"The power of the story and the importance of the storyteller are felt in this nostalgic piece that makes readers think about progress. Those interested in storytelling and theater will be especially impressed with this offering, but it will have broad appeal."

"All of the main characters in these books have some sort of disability, which is a great way to teach students how to learn about differences."

check out these reviews -- some of the books would be great additions to your collections

from School Library Journal

you might want to subscribe via your start page to this blog which reviews all forms of 'comics' for kids.

"This is a book that works for all sorts of folks for all sorts of different reasons. I always get a little wary when a bunch of folks like a new book and start recommending it to me. I worry that their opinions will raise my expectations too high and then I'm bound to be disappointed. That said, I can't help but agree with anyone and everyone who has raved about this. It's got kid appeal, amazing writing and storytelling, and a friggin' merman. Consider it a story worthy of the hype and one that's gonna win itself a whole new crew of Kathi Appelt fans. Plus it made me cry."

I want to read this book! Read the full review to ensure that it is compatible with your school - and then order it anyway!!

"The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing. "

consider reading the reviews to determine if these books are suitable for your high school library

PDF book lists including: Kids Taking Action; Children's Fiction about Art, Intercultural Connections around the World.

"The Tattered Pages, a new and used bookstore in our school. Through newsletters, articles in the local newspaper, advertisements, and speaking engagements I solicited donations. I also received grants and new book donations from our local colleges and retail bookstores. Today, The Tattered Pages contains over 3,000 new and used books that students and their families can buy. What makes The Tattered Pages unique, however, is that books are "bought" using earned coupons, rather than real money. Students earn these coupons in a variety of ways, including: "

-what an amazing idea!

Field Trip Earth focuses on field-based wildlife conservation research projects ongoing around the world. Some of the projects are "live," meaning that research activities, and one or more research scientists, are currently active in the field. These projects are featured prominently on the site

this site is worth adding to your elementary and middle years science pages

Review: "Part of the nine-volume "Canadian Aboriginal Art and Culture" series, these books provide information about a variety of topics, including homes, clothing, food, tools and weapons, religion, celebrations and ceremonies, music and dance, language and storytelling, and art. In fact, with only one or two exceptions, all the chapter headings in these three titles are identical. " Recommended but NOTE: This series provides just enough information for elementary school students.

this may be a useful series to have in your library - elementary/middle years art and social studies

Review: "Heather C. Hudak and Weigl Educational Publishers have created a template to encompass all cultures, races, ethnicities found in Canada. Into this template, Hudak has pieced each culture without acknowledging its uniqueness, its special history or its struggle for freedom and opportunity! " NOT recommended!

You might want to take note of the comments in the review - some schools may have purchased this series. It is interesting to note however that Saskatchewan Education recommended "The Ukranians in Canada", "The French in Canada" and the "Chinese in Canada" for grades 3-5 in 2005.

Review: "'Canadian Citizenship in Action' is a series of four books intended to help middle years's students understand just what living in a democracy like ours means, and how each person can participate, as well as what barriers may be encountered."

You may wish to consider purchasing this series for middle years social studies - if you don't already have it in your library.

""Picture books are a great tool to explicitly teach comprehension strategies. They tend to be short and are effective models for teaching various comprehension strategies. They can be used as springboards for class discussions or as the foundation for a think-aloud.""

listen and read along with these National Geographic articles for young readers.

these would make a great addition to primary web pages - have a listen to some of the issues

"check out one of these six websites that offer information on the sciences."

it may be useful to post each of these sites on the library web page individually - senior high sciences

Search a wide variety of social media all in one spot. "Mashpedia presents an organized mashup of results from Wikipedia, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, Google News, Books, Blog Posts, and further contextual information, thus providing a quick, practical outlook for every topic. "

This would be a great addition to the school library page for any classes - middle years and up that do current events.

From the Calgary Board of Education and United Library Services Wired for Words is dedicated to providing our young avid readers with a place to get some advice on best-reads! And it is also a place where you can share information about what books you recommend or read the reviews sent in by other readers.

"While YouTube may be known for sharing silly videos or as a way to see your sister's children who live across the country, it is actually becoming a powerful form of online education. This listing provides a collection of videos that educators will find both interesting and inspirational. Whether you are working with students at the elementary level or with college-aged students, you are sure to find plenty of inspiration among these YouTube videos."

worth posting on the library's web site?

"The word "rebel" is so overused and misused in our culture that it seems pat and tired to apply it to J.D. Salinger. Yet, I can think of few prominent contemporary arts figures who actually deserve that label as much as he did."

Are we ready for this... what is now available in our libraries??? "Once upon a time - in the 1990s- e-books for children came on CD-ROMs, and for digital wizardry, offered only mouse clicks and hidden pop-up-like animations. Not anymore. Touch-screens and app stores have given new tricks to old books, and the number of new titles is blossoming."

"Every year, libraries are asked to remove books from their shelves, because they are found to be inappropriate. These "challenges" can occur for any reason, and do not necessarily result in a book's removal from libraries. But the list of the 10 most challenged books in 2009 does show which books some parents find objectionable, and why they feel their kids shouldn't be reading them"