Books, Books, and More Books!

My last post, nearly half a year ago, announced my new career. I can say, I am loving being a Media Specialist! It has a major learning curve, but looking at where I am now compared to where I was back at the start of September, I have come a long way. I am blessed to have terrific mentors, and support staff.

My school is an ENVoY demonstration site. ENVoY is a non-verbal management tool. I have learned, and am continuing to learn the non-verbal strategies for helping me to manage classroom behaviors with influence, rather than power. I had been wanting to learn ENVoY for several years, but did not have the opportunity until my new job. Click here to learn more about ENVoY. I wish I had learned this while I taught Special Education. I can see many ways in which I could have strengthened my teaching, and my relationships with my students.

But, let's not look at the past. It's time to get back to my blog! One of the joys of my job is that now I am surrounded by children's books every weekday. One of the challenges, though, is that now I am surrounded by children's books every weekday. Where do I start? What do I read first?

So, my plan, beginning soon, is to create a set day. Perhaps a Monday Musings where I'll share my perspectives about books that touch me again. I may do other random posts on different days as the muse to write and share strikes me.

For now, here's a preview of some of the books I plan to share more in depth in the future.

These are books that students have requested and I love, books that I have discovered as I continue to acquaint myself with my school's collection, and books that make great read-alouds with Little Sapling (the name I use to refer to my daughter online) and other children.

Both of these books are favorites of mine now. I highly recommend them for 3rd grade and up. In fact, every adult I know who has read these so far has loved them, so there is no upper age limit in my opinion. Visit the author, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

I read this book after the movie preview sparked my curiosity last fall. I have not seen the movie yet, so I cannot make a comparison. What I can say is that I love this book! Author Brian Selznick uses his magic again to create a story that incorporates black and white hand-drawn illustrations and text to bring the reader into the worlds of two different people and two different time periods before they merge in an unexpected, yet pleasing way. Visit the author, Brian Selznick.

I'm reading this now, but I cannot recall a novel that has made me smile, laugh, and feel as much I have while reading Humphrey the hamster's perspectives on his world as a classroom pet. Visit the author, Betty G. Birney, and meet Humphrey. 

More on these and other fabulous books to come (including the Roscoe Riley Rules series by Katherine Applegate, the Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne, the Rainbow Fairies series by Audrey Meadows, and tons of picture books).

Stay tuned! 

Today and tomorrow,

~Tamara 

P.S. If you have missed reading my voice, I did a post for Hamline's The Storyteller's Inkpot back in October. Happy reading.