I am going to read some chapters from "Nuts to You" by Lynne Rae Perkins, a humorous story about some squirrel friends. It has lots of good dialogue in it, and it made me laugh, so I'm hoping the students will get a kick out of it as well. I'm bringing them a copy of the book for their classroom library, and hoping some will be drawn to the book enough to want to read the rest on their own.
When I first read the book I had checked it out of the neighboring town's public library last fall, which brings me to the subject of libraries. Is your town large enough to have its own library?
When I was young, we had a bookmobile that came to school probably once a month. There was no school library, nor did our small town have a library. We had to go into the larger neighboring town (where I went to check out the book). I used to imagine getting locked in the library for the whole night. Wow, all those books and all that time to just read and read and read!
I'm living very close to my childhood area, and this town, small as it is, does have a library. It's a small building sitting on the side of a steep hill (parking for a couple of cars at the bottom of the hill on the side of the road). It is inaccessible in the winter, so it closes from late fall to early spring. People take out a pile of "Blizzard Books" before snow flies and in spring, return them when the library becomes accessible again and reopens. Everyone can have a nice warm stash of books for the long cold winter nights. I'm wondering if any other small towns have the same kind of setup we have here on the island.
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| Upside down squirrel on our bird feeder (not today...not so green this morning!) |
SQUIRREL
(an upside-down acrostic, because they spend as much time upside down as right-side up)
Leaping from tree to tree,
Enjoying being free;
Running and
Racing;
In secret placing
Underground his acorns-
Quivering in delight at his treasure
Stores for winter nibbling pleasure.
Enjoying being free;
Running and
Racing;
In secret placing
Underground his acorns-
Quivering in delight at his treasure
Stores for winter nibbling pleasure.
by Donna JT Smith
See you tomorrow!
Thank you fifth graders for brainstorming the missing Q word!
Thank you fifth graders for brainstorming the missing Q word!
Thank goodness your library has the winter checkout system. I have no doubt that your book will be checked out by students after your read aloud. Isn't it fun to be able to walk out of a school and have no responsibilities to follow you home. Love the squirrel poem. You are so clever!
ReplyDeleteHi, Elsie! Nice to see you! Gotta get over to read you, too.
DeleteHow do you get so much good stuff into each and every post? There is always so much for me to consider - here we have small classes, squirrel friends, the value of good dialogue in a story, leaving behind a copy of the book you read aloud (great idea!!!), and above all the seasonal library. I serve on our county's Library Foundation, and we support a system of (year round) 6 branches. Quite different from what you describe and interesting to compare. Thanks for getting my brain thinking in so many directions already this morning!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder when I go off in so many directions if I'll ever "gather my thoughts" again! I'm glad I didn't lose you!
DeleteWe are a small community as well and we do have a library. What makes it nice is that the librarian knows the people, and what they like to read. When buying new books for the library, she knows which authors will leave the shelves.
ReplyDeleteI love that about a small community!
DeleteYour community sounds lovely - and how wonderful that there is a love of books, too.
ReplyDeleteArvie's little town started a library since he's been grown, and I think it's so wonderful that they have. It's a town of about a thousand. There is a little town in the mountains (much less than a thousand) but it has a library & serves the surrounding community. We used to drop books there as donations on our way to our cabin. It was run solely by volunteers, & they too had a 'blizzard' system, no fines if you were snowed in. Sounds like a picture book, Donna! I love your little squirrel poem. Despite their antics I think they're cute to watch. Love that 'nibbling pleasure' & the reverso.
ReplyDelete