HAPPY NEW YEAR

Let's all resolve to read more books in 2010! A good place to start might be with possible Caldecott Medal contenders.

The 2010 award will be given to the illustrator of the most distinguished picture book for children on Monday, January 18. Check the newspaper or Today Show on Tuesday morning to find out who won. Our own Mrs. Whitehurst will have the inside scoop since she is one of the 15 people from all over America serving on this year's Caldecott Committee. They will convene in Boston at the American Library Association's Mid-Winter Meeting to evaluate nominees and to choose a winner prior to the official announcement. Second graders can see what it's like by voting in our Mock Caldecott Election on the right side of this page. Pick from one of the favorites we've been reading, and we'll soon see if our winner matches the experts' opinion! Last year's second graders chose A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, a super funny book by Marla Frazee and one that the official Caldecott Committee recognized as a runner-up (honor) book. We have it in our lower school collection; call number E FR if you want to check it out.

What's Next?

Despite what you may think, boys, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is NOT the only good book on the shelves. If you're having trouble finding your next great pageturner, you might want to explore a couple of fun websites with book suggestions. Bestselling adult and kid author James Patterson - this guy has sold millions of books! - started READKIDDOREAD, which lists tons of books by age level and genre, making it easy to find the ones you'll like best. Then there's our old buddy Jon Scieszka, author of Stinky Cheese Man and Knucklehead (current Battle of the Books selection) among others. His Guys Read website just got a facelift and is better than ever. So turn off the Playstation one afternoon, and turn on the computer to explore http://readkiddoread.com/ and http://www.guysread.com/. Let me know what's next for you! And be sure to tell your friends what you're reading; word of mouth is the best way to get ideas. TALK, TALK, TALK about books.