I’ll be talking about  three fabulous school-centered novels that I have not stopped talking about this summer: The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary, Save Me a Seat, and Ms. Bixby’s Last Day.

The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary

The first book I want to share with you and that I hope you share with your children, is The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary by Laura Shovan. This is a novel in verse, but it’s not like most other poetry narratives. The premise here is that the 18 children of Ms. Hill’s fifth grade write poems about their year to put in a time capsule to commemorate the closing of their elementary school. So the story is told one poem a day from the point of view of each of the students as some deal with personal struggles and some take on the task of saving their school. So here are three things to love about Laura Shovan’s The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary:

  1. There are tiny square sketches of each student to accompany their poems. And it’s a small thing, literally, but that touch really helped me imprint each different voice with the image of that character. It made it easier to recognize the narrative threads that pop up in later poems.
  2. How the author presents the problem of the school being torn down with nuance. It’s not that the Board of Ed is evil and selling out to some faceless corporation. And not all the students agree that it’s a bad idea. And yet, this novel truly recognizes how deeply meaningful a building can be. My middle school was torn down about ten years ago and even though my middle school years were rough, I felt so sad to see that building ripped down. It was beautiful with hardwood floors and a cool spiral staircase in the back. Don’t tell anyone, but I actually stole a brick from the construction site when they were tearing it down.
  3. Putting on my teacher hat now - the poetry resources in the back of this book are phenomenal. I got ridiculously excited when I saw them. You get great descriptions of every type of poem used in the novel, topic suggestions for kids, and it tells you the page number where you can find the examples of that kind of poem in the book. Also - it has 15 poetry writing prompts that I’m really excited about sharing with my students this year. This is a book that teachers are going to want within reach when planning to teach some poetry - either within a full poetry unit or throughout the year for some fun writing exercises.

It takes so much skill to tell a cohesive story from multiple points of view and so much skill to convey a narrative through poetry that this novel amazed me.

Kids who really like that growing field of novels in verse are going eat up this book. And if you know a kid who likes to write, this book would be the perfect one to put in their hands to inspire some creativity.

Save Me a Seat

Another new and wonderful school - centered novel released recently is Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan. This is another multiple point of view book, alternating between the perspectives of two 5th grade boys -  Joe and Ravi. Joe is tall, a little awkward, and is working through a learning disability. Because of that, he’s a target for the popular, thieving school bully, Dillon Samreen. At least, he is until Ravi arrives. Ravi is small, self-confident (at first), and as a recent immigrant from India, he is a bit socially awkward. I read Save Me a Seat as our bedtime read aloud at home with my daughters over the summer. My nine-year-old loved it so much that she swiped it from my nightstand and snuck it into her bedroom with a flashlight to finish reading it on her own.

Here are three reasons why we all loved this book:

  1. The authors recognize the importance of pronouncing names correctly.  My youngest daughter, Helena, and I both have names that are often mispronounced and I deeply appreciate people who try to get it right. My former principal called me “Core-IN-uh” for the entire time I knew her. And she was wonderful and fiercely protective of her staff but I was so intimidated by her as a young new teacher that I just couldn’t bring myself to tell her that she was saying it wrong. So, I think a lot of kids can relate to Ravi’s frustration when everyone calls him RAH-vee instead of Ra-VEE.
  2. Story structured around the lunch menu for the days of the week. The novel only takes place during the first week of school but so much happens that I had to go back and double check. At first I thought, “Oh, that’s a cute device” that the first part is Monday: Chicken Fingers, Tuesday: Hamburgers, but when I got to Wednesday:Chili, I started to realize how the lunch food each day ends up playing a much bigger part than I first thought. At the back of this book, there are also two recipes that also play a part in the story: Apple Crisp and an Indian cookie named Naan Khatai (NON-cuh-tie).
  3. In this book, there is that rare and perfect balance of tension and humor. Often, the reader knows the trouble that’s coming because Joe is well aware of Dillon Samreen’s bullying and thievery.  But Ravi doesn’t know all that. And Ravi reasonably thinks that Dillon might be a good friend and ally - he’s also from an Indian family and Dillon has been smiling and winking at him. Dillon is a great villain and you just want to keep reading to see if he gets what’s coming to him.

 

Save Me a Seat is a fantastic book for kids who enjoy humor mixed in with a really inspiring story. And - you can try out some recipes when you’re done reading, too.

 

Ms. Bixby’s Last Day

Our final school-centered book this week is John David Anderson’s novel Ms. Bixby’s Last Day. This book is amazing and there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by since I read it that I haven’t thought about it.  It’s about three 6th grade boys (Topher, Brand, and Steve) who find out that their teacher, Ms. Bixby, has cancer and her last day at school will be next Friday. The whole class plans a going away party for her but she unexpectedly ends up in the hospital earlier than she thought. And so, these three boys decide to bring their amazing “last day” celebration to her. I’ve read a lot of great books this summer, but this one was different. I found myself slowing down as the pages dwindled because I didn’t want to let those characters go. I just wanted to spend a little more time with them.  There are so many fabulous things to say about this book that it’s hard to narrow it down to just three, but - here we go:

  1. How much the storyline is a Quest - Topher, Brand, and Steve are three intrepid heroes braving dangerous territory (skipping school and taking a the bus downtown alone) to collect their sacred objects to make their farewell to Ms. Bixby as perfect as possible. Throughout their journey they have side excursions into dusty old book shops, a bakery, and even a run-in at a liquor store.
  2. It’s a small thing, but if you have the hardcover and peek under the dust jacket, you will see a little hidden message from the boys. I think it is so fitting because at the end of the story as you learn more and more about the boys’ relationships with Ms. Bixby through their flashbacks, it’s revealed that Topher, Brand, and Steven each have a small but powerful moment with her that they have kept secret.
  3. Topher’s breakdown of the six kinds of teachers you get like the worksheet loving Zombies, the jittery fast-talking caffeine-addicts, the strict Dungeon-Masters, or the Spielbergs who just show movies all the time. But - Ms. Bixby is what he calls a Good One. And he names a few cool things about her like her pink hair and her python. But I think this paragraph gets at the heart of it. Let me read you a bit from page 30. “There were other things, too, little things. Like how she always chose The Hobbit as the class read-aloud and had different voices for every character. How she could be strict when she needed to be and sweet when she wanted to be and kind of a smart aleck all the times in between.  But mostly there was the way she listened to you, giving you her full attention. All the other teachers, they’d keep looking around the room when you talked, but Ms. Bixby fixed you with her eyes and waited for you to finish no matter how long it took you to figure out what you wanted to say.”

This is a book that will live in your heart and your students’ hearts for a long, long time. As a side-note - I SO want a taste of that white-chocolate raspberry supreme cheesecake!   You and your students are going to love Ms. Bixby’s Last Day. And at the end of the show today, I’ll tell you how you can get a chance to win a class set of this book.

Q & A

Our last segment this week is Question & Answer time.

Question:

Last week at my school we had Parent Information Night and one of the questions asked of my teammate was, “How can I talk to my child about their reading, if I haven’t read the book?”

Answer:

We chatted about it for a little bit that night, but I didn’t get across what I wanted to, and I have been stewing about it for the last few weeks. So, if I had a do-over, here is what I would say:

First, it’s fantastic that you’re making time to connect with your child about their reading. Simply expressing interest and enthusiasm about their book is more important than any particular question you could ask. Sometimes a simple comment like, “That book looks interesting - what’s it about?” opens up the conversation in a more natural way than if you try to read off a set of predetermined questions that never changes. Or, if you want to ask more targeted questions, instead of “Please describe three traits of the main character.” you could say “Tell me more about Ramona. What kind of person is she?”

I think that’s especially important at home when you want to keep reading time enjoyable and not a chore that they start to dread.

Closing

Okay - that wraps our Q&A section this week so on to the details about the giveaway! To help us celebrate our relaunch of the Books Between podcast at All the Wonders, Walden Pond Press has so kindly offered a set of Ms. Bixby’s Last Day. The contest runs from October 10th - October 24th, 2016 and the winner will receive one class set (30 hardcover copies) of Ms. Bixby’s Last Day by John David Anderson. You can enter by heading to the post for this episode at AlltheWonders.com and entering the giveaway at the bottom of our page there. Good luck and I just know you and your class will LOVE this story.

If you have a question about how to connect middle grade readers to books they’ll love or thoughts about any of the topics we’ve discussed today, please email me at booksbetween@gmail.com or message me on Twitter/Instagram at the handle @Books_Between.

Thank you so much for joining me this week. You can get a full transcript of this show with links to every book and resource I talked about today by going to BooksBetween.com/8 which will take you to our new home at All the Wonders. And, if you are liking the show, please help others find us too by telling a friend, sharing on social media or leaving a rating on iTunes or Stitcher.

Thanks and see you in a couple weeks!  Bye!

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