Elbow, knees, dreams : books

Pete the Cat

kiri8 — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 17:03:31 GMT

My good friend and former special ed teacher Ali was the one who turned me on to Pete the Cat. I got the first two books from the library and my class went bananas. The best part was putting the songs on iTunes for free, and singing along. I’ve found...(read more)

Maurice Sendak, king of all Wild Things, has died

kiri8 — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:37:08 GMT

The New York Times reported sad news this morning. Maurice Sendak, the author of Where the Wild Things Are and many other children’s classics, died at the age of 83. I love his books, and have long admired him. As the Times said, In book after book, Mr....(read more)

joyous news on the Mo Willems front

kiri8 — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:02:06 GMT

He has two new books coming out! Listen to My Trumpet! will be released next week, on February 7. The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? will be available on April 3. I’m doing my happy dance! Read More......(read more)

on sharing, the little red hen, and teachers

kiri8 — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:31:37 GMT

There is a new teacher teaching the afternoon class this year. She is young, determined, and confident. I had hoped to develop a mentoring relationship with her, but she doesn’t seem interested. Which is completely fine. She doesn’t have much overlap...(read more)

Barnes & Noble educators sale online

kiri8 — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:44:26 GMT

I just got an email from “Barnsey” (as Mrs. Mimi calls it) and they are having an online sale for teachers. Teach Like a Champion is only $15.37 on sale (instead of $27.95). Vivian Gussin Paley has a new book! Actually, it came out last year, and I somehow...(read more)

Mrs. Mimi has a new blog

kiri8 — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 13:56:44 GMT

It’s called Mrs. Mimi Teaches , and is going to be full of ideas to help teachers in their classrooms. I say “going to be” because as yet, it’s pretty spare on content. However, as Mrs. Mimi is a fellow lover of books, school supplies, and being organized,...(read more)

classroom management and behavior

kiri8 — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 18:20:19 GMT

In my internet wanderings, I found another interesting blog. It’s called Smart Classroom Management , and the author, Michael Linsin, wrote a book called Dream Class that I think sounds really intriguing. He’s got one post called 8 Things Teachers do...(read more)

YA novels are my crack

kiri8 — Wed, 18 May 2011 19:42:05 GMT

Yes, this is totally off-topic. Well, sort of. (At work, I am very interested in books and kids. YA novels bring those things together, but just not for the age group I work with.) For the last year and a half or so, I have been going nuts reading young...(read more)

the library on a sunny day

kiri8 — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:50:32 GMT

We walked to the local library today for story time. Last time we were there, a baby toddled around and then plopped herself down on the lap of one of my little boys, who was both astounded and delighted. She was our favorite part of that story time visit...(read more)

i broke my trunk

kiri8 — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:09:35 GMT

Two weeks ago, I told my class that I was going to buy the new Elephant and Piggie book over the weekend. When I got to the bookstore that Saturday, however, they didn’t have a copy. When we came back to school on Tuesday, after our Presidents’ Day holiday,...(read more)

i want to drink beer with the new children’s librarian

kiri8 — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:35:24 GMT

Our local library has a new children’s librarian. The old one was good, but she went on maternity leave and didn’t come back, and her temporary replacement was a bit…hyper. We’d walk down the street for preschool storytime, and I would cringe watching...(read more)

The Caldecott Medal

kiri8 — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 00:10:49 GMT

The winner was announced today, and it was A Sick Day for Amos McGee, by Philip C. and Erin E. Stead. I haven’t read it yet, and I’m annoyed with myself. Someone as in love with children’s books as I am should be more on top of things! But now I can’t...(read more)

knuffle bunny free

kiri8 — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:16:20 GMT

This week’s New York Times Book Review had a lovely review of Mo Willems’ latest in the Knuffle Bunny series. I haven’t been keeping up with Mo’s blog lately, so had no idea there was a third book until I stumbled upon it at a bookstore a few weeks ago....(read more)

In praise of picture books

kiri8 — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 19:13:43 GMT

So I read a shocking article in the New York Times last week. Apparently, picture books are losing favor with parents, because they want their kindergartners and first graders reading chapter books! The picture book, a mainstay of children’s literature...(read more)

staff development that doesn’t suck

kiri8 — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 23:05:35 GMT

I spent the day with the other pre-k teachers in my district (by the way, how DO you spell pre-k? Pre-K? PreK? Anyway.) and it was great to see everyone. Ali (the former special ed teacher who worked in my room for four years but now has her own pre-k...(read more)