Cambridgeshire 'Read It Again' Book Awards 2014

It is that time of year again where Cambridgeshire is full of excitement for this years 'Read It Again' book awards! Myself and the kids are particularly excited because we are going to the award ceremony! So what is it all about?

The Awards

"How it works

• It is a unique award for a first-time picture book where the words and pictures are the work of one individual.

• Thousands of Cambridgeshire children in local schools read, discuss and then vote for their favourite book from a shortlist of eight titles, all by first-time author/illustrators.

• The award encourages children to discuss books with their classmates and think about what makes a good book.

• Library staff visit schools promoting the award to children."

Taken from Cambridgeshire Libraries

A month or so ago a selection of wonderful picture arrived in our post bags and I delivered each key stage a set to read in the week we had the books. Staff and children were wonderful in getting the books read in such a short time and votes were duly cast. I then emailed off our school results to the organiser.

The Books

'Bob and Rob' by Sue Pickford

'Weasels' by Elys Dolan

'Pi - Rat' by Maxine Lee

'The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water' by Gemma Merino

'Hugh Shampoo' by Karen George

'Sidney, Stella and the Moon' by Emma Yarlett

'Penguin in Peril' by Helen Hancocks

'Ready Teddy Go' by Michael Davidson

It was fascinating seeing the favourites that emerged in each class and key stage. ‘Ready, Teddy, Go’ was loved by Reception and Key Stage 1 and the other classes had a wide spread that covered the rest of the books. My particular favourite? I think I have to say I loved ‘Weasels’ which had the kind of illustrations you could look at for ages and ‘Sidney, Stella and the Moon’ because it was a lovely story!

http://emmayarlett.tumblr.com/

The Ceremony

Very soon I will be taking some children from each class from Year 1 to Year 6 to the awards ceremony where the winner will be announced. Apparently we will get a chance to meet the authors and I think I may be a teeny bit excited! The response from the children was amazing and I had nearly everyone in each class wanting to come with me.

Check back soon for some more in depth reviews of the books and hopefully some pictures of the awards ceremony itself.

Happy Reading!

It's Monday What Are You Reading? 29th July

I have seen this on a variety of posts and thought this would be a feature I would quite like to join in with! Check out Teach Mentor Texts for more details about What Are You Reading?

The summer holidays started last week for teachers in the UK and after a few days in the classroom and celebrating Mr Dotty's doctorate graduation I am finally starting to get relaxed. And part of that is planning my summer reading!

Last Week

Last week the final book I shared with my class was FArTHER by Graham Baker-Smith. It was a lovely text to share as the final book of the year with class, if tinged with a little sadness. However I highly recommend this picture book and it's stunning illustrations. I also read a Michael Morpurgo book, Alien Invasion! which details life on a farm. Children will like the story and the funny illustrations that go with it. I also had a few re-reads of Into the Forest by Anthony Browne which we are going to be using for our first topic in the Autumn. I cannot wait and spent a few hours doing some mind mapping for it today.

I also read some good adult books!

Coming Up

I picked up Robot Dog by Mark Oliver and The Bear in the Cave by Michael Rosen over the weekend so I have those to read. Some longer novels to read are Room 13 by Robert Swindells, Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson and I have The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin. However my mood my change!

What have you been reading lately?

My Bookish Week- 3rd June 2013

Hello and happy Monday! Once a week I plan to share the previous weeks book related bits both in and out of the classroom.

Book Links

This past week was half term and so I managed to get some great reading and internet playing research done.

Firstly the fantastic Bill Lord (Joga5 on Twitter) shared a link to a google map called ‘World of Books.’ On it people have recorded pins of locations to be found in children’s books. It is a fantastic resource and one I will use regularly and aim to add to as much as I can.

I also loved this video shared by Mr Schu from Mr Schu reads about the power of reading. One I will definitely be sharing with my class, especially to ‘B’ who loves Captain Underpants!

Zoe Toft from Playing by the Book also reminded me of the Picture Book Plays website. Also if you love children’s books and haven’t seen Zoe’s website yet go and check it out!

I also enjoyed this article detailing Michael Morpurgo’s thoughts on not patronising young readers.

In his last blog post as the Booktrust writer in residence Matt Haig discusses how to make books more popular.

Books Read

I also managed to read some books! Just lately I have been terrible at reading about 5 books at once which means I am not finishing ANYTHING! However half term perseverance (and some picture books) has meant I have some books on my ‘read’ pile.

Three of the books are picture books for a Chicks project we are doing the first week back. Come back later in the week for a blog post detailing what we did. I am so excited!

‘Chicken Dance’ by Tammi Sauer and illustrated by Dan Santat.

‘Interrupting Chicken’ by David Ezra Stein.

‘Where do Chicks come from?’ by Amy E. Sklansky and illustrated by Pam Paparone.

I also read ‘Madame Pamplemousse and her Incredible Edibles’ by Rupert Kingfisher. This I picked up during the week after some vouchers were burning a hole in my purse. I hadn’t heard of it before and I chose it as I liked the idea of a book set in Paris and it being about food. At 138 pages it was a nice quick read.

From the blurb- When Madeline is sent on an errand by her horrid uncle, she discovers, by chance, a shop owned by Madame Pamplemousse. It sells the strangest, the rarest, the most delicious, the most extraordinary and the most incredible edibles in the whole world. And when Madeline’s uncle wishes to steal the most incredible edible of all. Madeline, Madame Pamplemousse and Camembert the cat have a good reason to join forces and create some truly remarkable magic.

I would say the story would appeal to KS2 readers, especially with its touches of magic and sweet illustrations. It would promote good book talk on the themes of greed and doing the right thing. I also love some of the ingredient descriptions, Salt-Cured Raptor Tails anyone?

I also finally read ‘Krindlekrax’ by Philip Ridley. This had been on my to read list for ages. I have to be honest that after the first few chapters I was not really enjoying it but then suddenly that all changed and I couldn’t put it down!

Books Reading

I am currently reading ‘The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making’ by Catherynne M. Valente. This had been on my wishlist for a while and I am excited to finally be reading it. Have you read it? What are your thoughts?

Books that have entered the house

I visited the library and came home with this lovely stack of books to read.

What have you read lately? Feel free to leave a comment to share your recent reads!