Having trouble reading this e-mail? Click here.

Booklist's Quick Tips for Schools & Libraries
September 2013

Magination Press

HarperCollins - The Boy on the Porch

From the Editor

Nonfiction for the New School Year

As of this week, most K–12 students across the country are back in class, and we're ready to help you help them find the right titles to match their interests and needs. In this back-to-school issue of Quick Tips, you'll find a special focus on nonfiction—perfect for meeting the charge to address STEM topics and the Common Core State Standards. Below, you'll find contributor Pat Scales' interview with author Steve Sheinkin, about his multi-award-winning title Bomb, along with Common Core–linked suggestions for sharing the book with students. We've also collected new science-fair resources, which offer both new ideas for experiments and some (delicious) twists on classics. (Rice Krispies volcano, anyone?) And finally, we start things off as we often do each year with a diverse roundup of new school stories for both brand-new and returning students. As always, we look forward to hearing from you this month and throughout the year. Please share your stories of the books and strategies that are helping you and your students transition from summer to fall, and I'll post them on our Booklist blog, Likely Stories.

Happy reading!

Gillian Engberg, Editor
gengberg@ala.org

Peanuts Reading Adventure Contest

Nomad Press - Skyscrapers

Scholastic - Children's Dictionary

 

Classroom Connections

Back to School Roundup
 By Gillian Engberg

Welcome students to class with this diverse list of back-to-school titles.

The Apple Orchard Riddle. By Margaret McNamara. Illus. by G. Brian Karas. 2013. 40p. Schwartz & Wade, $15.99 (9780375847448). K–Gr. 3.

The Day the Crayons Quit. By Drew Daywalt. Illus. by Oliver Jeffers. 2013. 40p. Philomel, $17.99 (9780399255373). K–Gr. 3.

The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten. By Maureen Fergus. Illus. by Mike Lowery. 2013. 32p. Kids Can, $16.99 (9781554536986). PreS–K.

Memoirs of a Hamster. By Devin Scillian. Illus. by Tim Bowers. 2013. 32p. Sleeping Bear, $15.99 (9781585368310). K–Gr. 2.

My Crocodile Does Not Bite. By Joe Kulka. Illus. by the author. 2013. 32p. Carolrhoda, $16.95 (9780761389378); e-book, $12.95 (9781467709552). K–Gr. 2.

Noni Is Nervous. By Heather Hartt-Sussman. Illus. by Genevieve Cote. 2013. 24p. Tundra, $17.95 (9781770493230). PreS–K.

Princess Posey and the New First Grader. By Stephanie Greene. Illus. by Stephanie Roth Sisson. 2013. 96p. Putnam, $12.99 (9780399257124); paper, $4.99 (9780142427637). K–Gr. 2.

Ready and Waiting for You. By Judi Moreillon. Illus. by Catherine Stock. 2013. 32p. Eerdmans, $17 (9780802853554). PreS–Gr. 2.

Rufus Goes to School. By Kim T. Griswell. Illus. by Valeri Gorbachev. 2013. 32p. Sterling, $14.95 (9781454904168). PreS–Gr. 1.

Tony Baloney: School Rules. By Pam Muñoz Ryan. Illus. by Edwin Fotheringham. 2013. 40p. Scholastic, paper, $6.99 (9780545481663). PreS–Gr. 2.

You're Wearing That to School?! By Lynne Plourde. Illus. by Sue Cornelison. 2013. 32p. Disney/Hyperion, $16.99 (9781423155102). PreS–Gr. 1.

[read more]

teachingbooks

For more on the books mentioned here, see these related web resources.

 

Books and Authors

Talking With Steve Sheinkin
By Pat Scales

Learn more about the award-winning author, and implement the Common Core with his notable nonfiction titles. 

Steve Sheinkin's Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon (2012) is an amazing account of the Manhattan Project. Its accolades are numerous: it was named a 2013 Newbery Honor Book, the 2013 Sibert Medal winner, and a 2012 National Book Award finalist. Skillfully merging science, history, Steve Sheinkin's Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon (2012)and the personalities that made it all possible, this is one of the most comprehensive books for children on the topic. The well-documented text, filled with human-interest stories, and the numerous photographs lead young readers through an era of which they may know little about. What worried J. Robert Oppenheimer when the project was complete? The answer is what readers must ponder for their lives and future generations. In the conversation below, Sheinkin discusses the inspiration and research that went into Bomb, and he offers additional insights into writing informational books for youth.

BKL: What inspired you to write about the Manhattan Project?

SHEINKIN: It was the spies that hooked me. I was fascinated by how the Soviets were able to steal bomb plans from this top-secret American lab. And once I started reading about the subject, I couldn't stop.

BKL: You provide an extended list of resources that support your research. How long did it take you to conduct the research? When did you realize that you had enough information to proceed with writing? 

SHEINKIN: I spent about a year reading and taking notes. I'd still be doing research if I hadn't had a deadline to actually write something. I knew I had enough information to start writing, but I just enjoy the research process a lot more than the writing process.

[read more]

teachingbooks

For more on the books mentioned here, see these related web resources.

 

Focus on STEM

Are You Ready for the Science Fair
By Anastasia Suen

Help students gear up for this year's science fairs
with these idea-packed titles.

Are you ready for the annual science fair? At many schools, students work on new science-fair projects every year, and choosing a topic can be a tricky process. Science-fair project books fly off the shelves during the weeks leading up to the fair. Students need a selection of step-by-step project guides to help them prepare. Remember that working on a science-fair project will help students meet many Common Core State Standards, including Writing Anchor Standard 7: "Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation." Below are six great science-fair project guides to aid students in their planning and research.

The Classics

A Project Guide to Volcanoes (2010), by Claire O'Neal, expands on a classic science-fair project with creative (and delicious) ideas: one of the volcanoes students can make has chocolate lava flowing out of a base made out of Rice Krispies Treats! Backyard Biology: Investigate Habitats outside Your Door with 25 Projects (2013), by Donna Latham, guides students as they use their own backyard as a science lab.

[read more]

teachingbooks

For more on the books mentioned here, see these related web resources.

 


About Booklist's Quick Tips for Schools and Libraries 

Gillian Engberg, Editor gengberg@ala.org

If you haven't already signed up to receive future issues of Quick Tips and would like to do so, click here.

For information about advertising in Booklist Online Exclusives, REaD ALERT, Booklist Online, Booklist Online Video Review, Quick Tips, and Booklist magazine, click here or e-mail your sales representative:

Linda Cohen, Sales Representative (New York)
Nancy Wood, Sales Representative (East Coast)
Ryan King, Sales Representative (Midwest and West)

You are receiving this newsletter either because you subscribed to it or because you have expressed interest in Booklist, Booklist Online, or other publications of the American Library Association. This newsletter is published approximately 12 times per year. We will not sell your e-mail to outside parties, although we may share it with other similar publications of the ALA. To unsubscribe from this newsletter, click here. To manage your e-mail subscriptions and to sign up for this or other Booklist newsletters, click here. Your e-mail may be shared with sponsors of this newsletter should you express interest in their products by clicking on their advertisements or content. If the sponsors choose to communicate with you by e-mail, they are obligated to provide you with an opportunity to opt-out from future emails in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. To read the ALA privacy policy, click here

Visit Booklist Online

Booklist Online, American Library Association
 

50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611

© 2013 by Booklist Online

In This Issue:
From the Editor

Back to School Roundup 
Talking with Steve Sheinkin
Are You Ready for the Science Fair

Share This Newsletter

Papercutz - Benny Breakiron


Candlewick - Mitchell Goes Bowling


ABDO Knows Sports


OwlKids - Is This Panama?


Scholastic Library - Grolier Online


Booklist Webinars - Book It: Fall Titles for Youth


Booklist Webinars - What's New in Youth Nonfiction

 


ALA Publishing
Manage your subscriptions to Booklist e-mails here.
If you no longer wish to receive Booklist e-mails, please click here.
To unsubscribe from all American Library Association communications, click here.
American Library Association, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611
American Library Association.

Informz for iMIS
http://ala-publishing.informz.net/InformzDataService/OnlineVersion/Individual?mailingInstanceId=3477917&subscriberId=1026775759
ala-publishing.informz.net
crawl=CC-MAIN-2014-10
34580
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:2F6LLADBDV67SI2AXQ4UAX6YURBLCH7J
<urn:uuid:1b9c0823-edf4-4c83-bbdc-2a63ff4bf2a8>
2014-03-10T09:16:59Z
66.192.199.153
sha1:GNGCPCQKGUUE57PZLBGKPXARLPV7BZFU
<urn:uuid:a7f05d86-aa68-4109-beeb-642f534fbf37>
http://ala-publishing.informz.net/InformzDataService/OnlineVersion/Individual?mailingInstanceId=3477917&subscriberId=1026775759
response
<urn:uuid:b1b367fc-a293-4575-87e6-a9d689936a8d>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2014-10
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web with URLs provided by Blekko for March 2014
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf