World Read Aloud Day 2023 was AMAZING! The Brewster Library celebrated all week long, with each class connecting with at least 1 author/illustrator or classroom from around the United States. When connecting, we introduce ourselves and our school, are good audiences and if there is time, we ask questions about the other school. Sometimes we share favorite books! This year we had so many options for celebrating! The CT Association of School Librarians hosted 5 authors including CT's own Deborah Freedman and Janet Lawler. Novel Effect, Quivervision and Teacher Goals had 4 terrific selections including Peter Reynolds! Storyvoice Live and Scholastic partnered to provide read alouds all day long (even beginning Tuesday evening) and they included favorites such as Lucille Colandro who writes the There Was an Old Lady books and Jon Klassen and Mac Barnett sharing their latest Three Billy Goats Gruff among many other amazing authors and illustrators. And Flip celebrated with Nick Bruel and Bad Kitty! Fortunately many of these provided recordings for us. 

Below are a few of the titles shared this week. It is always fun to meet new authors and illustrators and find new titles for our library. Check out the slideshow to see what the week looked like for us!

These are just a few of the terrific new books that have been added to the Brewster Library recently. The photos with 3 books are my Junior Library Guild orders. 

Connecting my learners to places outside of our school is really important to me, so I try to connect them whenever I can. I saw a Valentine's Exchange opportunity in one of the Facebook groups I belong to and signed up. I also shared it with the teachers in my building so they could join in the fun if they chose to do so. 

In the end, there were over 80 sign ups and we were put into groups of 10. You could choose if you wanted to send digital or physical valentines. In addition, each class sent a digital Valentine to the entire group. It was so much fun to receive them and learn about schools from all over the world. Here is our digital Valentine. 

Students from most of my classes helped create the paper Valentines we sent. Our Valentine partners are from Kentucky, Colorado, Iowa, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, New York, and California. Most classes shared pictures of the students, their school, the surrounding area and other things of interest. 

Thanks to Connie Wonner, Kindergarten teacher from Michigan for organizing this project!

I'm always looking for ways to connect with classes and I was excited when 3Dux sent an email sharing about a design challenge for Groundhog Day. Grade 1 classes learn about light and shadows throughout the year so I thought it would be a great opportunity for them to apply what they've been learning about. We were able to schedule classes all around the date of Groundhog Day. We decided to have them come 2 times, with a little pre-teaching in their classroom first. This worked out great! 3Dux organized this challenge very well and everything was easy to find. I loved all of the support resources for teachers too!

Day 1 - the classes watched the videos about Groundhogs and if needed, light and shadows.
Day 2 - classes came to the library to design and construct their winter scene dioramas in small groups. 3Dux had kits that you could purchase, but you could use your own materials too. 
Day 3 - classes came back to the library to put their Groundhog in their scene and shine their light from different angles. They observed what happened to the shadows. We didn't record data this year, but we'd like to try that next year. 

The learners had a blast creating and building together and the teachers and I loved collaborating. 

The Dragon Masters series is one of our favorites at Brewster School! Join me at this in-person event at Turning the Page bookstore in Monroe!

I Have a Question by Andrew Arnold (Roaring Brook Press, Jan. 31, 2023) is a must-have book for any school library. The main character has a question after the science lesson and is afraid to ask because they might look silly. The thoughts in their head go on and on as they think they will have to move out of town and possibly even to another planet! Of course in the end, this is not true, but Arnold does a perfect job of recreating the anxious thoughts that so many of us have when we want to ask a question. 

I completely understood the character's feelings because this was exactly me when I was little (and maybe into my 20's too) before I learned that it was ok, and actually important, to be able to take risks like that. And yes, it's ok to walk into something late too. 

In my library classes, we are working on inquiry projects and today was the day for the learners to begin asking questions - so of course we started class with this read aloud! My Kindergarten and 1st grade learners were silent and completely engaged as we read today. Here are some of their thoughts: 

• What is the character's name?
• I love that book!
• I like how he was brave at the end!
• I loved the pictures and the words!
• I wish it was longer!
• The pictures are pretty.
• Always question. Always wonder.

If you are looking to add to a book to support inquiry or SEL in your library, you cannot go wrong with I Have a Question.

Thank you to MacMillan Children's Publishing and Roaring Brook Press for providing a review copy of this book.

How We Say I Love You by Nicole Chen and Illustrated by Lenny Wen

Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on December, 13, 2022. 

Hana’s family says “I love you” not in words, but in all of their everyday actions, both big and small. In Nicole Chen’s sweet book, each member of her family, her parents, grandparents and including herself, as well as her family as a whole, show their love to one another every day. Hana shares how her mom, “ . . . stirs her love into a pot of steaming xi fan,” for her breakfast to begin the day. At dinnertime, her Ah Ma and Ah Gong are shown love as they get to fill their bowls first with the best pieces that help keep them strong (even though those pieces often end up in Hana’s bowl!). Hana rubs Ah Ma’s feet and pours Ah Gong tea at night before bed. 

Each special action is shared using language which readers of all ages will understand and be able to relate. The illustrations support the text and clearly show the love that this family shares. This is a book that belongs on your library, classroom and home shelves! I would recommend this book for ages 3-8. It would be a perfect book to read when talking about love, family, and things you are grateful for.  I think it will be a wonderful book to read for Valentine's Day too! 

I was gifted a copy of How We Say I Love You by Nicole Chen and Lenny Wen to read, review and celebrate for Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2023. #ReadYourWorld

For more information, visit storiesbynicolechen.com and follow her on Twitter @nychen and Instagram @ncheny. Visit Lenny Wen at lennywen.com and follow him on Twitter @lunartcy19 and Instagram @lunartcy. 

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2023 (1/26/22) is in its 10th year! This non-profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those books into the hands of young readers and educators.
Ten years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues. Read about our Mission & History HERE.

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MCBD 2023 is honored to be Supported by these Medallion Sponsors!
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? FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day

• MCBD 2023 Poster
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• Diversity Book Lists & Activities for Teachers and Parents
• Homeschool Diverse Kidlit Booklist & Activity Kit
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? Register for the MCBD Read Your World Virtual Party
Join us on Thursday, January 26, 2023, at 9 pm EST for the 10th annual Multicultural Children's Book Day Read Your World Virtual Party!

This epically fun and fast-paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas.

We will be giving away a 10-Book Bundle during the virtual party plus Bonus Prizes as well! *** US and Global participants welcome. **

Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, and connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians. We look forward to seeing you all on January 26, 2023, at our virtual party!

I've been wanting to add resources  to the library for calming down for a while now and it finally happened! The kids are loving all of the different choices and have even been bringing in things to add to the bins. We talked a lot together about how to use the different items. Many of the items were purchased at the Dollar Store or just things I had at home. Calm Strips are a big hit too! They like that there are different textures. I'd like to add more of those soon. The Mini Buddha Boards (link to Amazon) are also hugely popular! I love that they use just a little water and then the picture just evaporates after a few minutes. The kids love to wet the whole board and watch it disappear. I love that they can be used by all ages too. 

These 2 books have been making a huge impact on my own life, my family and my school family. Thanks to Carly and Adam and their amazing STEM resources, conferences, and other events, I was introduced to these books and the authors. I participated in the book clubs for both books which led to so many insights and reflections. I really appreciate the brain science behind the discussion about play because as an educator, it is important to be sure that what I am doing is best for learners.

If you belong to  Carly and Adam's Teacher Club and Facebook groups, you can connect with other educators as well as Julie and Jed. This is a community that supports one another and has fun!!! Find these books and check them out! Below are pictures of some of the play that I've added to my life. One thing that was simple was finding an app that would tell me when to walk faster on my walks. You could have scheduled pick ups or  . . . surprise ones! So much more fun! And don't forget fun socks!!! Kids love them.