With one week to go before spring break, there is heightened energy among both students and teachers. The most buzzed about event is Beauty and the Beast, this year’s Inly Players production. There are four sold-out performances, a cast of 80, and an incredible set with oversized books around the theater and on the stage. It’s the perfect backdrop to see Belle escape Gaston, rescue her father, and save the Beast, a clock, a teapot, a feather duster, and a candelabras!
Of course, there are several editions of Beauty and the Beast on display, but we’ve also been recommending books for spring break reading. InvestiGators, Pizza and Taco, and Max Meow continue to fly out the door with younger readers. Even Jack and Annie, the stars of the Magic Tree House series, continue to be read and even celebrated in classroom art projects:
The top middle grade check-outs are Odder by Katherine Applegate, Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper, Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone by Tae Keller, and anything by Rick Riordan.
The third graders have started their multi-month transition to Upper Elementary in weekly Library/Technology classes. We began by looking at how picture books work. The kids especially enjoyed learning the word “bleed” to describe illustrations without borders. After looking at lots of books, focusing on how perspective is achieved, the kids created their own versions of Hansel and Gretel’s journey through the forest:
Recently, some of Inly’s 6th graders expressed interest in reading aloud to the Lower Elementary classes. Addy Oliver joined us earlier today to read Sal Boat by Thyra Heder. The younger kids love having a “big kid” read to them.
It’s also been fun to have groups of middle school students working in the library:
Four new books arrived today:
All Rise: The Story of Ketanji Brown Jackson by Carole Boston Weatherford is an inspiring picture book about the new Supreme Court Justice. Using the refrain, “she rose” in an echo of the Maya Angelou poem, “And Still I Rise,”Weatherford provides the highlights of Jackson’s life and career: “She rose above a guidance counselor’s doubts that she could get into Harvard, whose campus she had first visited for a speech competition. Instead of lowering her goals, Ketanji vowed, ‘I’ll show them.'” All Rise would be a perfect gift for a young person with big dreams.
Dan Santat’s graphic memoir, A First Time For Everything. The reviews are glowing so I’ll check this one out to read over the weekend.
Two other new books are new installments in popular series. The books will be scooped up by enthusiastic readers next week – right in time for the March break reading!
Whale Done by Stuart Gibbs
City Spies: City of the Dead (Book 4) by James Ponti
In other news…
If the recent leaden skies have made you long for more color, I recommend a trip to Duxbury’s Art Complex Museum where a small but beautiful exhibit of mosaics by Lisa Houck will brighten your day. The mosaics are on display until May 14 – and admission to the museum is free.
My own reading is France-based for a few weeks. We are going to Paris during the school break and planning to visit a different museum every day!
Happy Reading!
Sommer Reading 