In memory of Carol Otis Hurst

I was saddened this morning to hear of the passing of Carol Otis Hurst. I only had the pleasure of meeting her one time but I used her web pages so often that I felt I knew her. I met her in upstate New York when both of us were giving presentations at the same conference. We stayed at the same hotel and I got to talk with her over breakfast. I felt I was speaking with a rock star since I had been using her web page and her books for so long. We had a great chat and I was so impressed with her.

At the conference, Carol spoke of her writing and read her first book to us. It was the story of her father and it was wonderful. Then she delighted us with her storytelling. We were all mesmerized. Such a talent.

So Carol, sleep well and I know Heaven is enjoying the stories as much as we all did!

The Mystery Writers of America has announced the 2007 Edgar Allan Poe
Award nominees, "honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction,
television and film published or produced in 2006." The Edgar Awards
will be presented at a banquet on April 26 in New York City.

Nominees in the best juvenile category are:
Gilda Joyce: The Ladies of the Lake by Jennifer Allison
(Penguin-Sleuth/Dutton)
The Stolen Sapphire: A Samantha Mystery by Sarah Masters Buckey
(American Girl)
Room One: A Mystery or Two by Andrew Clements (Simon & Schuster)
The Bloodwater Mysteries: Snatched by Pete Hautman & Mary Logue
(Penguin-Sleuth/Putnam)
The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Holmes Mystery by Nancy
Springer (Penguin-Philomel/Sleuth).

Nominees in the best young adult category are:
The Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks (Scholastic-The Chicken House
The Christopher Killer by Alane Ferguson (Penguin YR-Sleuth/Viking)
Crunch Time by Mariah Fredericks (Simon & Schuster-Richard Jackson
Books/Atheneum)
Buried by Robin Merrow MacCready (Penguin YR-Dutton Children's Books)
The Night My Sister Went Missing by Carol Plum-Ucci (Harcourt).

Charlotte Zolotow Awards for picture book writing

2007 Winner
McCarty, Peter.Moon Plane Henry Holt, 2006. 32 pages. Ages 3-6

2007 Honor Books
Look, Lenore. Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding. Illustrated by
Yumi Heo. Anne Schwartz / Atheneum, 2006. 32 pages. Ages 3-7
Smith, Linda. Mrs. Crump's Cat. Illustrated by David Roberts.
HarperCollins, 2006. 32 pages. Ages 4-8

2007 Highly Commended Titles
Balouch, Kristen. Mystery Bottle. Hyperion, 2006. 32 pages. Ages 4-8

Becker, Shari. Maxwell's Mountain. Illustrated by Nicole Wong.
Charlesbridge, 2006. 32 pages. Ages 4-7
Bunting, Eve. One Green Apple. Illustrated by Ted Lewin. Clarion,
2006. 32 pages. Ages 5-8

Chodos-Irvine, Margaret. Best Best Friends. Harcourt, 2006. 32 pages. Ages 3-6
Cruise, Robin. Little Mama Forgets. Illustrated by Stacey
Dressen-McQueen. Melanie Kroupa Books / Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
2006. 32 pages. Ages 3-6

Henkes, Kevin. Lilly's Big day. Greenwillow / HarperCollins, 2006. 32
pages. Ages 5-8

Schaefer, Lola M. . An Island Grows. Illustrated by Cathie Felstead.
Greenwillow / HarperCollins, 2006. 32 pages. Ages 4-7
Weeks, Sarah. Overboard.Illustrated by Sam Williams. Harcourt, 2006.
32 pages. Ages 1-3
Willis, Jeanne. Gorilla! Gorilla. Illustrated by Tony Ross. U.S.
edition: Athenuem, 2006. 32 pages. Ages 5-8

The Pull of the Ocean

Mourlevat, Jean-Claude.
THE PULL OF THE OCEAN
New York : Delacorte, 2006
IL YA
ISBN 9780385903646
"My name is Yann Doutreleau. I am ten years old. On a very rainy November night, I convinced my brothers to flee our parents' farm. We went west." Yann and his six brothers, three sets of twins, set out in search of the ocean. Yann was the youngest brother but he was definitely the leader. What a site it must have been. Three sets of identical twins being led through the countryside by a ten year old the size of a two year old.


A very quick read but a powerful story.

My Book Box

Hillenbrand, Will.
MY BOOK BOX
Orlando : Harcourt, 2006
IL K-3, RL 1.7
ISBN 9780152020293
Ooh. An empty cardboard box. Such possibilities. You can make so
many things with a cardboard box. Can you think of some? There are
lots of ideas. But our young friend in this book decides to make a
book box. See how he does it. Do you think that sounds like a good idea?

I read this book to my 3-year-old grandson Aiden and he loved it. I
had to read it four times. And then we had to go find a box so Aiden
could make his own book box. He colored it and put his favorite
books in it -- this one included. When he went to bed tonight, he
had to have his book box right next to his bed. I think we have a
winner, folks. Aiden tested and Aiden approved.

Cybils Short List: Non-fiction (Middle Grade and YA)

I love this time of year when the award lists are coming out. The
Cybils short lists have been announced and I am seeing titles that I
haven't read yet. I have read three of these but now have to get the
others out of my pile of to-be-read.

Escape! by Sid Fleischman, Greenwillow

Freedom Walkers by Russell Freedman, Holiday House

Immersed in Verse by Alan Wolf, Lark Books

Isaac Newton by Kathleen Krull; illustrated by Boris Kulikov, Viking Juvenile

Team Moon by Catherine Thimmesh, Houghton Mifflin

Googleearthmeme

Lucy Gray has started a new meme that is really interesting. The meme uses GoogleEarth and participants placemark their home or school and include 1) What has been your most memorable learning experience?
2) Who is the teacher that has influenced you the most?

You don't need to be tagged to participate. For more info, check out Lucy's blog http://elemenous.typepad.com/weblog/

This is a great way of showing how technology can add to understanding. I'm thinking of doing something like this for Read Across America and having the kids read books that take place in different states and add the locations and a book review to the site.

I've sent my info to Lucy and I hope to see more participation.