Marcia Z / Shady Oaks

Saturday, January 31, 2015

We are looking forward to welcoming Obert Skye back for a return visit to Shady Oaks on Thursday, February 25!

Available March 1: a new book by Obert Skye! Hurray!

These are the descriptions from www.amazon.com:

Book 1: Witherwood Reform School

After a slight misunderstanding involving a horrible governess, oatmeal, and a jar of tadpoles, siblings Tobias and Charlotte Eggars find themselves abandoned by their father at the gates of a creepy reform school. Sinister mysteries are afoot at Witherwood, where the grounds are patrolled by vicious creatures after dark and kids are locked in their rooms. Charlotte and Tobias soon realize that they are in terrible danger—especially because the head of Witherwood has perfected the art of mind control. If only their amnesiac father would recover and remember that he has two missing children. If only Tobias and Charlotte could solve the dark mystery and free the kids at Witherwood—and ultimately save themselves.

Book 2: Lost & Found

Tobias and Charlotte Eggers are not on vacation. Well, I suppose they are on a vacation from everything they once knew. Locked within the walls of Witherwood, high upon a mysterious mesa, they are still looking for a way out. There are distractions, however. The very ground is shaking, and the creatures that protect the school are revolting. When one of their only friends goes missing it leads to a devastating secret. But there is hope. There are other students who have clear minds and are also fighting to get out. Luckily for everyone, Tobias has a plan. It's a dangerous one, but if it works, it could forever change their fate and Witherwood's future.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Jason Boog

Born reading: bringing up bookworms in a digital age – from picture books to eBooks and everything in between

New York: TOUCHSTONE, a division of Simon & Schuster, 2014

In this wonderful new addition to our Shady Oaks Library's parenting collection, the author emphasizes the harmful effects upon young children which can be caused by too much screen time. Noting that some groups think that electronic devices and computers should be introduced AFTER elementary school, his recommendation is that at least until age two, electronic devices should NOT be used with children.

Sara Gillingham says, “As a mother, I’ve chosen to delay the use of digital books/apps with my kids as long as possible. I like the fact that paper books are something we need to do together. And also I find it easier to explain and enhance the contents when I’m directly engaged in it with them.”

Betsy Bird adds, "Try avoiding… ‘shiny glowing rectangles’ until the age of two. At that point, they’ve hit a stage in their development where they can handle the vast amount of information hitting them. And if you’ve managed to inculcate them with a love of books from the get-go, they may be more than happy to play in their playpens with a couple of board books strewn about them. Those beat electronics any day of the week.”

Each chapter ends with a list of recommended books, and there are valuable chapters for hints on reading with children from birth through school-age, including suggestions for preparing children for school.

Many wonderful websites are highlighted, such as www.startwithabook.org, where your child can pick from a long list of themes and get recommendations of great books around that theme which can be found at a library. The International Children’s Digital Library, http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ makes available more than 4,600 digital books in over 60 languages! Boog’s blog, http://www.born-reading.com/ ,is very valuable, too. He says, “If you follow the links on my blog you can build a massive children’s book library on whatever device you are using for reading.”

First-grade teacher Karen Lirenman reminds parents that YOUR personal reading habits are just as important as your child’s desire to read. “If you value reading and your kids see that you value reading, there’s a good chance that they’ll start to value it as well.” Boog adds “but don’t forget to model a balanced media diet by showing your child that you read print books, magazines, and digital books.”

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Welcome to our library as we begin a brand-new school year!

Library Procedures:

Be nice!

Be neat!

Use soft voices and walking feet!

Find great books to check out

and READ them!

"HAVE COURAGE ~~

THINK BIG ~~

BE GREAT"

... Obert Skye, author of the "Leven Thumps" series and the soon-to-be-released _Katfish_!

Obert Skye created the outstanding fantasy series about "Leven Thumps." A second series, "Beyond Foo," continues the adventures of those well-loved characters. Mr. Skye has written an exciting trilogy about dragons: _Pillage_ , _Choke_ and _Ambush_. Those three books are now available in one volume: _The Pillagy_. Our students are loving Mr. Skye's zany series "The Creature from My Closet" which began with _Wonkenstein_ , and continued with _Potterwookiee_ and _Pinocula_. They are anxiously awaiting the publication of Book 4, _Katfish_, on September 2. Be sure to look at our online website scrapbook for photos of Mr. Skye's visits, and click on the icon below to view highlights of his presentation.

When he visited our school, Mr. Skye presented a key to Mrs. Zorn, which you will see her wearing often. He asked the students to remember that Mrs. Zorn has "the key" to helping you follow all of your dreams by helping you find wonderful books in our library.