The Many Hats of a School Librarian

Chris P. Bacon: My Life So Far... by Chris P. Bacon My rating: 4 of 5 stars From Jasmine and Alese, 5th graders: It was a fun book because the pig got to walk and he did a good job of bringing the animals home and sharing. View all my reviews

Bogart and Vinnie: A Completely Made-up Story of True Friendship by Audrey Vernick My rating: 4 of 5 stars Oh boy. I am kind of excited and kind of scared to read this one outloud. I need to practice having tons of energy. The author did such a great job of mimicking a super happy (annoying?) dog in his words. It's a silly story that I know my students will love. View all my reviews

Faraway Home by Jane Kurtz My rating: 3 of 5 stars Anyone who has a parent who lives far away or came from another country can identify with this book. It's about a young family from Ethiopia and how to imagine you are there with your family. View all my reviews

Grandma and the Great Gourd: A Bengali Folktale by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love fairy tales from cultures other than mine. This one is about a grandmother in Africa trying to get through the jungle to visit her daughter without getting eaten. See if she outsmarts the animals or if she dies a tasty death. View all my reviews

Mitchell Goes Bowling by Hallie Durand My rating: 4 of 5 stars My parents own a bowling alley and I have been bowling in leagues since elementary school. I also worked there, so I know quite a bit more than the average bowler about how bowling alleys work. I definitely think I will want to read this to my daughter about the time she starts bowling. View all my reviews

The Loopy Coop Hens: Letting Go by Janet Morgan Stoeke My rating: 3 of 5 stars Beginning readers will love reading this on their own. It even feels like a big chapter book even though it looks like an Everybody book. This is a nice story is about some chicken who are trying to figure out who is throwing apples out of the tree. It's set in the fall so maybe we can guess why the apples are falling. View all my reviews

Nurse Clementine by Simon James My rating: 3 of 5 stars This story is cute. Nothing fancy, but my students will like it. View all my reviews

Ol' Mama Squirrel by David Ezra Stein My rating: 4 of 5 stars The K kids will love this cute story about the little animals they see all over their streets and in their trees. They will totally love that the mama is protecting her babies. I also think - with a little bit of a stretch this could illustrate the idea of bystanders in the bullying conversation. Mama enlists the help of other squirrels to chase away the big bad bear bully. By herself, her family would have been eaten. But with all of the other squirrel mamas beside here, they defeated the bear. View all my reviews

I LOVE THIS! I am so checking this out of the the library (or buying it) when Callie needs some help with the dark. I, myself, have been slightly afraid of the dark myself. I think I was about 20 years old before I didn't run up the stairs away from my parent's basement when I shut off the light. I wish someone had told me a long time ago that even though I was afraid of the dark, the dark isn't afraid of me and that is why it is always around.

Ball by Mary Sullivan My rating: 4 of 5 stars Well, this isn't exactly a wordless book, but it only has one word. BALL! (ball? - ball. - Ball.) It gives us an idea of what a doggie day is like. View all my reviews

Old Turtle by Douglas Wood My rating: 3 of 5 stars I have seen this book many times, but I just read it for the first time today. I didn't know that it was about God. It's a nice story about a wise old Turtle trying to help everyone see and appreciate all that is around them. View all my reviews

Ben Rides On by Matt Davies My rating: 4 of 5 stars Boy, I really felt bad for this guy. It's horrible to have something stolen from you. Especially something that you love so so much. But Ben finds himself in a situation where he can help someone he doesn't like very much. Does he help, or not? This is a great book to demonstrate a little bit of compassion or empathy for someone we don't really like. View all my reviews