Field Trip to the Princess!

We saw the play "The Teacher from the Black Lagoon and Other Stories" performed by

The Young Audience Professional Series on Friday, November 15, at the Princess Theater.  This year's play was fantastic! The actors brought several books to life with acting and music. I had some of the books in the library already, and have since bought the others!

If your child really liked one of the stories, the books are now available to be checked out in the library. Here are the books that were performed:

 

 

One of the children's favorites from the field trip.

 

 

An all time favorite of first and second graders!

A new one from the play. Very cute with a great message!

This is a new one also. It is a book with a mischievous twist by the same author as This Is Not My Hat which won the Caldecott Award this year. This book is on a low reading level, so if your child is just beginning to read, this would be a good one to practice on.

 

One of my all time favorites! I even have a Lilly costume:)

The fable that was performed was The Ant and the Grasshopper. It is in this book in our library.

This is the book that was performed. We don't have that one, but have the following two!

We also have several of the Black Lagoon Adventues which are chapter books by the same author:
 

 

 

 

 

"Decatur City Schools supports our trips to see a play at the historic Princess Theater each year. The Young Audience Professional Series is a selection of performing arts events for students in kindergarten through fifth grade, which is designed to expose students to a variety of art forms in a theatrical setting. Each grade experiences one of the major arts disciplines of theater, music and dance." (from the Decatur City Schools website)

Happy Reading! (and Happy Thanksgiving!)

Birthday Book Club

If you haven't heard of the Birthday Book Club, let me tell you about it! It is a way for you to give a new books to the library and honor your child or grandchild at the same time!

 

Many of you have already done this for this year, but if you haven't heard about it yet...

 

Here is how it works:

 

You pay $20 and fill out the form that follows. Before your child's birthday they get to choose a new book (from about 50 that I have prebought) for the library. I put a bookplate in the front of the book that says it is donated to the library in honor of his or her birthday. I enclose a letter that tells what book was donated, and I take their picture with the book. These books are then kept on a special shelf in my office so that no one checks them out before their birthday.

 

On their birthday your child is the first person to ever check out the book. I deliver the book and hang their picture on a special Birthday Book Club bulletin board! If they already have two books checked out (our normal limit) then their Birthday Book can be a third book for them. That is the only time they are allowed three books on their account!

 

This is a great way for us to get new books in the library and your child gets honored in the process!! I think this is a true win-win situation!

 

Some answers to questions that have come up.
*If the birthday is on the weekend or holiday I deliver it the Friday before.
*If the birthday is in the summer I deliver it at the first part of May.
*But if the birthday is late summer I can deliver it at the very first of the year.
I am flexible! If you would rather celebrate the child's half birthday we can do that!

These pictures show the variety of books that the students can pick out!

Happy Reading!

Book Character Day!

I love Halloween at Ben Davis because it is the day to dress like a book character!  Here are some pictures to enjoy. I couldn't get around to everyone since I did have classes to teach, but here is a sampling of some great costumes!

 

Clark Kent!

I was informed this is not Cinderella and Waldo, it is Cinderella and Waldo's girlfriend, Wenda.

So much time and effort go into Halloween costumes!

I love that they are twins and have twin books! (Who cares if they don't match their outfits!)

This is fantastic! His mom made this paper mache head that he could take on and off!

This one cracked me up! A perfect Big Nate!

Even some of the library volunteers dressed up!

And this whole family dressed up! Fabulous!

This is Pete the Cat and His (her!) Four Groovy buttons (she brought a different book). She is in my Fabulous Friday Sewing Class, and the week before we had learned to sew on buttons. She sewed her own buttons on her costume!! How's that for applying what you learn!

And me as Amelia Bedelia. I introduced her to some of our students who had never read about her. Some students already knew her and loved the look I read.

 

Happy reading!