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By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: August 9, 2011

Ronald Hart’s Dangerous Creatures is hilarious. Crazy adventures ensue right from the first day of school—or first page of the book. Three (3) lucky readers have the chance to win a copy. Giveaway begins August 9, 2011, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends September 6, 2011, at 11:59 P.M. PST.

Reading Level: 9-12

eBook Versions: Epub, mobi, PDF

Book overview: Horrible smells, exploding bean pods, giant popcorn and super sticky glue! Strange and hilarious things happen nearly every day in Miss Strickland’s year 5 class at Wattle Creek Primary School. This e-book is a new collection of 10 fun stories for 9 to 12 year olds by Australian author, Ronald Hart.

About the author: Ronald Hart is a teacher and teacher-librarian in Australia.

How to enter:

• Leave a comment in the comments field below

• An extra entry will be given for each time you twitter about the giveaway and/or blog about it. You will need to paste the link in a separate comment to make this entry valid. Click here to follow us on Twitter.

• Maximum entries: Three (3)

Giveaway Rules:

• Shipping Guidelines: This book giveaway is open to everyone.

• Giveaway begins August 9, 2011, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends September 6, 2011, at 11:59 P.M. PST, when all entries must be received. No purchase necessary. See official rules for details. View our privacy policy.

Sponsored by Ronald Hart.

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©2011 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

Add this book to your collection: Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes by Eric Litwin

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©2011 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

I know that, for some of you librarians, it feels like summer (and summer reading) will never end.  But I was visiting my family in California recently and my sister-in-law mentioned that my niece is starting school on August 10th!  August 10th!  That seems so early, doesn’t it?  Here in NYC, the public schools don’t start until after Labor Day.  What about your part of the country?  When does school start?

With school starting just around the corner, here are some new books to consider adding to your library to refresh and update your collections:

KINDERGATORS: HANDS OFF, HARRY! by Rosemary Wells
This is an excellent picture book recommendation for kids with personal space issues.

AMELIA BEDELIA’S FIRST FIELD TRIP by Herman Parish, illustrated by Lynne Avril
Take a look at activity ideas for your classroom and library.

PETE THE CAT: ROCKING IN MY SCHOOL SHOES by Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean
It begs to be sung out loud – check out the video!  You can also download activities.

And for those of you librarians with another couple weeks of summer reading, hang in there!

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: August 1, 2010

Another lucky winner: Congratulations to Chanelle. She was selected by the random sequence generator at random.org to win a copy of Dear Teacher, by Amy Husband—a brightly illustrated collection of letters from Michael, a very imaginative boy, to his teacher, telling her all the reasons he simply cannot make it to the first day of school.

Chanelle said: Would like a chance to win.

Special Mention:

Staci A said: This sounds like such a fun book! My son would love it. He’s always coming up with reasons why he should miss school (even though he rarely does.) Thanks for the giveaway!

Winners of TCBR giveaways are notified by email and have 72 hours to claim their prize. Unclaimed prizes are awarded to an alternate winner and the above list will be adjusted accordingly. Thank you to everyone who participated. Special thanks to Sourcebooks Jabberwocky for sponsoring the giveaway.

For those of you who were not so lucky, you can still add this books to your collection: Dear Teacher by Amy Husband

Disclaimer: Books will be shipped directly from sponsor, delivery of the giveaway item lies solely on the sponsor. Names, e-mail address and physical address of the winner will be shared with the sponsor for the purpose of fulfillment of the giveaway.

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©2010 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

Add this book to your collection: Kindergarten Diary by Antoinette Portis.

Antoinette Portis is one of my all-time favorites. If you haven’t read Not a Box and Not a Stick, you are seriously missing out. They are both highly imaginative books that are executed in simple, concrete perfection.

©2010 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: July 1, 2010

Dear Teacher, by Amy Husband, is a brightly illustrated collection of letters from Michael, a very imaginative boy, to his teacher, telling her all the reasons he simply cannot make it to the first day of school. And, we have one copy to giveaway to one of our readers. This prize might just be what you need by the time summer comes to an end—don’t worry, you still have many weeks to enjoy!

Reading level: Ages 5-8

Paperback: 24 pages

Book overview: In his witty letters (sometimes half-eaten by crocodiles) Michael explains that he really wants to come to school but the Secret Service has recruited him to rescue a lost explorer on Mount Everest. His adventures continue from there to include a treasure map, a pirate king, and a rocket to the moon on a mission for NASA. But Michael gets a surprise when he receives his teacher’s clever response to his letters. The unique envelope closure for the book completes the package!

Originally published in the UK, Dear Teacher has been shortlisted for both the 2010 Cambridgeshire “Read it Again!” Children’s Book Awards and the 2010 Sheffield Children’s Book Award, both child-selected awards.

Excerpt:

Dear Michael,
We are looking forward to welcoming you back to school for the start of the new year. I hope you have had a really fun break and are ready to dive into lots of learning!

This year your class will be working especially hard in math, history, geography, and English. I am sure that if you study carefully, you will find those spelling tests can be a fun challenge!

Your new teacher is called Miss Brooks. She has all sorts of exciting plans for the new year. We look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Yours sincerely,
Mr. N. T. Grindstone
Principal

Dear Teacher,
I might be a bit late for the first day of school. The weirdest thing happened today. The head of the secret service turned up! They need me for a special secret mission to find a missing explorer. I did mention the math test, but he just said that the future of the country depends on me. I couldn’t say no. Sorry Miss Brooks.

From,
Michael

How to enter:

• Leave a comment in the comments field below.

• An extra entry will be given for each time you twitter about the giveaway and/or blog about it. You will need to paste the link in a separate comment to make this entry valid. Click here to follow us on Twitter. (Maximum entries: 3)

Giveaway Rules:

• Shipping Guidelines: This book giveaway is open to participants with a United States mailing address only (international readers can enter if they have a friend in the United States who can accept their prizes by mail.)

• Giveaway begins July 1, 2010, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends July 29, 2010, at 11:59 P.M. PST, when all entries must be received. No purchase nec
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There once was a mischievous little rabbit named Simon. With a big smile, his mother told him, "Tomorrow is your first day of school, my dear!"

Simon answered, "No way!"

"Wilson was very fond of his new teacher.

'Miss Lovely! Miss Lovely! Miss Lovely! was all he could think about."

Park, Barbara. 2009. Junie B's Essential Survival Guide to School. Random House.

It's been a year or two since Junie B, now in first grade, made an appearance. And I for one have missed her troublesome lovable ways. But she's back. And just as rowdy and outspoken as ever. This book isn't in the traditional format. It's not a chapter book. It's a slightly interactive 'journal.' This little book by Junie B herself is full of "advice" for children on how to survive school. These little snippets of advice reveal Junie B's personality, of course, and share a few smallish stories.

Here is Junie B's advice on backpacks:

The FIRST thing you need for school is a BACKPACK.
BACKPACK is the grown-up word for a PACK THAT YOU CARRY ON YOUR BACK.
It is like being a mule, sort of.
Only I am NOT a mule.
I am just a child.
I would rather pull my stuff to school in a pack wagon.
But stores do not sell pack wagons.
Someone should look into this matter, I believe.

There are a jillion kinds of backpacks to choose from. Only it does not matter which backpack you really, really like. 'Cause your mother will buy the cheapest backpack in the store. And there is NOTHING you can do about that situation. On account of children do not have any actual money.

End of backpack story

Rules of the Bus
Number 1

When your bus driver is driving the bus, do not jump up and start yelling, "Faster! Faster! Faster!"
I have had an actual experience with this rule. On account of one time I thought it would be amusing to yell FASTER. But my bus driver named Mr. Woo did not laugh.
Instead, he sent a bus note home to my parents. It was called. Bus Warning Number One. They did not get a kick out of it.

Cousins, Lucy. 2009. (Releases June 2009) Maisy Goes To Preschool (A Maisy First Experiences Book). Candlewick Press.

Do you like Maisy and her friends? Or perhaps the question should be, does your little reader like Maisy and her friends? Or is your little one getting ready to go off to preschool for the first time? In Maisy Goes To Preschool, the reader is introduced to the concept of preschool through Maisy.

"Today is a very good day for Maisy. She's going to preschool! There's always so much to do there and so many friends to see."

Along with other essential personnel, school librarians start the school year early. The librarians started back to work, this week, in my neck of the woods.

The first day on contract is spent checking in with the other important folks who have turned up, the financial clerk, the school nurse, the attendance clerk and the principals. They all enjoy a sort of reunion, bringing each other up to date with family news, vacations enjoyed and health reports.

They fall into that fellowship that comes from experience, mutual goals and the camaraderie of soldiers in a foxhole. This solidarity and support is essential in order to get the job done each school year.

Back in the library, automation systems must be updated with the new school calendar, new faculty members must be added and of course the students' names must be imported. The library schedule must be devised and new district edicts must be incorporated into the routine.

Boxes of new books, which were delivered over the summer, must be checked against the packing slips. Glowing new covers must be caressed, new titles must be exclaimed over, marc records must be shined up. There are bulletin boards to cover, reading programs to prepare and lesson plans to write.

The teachers arrive early, long before their contracts start. Overhead projectors, cd players, globes and other life sustaining classroom equipment will be mustered in the library and moved into teachers' rooms. After the first or second day, the library staff is not working for itself anymore but for the teachers, so it should burn rubber those first few days.

Just as you start to get some things done, you realize that the building is still on summer hours so you will be booted out just as the work begins to flow. Frustration.

Before you know it, there will soon be new faces to meet, new reading interests to learn. There will be kindergarteners and first graders who cannot wait to learn to read. There will be fifth graders who do not care to touch a book.

They are waiting for you to make this the year they fell in love with books and reading.
The year ahead beckons and you can't wait.

Personalized Adventures Motivate Children to Return to School

Henderson, NV – July 23, 2008: Referenced on YAHOO TECH as one of the best online services for parents, GIFTVENTURE continues to revolutionize gift giving.

GIFTVENTURE has released two back-to-school adventures designed to generate excitement around the new school year. A Gifventure is a personalized adventure that leads to a gift you hide. The back-to-school adventure includes a story about fantasy characters requiring the child’s help in returning to their school in a mythical city. Parents can personalize the story with the child’s teacher’s name, school name, and favorite subject. Recommended gifts to hide include school supplies, such as notebooks, backpacks, lunchboxes, and pens. When the gift is discovered in its predetermined location, it is no longer just a present; it is a well-deserved prize at the end of a very satisfying and educational journey

ABOUT GIFTVENTURE

A Gifventure is a personalized adventure that leads to a gift you hide. To create a GIFTVENTURE, the gift giver goes to giftventure.com. Simple questions are answered including the child’s name and interests. During registration, the giver enters a location where a gift they have purchased will be hidden. The answers are incorporated into a series of letters, making the adventure highly personalized. Ordering takes less than 5 minutes.

When a GIFTVENTURE order is placed, the recipient receives a series of letters via U.S. Postal Service from a mythical character selected during registration. Characters can be dragons, pirates, princess fairies, or seasonal favorites such as the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus. The letters arrive over a one-week period and introduce a puzzle that, once solved, leads to the location of a hidden gift. Solving the GIFTVENTURE teaches patience, organization, problem-solving and stimulates the imagination of the child who receives the gift. Children ages 4-12.

**GIFTVENTURE retails for $19.95 plus shipping and handling. For more information (including letters from kids and parent testimonials), visit www.giftventure.com .

Okay. So every year I make fun of it, yet every year I go. I think that going un-costumed says something for a person. And going on professional day makes it totally worth it! No crowds, some interesting panels, and only a few Princess Leias to contend with.

First off I went to a panel conducted by Lana Adlawan and Alison Hendon from the Brooklyn Public Library, who presented a very nice core collection covering kids of all ages and young adults. The panel was well attended, and offered up some great advice to libraries collecting gns and a couple gentle nudges to the comic makers about things that would be great to see content wise (like how 'bout some diversity?).

Then off to the floor, I went. As I said, professional day made life so much easier. Compared to BookExpo and ALA it was as close to heaven as a body could get in the Javits Center.

One of my first stops was :01 (First Second), where a lovely special of $10 books and a buy 2 get 1 free special was on. So I got a personal copy of Life Sucks, some Little Vampire, and some Sardine.

Then off touring all kinds of indie stuff, which I love. And I finally ended up right in front of Jimmy Gownley. He is always so lovely. He signed my new Amelia Rules When the Past is Present, gave me some posters for my Amelia lovin' kids at school, and had a little bit of a chat. Now I'm kicking myself for not buying an Amelia t-shirt! But back to the books...

Amelia at 10 is at a bit of a cross roads. Not only is her mother going on a date, but Ninja Kyle has managed to invite Amelia to a sports banquet. Amelia's mom is not so sure about this, but Amelia assures her that this is not a date, since Kyle and the other Ninjas go to catholic school, and there will be a jillion nuns present! Amelia figures they have a lot to celebrate since Joan has just announced that she's not moving after all.

But when they are at the banquet, Amelia learns why Joan isn't going anywhere. Joan's dad is going instead, and since he's a military man, where he is going is no place good.

Told partly in the present, and with some flashbacks of Amelia's life in NYC with her friend Sunday, and also including a fantastic family history at the end, this latest installment of Amelia Rules is a winner. Super smart jokes (my favourite is the epi pen one!), witty banter, and spot on family circumstances make this graphic novel ring so true for readers. These are books that kids return to over and over, and for the first time in a long time, I shed a few tears over a gn. And as usual, I am hungry for more!

Greetings!

The Public Awareness Committee of the Association for Library Service to Children needs your input! We would like to expand our Kids! @ your library® Campaign, which kicked off in 2006 and currently focuses on children in grades K-4, their parents and caregivers. (See www.ala.org/kids for more information.)

In phase two of the campaign, we would like to add materials to the campaign tool kit for children in grades 5-8. We are seeking your input before we proceed with the development of materials for this age group. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey. Your feedback will help us in developing the most relevant and needed tools for promoting your library to kids in grades 5-8.

Access the survey here. Deadline for response is February 29.

Thank you in advance for taking time to share your opinions regarding the Kids! @ your library® Campaign!

Mary Fellows
ALSC Public Awareness Committee