WHO will you read about?

This summer, I've been working at the literacy and math camp at Plympton School.  All the third grade kids have been making cool books based on biographies they've read.  Through their projects I've learned about everyone from Squanto and Helen Keller to Kevin Garnett and Johnny Appleseed.  I've noticed that in the last few years, lots of kids have been reading biographies.  One really popular series is the "Who Was" books (which lots of kids call the "big head" books because the covers usually show a cartoon drawing with a very large headed person.  I am reading a really good biography right now about the scientist Charles Darwin and his wife Emma.  Mr. Darwin traveled the world in the 1800s on a ship called The Beagle and collected animals from his travels.  What he noticed about animal adaptation in different parts of the world led him to think of a new way of considering how animals and even people change over time.  It is always fun and interesting to read about people who do something big with their lives.  Do you have a favorite biography?

Travel reading

Last week I took my niece and nephew to the Swan Boats for the first time, and then we HAD to read Make Way for Ducklings because it takes place there.  It got me thinking that I love to read about places I visit.  I just read a great book called Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richardson Jacobson.  It is about a boy who wakes up at a campground in Maine and discovers his mom has left him there, and he has to figure out how to get back to Boston without letting the police find him.  I knew exactly where the campground was, as it was based on a real place, and loved following this action story through a place I know well.  My favorite part of the book takes place in an L.L. Bean store, where the main character uses the store's supplies to help him get back home.

As much as I like reading books set in places I know or places I am going to visit.  I also like to read about places before I go on vacation.  This year I'm planning to visit Arizona and Utah in August, and I've been reading all about these places.  I've been reading lots of nonfiction about this area to help me know what I want to see when I get there, and I'm looking for some fiction books set in this area.

Do you have any books that you like because of WHERE they happen? 
And thanks to the kids who wrote last week to tell me about their favorite series--looks like I will HAVE TO read a 39 Clues book this summer to see what you are all excited about!

Harry Potter

If you are old like me, this is an important week because the very last NEW Harry Potter moment is coming as the very last movie comes out.  I think kids know that I think books 1, 2 and 3 are good for elementary school kids, but I think you should wait until middle school to finish the series.  They will be more satisfying then, and you will understand them better.  So don't go see the movie just yet. 
However, since I have been following this series for so long, it got me thinking about other book series that I've LOVED either when I was little or series that I've read with kids.....So here are some I really love (ranging from those for little kids to those for older kids):

• Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
• Little Bear by Else Minarik
• Mr. Putter and Tabby by Cynthia Rylant
• Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
• Mrs. Pigglewiggle by Betty MacDonald
• Ramona/Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
• Aliens Stole My Homework by Bruce Coville
• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder 
• Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

 THESE ARE FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL KIDS--

• The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein
• His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

So tell me--what did I miss?  What's your favorite series?

Summer reading so far

Hello!
I've been traveling a lot since school got out, but now I'm back home and working at the Plympton summer program.  It is a good chance to share some new books with kids.  Today I'm going to read a book called Guyku by Bob Raczka.  It has a whole lot of very funny haikus written for guys.  One I like goes like this:

If this puddle coud

talk, I think it would tell me

to splash my sister

There is also a website http://www.guykuhaiku.com/ that has fun projects, activities, and more!

Let me know if you write a guyku