Red Clover Program

     The red Clover Award is the Vermont Children's Choice book award for picture books. Each year children grades K-4 read 10 picture books that have been selected from among thousands of titles. The books are used as springboards for rich conversation, art projects, research, and all manner of connections. In April students vote on their favorite book, the numbers are sent in to the state department of libraries where they are tallied and in May a winner in announced.

Last year's winner was The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmett. 

     To find tis year's list and to read about some great activities and connections you can make at home, go to https://sites.google.com/site/redcloverbooks/home

     All the Red Clover Books are available at the Oak Grove Library and my be checked out one at a time. Hope you have fun reading some really great books!

Parent Library Cards

Did you know that as a parent or guardian of an Oak Grove student, you can get a library card and take out up to 10 books at a time to supplement your child's reading? Reading to and with your child is the BEST way to support literacy at home. For parents of older students, there are hundreds of fabulous middle grade and young adult titles in the library that you may enjoy reading on your own. Setting a time each evening when the whole family is reading together either silently or out loud, is great modeling and can help foster a lifelong love of books. As I often tell my students, if you can read, you will NEVER be bored!

Cards are free and there are NO overdue fines! If you have books checked out for a long time, you might receive a phone call or a note from me reminding you that you still have the books. You may keep them for as long as you need them, however we do ask that if you lose a book you replace it with either a copy you buy yourself or money to buy a new copy.

Feel free to contact me at the school if you have any questions or need some good recommendations. Stop by during Open House and get a card if you don't already have one. And if you do, check out some books!

E-Books

Just a reminder that there is a collection of ebooks that can be read online. All you need is a computer or other e-device at home and you can access the books from anywhere. To get there, go to the main library page, look at the choices on the right of the screen and click on ebooks. It will take you to the district follettshelf login screen. The username and password are right under the link, so take note of them before you click on the link!

There are currently 188 titles to read. These books can not be downloaded. They are read-on-line only. When you click on a title and open the book it is automatically "checked out" to you.  The checkout period lasts for 2 days after which you will need to re-check it out by clicking on the title. As long as you keep the page open the book stays checked out to you. As soon as you close the book it becomes available for someone else.

For many books, there is a read-to-me button on the bottom left of the screen. If it is working for that title, a computerized voice will read to you as soon as you open the book. You can go into the system preferences of your computer to change the style and speed of the reading voice.

Happy Reading, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions! My e-mail is andra_horton@wsesu.org.

Library News 9/6/13

Students in grades 4, 5, and 6 have been hearing book talks this week and checking out the new 2013/14 Dorothy Canfield Fisher books. There are lots of GREAT reads this year. Two fabulous non-fiction selections are a biography of Temple Grandin and the story of the race to build the Bomb during WW II. 

Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World is they biography of an autistic woman who explored (among other things) humane ways to handle cattle. She had a difficult childhood because of her differences, yet grew up to be a brilliant inventor, speaker and teacher at the college level. Her story is inspirational. There is also an HBO video about her starring Claire Danes that is well worth watching in conjunction with this book.

Bomb: The race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon is the ultimate spy story and a piece of non-fiction that reads like it can't be true. But it is. It's the history of how the atom bomb was invented, the enthusiasm of the scientists who were engrossed in inventing something so huge, the politics around keeping it secret, the spies who were sent to steal plans so other countries could have a bomb too, and, finally, the aftermath of finally dropping the bomb on Hiroshima. There is so much to think about in this book. We have one copy in the library, and there is already a long wait list. Another copy is on order. So, if you want to read this amazing book, get your name on the reserve list, or try the public library, or better still, buy it!

I have copies of the new DCF list with annotations for all books. Feel free to pick one up in the library. And remember, if you are a parent, you can get a FREE library card and check out up to 10 books at a time. Reading to or with your child is the number one way to help them be better students. If you don't already have a card, come on in and get one. And if you do have a card, come check out some great books. We have THOUSANDS!!!

DCF WINNER!!!

       And the winner for this year's DCF award is The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen. 

     When a school bus accident leaves sixteen-year-old Jessica an amputee, she returns to school with a prosthetic limb and her track team finds a wonderful way to help rekindle her dream of running again. Heartfelt and riveting, this was a real page turner.
     Still time to check it out! And, there is an audio version if you are looking for something to listen to in the car.

DCF books reprise

Here's a repost of an article on the old blog that might still be of interest for those students and families reading DCF books this year. Read on.

  Every year, the Vermont Department of Libraries sponsors a children's choice award. It's called the Dorothy Canfield Fisher (DCF) award. Students from all over the state can choose to read from a list of 30 current titles

and vote on their favorite one in April. In May the author who receives the most votes is presented with an award and participating readers are invited to come hear the author speak.

     Students may read the books themselves, listen to the books on audio, or be read to. These books make GREAT family read-alouds with lots of opportunity for discussion.

     The Oak Grove Library has all 30 titles, and doubles of several. We also have 4 titles on audio. Brooks Memorial has the following titles available for download on your electronic device. All you need is a Brooks library card. It's free. Go in and sign up!

DCF 2012-2013 downloadable Audio Books from Brooks Memorial

The Cheshire Cheese Cat

R my Name is Rachel

Small as an Elephant

Heart and Soul

When Life Gives You O.J.

A Dog's Way Home

Okay For Now

Storm Runners Book 1: Wind

The Running Dream

Water Balloon

City of Orphans

The Lemonade Crime

     Finally... if you want to read annotations, students reviews and other things about the DCF books and their authors, take a look at the DCF website  http://www.dcfaward.org/

I, Galileo by Bonnie Christensen

I, Galileo by Bonnie Christensen

Galileo Galilei was an inventor, and an astronomer. His discoveries were so radical that, in his own time, they were considered heresies. How could anybody believe that the earth wasn't the center of the universe? After all, when you looked at the sky didn't the sun, the stars, and the moon move across it? Galileo, invented a compass and a telescope through which he was able to see the craters on the moon and Jupiter. He was also able to see that it was the planets that circled the sun. This was against what the Catholic Church believed at the time, and Galileo was ordered to stay silent about it, his books banned. For the next seven years Galileo ground new lenses that would make small things larger, but instead of studying the stars, he studied insects through his new invention, a microscope. He was a man before his time, a man who changed the way we look at things, and invented things we use today. This short and beautifully illustrated biography is a treat for the eyes and for the mind. Check it out!