You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch!

We were lucky enough to have Mr. Rhea, our former Speech Teacher, come back to Forest North for his annual performance of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss. It might help that his granddaughter is an Eagle, but I bet he'd do it anyway! Most programs like this cost hundreds of dollars, but this one comes absolutely free. We are so lucky here at Forest North for this annual opportunity. Fingers crossed for an encore performance next year, Eagles!

Mrs. Rosenbaum, Mrs. Perkins and Mrs. Fournier were on the news! Check out their local KXAN story from today about raising money for Forest North students via donorschoose.org grants! Copy and paste the following link to watch the story yourself:

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/education/Teachers-seek-online-donations?ref=scroller&categoryId=10001&status=true

Riley the Reading Dog was a smashing success. We all had a great time sharing books with Riley and petting him. He had a great temperament and loved the attention. His owner Naomi said she'd be happy to bring him back one day. Big thanks to the Austin Pet Alliance for sharing their time and resources with us. We love Riley!

Pictured: Levi, Travonna, Bailey and Valerie pet Riley the Reading Dog!

12/7: Riley the Reading Dog!

Come see Riley the Reading Dog here at the Forest North Library on Tuesday, 12/7!

Bluebonnet Voting Party 1/21

Dan Yaccarino

Mrs. Fournier was kindly invited by some of her fellow librarians last night as they took to dinner the esteemed author and illustrator and Bluebonnet Book Award Nominee Dan Yaccarino of The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau! It was so interesting to hear him talk all about the hard work it's taken him to become an author and illustrator, and to ask him about his cool graphic, retro illustrative style we all love. He also told Mrs. Fournier what he's working on now and what he has plans to do in the future. Mrs. Fournier was so excited to meet him, she asked if he'd pose for a photo so she could show all of her dedicated Bluebonnet nominee readers! He was happy to do so for all of his awesome fans at Forest North! Keep reading, Eagles.

Unusual Reading Spot Contest

The FNE Library is excited to announce the Special Reading Spot Contest!

Is your family traveling somewhere special for Thanksgiving or Winter Break? Grab your digital camera, a favorite book, and capture a special reading spot or pose to enter.
Students might be found reading in a refrigerator, near an important landmark, in a basketball hoop, or any place their imagination takes them. In the photos, students should be visibly reading a favorite book (see examples below). The 10 most creative pictures will win, and these photos will be enlarged for display in the library and shared on the morning news. All participants will receive an award, even if the image is not chosen for display in the library.

Contest rules:
*The school-wide contest runs from NOW until Tuesday, January 11, 2011.
*Participating students must turn in a 4 x 6 or 5 x 7 photo print of their entry along with a participation form. Note: Use the highest resolution your camera will allow. Participation forms are available in the library on this blog!
*Entries will be voted on by staff and the ten winners will then need to provide a digital version of their image so that we can enlarge it for display in the library. Email digital copies to Mrs. Fournier!
*Please note that camera-phone photos do not have a high enough resolution to print in an enlarged size.

Happy Reading!
-Mrs. Fournier

Bluebonnet Pictograph Bulletin Board

40 Qualified Bluebonnet Voters!

Would you believe that last year we had 37 kids qualify to vote for the Texas Bluebonnet Book Award?

This year, it's only November and we already have 40!

In related news, Mrs. Fournier is looking for six people willing to lend their Nintendo Wii for the Bluebonnet Voting Party! Call or email her ASAP!

Birthday Book Club!

Mrs. Fournier is proud to announce her first year of the Forest North Birthday Book Club. On the month of your student's birthday, look in their folder for a flyer for this program. Parents can fill out the form and send a $15 check or cash. Students can choose their book from a shelf of brand new books Mrs. Fournier has decorated in her office. Students then get a special bookplate dedicating the book to them, they get an extra checkout to take it home and read it first, and a photo of them and the book is aired on morning announcements. What a special way to honor your child's birthday, and it's a gift that will benefit 300 more children as well!

103 Bluebonnet Quizzes already taken!

The Bluebonnet Book Award Program is underway! This year, students who read five books or more get their picture taken to air on the morning news! That same picture will be framed on our QUALIFIED BLUEBONNET VOTER bulletin board outside the library, and also will be used in the class pictograph that charts our success- teachers have that 10 or more students come to the Bluebonnet Party get a free lunch from Mrs. Fournier! These same students who read 5 or more books nominated for the award get to come to the hippest, happening party of the year- Mrs. Fournier's Bluebonent Book Award Voting Party! At the voting party, we'll have a snack, get a free book and a free poster, play Bluebonnet Bingo and vote! We even will have Nintendo Wiis to play.

Students who read 10 or more nominated books get a $5 gift certificate to the Forest North Spring Book Fair. Students who read 15 or more nominated books get a $7.50 gift certificate to the Forest North Spring Book Fair! Students who read all 20 nominated books get a $10.00 gift certficiate to the Forest North Spring Book Fair AND are qualified to participate in the Battle of the Bluebonnets, a super exciting quiz show competition.

Mrs. Fournier had Bluebonnet Kickoff for all 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classes on September 21st and 22nd. So far, 103 books have already been read! How amazing is that? Last year, 37 voters attended the party- wonder if we can get more this year?

Book Fair Success!

Dear my wonderful crew of Forest North Library volunteers,

Well, the dust has settled and the numbers have been crunched. We earned a record-breaking $905.04 for the Book Fair this year! We never broke the $900 mark last year, so I am thrilled to achieve that goal. It will all go directly into hiring an author or storyteller to come entertain us later this year. Stay tuned for announcements on who that person will be!

Thanks so much to everyone who helped me put on the Book Fair. It is not a one person job, and I could not have done it without all your help setting up, advertising, holding signs outside in the car line, running the cash register, helping me count the pennies for a 4th time, helping all of our customers choose which color pencil they want, helping find just the right book, making wish lists, and breaking down the library hours faster than I ever have before!

For those of you with more flexible schedules, I am still looking as always for regularly scheduled volunteers. I always have lots of books to reshelve and lots of small projects I need help with, so if you've ever got a free hour, I'd love "drop in" help, or if you have an hour or two you could regularly devote to the library, my readers and I would be eternally grateful for your assistance! It's hard running a library by yourself, but it sure is easier to manage with wonderful parents and community members like you. I couldn't do it without you. I sincerely appreciate your willingness to help me help your students.

Sincerely,
Library Girl
AKA Mrs. Fournier

Book Fair is Happening!

The Book Fair is going swimmingly! Check out these Book Fair Heroes dressed up for Super Hero Day! These superheroes, disgused day-to-day as mild-mannered teachers, assistant principals and librarians, are letting their true colors shine through today!


Be sure to come check out the Book Fair this week! Profits go directly back to the Forest North Library to buy new books for our school and students!

Library Award!

Mrs. Fournier won an award! The Round Rock ISD Library Services Department has awarded Mrs. Fournier $4200 towards the purchase of new books for our students! That's about 1 book per student!

How did she earn it? For keeping the collection fresh and weeding out overworn or unused books, for increasing circulation in the library 25% in one year by buying new, exciting books that students want to read!

Mrs. Fournier already has a wishlist that's worth $10,000 of books, so she'll pare it down and place her order soon! Look for these bew books before the semester ends!

Library Grant

Mrs. Fournier and Ms. Decker co-wrote a grant together earlier this year to buy a Promethean Board for the Library. Promethean Boards are a fun way to learn! Imagine a huge interactive whiteboard that students can use to engage with by using their finger or a stylus to drag and drop pictures, draw, write or spell. The cost of a Promethean Board is $1772.70.

We found out today that we were awarded the full amount from the Round Rock ISD Partners in Education Foundation! This PIE Grant came to award the money to Mrs. Fournier with a big check in the middle of a meeting. Mrs. Fournier gets kind of nervous with surprises, but was still thrilled to receive the money.

Book Fair is next week!

Our Book Fair is coming next week! Check out our Book Fair homepage for more details!

Library Grant

Donate to the Forest North Library grant at donorschoose.org!

This Year's Bluebonnet Book Award Nominees!

Here is an animoto video Mrs. Fournier made to introduce the new Bluebonnet Book Award nominees. She will show it to 3rd-5th graders next Tuesday and Wednesday!

PTA Fundraiser: Lunch with the Librarian

The Parent Teacher Association here at Forest North has a goal of 100% staff and parent participation this year. Mrs. Fournier already paid her $6 dues and ordered her awesome $13 Forest North t-shirt. The shirt features awesome art by one of our very own students!

Have you joined PTA yet? The money helps to keep us registered as an official PTA organization, and funds all of our awesome activities like Fall Carnival, Field Trips, Field Day and more!

In order to help the PTA, the library has joined forces for a special treat. At every PTA meeting this year, two members will be drawn from a hat. Each of those members gets lunch with the librarian! The student, student's classroom teacher and Mrs. Fournier will work together to make a good time for lunch together, at which time the student will get to choose a free, awesome book to keep forever! How cool is that?

If you haven't already, please join the PTA to support Forest North and to enter your student in our Lunch with the Librarian contest!

See you at the Library, Eagles!

Back to School!

The year has started off wonderfully. We have lots of excellent readers here at Forest North that I am super excited to show all of our new books to!

Due to staffing limitations, Forest North unfortunately had to destaff the library assistant position over the summer. Due to this, the library needs the help of consistent volunteers more than ever! Thanks to parents who have already stopped by to help cover books, shelve books, straight shelves, work the circulation desk, and helped kids find the books they need in the library! Our students need a well-staffed, well-run library and I couldn't do it without you.

Please help your child remember to take care of his or her library book/s, and to return them promptly. Checkouts are for two weeks, but your student comes to the library at least once a week. Remember as well that parent accounts have unlimited checkouts, so if you'd like to stock up on bedtime stories or great literature for Reading homework, stop by after school or during Library Night to get a stack!

Thanks again for all your support. I'll see you at the library!

Here's How We Did Last Year:

Click on the image to zoom in on our library profile for last year. Our circulation improved by 33% last year! We also went from 7 to 37 Bluebonnet voting party attendees!

FNE now on Facebook!

Forest North Elementary is now on Facebook! Please go to our Facebook profile page and click "like" to follow our status updates. We'll keep you posted on upcoming events and other important messages about our school. Thanks so much for supporting your child's school!

I Need My Teachers to Learn

Hello Eagles! Mrs. Fournier attended the Round Rock ISD Superintendent's Leadershop Retreat a few weeks ago. One of her breakout sessions was on the use of technology for our students to become tech-savvy but also to reach them in the way they think, which is sometimes a little different than the we way we old folk teachers think! Part of our session included this powerful video put together by Robert Autrey. The song he used is a well-known one by Kevin Honeycutt. Enjoy! I hope you're as inspired by it as I was.

Library Impact on Student Achievement

Mrs. Fournier here, blogging to you live from the Forest North Library. I'm already back in the saddle, Eagles, cataloging new books, designing the Forest North Bluebonnet Book program for this year, getting new technology ready for our classroom teachers, and helping teachers know what the library can do to help you learn! This morning, I gave a presentation to our teachers new to Forest North. They are a very articulate, motivated, beautiful bunch of teachers! Check out my Prezi to see what we plan to work on together this year. Learn more about making fancy presentations at Prezi.com.

It won't be long now. I look forward to seeing everyone's new haircuts, shiny shoes and summer tans!

Library Nights

Attention Eagles! We have had 5 Bluebonnet Book Award Library nights throughout the summer! Many kids have a huge head start on reading 5 Bluebonnet Book Award nominees. All 3rd-5th graders who read 5 or more books are eligible to vote in the voting party. Last year's voting party had 37 kids come and play "Just Dance" on a Nintendo Wii, Bluebonnet Book Bingo, and received a free book and poster courtesy of Scholastic. We have all Bluebonnet Books available for checkout here at the Forest North Library, but they are also available at any branch of the Austin Public Library or for purchase at any local bookseller with children's literature. For a list of the Bluebonnet Book Award nominees this year, click here.

Top 10 Books Read at Forest North 2009-2010

Here is a Wordle of the Top 10 Books read at Forest North in the 2009-2010 school year. How many of them did you read? Click the image to see a bigger version of it. The bigger the font of a title, the more people that checked it out this year. The top book at Forest North this year was Frogs by Nic Bishop, and so that's why it's the biggest in the Wordle. Make your own Wordle here!

Summer Library Nights

The Forest North Library is happy to announce Summer Library Nights! Please come spend every other Tuesday with us from 4:30-6:00. Teachers will be here to play games and hang out with former and future students! Mrs. Fournier will be checking out books, turning on the computers to play games, and reading a Bluebonnet Book Award nominee. 3rd-5th graders can read 5 Bluebonnet Books to attend the Voting Party in January!

For the list of this year Bluebonnet Book Award nominees, click here.

Summer Library Nights will be June 8, June 22, July 13, July 27 and August 10.

Have a great summer, Eagles, and keep reading!

Popsicle Parties

Congratulations to all the classes who earned Popsicle parties! We only have three days of school left, and only 11 books outstanding in the whole school! Thanks, Forest North!

Tomorrow is the last day for Popsicle Parties! So far, we have had great success with responsibility at Forest North. Lots of kids are finding lost books or are paying for lost books so that we can buy a replacement.

The classes that have earned Popsicle Parties so far are: Mrs. Craycroft, Mrs. James, Ms. Moran, Mrs. Meyer, Mrs. Koester, Ms. Guerra and Ms. Herold!

Mrs. Rugerio, Mrs. Perkins, Mrs. Rhea, Ms. Johnson, and Mrs. Rataj's classes each have 1 book left. Hopefully their last book will get turned in tomorrow! They are so close!

Mrs. Albin, Mrs. Talley/Ms. Moore, and Ms. Rosenbaum's classes are close- don't count them out either. Cross your fingers that all Forest North Eagles have a Popsicle party!

Popsicle Parties!

Mrs. Fournier would like to give your class a Popsicle Party!

FRIDAY, MAY 21st is the deadline for overdue books and bills. Please make sure all of your books are turned in or bills are paid by that date!

If every student in your class has ALL books turned in and ALL bills paid by Friday, May 21st, Mrs. Fournier will throw your class a Popsicle Party during recess!

Please return books or pay to replace them with cash or check. Checks can be made out to “Forest North Elementary.” Please include your phone and driver’s license numbers. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Mrs. Fournier at the library circulation desk at 464-6790.

All You Can Read!

Forest North is proud to announce our spring Book Fair next week! The theme is "All You Can Read: Book Fair Diner."

Mon 5/3 Wear '50s clothes to celebrate!
Tues 5/4 Preview Day, Book Fair Grand Opening 4:30-6:00 PM
Wed 5/5 Early Release Day, Book Fair open 7:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Thur 5/6 Book Fair open 7:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Fri 5/7 Book Fair open 7:30 AM - 3:30 PM

We are celebrating the book fair on Monday, 5/3, by wearing 1950s-inspired clothes, so dust off your poodle skirts, saddleshoes and Buddy Holly eyeglass frames.

On Tuesday, 5/4, we will have our Preview Day. Each class will come through the Book Fair with a wish list to write down a few items they'd like and their cost. We will remind students to bring a little extra for tax.

Also on Tuesday, 5/4, we will have our Grand Opening Family Night! Families are welcome to attend the Book Fair after the PTA Meeting as part of our Special Areas rotation. See our art gallery, hear some music, meet a robot and buy a book- what could be a better way to spend your evening? We'll see you then from 4:30-6:00 PM.

The Book Fair will be open Wednesday, 5/5 at 8:00. We have an Early Release that day, and parents are welcome to come check out the book fair when they pick up their kids at 12:45. We will be open until 1:30.

On Thursday and Friday, 5/6 and 5/7, the Book Fair will be open from 8:00-3:30. Please feel free to stop by anytime and peruse our selections.

Thanks so much for supporting the Forest North Book Fair! Profits go directly back into a fund to buy books for our school. Our Fall Book Fair raised enough money to have Lucas Miller, the Singing Zoologist visit in February, and for us to have Elizabeth Kahura, African Storyteller at Night of the Eagles in March. Without your support, we wouldn't be able to have exciting events like these at Forest North! Thanks, Eagles!

Earth Day Recycled Art Contest

Happy Earth Day, Eagles!

Mrs. Lajaunie and Mrs. Fournier love our Earth. We decided to celebrate by having a Recycled Art contest here in the library. Students could put together recycled goods in any artistic combination to submit them to the contest. This open-ended challenge was perfect for our creative students! We were so amazed at the art we received!

All of Forest North Elementary was invited to walk through our gallery of recycled art. Our panel of esteemed judges were astounded at the level of inventiveness and perspective our artists demonstrated.

All 37 of our talented artists won two hypercolor Earth Day pencils that turned from green to yellow when you touched them. Fifteen participants were invited to the library at the end of Earth Day for a party! Mrs. Lajaunie arranged for donations from Home Depot! Home Depot was kind enough to donate kits that could be built into herb garden birdhouses, cool orange aprons, and special pins, too! We had a snack of Sun Chips in special compostable bags, and water from recyclable water bottles. The water bottles were already reused for a project in Mrs. Rugerio's Pre-K class.

Thanks so much for all 37 participants, and congratulations on your wonderful art.

Launch Into Summer surveys

Our teachers are planning a Parent Learning night to give tips on keeping kids' academic skills sharp during the summer. We'd love input from our parents to let us know what they'd like to learn about. Please take the following survey to give us your two cents!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L3T3XC5

Thanks for helping us make Forest North a better place where learning goes on in the evenings, too!

Volunteer Tea!

This Library Night, we focused on thanking our Volunteers! All Forest North parents were sent home a flyer to invite them for a special Volunteer Tea. We had food, friendship and fun gifts! Thanks, volunteers, for all that you do! The event was sponsored by the Special Areas team- Mrs. Lanahan the art teacher, Ms. Potral in PE, Mrs. Hermansen in Music, and myself. Teachers were kind enough to bring a dish to share! Parents received mugs with a variety of tea bags inside.

In the spirit of volunteerism, my special librarian thanks go out to all the book shelvers and rubber stampers! I couldn't do it without you- your help enables me to better serve your children and I am so grateful for that. Volunteerism is a special trait that speaks louder than words. There is no greater gift than your time. Thank you so much!

(photo: Brenda Speck, volunteer. Lisa Perkins, Kindergarten teacher. Annie Muir, volunteer)

Mrs. James' class loves to write!

Mrs. James class read a special book last week that they checked out from the library called Max's Words. Youngest brother Max doesn't collect stamps or coins like his brothers- he collects words like "slithered" or "pancakes." One word leads to another until he has a whole story to tell!

Mrs. James' class was so inspired by Max's collection of words, they found their own interesting words in magazines, cut them out, and made complete sentences with them. Check out some of their masterpieces!

Mrs. Fournier is attending the Texas Library Association Annual Conference this week in San Antonio. She is learning about new books and new ideas to keep our library rockin' and rollin'!

One panel Mrs. Fournier really liked was on books and censorship. One author who spoke on the panel was Jude Watson of the 39 Clues series! Mrs. Fournier knows we have a bunch of 39 Clues fans here at Forest North, so she asked Jude (her real name is Judy!) for a picture!

See you next week, Eagles- I miss you!

The library is the heart of the school!

April is National School Library Month. In April, we are celebrating the library a different way every day! Today, we wanted to prove the library is the heart of the school. Every student was given a red heart to write why they love the library, and we posted them outside our doors.

Thanks so much for all the wonderful reasons you love the library, Forest North. It was such a special day and made Mrs. Young and I feel special too. We love our jobs! <3

Here's Natalie, Kindergarten student, showing off her Dr. Seuss spirit with Mrs. Fournier. We had such a great time on Dr. Seuss' Birthday, we decided to continue the celebration yesterday at Future Eagle Library Night!

Yesterday was our first Future Eagle Library Night. Future Forest North students were invited to attend our monthly Library Night to have a Dr. Seuss story time, do some Seuss-y crafts, eat a snack, use PebbleGo on the computer to learn about animals, and check out books. These Eagles are going to be in our August Kindergarten class and were already reading in our library bathtub, using shelf markers and sitting perfectly in the story pit while we learned about rhyming words! This is great experience before school starts to make friends, meet staff and familiarize themselves with our campus.

We read The Cat in the Hat and then afterwards, the kids had three craft choices. They made a variety of Cat in the Hat placemats, Grinch masks, and reading door hangers. Current and future eagles also checked out books to take home and share.

Nicol Media, the Parent Support Specialist, and I cordially invite all current and future Eagles to attend every Library Night! Parents will learn about other upcoming events at school and have access to our special collection of books on parenting. Students will have fun learning, creating and socializing. Our next event is on April 20th, and Library Nights will continue through the summer as well.

Night of the Eagles

March 9th was a very special day here at Forest North Elementary. We celebrated Night of the Eagles, where we soar away with reading and community.

To celebrate the event, we all wore our pajamas to school. There were lots of cute slippers and PJs!

After our PTA meeting, students rotated between four rooms of reading. Ms. Jacobs delighted us with Spoon, Mrs. Decker told us of The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School, Mrs. Hermansen directed us to The Way Back Home, and Ms. Potral read Police Cloud. Good thing they have lots of practice and are great readers, because they were a success. Their audiences loved it!












After the books were all read, we all met in the cafeteria and had some milk and cookies! Elizabeth Kahura was on the scene to deliver tales of Africa. We sang songs in Swahili and danced to beautiful music. Elizabeth also told us a beautiful tale of a soaring Eagle and why being an Eagle is being a success! It was a fun night for all. Thanks to all who made it out!

Dr. Seuss' Birthday

March 3rd is Read Across America, a holiday celebrating reading! It also happens to coincide with Theodor Suess Geisel's birthday!

Dr. Seuss is a special favorite of Mrs. Fournier because she is currently serving on the Geisel Book Award Committee, choosing the best book for newly independent readers published in 2010.

To celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday and Read Across America, we had a Seuss-a-thon here in the library. Readers from our school volunteered to keep Dr. Suess going all day long. Readers included Mrs. Lajaunie from the office, Ms. Barbara the lunch monitor, Principal Jacobs, Assistant Principal Decker, and Ms. Potral from P.E. We had a blast reading to each class.














Mrs. Rhea, Mrs. Fournier and Mrs. Meyer pretended to be Thing #1, the Cat in the Hat and Thing #2.

To make the celebration extra special, we encouraged students and faculty to dress up in their Suessiest gear with stripes, polka dots and any other related items.



Mrs. Fournier and Mrs. Perkins, the star-bellied sneech!














We had a great time reading and loving books together. For more information about Read Aross America, check out http://www.nea.org/readacross.

Battle of the Bluebonnets!

RRISD elementary schools were invited to participate in the annual Battle of the Bluebonnets in Leander ISD! This was Round Rock's first time participating and we were so excited!

I needed a team! It was an easy choice- I went to the kids who read the most Bluebonnet books this year. Preethi, Zack, Wyatt, and Shelby had read all 20 books! Lindsay had read 16- she served as our alternate but got to particpate in the Battle as well.

Ms. Herold was kind enough to have t-shirts made for us!


After the dust had cleared, and our participants' brains were fried, and over fifty questions had been answered- we tied for 7th place! We only got 6 questions wrong!

Lucas Miller show was a blast!

We all had a great time at Lucas Miller's concerts today! If you'd like to order his DVD or either of his books, please feel free to order through next Wednesday, 2/10. His website is http://lucasmiller.net/, and if you just scroll down, you will see a link to download an order form. We can also print out another order form for you here at the library, too. Just let us know!

Thanks for a rockin' time, Eagles, and Happy 100th Day of School!

Lucas Miller show tomorrow!

Mrs. Fournier is going to take a break from blogging today. Kylie, a Kindergarten student, is going to tell you exactly what you need to know!

Reading Rally!

Thanks so much for your participation in the Reading Rally.

So far, we've received 55 completed postcard books which we will send out soon to family and friends of Forest North students, inviting them to subscribe to a magazine and help the Library raise money.

We also received 19 magazine subscription orders so far! This is a great way to raise money for the library.

I already have a list of books our students have requested to order and hope to buy them all with the money raised during our Reading Rally! Thanks so much for supporting your child through the Forest North Library.

The library is pleased to host a rock concert!

Lucas Miller the Singing Zoologist is on tour! He has a gig here at Forest North on Thursday, 2/4! Order forms will go home Monday to pre-order books and DVDs. Lucas has generously offered to autograph books and CDs between shows!

Check out his website at http://www.lucasmiller.net/ to get information on his books and CDs. Keep rocking, Eagles!

Bluebonnet Voting Party!

We had a whopping 37 kids read 5 or more Bluebonnet Book Award nominees! Out of these 20 books, if you read 5 or more, you are qualified to vote for the best book of the year. Forest North made an event of it! All qualified voters were invited to a soiree in the library with bingo, free posters, free books, and the Nintendo Wii! They also got a sneak preview for next year's Bluebonnet Book nominees!

Congratulations to all of my 37 voters! After the votes were tallied, it was a tie. Our two winners were Surprises According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney and The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman.

Reading Rally!

The Forest North Library is holding our annual Reading Rally! Great American Opportunities has generously offered to have a magazine drive with us- they will give half of their profits to the Library. Students took home postcard booklets last Thursday. All students who brought back at least 7 postcards ready to be mailed received a rubber ducky! Rubber duck fever has swept the school!

Mackenzie, Kindergarten student, brought back her postcard book and received a rubber duck of her very own. She was so happy, she wrote a book called My Lucky Duck all about it. In it, she fills out the postcards, brings it in, and gets to choose a rubber duck from the box with her friends. I look on as they choose their rubber duck. There are 24 different ones, so it's quite the process to choose that special one! Here is an illustration from Mackenzie's book:

Cover Illustration by Travis

Here at the library, we sometimes have books that get old and worn out after a while. We send them away to be re-bound so that they can still be read by more students, but when they get re-bound, we lose the beautiful cover art.

A book without cover art is a sad thing! It usually doesn't get checked out very much by our younger readers.

Travis had a great idea. He drew his own illustrations for Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World. He used the inside of the book for inspiration and designed a beautiful new cover.

Feel free to stop by anytime and check out Travis' beautiful new cover!

Bluebonnet Book Reviews

Two very special students, Kara and Andy, have submitted special book talks for your viewing. They have written reviews for two Bluebonnet Book Award nominees. Kara reviewed Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School and Other Scary Things, and Andy reviewed The Hound of Rowan. They then set out turning their book review into a real script, and set up a set to film their reviews. They trained on how to use a Flip Video Camera to record and edit each other's reviews. Here are their finished products:



Please feel free to come check out Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School and Other Scary Things or The Hound of Rowan anytime here at your friendly Forest North Elementary Library!