April's "Where in the world...?"

April's challenge went like this:

Clue #1

Clue #2

Clue #3

There were 25 ballots submitted and 12 had the correct answer, which is pretty fantastic.

January's "Where in the world is Ms. Bartlett?"

January's quiz was won by a girl in grade 2 who used an atlas and an encyclopedia to figure it out. In fact, the grade 2 class submitted the highest number of correctly answered ballots than any other class!

Clue #1:


















Clue #2:

Gotta Keep Reading

Inspired by the Oprah/Black Eyed Peas flashmob, Ocoee Middle School in Florida made their own version called "Gotta Keep Reading."



Thanks to fellow CCRSB library staff member Trish for passing it along!

Food for thought

This 3-minute National Geographic video about the rising global population is well worth watching.

Brand new books

There was an influx of books to the library in November, between the school's Scholastic book fair and autumn orders arriving.

Picture books
And what comes after a thousand? by Anette Bley

Days with Frog and Toad and Frog and Toad together by Arnold Lobel

Novels

Fight for life (Vet Volunteers) by Laurie Halse Anderson

The strange case of origami Yoda by Tom Angleburger

The adventures of Ook and Gluk by George Beard

Prisoner of Dieppe (I am Canada) by Hugh Brewster

Bad Kitty vs. Uncle Murray by Nick Bruel

The Secret Science Alliance and the copycat crook by Eleanor Davis

Wombat & Fox: tales of the city by Terry Denton

The city of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

The cloud searchers (Amulet, book 3) by Kazu Kibuishi

The ugly truth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, book 5) by Jeff Kinney

Alvin Ho: allergic to girls, school, and other scary things by Lenore Look

The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry

My rotten life (Nathan Abercrombie, accidental zombie) by David Lubar

Tall tales (Bone series) by Jeff Smith

The squirrel's birthday and other parties by Toon Tellegen

Zorgamazoo by Robert Paul Weston

The mysterious howling (The incorrigible children of Ashton Place) by Maryrose Wood

Nonfiction

Long Powwow nights by David Bouchard and Pam Aleekuk

Growing patterns: Fibonacci numbers in nature by Susan C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell

True ghost stories by Paul Dowsell

Titanic: disaster at sea by Martin Jenkins

Mega monsters: the biggest and baddest monster trucks by Timothy Kane

Grow it, cook it, edited by Deborah Lock

TIME for Kids almanac 2010 by TIME Inc.

Amazing Greek myths of wonder and blunders by Michael Townsend

Impossible objects by Timothy J. Unruh

The mystery of Atlantis by Holly Wallace

Where in the world is Ms. Bartlett?

Beginning in October, every month I have been hosting a "Where in the world is Ms. Bartlett?" research challenge in the library. (Yes, it is an homage.) The clues are tough, and while it is aimed at students in grades 4-6 who should be familiar with encyclopedias, atlases, and other reference books, a lot of the younger students in grades 2 and 3 have been avidly participating as well.* November's challenge went like this:

Clue #1:

Clue #2:
Clue #3:

Do you know where I was in November? A group of grade 5 students plugged away at it and got the right answer!

*It should be noted that some of the younger students were very confused by the clues since I was standing right in front of them, so how could I possibly be somewhere else? Once it was cleared up that it was all make-believe (and that I hadn't just "sat around at Tim Horton's like other grown-ups"), things went swimmingly.

Owly animated short

The Owly books by Andy Runton are one of the most popular series at the library - and the stuffed Owly + Wormy toy gets a lot of love too! I couldn't resist posting this Owly animated short. To view, click on the image below and then click the Animated Short button.


Enjoy!

Shark vs. Train book trailer

One of the new books that arrived last week is Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton in which a shark and a train compete in a variety of challenges. Not surprisingly, it was the first book of the new bunch to be borrowed. If any further evidence of its appeal and fantastic premise is needed, the book trailer embedded below should convince you:

Shark vs. Train from SLJ Trailee Nominees on Vimeo.