First Day of School

Our students are back and so are their books!
Just a few of the thousands of books returned from the summer.

Children have been dropping by all day to tell me what they read and loved this summer. It is also a fun part of my job to look over their post cards from the summer -- the ones they send in that note five books they read over the summer with a few lines about why they liked (or didn't like) them.

We started both the post cards and the summer reading booklet shortly after the elementary library opened in 1995. How do you use the list? I occasionally hear from parents that the list (and it's not just for summer only!) helps. Any thoughts on how to make it more useful? Ditto with the postcards; they're supposed to help parents who need a little assistance in requiring some reading. Anything we can do to support it?

And herewith, some of my favorite postcard excerpts; spelling is theirs, as is the excitement. I only wish I could share the careful, labored and touching handwriting and decorations.

Greyson, age 4, Skunkdog by Emily Jenkins. "I liked when the people didn’t know what will stop the stink.”

Rainey, age 5: The Bake Shop Ghost by Jacqueline Ogburn.
Scrawled in red marker, with parent translation below: “It was about cake.” Five stars colored intensively in red.

Layla, age 5 ¾: Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes. “I liked that Lilly wants to be a teacher when she grows up.” Each star a colored in a different color.

Hartley, age 5: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears by Verna Aardema. "I like it when the mosquito got smacked, because I don’t like mosquitoes.”

Owen, age 5: The Halloweiner by Dav Pilkey. “I like this book because Oscar was thinking about Halloween, my favorite holiday. I like to dress up too.

Keith, age 6: Wild Wild Wolves by Joyce Milton. “I like the book because it taught me that wolves are friendly.”

Keyes, age 6: A Garfield comic. Just a cryptic comment, "He is not a normal cat."

Sam, age 6: Henry & Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers. “I liked it because it was a long, hard-to-read book. I feel happy that I read it!”

Sophia, age 6 ½: “How the Gench Stol Casmes.” (no comments)

Mariana, age 6: Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems. “Everybody loves Edwina, she plays and makes chocolate-chip cookies for kids, but not Reynold, he knew she was extinct.”

Lia, age 6: Fairy Tale Feasts by Jane Yolen. "P. 15!!! We make the porridge all the time and we want to make that chocolate moose.”

Stokes, age 6: Fluffy and the Firefighters by Kate McMullah. “I liked it because I want to grow up to be fireman.” (Note from mom: He read this book to me!”)

Leo, age 7: Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren. “My mom has red hair, is funny and had three monkeys.”

Dylan, age 7: Junie B. Jones and the Yucky Blucky Fruit Cake by Barbara Park. “This book was yucky and good.”

Lilly, age 8: Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo. “I liked it because Mercy made me like hot toast.” And, The End of the Beginning by Avi. “I liked the idea of a snail and an ant going on an advencher together. Because ant’s are very strong and fast, but snails are very slow.”

Jenna, age 8: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll: “Very silly and funny and has a lot of nosence words.”

Emma, 8: The Hardy Boys and the House on the Cliff by Frank Dixon. “It was intense and sispensful. It had a lot of trap doors wich I like.”

Daisy, age 8: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. “Harry is a nice person.”

Jalen, age 9: Dangerous Book of Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden. “It is a spectacular book with tons of subjects like building a go-cart and tree house.”

Griffin, age 9: How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell. “I liked that it was intriguing and made me want to try a worm.”

Jack, age 9: The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton, “This book has very entertaining tales and good pictures. The tales of this book made you feel happy, free and a lot of other feelings. This is the best book I ever read!”

Chloe, age 9: It’s Disgusting and We Ate It by James Solheim. “I liked it because it showed what other countries eat.”

Compare these two and you get a sense of gender differences at this age:

Sophie, age 10: The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Sophie managed, with the most exquisitely neat handwriting, to fit an entire book report (14 very full lines) on one post card.

Nicholas, age 10: Each of the five books of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. Comments were terse and each one was slightly different:
“It has action.” “It has a lot of action.” “It has some action.” “It has good action.” "It has great action."

Julia, age 10: Mistmantle Chronicles #4: Urchin of the Raven War by M.I. McAllister. “Its cliff-hangers are brutal and always make you wish it wouldn’t end.”

Kai, age 10: Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson. “That book was great! I couldn’t put it down!”

Laurel, age 11: River Secrets by Shannon Hale. “I liked how it was so mysterious. I also liked the love story between Dasha and Razo. I liked many more things but there is not enough room on this card.”

Cary, age 11: The Secret Language of Girls by Frances O’Roark Dowell. “I liked this book because it’s something that really happens to girls It was sad how Marilyn couldn’t stand up to people and say no to doing mean things.”

Timothy, age 11: The Hermit Thrush Sings by Susan Butler. “I liked how it took place in the future with new species of plants and animals. The war at the end was cool.”

Spencer, age 11: Candy Floss by Jacqueline Wilson. “I really like all the words from England that we don’t use.” Colibri by Ann Cameron. “… I also loved the figurative language.”

Bryson, age 11: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan. “Because it gave a good moral that friends and family are more important than anything. P. S. It was the best book I ever read.” Post card is covered in stars.