Wanamaker Library Newsletter

It was a busy month in the library! Our annual Scholastic Book Fair opened on Valentine's Day and ran through the week of P-T Conferences. The teachers came for a preview breakfast, and the students previewed the fair during their library classes earlier in the week. Mrs. Armstrong, our library assistant, worked her usual magic and transformed the library with decorations that promoted the fair theme of "Elephants, Tigers, and Books, Oh My!" (see above bulletin board). Geronimo made an appearance and kicked off the fair! A couple of contests livened things up as well--the students entered a guessing contest of estimating how many chocolate animal crackers were in the jar, and teachers entered their names in a drawing during the Teacher Preview for a chance to win a new book for their classroom library. Sixth grade teacher Mrs. Francis was the lucky winner.

THANK YOU to everyone who helped make the book fair a success! The money made from the book fair is used to purchase books and supplies for our library and resource materials for our teachers. The success of the book fair would not be possible without the support and enthusiasm of the entire WE community. The book fair always serves as a great reminder of how Wanamaker truly loves and values the power of reading. A special thank you to Allison Edgar, Book Fair Chairperson, and all the other volunteers whose help was greatly appreciated!

On Monday, January 27, 2020 the Youth Media Awards were announced during the American Library Association's annual Youth Media Awards Ceremony in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It's such an exciting day for anyone who loves books!

The awards ceremony lasts about an hour and anyone can view it live online. There's a lot of excitement in the room where the awards take place, and you can feel the energy of it coming through your computer!

While there are many awards given for different reasons, the two most recognized by the general public because they are the oldest awards given, are the Caldecott Award (given to illustrators for the "most distinguished picture book for children") and the Newbery Award (given to authors for the "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children").

Our 3rd graders watched part of the announcements in their library classes that week. We were excited to learn that our library already owned the winner of the 2020 Caldecott Medal (The Undefeated, illustrated by Kadir Nelson and written by Kwame Alexander). We read the

book aloud, taking special note of the illustrations. The students also examined past Caldecott winners and tried to answer such questions as "Did the illustrator use bold and vibrant colors or soft and quiet ones?" "What medium did the illustrator use?" "Do the illustrations complement the text of the picture book?" and "Which illustration was your favorite? Why?"

For the first time a graphic novel was chosen as the winner of the 2020 Newbery Medal. The New Kid was written and illustrated by Jerry Craft. This book was purchased from our book fair for our library and will soon be available for our students to check out.

Want a new twist to story time with your child? Novel Effect is a free, award winning app that brings your books to life with music, sound effects, and character voices. As you read aloud, Novel Effect follows the sound of your voice and responds at just the right moment. It's a great way to add an interactive, screen-free dimension to hundreds of books that kids love.

Each soundscape captures the tone of each story. Foster a love of books, promote language development, and increase engagement just by reading aloud as you normally would with Novel Effect in the background.

There are over 300 hundred titles in English and 30 in Spanish to choose from with new titles being added to the collection regularly.

The Novel Effect app is available for I-phone and Adroid users, and is very user friendly. It can be played from a hand-held device as well as a tablet.

Give it a try, and add some magic to your story times!

Sixth graders Caitlin and Shailee have an important responsibility in the WE library. They are the keepers of the fish in the library aquarium. Caitlin started volunteering several years ago, helping her brother, Thomas (now a WRMS student), when he took care of the fish. This is Shailee's first year to help out in the library.

The girls come in before school to feed the fish, change the filter, adjust the water level, or just check to make sure everything is okay. When asked what she likes best about volunteering in the library, Caitlin said, "I love animals and helping out at school. It's a fun way to start my day!"

Thank you, Caitlin and Shailee, for your time and help. We all benefit from your expertise with our fish, and we will miss you next year!

March 5--Digital Dining for Bucks 4 Books campaign. Last day for Bucks 4 Books.

March 6--No school for students. Work day for staff.

March 9-13--Spring Break. DON"T FORGET TO READ!!

March 17--Morning Book Club meeting at 8:00 a.m. in the library. Come ready to talk about a favorite book you've read recently and wear your t-shirt if you would like. Breakfast and books---hard to beat!

March 25--3rd Graders Skype with author Baptiste Paul

March 25--Battle of the Books meetings during 4th-6th grade lunch hours.

March 5 & 27--Student Council meeting at 8:00 a.m. in the library.