Picks of the Week - March 26-30

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

Little Sal and her mother go out blueberry picking one afternoon. So do Little Bear and his mother. Little Sal and Little Bear are so busy eating blueberries that they get separated from their mothers. Although they manage to find a mother in the blueberry bushes, is it the right mother?

I remember having my own mother read this to me when I was a Little Rebecca. It won the Caldecott Honor for its wonderful black-and-white illustrations.


The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

Jared, Simon and Mallory Grace have just moved with their mother to an old house that belonged to a great-aunt. When they go exploring, the children find a secret attic room that contains a Field Guide to creatures that none of them have seen...yet!

The first in a series of 5 books, The Field Guide is a fantastic introduction to the world of the Grace children and all the creatures that exist around them. Exciting adventures await!

Novel Hatchet may have helped save boy's life

It so happens that Michael Auberry, a 12-year-old Boy Scout who was missing in the North Carolina wilderness for 4 days last week, read the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen a few years ago, which his father believes helped him to survive.

Auberry said he took comfort that his son spent weeks a few years ago reading
the novel "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen, a survival adventure story about a boy
stranded alone on a Canadian island after a plane crash.

"I think he's got some of that book on his mind," Auberry said. The book is required reading for students in Michael's school district.

Read the CNN news article.

School newsletter and calendar

The school newsletters have been sent home, but now you can also view them online. I have linked to them below.

March Newsletter (PDF file - you will need Adobe Reader to view this file, which you can download for free)

March Calendar (PDF file)

Picks of the Week: March 5 - 9

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Selina Hastings and Juan Wijngaard

Sir Gawain is a young knight of King Arthur's court. When he jumps at the chance to protect the king from a bizarre stranger, it leads him on adventures and quests that he could hardly have imagined. This is a simple retelling of the classic tale and gorgeously illustrated.


Jacob Two-Two meets the Hooded Fang by Mordecai Richler

Jacob Two-Two is two plus two plus two years old, and is the youngest child in his family. He is not happy with the fact that everyone considers him too young to help out so when his father finally gives in and sends him on an errand to get two pounds of firm tomatoes, Jacob Two-Two leaps at the chance to prove himself.

Unfortunately, Jacob's habit of repeating everything he says (because nobody ever hears him the first time) doesn't go over well with the grocer and Jacob runs away in humiliation. The next day, he finds himself in court and sentenced to two years, two months, two days, two hours, and two minutes in the most vicious children's prison in the nation. What secrets lie behind the jail doors? And who will risk it all to save Jacob and the rest of the imprisoned children?

Lunar eclipse Saturday night

On Saturday night, the moon will look something like this:

Tomorrow night viewers in our region will be treated (weather permitting) to a lunar eclipse. According to this article in the Globe & Mail, the moon will appear reddish or brownish in colour as it rises above the horizon in the Earth's shadow. This will be the first total eclipse of the moon since October 2004.

Totality (or the total coverage of the moon by Earth's shadow) starts at 6:44 pm and continues until 7:58 pm on Saturday night.

**UPDATE: Did you get to see it? We in Nova Scotia were very lucky to have almost no clouds in the sky on Saturday night during the eclipse. I thought it was more browny than coppery in colour though - it almost looked murky. What did you think?

Globe & Mail article, Monday, March 5th

New set of World Books!

A set of 2006 World Book encyclopedias arrived today, hooray! Thanks so much to Mrs. C. who generously purchased them with school funds!