Book of the Day: Bluebonnet Book Trailers

Bluebonnet List Book Trailers

Sometimes instead of reinventing the wheel I can point you in the direction of some awesome work others have done.  This GLOG (Graphical Blog) has book trailers for some of this year’s Bluebonnet Books.  There is still a month and a half to read these wonderful stories and decide which is most deserving of your vote for the Bluebonnet Award.  There are many 3-5^th graders already eligible to vote and I know we will have a fun time promoting the favorites and then celebrating the winner.  Read at least 5 by the end of January!!

Surfer of the Century

Surfer of the Century: The Life of Duke Kahanamoku by Ellie Crowe


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Surfing is an exciting and mysterious sport, especially to those of us who live in land locked DFW. Duke Kahanamoku was a man who mastered this sport and shared his love of the water with the world. He learned to swim and surf at a young age, was able to hold his breath underwater for minutes at a time, set World Records for swimming in the Olympic Games, and even saved lives with the help of his surf board. Duke traveled all over the world promoting the sport of surfing and his dream was to see a surfing entered into the Olympic Games.


Surfer of the Century gives readers a look into the life of the man who revolutionized the sport. The illustrations are drawn in beautiful water tones that convey the setting of Dukes life and passion. The time line in the back shows all the highlights of his life as well as impact since his death. This is an interesting look at an impressive man.






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The Uglified Ducky: A Maynard Moose Tale

The Uglified Ducky by Willy Claflin


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If you want to read a book with tears running down your face, while having to pause every few pages to catch your breath from laughing, then this is the book for you. You may think you know the story of the Ugly Duckling, but think again. Maynard Moose tells the tale of the Uglified Ducky, this happens to be a Baby Moose who wandered away and is raised by duckies. The moose, d’abandoned (abandoned) by his fambly (family), blunders into a ducks nest thinking it a snuggly place to nap. The mother duck considers him a distremely (extremely) uglified ducky and set about to teach him proper duck behavior. The hilarious story unfolds as the moose is unable to perform everyday duck activities such as swimming and flying. What makes this book even more enjoyable is the Glossary of Moose Words in the front and the CD included in the back. Author Willy Clafin is a gifted story teller and the book is 100 times better when he reads it with his voices and moosly pronunciations.


FYI: Bledsoe 4th graders were privileged to hear Willy Clafin at the Frisco Storytelling Festival, he was very entertaining to hear in person. It only made me enjoy his book more to know that the Maynard Moose stories are based upon those he made up for his young son.






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Umbrella Summer

Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Annie Richards is an extremely cautious girl; she walks her bike around town and wears her helmet, bike pads, and all necessary bandages at all times. And she is an expert at diagnosing and addressing her various ailments. It is important to Annie that she be careful and always prepared. She was not prepared for her brother to die, everyone thought he was fine too, but Annie knows better.


When she forms an unlikely relationship with her new neighbor, the one who moved into the haunted house, she begins to discover that her self-preservation routine may be more harmful than she realized. With the healing of time, friendships, and a classic tale of a pig she begins to confront her grief and move back toward her life.


I cannot remember the last time a book made me cry, both when I read it and when I shared the story with friends. Annie is a raw and touching character whose pain is so real. Umbrella Summer is very deserving of its place on the Bluebonnet Nomine list.






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I am so excited!!

Last year Savvy by Ingrid Law was one of my favorite books on the Bluebonnet List. I read it very quickly and recommended it to many students throughout the year. I was also was able to enjoy it with Bledsoe's 5th grade book club at the end of the year, their video was posted a few weeks ago, take a look. I have been looking forward to the companion book Scumble ever since I heard about it last March. It is finally here!!!

I am about half way through Scumble now and it is great! Ledger, Mibs cousin, is the main character in this book and it is about 10 years later or at least enough time has passed for Fish to be getting married! Ledger has been waiting for his 13 birthday and he had convinced himself that his savvy would give his super speed, or make him extremely talented at something athletic. BUT, that is not the case so far all he can do is destroy anything mechanical or manmade. He is a walking demolition machine, and he doesn’t know how to stop it. Many of the wonderful characters from Savvy make an appearance but the main show is taken by this new and intriguing boy, Ledge, as he tries to come to grips with his new Savvy and learn to Scumble.

If you loved Savvy then Scumble will become yoru new favorite book, and if you have not read either one come on it to the library and get it today!

Back to School

We are almost ready to jump into the next school year.  I hope you are as excited as I am.  I am glad to be returning to Bledsoe this year.  I have been reading, reading, reading all summer and look forward to sharing wonderful books with you all.  I am just completing Among the Hidden my Margaret Peterson Haddix.  I will post a review very soon.  I have also worked my way through almost all of next years Bluebonnet Nominees and are you in for a treat.  There are some very exciting reads on that list.

Some of the exciting things that will be happening right off the bat this year are Book Clubs with grades 3-5 and Readers Theatre Club with 2nd graders.  Look back for more information on signups and schedules for these clubs.

Please let me know about a book you read this summer or a story that you loved - see you soon!

Alvin Ho

I finished reading Alvin Ho by Lenore Look. It is about a 2nd grade boy who is afraid of almost everything. He wants to make friends and be able to talk in school he just can't. I really enjoyed this book because Alvin is very likable, he allows the reader to understand what is going on inside his head and why he reacts the way he does to the many scary situations he encounters. I also liked his father, he really cared about Alvin and wanted to help him.

I recommend this Bluebonnet book to both boys and girls who like reading about making friends and overcoming things that scare you.