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May 19, 2009 by Travis Jonker

Book Order Highlights: May 2009

May 19, 2009 by Travis Jonker   10 comments

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One of the best parts of my job is selection. I get to choose and purchase the books for four elementary schools serving Pre-K up to 6th grade. Indeed, I’ve learned to always have a big list going.

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Today, our last book order of the school year came in to my K-4 building, and looking through the stacks, here are some that I am especially excited about:

12terriblecov

Twelve Terrible Things by Marty Kelly.

I first heard about this one from the first-rate children’s lit blog Literate Lives. You know how you see the cover of a book a bunch of times, and start to build a wildly off-base concept of what’s inside? That happened to me with this book. I was expecting a story about a boy who goes through a day and experiences 12 bad things. Not so. It’s not a story as much as an insanely well-illustrated list of 12 terrible things that can happen to kids. Dentist, over-affectionate grandma, you get the idea. It’s very funny and very cool – kids will love this.

onevoicecov

One Voice, Please by Sam McBratney.

I think the wonderful children’s lit blog MotherReader clued me in to this one. I am a huge fan of the story collection. They can be such a great read-aloud resource when you have limited time, since the stories usually move quickly and pull kids in right away. For this reason I love books like Betsy Byars’ The SOS File. This collection of very short (one to two page) stories looks like another good one for any library to have on their shelf or teacher to have in their desk.

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Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom by Eric Wight.

Ever since I saw it in the Simon & Schuster Spring catalog, I’ve been looking forward to this one. This was another title I misjudged. I thought it was going to be a straight up 741.5 (graphic novel), but it is definitely more of an illustrated novel (or whatever the kids are calling books with lots of pictures these days) either way, I’m excited to read it.

higherhighercov

Higher! Higher! by Leslie Patricelli.

The blog Bookends turned me on to this one, and Lynn and Cindy certainly know how to call ‘em. It’s great. This book nails the child’s perspective. When you were little, did you ever think you could swing hard enough so that you would do a complete rotation around the bar? Just me, heh, heh? Never mind. This book doesn’t actually cover that particular feat, but it does present the childhood feeling of being able to reach impossible heights while on the swing set.

redwoodscov

Redwoods by Jason Chin.

Click here to look inside the book. A classic “going into the book” story with a bit of a twist – it’s nonfiction. I can see this title working wonders in a classroom setting since it has plenty of facts but presents them in a picture book format that reads as a story. When I was looking at Spring/Summer upcoming titles, this one from Roaring Brook Press stood out.

roadworkcov

Roadwork by Sally Sutton.

I don’t want to say too much about this one because I love it and I’m planning on reviewing it ASAP. I just wanted to give it an extra plug here.

I’m going to give voice (I mean text) to what you are thinking and say “Enough already!” Friends, I’ve got some cataloging to do.

(Top Image: ‘02_cardboard_surface_vertical_stripe_01‘
www.flickr.com/photos/31288116@N02/3066494856)

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About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

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Comments

  1. Cindy Dobrez says

    May 19, 2009 at 5:45 am

    You are definitely not alone with thinking you could do a full rotation on your swing. I still try! I love HIGHER, HIGHER, and am glad you are giving it some extra attention. Caldecott anyone? Please tell me the author/illustrator lives in the US?

    And, Lynn and I have been so eager to see REDWOODS since it got it’s first starred review. I can’t really buy it for middle school so am waiting for it to be available at my public library.

    Thanks for the peek inside your new book box. I love getting my book orders, it’s like Christmas. I still have one order left to place, and it HAS to be done today!

  2. Claire says

    May 19, 2009 at 3:46 pm

    The kids in my library love Twelve Terrible Things. However, when they put it back on the display shelf, they always place it so you can’t see the cover clearly. I think they find it intriguing and terrifying all at once!

  3. Bill says

    May 19, 2009 at 7:55 pm

    Glad you liked 12 Terrible Things, it continues to be one of my favorite and I laugh every time I read it. Thanks for mentioning Literate Lives and all of your kind words.

  4. MotherReader says

    May 20, 2009 at 12:23 pm

    Glad that you took my recommendation for One Voice, Please. It really is the perfect book for reading aloud when you need to fill small bits of time and works that way for all ages. I’m giving a copy to my daughter’s 4th grader teacher as a end-of-the-year present.

  5. Karen says

    May 23, 2009 at 9:15 am

    As always, you have some book titles here I can’t wait to get my hands on. Redwoods and One Voice Please top the list. Thanks for sharing!

  6. Kelly says

    May 25, 2009 at 1:05 am

    1. I am jealous that you get to select and order books. I think I would love that part of your job!

    2. So many of these look amazing. Yum yum.

    3. What do you do when you select & order a book & it turns out to not be very good?

  7. Kelly says

    May 25, 2009 at 9:26 am

    Well, it looks like your work on the front end pays off. 🙂 I was also curious: Do you check blogs for reviews, or sites like Amazon, or both?

  8. polecam t?umaczenia katowice says

    December 30, 2015 at 11:03 am

    najlepsze dobre t?umaczenia katowice super

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