Snow Day Book Birthdays

The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S (as told by his brother)

Last weekend everything came to a stop. All I did was read David Levithan's first middle grade novel, The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told by his brother). Nothing else got done.  Don't tell me I didn't warn you. I also could not stop talking about it. I'm glad my 18 year old daughter was still home from college and humored me as I filled her in on Lucas and Aidan's story.  "Did you find out any more details?" "What do you think happened?" She was as much into it as I was. I even told my 5th and 6th grade "Newbery Navigators" about it and they were hooked. I'm happy it is out in the world today.

As you can imagine, the search parties are out in full force when 7th grader Aidan disappears. Day after day, they keep looking.  He reappears on Day 6 with an unbelievable story. Page after page, I wondered. Is it true? Could this happen? I seriously questioned reality. I tried to genrify the book. Is it fantasy? Realistic fiction? I needed to know and therefore could not stop reading.  And to this day, I am still wondering.

It's a story about brothers, believing the impossible (or the possible), family, accepting who you are and what you have. I wish it the happiest of book birthdays and promise me if you read it that you will get in touch with asap so we can talk.

HILO: Gina the Girl Who Broke the World

It is so sad to have a HILO book birthday without a party.  But dear, Judd Winick, know that I was thinking of you and Chase today and cannot wait for your "Author Fan Face-off" next month! YES! The 7th HILO comes out into the world today and as always, we welcome it with big open arms. Hooray! Stay tuned for mid-March when Chase's challenge will be up on our AFF YouTube channel.  I already know it will be a good one. Go Chase! 😉

Ground Zero: A Novel of 9/11

I know little about this book except that because it is by Alan Gratz, it will be gripping and one that kids will devour.  It's hard to find a middle grade reader (and librarian) who doesn't love anything that Alan writes.  While you are waiting for it to arrive in your mailbox or SORA shelf, check out our Author Fan Face-off with Alan vs. 8th grader Evan, a former student of mine.  Evan was a huge fan of Alan's since, I believe 4th grade.  I knew when we got Alan confirmed that Evan had to be his challenger.  You won't see it in the video, but I actually cried during our filming because it was so cool to connect Evan to his favorite author. (See above: I will have Kleenex nearby for Chase's challenge, too).

ICYMI here the Grenade challenge:

And a few more that I am either completely intrigued about from social media (Red, White and Whole by Rajani LaRocca), love the duo (Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Pena and Christian Robinson), always want to support the author (EngiNerds Strike Back by Jarrett Lerner) and ANOTHER Yasmin book to add to the already fabulous collection (Give it a Try, Yasmin! by Saadia Faruqi and Hatem Aly). Yay! Happy Book Birthday all!

Wear a Mask

I needed the Kleenex during Governor Cuomo's press conference today. Again.
This time it wasn't what he was saying but rather what he was projecting-the five top winners of his "Wear a Mask" PSA campaign.  Sigh. I wanted RTWJAZ to submit but alas, it was too late. The contest surely was meant to weed out the last minute-ers since when I went to check the deadline it had already passed. Anyway, not sure my 13 year videographers could have competed with these seemingly professionals. That's ok. They are working on a video right now for a different campaign. Stay tuned.

Anyway, did you catch the PSAs? Use this link to vote. I have two favorites.  Which one is yours?

Voting closes this Monday, May 25. I'll try not to be a procrastinator and miss out. Again.

Bonus Stuff

I think I posted this before, but Jarrett Lerner has this great download of an activity sheet with a mask. Check out his website for so many other great activities. And just a little plug for Jarrett since he is always so good to all of us--He has a book coming out soon! Something to leap about for sure! It's on my Edelweiss TBR pile as we speak.

And my cousin sent me this today about an organization in Pittsfield, MA.

Finally, Lily and Noah made masks for their National Honor Society project. Pretty cool:

Our next #NHS Service Project spotlight: Lillian Stephens and Noah Albanese!

In this time of need, these two students spent hours making 100 masks for the faculty/staff in Arbor Hill who were making & delivering food to the students! We are so proud! @SchodackCSD @MapleHill_HS pic.twitter.com/2bFaZKFA8P

— Miss Egan (@MissEgan16) May 20, 2020

So even though the contest is over doesn't mean you can't post your own #WearAMaskNY PSA on social media. What would YOU say?

Got CRAYONS?

I am pushing physical education every day with my family.  Mr. Biehler's daily posts on Twitter help with ideas.  Yesterday we simulated a stick run. Walks with friends are a regular part of my routine.  This morning, I even woke up early to take an online yoga class.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Today we might need an umbrella for our walk. Time to put some extra art in the schedule. With that in mind, today's theme is crayons and coloring. To begin, let's read this nonfiction book about the man who invented crayons.




With a few clicks, I was able to find many resources for the book that you can use at home.

HERE is a 27 page lesson guide that goes with the book! It's crazy how many curriculum connections can be made to this one book! Math, Science, ELA, History, Technology, Social Emotional Learning and of course, Art!  Here is a LINK for a couple of coloring pages, as well. Because the weather isn't great today, this could the perfect book to use as a baseboard for home learning.

I found a couple of different videos about how crayons are made.  One from Mr. Rogers and one from the UK:






And once things get back to normal, maybe your family could even plan a trip to the Crayola Factory. They are all over the country.

Speaking of drawing...We were, right?

Shout out to my buddy, Jarrett Lerner for his drawing tips of robots:




Check out his WEBSITE for blank comics or ones to finish. This is a great use of creativity with your pencils and/or crayons:

And a reminder for Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems at 1PM.




And LIVE with Jarrett Krosoczka at 2PM.




Have fun creating today!

Stay happy, healthy and positive! xo Ms. Rattner 💗