…changing the world, one reader at a time.
Insta Review gives you a new book recommendation in under a minute. Go ahead, time it! View this post on Instagram How does one review a Jerry Spinelli book, exactly? I realize that it’s probably not great to give every single one of his books a standing ovation, and yet… can we just give everything […]
Read More
The other day, a sixth grader approached me when I was standing at the circulation desk. “Have you read Mountain Dog?” He asked. Students approach me about books like this all the time. It’s my favorite part of the day. Sometimes it’s to talk about how much they loved a book – sometimes it’s to […]
Read More
Insta Review gives you a new book recommendation in under a minute. Go ahead, time it! View this post on Instagram Sharon Creech doesn’t just write stories – she creates visual soundscapes that fill the air around you as you read. Her writing is like jazz, with the reader be-bopping and toe tapping their way […]
Read More
The Key to Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd I gave this book five stars because it is my favorite book in the whole wide world! Emma Pearl Casey lives in a little apartment on top of her family’s cafe and graveyard: The Boneyard Cafe. Emma enjoys giving tours and telling stories in the graveyard to her […]
Read More
Every so often, wandering through the library with my middle school groups, I’ll hear a sound that is music to my ears: students “You have to read this book. It’s so good. I’m obsessed with it.” Peer to peer recommendations are incredibly powerful. No matter how well I know a student or how passionately I […]
Read More
The Scarlet Dragon by Jordan Quinn I give this book five stars. The Scarlet Dragon is a really good book. Lucas and Clara are on a ride with the Queen and King to see a scarlet dragon egg. When it hatches Lucas keeps it as a pet. Soon the dragon gets sick if he does […]
Read More
When I first started working with kids, I was under the naive assumption that parents and teachers had complete power over the opinions of the children that they work with. “My students will always be kind and patient and tolerant,” I thought, “because that is what I will teach them.” Cute, right? Enter: Reality. Children […]
Read More
Over on School Library Journal today, STAB Computer Science Coordinator Kim Wilkens and I are talking about Foiling Fake News, a unit we developed for fourth graders to help them to put their digital literacy and computer science skills to the test. We had a blast while helping our fourth graders to sharpen their critical thinking […]
Read More
When I feel small in a world so big, when I wonder how I fit in, when the world is spinning so fast… I tell my wiggling body: be still. I tell my thinking mind: be quiet. I tell my racing breath: be slow. – I Am Yoga, by Susan Verde In the transition from […]
Read More
fitzbetweentheshelves.com 