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Penguin Young Readers Group has a sweepstakes for Skippyjon Jones Fans! Get the Skippy Scoop monthly e-newsletter that features MUCHO fun Skippito stuff like info about the newest Skippyjon Jones books, fantastic lesson plan ideas, downloadable activity sheets, and other goodies for your students. Sign up for the Skippy Scoop and be automatically entered for a chance to win the grand prize—a visit from Judy Schachner and a Skippy costume! To sign up, just send an email to schoolandlibrary@us.penguingroup.com with the subject line “Skippy Scoop Sign Up Sweepstakes,” The e-newsletter is free and sweepstakes entry is open to eligible teachers, school librarians, or educations of preschoolRead More →

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PBC will be at AETA this year! Stop by our booth and visit us, we’d love to talk to you! September 23-24, 2011 @ ASU Polytechnic Keynote speaker: Ellen Hopkins CLICK HERE to learn moreRead More →

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In: Action & Adventure, Action & Adventure (YA), Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction (YA), Middle Grade Reviews, Mystery & Suspense, Mystery & Suspense (YA), Sci Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
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Sci-Fi Action author Brian Falkner creates another fast-paced, twisting and turning thrill ride in his latest novel, The Project.  Best friends Tommy and Luke like to pull mostly harmless pranks and enjoy horsing around.  Even though their latest prank lands them in some serious trouble at school, they still volunteer with to help the local university library try to save its rare book collection from the impending threat of a fast moving flood.  While helping out, Luke discovers the only copy in existence of a rare book based on Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings and theories. Because he’s been researching “the most boring book in theRead More →

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The Rabbit Problem, by Emily Gravett is not a traditional picture book (in a good way.) Set up like a calendar (complete with a hole for hanging), the story starts with one Lonely Rabbit in a field sending out invitations in January to find a friend. When Chalk Rabbit shows up in February, the two bundle together (in a poorly knit sweater) and in March, Alfalfa and Angora Rabbit show up…can you see where we are going with this? As each month passes, the Rabbit family grows and faces new challenges- dealing with the weather, finding food, findng things to do when they are boredRead More →

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I am in love with this book. Gorgeously detailed, complexly plotted, riveting, sensuous, mysterious and smoldering – and I could go on and on.  Laini Taylor’s 2009 National Book Award finalist Lips Touch, was well-crafted, consuming, and oh-so-delicious, making me very eager to immerse myself in her latest, Daughter of Smoke & Bone.   And I was not disappointed.  Taylor draws her characters with the grace of a painter, flushing them out with shadow and light, giving vivid detail to even the minor ones so that its easy to visualize, empathize, and fall in love with them.  The settings – Prague, Paris, Morocco, and Elsewhere – are luminous with detail and beguiling inRead More →

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In: Ideas You Can Use, Reaching Reluctant Readers, This is interesting
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September 15th:Join Jon Scieszka, bestselling children’s author and founder of Guys Read, as he leads our free webcast on Books for Boys. Find out about the upcoming titles from Simon & Schuster, Random House BOT and Candlewick Press that just might coax those reluctant readers to pick up a book and dive in! SPONSORED BY:Simon & Schuster, Random House BOT, Candlewick Press with School Library Journal EVENT DATE: Thursday, September 15, 2011– 3:00 PM EDT – 60 minutes Non-readers, despite their gender, get left behind in life. Low literacy contributes to drop out rates, crime rates, and increased chances for incarceration. This is especially trueRead More →

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From Language Magazine (August 2011): ROR (or more properly, RORA, for Reach Out and Read Aloud) has been shown to increase the frequency of reading aloud in low-income families and results in substantial gains in vocabulary, especially in receptive vocabulary. It requires only a modest investment in time and material (books), but results so far indicate that it can substantially help close the equity gap in literacy, the difference in literacy competence between children from high and low-income families. This is a contrast to the much more expensive and elaborate solutions currently under consideration, thus far lacking in clear empirical support (e.g. The LEARN Act,Read More →

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In a world where everyone looks like everyone else, no one questions the status quo, technology and all consumer goods are being recycled since there’s nothing new anymore, and the government controls every aspect of its citizens’ lives, there’s virtually no room left for personal expression, uniqueness, or individual freedoms.  Basically, this is the formula for just about every dystopia in recent memory: The Handmaid’s Tale,  The Giver,  1984,  The City of Ember, Maze Runner, Birthmarked,  The Forest of Hands and Teeth,  Matched,  The Hunger Games,  Grace, and the list goes on and on…  The newest entry into this genre is Sara Grant’s Dark Parties, Read More →

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In 1978, China is just beginning to recover from the harsh turmoil of the Cultural Revolution.  Living in the furthest northern provinces on a government farm, 11 year old Zhongmei Li dreams of becoming a dancer, but her family is poor and her village is far from anywhere important.  When her older sister reads that the acclaimed Beijing Dance Academy is holding open auditions for the first time in its history, Zhongmei knows that she must do everything she can to win a place for herself and a chance at the future of her dreams.  She convinces her parents to borrow the money for theRead More →