Castle Herald

If you're new to Sharon Elementary, please be aware of the following:

• Kindergarten students typically check out 1-2 books, that they keep in their classroom. Speak with your child's teacher for confirmation.
• 1st - 5th grade students may check out up to 3 books, to leave at school or take home to enjoy

• Students can log into ClassLink-->Choose Media Center Catalog (Destiny) and look up books or place 1 book on hold.
• Students can also utilize the Media Center Catalog, Destiny Discover, to see their checkouts, when their books are due back, and/or to read eBooks.
• If a student damages or loses a library book, they must go to SchoolPay.com to pay the book replacement fee. No replacement copies are accepted. Students cannot check out more books until the damaged or lost book fine is paid.
• The Media Center Catalog sends out a weekly email to families of students with an overdue book.

Our school's library books are selected by a Local School Instructional Media Committee comprised of an administrator, our media specialist, teacher representatives for K/1, 2/3, 4/5, and Speech and Special Education, along with 3 parents.

A Message From Our District:

• Talking with your kids on a regular basis about what they are reading can positively affect their performance at school and create important family bonds. We invite you and your child to look at our school media center catalog together to discuss options or create a list of books to check out.
• Forsyth County Schools’ media centers provide resources that reflect all students within each school community. If you come across a book that does not match your family’s values and/or beliefs, and you would prefer that your child does not check that book out, please discuss it with your child.
• We are always happy to help you and your child to find just the right book. This is a partnership, and we are excited to work with you!

If you haven't already, consider signing your child up to participate in this year's Birthday Book Stars fundraiser, which pays for our annual author visit. Your child will select a book from a set of brand-new library books, will help decide where to place a dedication sticker inside, and will have their picture taken and placed on a star. Their birthday star will hang in the hallway outside the library all month and will be given to them to keep at the end of the month. Students who check the new book out after them will enjoy seeing the birthday book dedication inside! A great legacy to leave to our school! This optional fee is listed on your SchoolPay.com account.

Our school has gone back to paper/pencil monthly reading challenges. These challenges are completely optional. Each month, your child can pick up a reading challenge paper from the Castle Library to bring home and fill out as they read books that are challenging for them. Be sure to read each monthly challenge paper carefully!

Be ready to tell Mrs. Daniels about your books, especially if you really enjoyed reading them! Completing a monthly reading challenge also earns each student a ticket into an end-of-year, grand-prize drawing, where one student will win a $100 Visa gift card. Books do not have to be ones that are solely checked out from our Castle Library.

Click HERE to see a copy of the September Reading Challenge that students can pick up in the library.

Due no later than Friday, September 30, 2026.

Our fall Scholastic Book Fair will be held the week we get back from Fall Break, October 5-8th. If you want to go ahead and preview the books, click HERE and scroll down to the section called "Preview the books at our Fair". You can also set up an eWallet for this fair and/or transfer funds from an old eWallet into a new eWallet.

by Deborah Underwood

Once there was a man who loved his tidy home, but he did not like animals at all. When a cat moved in with him, the man ordered it to leave, but the cat stayed, and the man discovered that they both enjoyed naps and dinnertime. He still didn’t like cats, but he liked this cat. When a dog moved in (soon followed by its canine friends), the man readjusted again. The ducks arrived next, followed by chickens, goats, pigs, and cows. Too softhearted to evict the animals, old Mr. MacDonald (for, of course, that was his name) moved with them to his new farm, where they were wildly, loudly happy, singing, “Ee I Ee I O!” Booklist (July 2024 (Vol. 120, No. 21))

by X. Fang

"When three mysterious visitors from 'Europe' crash-land in Mr. Li's field, he does what any good host would: he invites them back to his farmhouse and offers to help fix up their 'car.' No, there's nothing strange about these guests at all. Just like other humans, they 'make business,' 'play sportsball' and 'wear hat.' As the townsfolk also come to the aid of the visitors and the gathering turns into a little party, interplanetary relations reach an all-time high"--Provided by publisher.

by Neil Sharpson

At the start, this picture book feels like a straightforward primer in both text and illustrations: this animal is a mammal because of these characteristics; this animal is a reptile because of these. But soon, something...fishy?...starts to happen: opinions creep in. Fish "don't follow any rules," making them harder to categorize -- some live in salt water and some in fresh water, some eat seaweed, some eat other fish...and "some fish eat poor, innocent crabs who are just trying to have a nice time in the sea." Horn Book Magazine (May/June, 2025)

by Rachel Michelle Wilson

Well, it happened. You peed your pants. You probably regret that second (okay, third) lemonade. We've all been there. This book has some tips to get you through it (including but not limited to traffic cone pants, extraterrestrial negotiations, food fights, and other very practical techniques). With her playful retro palette, debut author-illustrator Rachel Michelle Wilson offers a space to laugh with yourself through one of life's most embarrassing moments and remember that you're never as alone as you think. From the Publisher