Overdue Books!

This year the students have been doing a great job of returning their library books.  There are still some books that have been out since the beginning of the school year.  Any students who have any books out since September, October, or November will not be allowed to check out until the book is either returned or paid for.  If you pay for the book and you find it later, we will refund your money.  

I will be sending out overdue notices on Thursday, January 28, 2016.

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day

I hope everyone is enjoying our day off for Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday. Even though we are doing our own things, don't forget to give a thought to the man did so much for our country.  There are so many great books written about Martin Luther King's life.  I've got a few listed below that I really like.

The first one is a National Geographic Reader:  Martin Luther King by Kitson Jazynka.  Click her for a summary on Goodreads.  This is a great one for the younger readers.  There is even a fact check quiz at the back of the book.

This next book is great for more independent readers, 3rd Grade and above. It is Who Was Martin Luther King Jr. by Bonnie Bader.  Click here for a summary on Goodreads.  This is part of the series I call the bobble head series.  This series is a full of all kinds of neat facts and great information.  I really like this series and the What Was series.  This series takes historical events and make them accessible to kids.  One in this series that has Martin Luther King Jr. in it, is What Was the March on Washington by Kathleen Krull.  Click here for a summary on Goodreads.

These next two are great books to share as a family.  The first is Martin's Big Words:  The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. written by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Bryan Collier.  Click here for a summary on Goodreads.  This text in this book incredible. Rappaport doesn't just write about Martin Luther King Jr, she also incorporated quotes from Dr. King.  This illustrations in the is book are just as incredible.  Collier uses a college technique to make truly unique illustrations.  This book won a Caldecott Honor award in 2002.  The Caldecott and Caldecott Honor Awards are given for the illustrations.  It was also given a Coretta Scott King Honor Award.  "The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are gien annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values." ("The Coretta Scott King Book Awards." ALA.org. American Library Association, 2013. Web. 20 Jan.2014.)

The second book that is great to share as a family is I Have A Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. and illustrated by Kadir Nelson.  Click here for a summary on Goodreads.  This book takes his famous I Have a Dream speech and adds illustrations to it.  The illustrations in this book take my breath away.  Kadir Nelson is such a gifted illustrator.  His illustrations always make me feel like I am right there witnessing in person whatever scene he has painted.  If you haven't seen his illustrations, please find a book that he has illustrated and you will be amazed.  The illustrations that he did in this book did not go unnoticed, Nelson won a Coretta Scott King Award in 2013.




Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

Animals in Winter

Animals in Winter

As students learn about animal adaptations for winter including hibernation, migration and survival there are many great resources out there for animal lovers!



One of my favorites is the Bear Cam from the North American Bear Center. Here you can watch real bears in their dens. In the past years these cameras have recorded the miracle of birth as mothers give birth to cubs and care for them in the den.  You can see different Bear Cams and learn lots of interesting bear facts at www.bear.org/website/.   

For something really interesting take a look at this fox hunting in several feet of snow. Foxes are master listeners as they are tuned to what is happening under the snow. Watch and then run to your library to check out Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner.  

You can read more books about animals in winter at your library! A few of these titles can be found at our school library, but most can be found at the public library.

Animals in Winter

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

Happy 2016!!

I still can't believe that it is already 2016! I don't know where the fall has gone! The first half of the year went by in so fast, I feel behind on posting on this site. Well, that will be changing! I will be trying to have a new post up twice a week. I'm also going to try and get the students a little more involved in the blog. There will be more to come about this in a later post. I'll also be tweeting out when I've posted.



The first post for this week will be up tomorrow. It is all about Animals in Winter. The topic seemed a timely one since the temperature is going to be dipping down quite low!

I hope everyone had a great winter break and got a lot of reading done. I took a break from reading kids books to read some grown up books this break. If you read any great titles over break please post them in the comments so we can all get new suggestions.

Happy Reading!! 

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter) 

National Picture Book Month: Dance

According to the counter been for today is Dance. It is also nonfiction Monday. I'm going to include some nonfiction books about dance, but I can't resist including some fiction books as well.

There are so many great nonfiction books about dance. We don't have as many as I would like in our library, but I found lots of great ones at the St. Mary's County Public Library. A few of the ones I found I will be adding to our collection. I love when books combined a topic, such as dance and the alphabet. There are two really great ones that I found at the public library. One of the alphabet books is Alphabet of Dance by Barbie Schwaeber. The second is A Dictionary of Dance by Liz Murphy. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I leaned so much from each of the books. I was not a dancer when I was younger, so the books were a great introduction to the dance world. 

There is one book that I found that looks interesting for those aspiring dancers is Learn to Speak Dance: A Guide to Creating, Performing, and Promoting Your Moves by Ann-Marie Williams. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. Because a lot of great information including history of dance and some great tips on costumes, performances, and even a potential career. Anybody who aspires to be a dancer might want to check into this book. Ann-Maire Williams, the author has had many years of dance experience.

I can't talk about dance without talking about two of my absolute favorite fiction books. They are both wordless picture about it allows you to "tell the story". The first is Flora and the Flamingo, click here for a summary on Goodreads. It is a Caldecott Honor Book. The second is Flora in the Penguin, click here for a summary on Goodreads. Both books are written by Molly Idle. These books are so much fun since they also have a lot of lift the flap pages and pages that fold out. I always notice different things going on each time I read them.

                   

Since it's nonfiction Monday what great nonfiction books have you been reading? Post in the comments that we can share new titles.

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)