North Park Montessori - The Alchemyst {The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel}

I love this book!! I love this series!!

I have a love of all things magical and Alchemy is fascinating to me.  When I saw this book in our school library I just had to read it. Wonderfully written by Michael Scott he had me sucked in by the very first page.  It is about the struggle of Nicholas Flamel The Alchemyst and how he is to save the world with his wife Perenelle and a set of 15 year old twins. Twins Josh and Sophie Newman think that Nicholas is out of his mind. He thinks that they are the twins of legend. The adventure that they go on is out of this world. The characters that they meet along the way and the adventures that they go on will have you begging for more.

 I recommended this to my niece Ella (age 11) to read and she was begging for the rest of the series for Christmas. I also have a student that is reading the series and he recommended it to his teacher who is reading it. I love when he comes in to the library after a really crazy turn in the story and the look in his eyes is priceless. Please look, love and get sucked in to the world of The Alchemyst.

 ~ Mette     

Campus Elementary - Drita, My Homegirl

Campus Elementary Media Center: Drita, My Homegirl

I was first interested in this book because of the colorful front cover and summary on the back cover. The story interested me, since I know people who have come from war-torn areas similar to Drita's home of Kosovo. I'm often impressed by the insights the author, Jenny Lombard, has into kids' behavior, thinking, and motivations.

The struggles of both of the girls in this story, from whose perspectives the narrative switches back and forth each chapter, are related in very touching and understated ways. Drita's mother struggles with what seems like traumatic stress and depression. Maxie's mother is deceased, and she struggles with her father's dating other women.

I haven't read all the way through, and I don't want to give too much away, but this is a great book about an unlikely friendship between two girls who turn out to have more in common than they realized. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a believable story about friendship and cross-cultural engagement.


~ Dennis De Boer

Congress Elementary - Bunnicula, by James Howe, is a great read for upper elementary.

Bunnicula, by James Howe, is a great recommendation for upper elementary students.  Kids love this book because it includes many desired features of a good read:  it is funny, is a mystery, is somewhat of a thriller, i.e. scary!!, and it is a series.  So if kids love the first one, there is much more Bunnicula to read.  The story is told by the animals of a household who believe the pet rabbit is a vampire!! ~Georgine

Hi, I am reading the Greatest Skating Race to our GR Montessori students grades 1 to 3 over a few weeks. History and adventure is mixed to create an exciting class.  Paul 

Greatest Skating Race: A World War II Story from the Netherlands

by Louise Borden

"You're a strong skater, Piet, and you have a quick mind. This is why I know you'll succeed in this important task. I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't know it could be done." In 1941 Piet, a young Dutch boy from Sluis, gets the assignment of a lifetime: He must skate along the frozen canals of the Netherlands and across the Belgian border, in order to guide two neig "You're a strong skater, Piet, and you have a quick mind. This is why I know you'll succeed in this important task. I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't know it could be done." In 1941 Piet, a young Dutch boy from Sluis, gets the assignment of a lifetime: He must skate along the frozen canals of the Netherlands and across the Belgian border, in order to guide two neighborhood children to their aunt's house in Brugge, where the children will remain for the duration of World War II. Their father has been taken by German soldiers, and the children are no longer safe in Sluis -- but the journey with Piet, past soldiers and enemies, is fraught with danger.

Along the treacherous path to Belgium the three children skate using every bit of speed, courage, and strength they can muster. All the time they try to appear like innocent schoolchildren simply out for a skate, for if the German soldiers discover their escape plan, the children will be in grave trouble. During the journey Piet thinks about his hero, Pim Mulier -- the first person to ever skate the Elfstedentocht, the famous and prestigious Eleven Towns Race that takes place in his country. For years Piet has dreamed of proving that he is a skater as brave and strong as Pim Mulier -- but he had never imagined that his test would fall under such dangerous circumstances.

Louise Borden's moving text captures all the tension, excitement, and fear that comes with Piet's mission, while Niki Daly's evocative illustrations bring the children and their perilous journey into vivid focus. ...more

Hardcover, 48 pages

Published October 1st 2004 by Margaret K. McElderry Books 

Ford-Wallace's Lists

Wallace is a shy mouse.  He can do anything as long as it is on his lists.  He has a lists of clothes in his closet, lists of stories he loved, exciting weather.  When he gets up in the morning he writes a "to do" list.

One day, Wallace met his new neighbor, Albert.  Albert was always doing different things.  He changed his mind, he went on adventures.  Wallace didn't like adventures.  (He had a list of things he didn't like.)

One night, after having a conversation with Albert, Wallace couldn't sleep.  The idea of an adventure made Wallace nervous.  Wallace awoke to the sound of rain.  He thought it was a good day to make soup.  He looked at his recipe, he only had two onions.  Perhaps Albert had one to spare.

A note was taped to Albert's door.  He was off on another adventure.  Torrents of water feel from the sky.  Wallace was worried about Albert.

What happens to Albert?  Can Wallace change?  Can he learn to do things without lists?

Look for Wallace's Lists by Olof Landstrom

C.A. Frost-HANK ZIPZER, WORLD'S GREATEST UNDERACHIEVER

     Meet Hank Zipzer, fourth grader, and the world's greatest underachiever. He's short on size, but long on attitude! The second, third and fourth graders at C.A. Frost are enjoying Hank's adventures, and looking forward to reading more of his antics, in this series by Henry Winkler.

FollettBound ISBN-13: 978-1-40469-824-6

Aberdeen- Roxaboxen

Roxaboxen, by Alice Mclerran, reminds me of the games I used to play as a little girl with my brother and neighborhood friends.  Our cul-de-sac was our town, our bikes were our cars, and we each had a home and set up a little shop.  We sold things we found outside, like special rocks and bugs.  We made up our own money, using leaves as dollar bills, and pebbles as coins.

Roxaboxen is the imaginary town created by Marian and her siblings and their friends.  They used old crates, broken glass, and special rocks to create Roxaboxen in the desert near their home.  There was a town mayor, policeman and jail, a bakery, and two ice cream shops.  Roxaboxen  lived on for months and months, and became a very special memory for all of the children, even when they became adults.

Gather your friends, go outside and create your very own town!  Think about what your town needs to run smoothly.  Do you need laws?  A town mayor?  A policeman?  I think you definitely need an ice cream shop, because who doesn't love ice cream?!

Library Media Services - Pout-Pout Fish Goes to School

One of the really exciting parts of working in the Library Media Services office is preview books! Sometimes they come in a big box, fat books, skinny books, big books, little books. Oh the joy when the box flaps lift. The excitement each and every book in my hands. 

One day recently in the box was, The Pout-Pout Fish Goes to School , by Deborah Diesen and Pictures by Dan Hanna. ISBN:  078-0-374-36095-5

To read this book with little ones is such a treat.  The story begins with it being the first day of school for little Pout-Pout Fish. He's not having the best of luck finding his class as he drops into a few of them and discovers he has no idea how to do what all the other fishes are doing..  This is a great book for young students to work on repetition, counting, and positive outcomes.   

Read all about Pout-Pout Fish on his first day of school and see if he every finds where he belongs. 

This is a perfect book for the  PreK-2 groups.

~Jan

Library Media Services - The Book With No Pictures

Library Media Services:  The Book With No Pictures

I was shopping with my son and his girlfriend and this book caught my attention.  What kind of children's book has no pictures? So, of course, I picked it up and read it.  I was laughing so much that it peaked the curiosity of the two 17  year old kids. I told them that the book said you have to read it out loud and they did.  Listening to them read it made me laugh even more. I love this book!

This book has so much silliness that it doesn't need pictures!  It does, however, use a lot of silly words in different colors to make it interesting.  And the moral of this story to me is...  You are never too old to have fun!  I hope you read this book and enjoy it as much as my son, his girlfriend and I did.  Let me know!  ~ Ali

The Book With No Pictures ISBN:  0803741715

WINTER BREAK BOOK CLUB TITLE - WE WERE LIARS, by E. Lockhart.

It's been a peaceful and relaxing winter break.  In other words, I have read too many books once again.   The highlight of my reading pleasure however was We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart.  I choose it as the highlight of my reads because the last time I read this book was July, 2014 while off on a weeks vacation and laying on a warm beach, listening to the lapping of waves and the laughter of little ones. This time around reading had an entirely different effect since I was reading to see what I missed the first time. In other words, what clues and leads were buried in the pages I had read in July.  The ending of this book the first time around completely blind-sided me, enticing to be read again.

When the girls in the Union book club heard about the title, they chose it as our next read.   I cannot wait to hear what they think, what are their questions and thoughts about the end of this book.  Did they too want to read it again or did anyone have it figured out before the last part of the book - The Truth.

Some of the questions for Book Club:

1.  Did you guess the end of this book at any time prior to the final part?

2.  What are your thoughts that Cadence (Cady) retold the events of Summer 15 during an unstable state of mind?  

3.  The entire book is built around the crime committed during Summer 14 but told at the end of this book.  Why do you think they did what they did?

4.  Did the crime have any positive outcome?

5.  The four main characters; Gat, Mirren, Johnny, and Cady.   Did you have any favorites and why?