Origami Yoda series... 3rd book coming out!

Have you read the two Origami Yoda books in the library?

My good friend, Barb Stuart, sent them to me from the States and they have been very popular since being added to our library's collection! 

The titles are: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda 

and Darth Paper Stikes Back.

Well... the third book was just announced...

...The title is, The Fortune Wookie, 

and is supposed to be published on August 7th!

Whoohooo!   :)

Ms. Tu - "[Books] are love and memory"

I shared the previous post with Ms. Tu - her pictures and what I wrote about her old books.

She responded to me with the sweetest email! I just loved reading her response and how much books mean to her.

Below, I will share part of her response...

"I also would like to share with you that I am lucky to have a father who loves books and he inspires me to love books and reading. He bought me a lot of books since I was four and unable to read. I had my mother read for me until I was six, then I started school to learn how to read. 

"I have so many books at home that my friends usually say I have a library at home. Half of them are Vietnamese and from my childhood. Most of those Vietnamese books are from Chinese literature, some translated from Western and the rest are famous novels and stories in Vietnam. Some of them were bought by my father, some I collected since I was in middle school. 

"We [used to] have old-book stores in Vietnam, which are very interesting. You can pick up a lot of old books at cheap price. Unfortunately, most of my VN books now are very old and can’t be read any more because of the quality of the paper. 

"They are not only books. They are love and memory."

Ms. Tu - thank you for sharing these wonderful thoughts and memories!  

Her words remind me of my childhood and memories with books...

My parents are both school teachers (my mom is a Teacher-Librarian!) and we were lucky to always have books in our house. Even though my parents read to me a lot while I was young, I did not learn to read with the other students in my grade… when I went into 2^nd grade, I would leave class each day to get reading help from a reading specialist. She changed my life and taught me to not only learn how to read… but to love reading. (I am actually pen pals with this reading teacher! Her and I got in touch with one another a few years ago and I let her know how special she is to me and how she changed my life... teaching me how to read!)

How Ms. Tu said that her collection of books are not only books but… love and memory is what I think too! The opening part of my essay to get into my masters program (for Library and Information Science) was about one of my best memories growing up… meeting my mom and two older brothers every evening on the couch in our living room. We read books every night together… pictures books and chapter books. My mom would change the characters’ names to be mine and my brothers! I just loved it.

Books are an important part of my life… now and from when I was a child. One of my dreams/goals when I buy my own place some day is to have an entire wall of books! ...My own 'library' - just like Ms. Tu.  :)

Loving books so much that they fall apart...

Ms. Tu has been working on a wonderful project lately! She has many books from her childhood... which has been loved so much that they are now falling apart. She is re-typing some of the books in order to be able to keep the stories... what a lovely childhood momento!

...She even said that some of her books are so old that the pages are completely black now! You are not even able to read the stories anymore... so I think it's a good thing she is re-typing these now; hopefully she can share the stories that she enjoyed as a child with many others!   :)

Book Flower Garden

I just love Ms. Sarah's flower garden bulletin board... it's all about BOOKS!

I remember when the board was empty in August... only having the "Book Worms" sign in the middle.

The board is now full of blooming flowers now! Each flower represents a book read by one of Ms. Sarah's students... and tells a bit about the book. This just goes to show what wonderful readers our students are. 

Close up...

Grace's Cookies - Ms. Margot's visit

Ms. Margot - the woman behind the local non-profit organization - Grace's Cookies, came by AIS this past Monday to speak with Student Council about the organization and the story behind how it began. Ms. Margot is a woman with a big heart, who thought outside the box to make a difference in HCMC... and save others' lives.

We have raised enough money this year through our Grace's Cookies sales
to provide a child in Ho Chi Minh City with a needed heart surgery!!
...We are also hoping to have the chance to visit
the child who our money goes towards.

The Student Council members have been doing a wonderful job
this year at providing fun celebrations for our school
and giving back to the local community...

Student Council @ Thi Nghe Orphanage

Last week, some members from Student Council, along with Ms. Elizabeth, Mr. Blake, and myself... made a visit to the Thi Nghe Orphanage right in our Binh Thanh neighborhood to volunteer our time and our love to the children at the orphanage.

This is a wonderful experience (tough! but wonderful)... and I'm incredibly impressed with and proud of our students. They spent the time playing with the kids and showing them some love. We are looking forward to future visits... we plan to open it up to others in school... AND are organizing a drive to collect and donate goods that the orphanage can use (milk, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc.)... more information to come from Student Council soon.

WORLD POETRY DAY!

Tomorrow, March 21, is WORLD POETRY DAY!

We have a nice collection of poetry books in the library!

I LOVED reading Shel Silverstein's poem when I was growing up 

(...and I still do!)

Shel wrote silly poems... 

and I always loved the pictures that went with each.

One of my all-time favorite poems of his is Peanut-Butter Sandwich, 

from his book, Where the Sidewalk Ends.  

You can read this poem by clicking here...   :)

Happy WORLD POETRY DAY!!

Guerrilla Librarians...

I love the idea of being a guerrilla librarian!!

The tiny libraries and micro book depots in the following link are WONDERFUL. I love the creativity, risk-taking, and overall loving-of-books!...

Tiny Libraries, DIY Reading Rooms, and Other Micro Book Depots 

These are two of my favorites...   :)

Shelf Talkers...

Have you read a great book lately?

It's been fun to hear how much some of you like the new books that we recently received!

...Fill out a shelf talker next time you're in the library to recommend your favorites to others.

Below are some current examples...

You never know... Miss Stacia might just have a Gotcha Ticket with your name on it for helping spread the news of great reads to others!   ;)

New Book Favorites...

Below are some of the newest books to our library's collection! 

(They are a mixture of student-requested books and some of Miss Stacia's favorites!)

...Come check them out!

 (If you enjoy reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, I think you'll love these Big Nate books! ...We have a number of them now, and they're all hilarious!)

Book 3 in the Cherub series.

Mary Downing Hahn is one of my favorite spooky / scary story writers!
(Did I ever tell you that I had lunch with her last year?! - True story!)

Gotta love Sarah Dessen...

I'm on the hold list for this one!
I've heard many great things and am excited to read it.   :)

A couple new books from the 39 Clues series have arrived!

Avi is a wonderful author (from Boulder, Colorado!)...
and I love this story...
full of just the right amounts of spookiness, action, and suspense.

Cornelia Funke is one of my favorites.
I'm always excited when she has a new book come out.

A new Warriors book!
I have ordered a few new ones to fill in the gaps within our collection of these series.

 One of my all-time favorites!
I give this story of a 5 our of 5 stars.

...And many more!
Stop in the library to see them all.   :)

NEW BOOKS!

...Have you seen the new books that we have in the library?? 

Let Miss Stacia or Miss Winny know if you want to be put on hold for any of these popular, new books.  :)

Davis has already checked out and read the newest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, Cabin Fever... he recommends it in the following video...

WORLD READ ALOUD DAY!

Did you know that this Wednesday, March 7th, is 

WORLD READ ALOUD DAY?!

If you're lucky, Miss Stacia may just stop by your English class to read a book or two aloud to your class!

Miss Stacia has already been visiting Mr. Vince's 8th grade English classes to read the following book with them (and connecting this incredible, true story to our field trip last week to Nam Cat Tien National Park)...

HEY! -- Here's a great idea...

If you have a little brother or sister 

(or not... and you can read to your parents, your dog, a stuffed animal, ...anybody!)...

Check out a new book... a picture book or two... 

and read aloud to someone this Wednesday for 

World Read Aloud Day!

Reading aloud to others, and being read aloud to, is so important -- no matter how young or old you are.

Research shows that reading aloud to infants helps them in the future.

Reading aloud can help family and friends to bond and share wonderful stories and memories.

Reading aloud helps you improve your reading skills (whether you are the reader or the person being read to).

...Our next Reading Buddies time with Miss Sarah's 6th grade ESL class is perfect timing for World Read Aloud Day... as we are going to Saigon Pearl to see our young buddies this Friday!