Top 5 Books

Here are Sarah Sullivan's top five children's books:
1. Because of Winn Dixie
2. Walk Two Moons
3. Lily's Purple Plastic Purse
4. When Zachary Beaver Came to Town
5. Bud Not Buddy

Please add your own top 5 list in the commments section.

Suggestions for Mrs. Dunn

I am always looking for a good book. Do you have any suggestions?

Poll Questions for the Summer

Please help me come up with some good poll questions about literature for this summer. Just hit comments and send me questions with up to five choices. I also need help with answers to my next question: Who is the meanest literary villain?

Sarah Sullivan Visits Fourth

Sarah Sullivan, author of Root Beer and Banana spent the day with the fourth grade teaching them some of the techniques that professional writers employ. After a presentation on the creation of her book to the whole grade, Ms. Sullivan, met with individual classes for an intensive one hour workshop.

Good Sports Books for Summer

Every summer twelve year olds from around the U.S. and the world gather in Williamsport, Pa., for the Little League World Series. Before teams even get to this round they must compete in the local City Series. Six Innings tells the story of one of these games and the 24 boys who meet for 6 innings on the field. Each of the twelve chapters tells the story of every half inning of the game in exacting detail. The characters and situations all seem very real. Both the boy who only wants to hit and the boy who hopes desperately for a walk come to life in this short masterpiece. In pivotal situations the author actually bases the events on famous half-innings from playoff games. The details from these games and almost every game ever played are available from retrosheet.org. You might want to check it out.

Sports fans, Six Innings is a can't miss, even if you don't love baseball. For baseball lovers it's a slam dunk (excuse the mixed metaphor) Let me know about other sports books you would recommend for this summer.

Starclimber

Matt Cruse and Kate de Vries are back in another adventure, and this time they are travelling into space. Starclimber offers an alternative version of our history at the turn of the 20th century. It is a world inhabited by fantastical flying machines, amazing winged creatures, and suffragettes marching for voting rights. The romance between the humble Cruse and the upper crust de Vries takes on a new twist as they set off into space. Only 6 chapters into the book I have been entranced once more with Oppel's imaginative vision and his exciting story telling. I am just about ready to add Starclimber to my favorite adventure list for 4-8th graders, a list that prominently features the first two books in this series: Airborn and Skybreaker.