'Picture Books'
I have been waiting, waiting, waiting for Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones. Judy Schachner, author, visited our school in 2006, and talked about the idea for the latest series of Skippyjon Jones adventures.
So it hit the shelves on Thursday and I raced after school to get my copy. It is uproariously funny. This time, Skippyjon, a Siamese who thinks he is a Chihuahua, steals the bones from Darwin the neighbor dog.
You see, Skippyjon wants to be a famous paleontologist. He believes Darwin’s bones to be dinosaur fossils. Skippyjon ignores Mama Junebug Jones by heading into his closet to the digging grounds and his gang of Chimichangos. What they discover is earth-shattering fun.
Combining playful language and humor is something that Schachner does so well. How fast can you say, “Pachycephalosaurus”? Dinosaurs dance the rumba to a song that begins “Itchee Gitchee Gumba”, how hilarious. I love Skippyjon as the “decider”. The illustrations aadd to the merriment and fun of the story. As a bonus, an audio cd is included with Judy Schachner reading the story. I am always envious at the speed the words roll off her tongue. You won’t find the Skippyjon Jones books on the library shelves, They are always in the hands of kids, no matter how many I have. This is going to be a favorite with Silver Star.
On a sad note, the real life Skippyjon, the inspiration for these books, died in September. My heart goes out to Judy Schachner. It is hard to say good-bye to our beloved furchildren. I had just lost my sweet cat, a week before her visit in 2006. Here are a couple of photos of the real Skippyjon, courtesy of the Schachners. 
Young Skippy 
Skippy looking.
Thank goodness he will live on in her books.
HappyReading.
MsMac
October 22nd, 2007
Flotsamby David Wiesner.
How to follow up after weeks of reading to decide the Washington Children’s Choice Award? Read Flotsam, this year’s Caldecott Award.
I shy away from wordless books with library classes. Often too difficult to see the visual details. Not with Flotsam, however. From the front jacket flap (which reads like a poem) to the back (great little bio and photo of the author), students were engaged in this book.
The book provides so many opportunities for discussion. A favorite of mine is the vocabulary. I grew up in southern California. I went to the “beach”. My cousins live at the “shore” in New Jersey (a favorite place of the author’s, the shore). In Oregon, we go to the “coast”.
The book begs to be lingered over with its many visual details. I especially like the sense of time that Wiesner creates as the boy is waiting for the film to be developed. The six segments are perfect for students to guess what is going on. There is also the seven segments, later in the book, after the camera is thrown back into the water. Seven continents, seven days, or seven seas? Classes had fun speculating.
A student came up to me during book check-out. “I found a flotsam at the coast this weekend,” said she.
So glad I decided to share this award book and not fear the wordless factor.
Happy Reading.
MsMac
April 18th, 2007
Happy Blogaversary to Me. “Check It Out” is a year old. Yay!!
Close call for snow, a tooth now requiring a root canal and March entering as a lion; rain and wind. Welcome to my world of the Silver Star library this week.
Classes are clicking along. We are nearing the end of the nominees for the WCCPBA. In honor of the tooth, almost all of kindergarten through third grade heard Sweet Toothby Marge Palatini. Very funny, even with a toothache. My tooth was not a sweet tooth bu definitely a rotten one.
Fourth and fifth grades have had their own independent studies going on. Love when they come in, and get right to work.
I met with Sabina I. Rascol, the author who will visited Silver Star at the end of March. She will be here for three days as a poet in residence. We are crafting what the time will look like when she is here. Children and lots of children will be in the library writing poetry one of those days.
On my nightstand: My Sister’s Keeper: A Novel by Jodi Picoult, The Thing about Georgieby Lisa Graff, and A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver. I got sidetracked last week. I began reading Hole in My Lifeby Jack Gantos after re-reading The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs. I love Gantos’ writing immensely. He pulls you in and you have to force yourself to stop reading. In fact, I paid for it yesterday as I stayed up to finish the book.
Happy reading,
MsMac
March 2nd, 2007
Young Skippy 
Skippy looking.
