New picture book picks

        Last friday I had the treat of reading to students in an awesome tree house (after I was "auctioned off" in our school's festival)  I had a group of 4 boys and 1 girl and we had a blast with each and every book chosen:

         Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt-- though not new, these books are an absolute must for any book collection (and perfect to read in a tree!)  Scaredy is a borderline- agoraphobic squirrel who does not want to leave his nut tree.  He has a very regimented schedule (which I have kids help me act out) but we all know what happens with best-laid plans...  so much fun!  This is a series that flies off our
library shelves.

        Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein-- There are books where characters voices pop out to me the first time I read it.  This is one of those books!  Chicken needs her Papa to read her a bedtime story.  The two discuss how the reading will go, with no interruptions, but as the title belies... Chicken just cannot contain herself.  Great laughs are in store with this one!

        Oh No! (or How My Science Project Destroyed the World) by Mac Barnett-- I've highlighted his great book on ninja librarians (Brixton Brothers) before, but this picture book is fantastic.  A science whiz of a little girl creates a ribbon-winning robot for her school science fair, until "Oh no!"  There's no way to get rid of this disaster, until the frog!  Read this book and find out how things end, or not...

       Born to Read by Judy Sierra-- author of another great "huzzah for reading!!" book Wild about Books  is about a boy named Sam and how his love of reading saves the day.  Love the clever picture/ text references to other great kids classics.
      
        After reading to a group of boys, and hearing how its tough to get books that hold their interest sometimes, it reminds me of a couple of great websites:
      
        www.readkiddoread.com : a great resource developed by author James Patterson, and one of my favorite people, Children's Book Champion, Judy Freeman.  This website has tons of great book picks for all ages!
    
        www.guysread.com and guys listen are two websites developed by kids' lit funny man, Jon Sciezcka (author of stinky cheese man).  The two sites are full of book recommendations, related titles, author websites and more!


Happy Reading!

Melissa