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LIBRARY HAPPENINGS!!
May 2013

Welcome to the first installment of monthly library news!

We've almost finished reading and voting for the "California Young Reader Medal Award" nominated books! We love this time of year. Annually, K-5 students read the five nominated picture books and vote for their favorites. It's fun to see which titles win for each grade level, and for the school as a whole. Results will be announced soon! The nominated books in the 'PICTURE BOOKS' category read by K-5 are: "I Need My Monster" by Amanda Noll, "Let's Do Nothing" by Henry Fucile, "On Meadowview Street" by Henry Cole, "Princess Hyacinth: The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated" by Florence Parry Heide, and "The Odd Egg" by Emily Gravett. The three nominated books in the 'PICTURE BOOKS for OLDER READERS' category read by grades 3-5 are: "Wabi Sabi" by Mark Reibstein, "Henry's Freedom Box" by Ellen Levine, and "Goal!" by Mina Jvaherbin. The optional 'INTERMEDIATE BOOKS' category for fourth and fifth graders include: "Violet Raines Almost Got Struck By Lightening" by Danette Haworth, "Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School and Other Scary Things" by Lenore Look, and "The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis" by Barbara O'Connor. Fourth and fifth grade students who opt to read the intermediate books will have a special lunch voting party event on Monday, May 13th in the library.

Reader's Theater is a HIT! Fourth and fifth grade classes are trying out their acting skills in the library - and loving it. Our first mini-performance was, "The Farmer, His Son and Their Donkey." Very impressive, the acting skills, sets and props they pull together in a 45-minute period. And hilarious.


Third, fourth and fifth grades are diving into the wonderful world of dewey decimal, and learning in more detail about how libraries are still organized today, thanks to Melvil Dewey 150 years later. K-5 continue learning how to locate materials using alphabetization.

Special guest dad and library volunteer Jeff Birdwell read us some wonderful A.A. Milne and Lewis Carrol selections for National Poetry Month in April.


The beautiful, student-made "Endangered Animals" books by Mr. Quarre's class were admired by the school last month.

Katie Mishra, Oak Knoll Alum and published author of "Gukky Tales", made an appearance at the library during her Spring Break from Castelleja and talked with fourth grade classes about being an author. Her book is on display, and available for check-out in the library.


Thank you so much to all the Special Friends who purchased books for the library on Special Friends Day! We have some fantastic new titles. Students' in whose the honor the books were purchased, will be receiving their books for check-out first.

Tess Buckley starred as "Librarian for the Day", and had everyone laughing with her wonderful reading of "I'm Bored" by Michael Ian Black.



More fabulous pictures of library events will be up on display in the library beginning in mid-May.

Current library displays include: Mother's Day, May Day, Cinco de Mayo and Mexico, Careers for Career Spirit Day, and The Underground Railroad and Courage in the Time of Slavery which reflects our learning from "Henry's Freedom Box" one of our CYRMA books. Displays rotate approximately every two weeks.

Last but not least, as we get closer to the end of the year I want to acknowledge the incredible corps of library volunteers who generously spend their time working in our library! There is NO way it would function as efficiently as it does, and be as cool as it is, without their dedicated service. THANK YOU!

Happy Reading,


Ms. Bennion, Librarian
Oak Knoll School

phone: 650-854-4433