Vive La Paris
I finished Vive La Paris by one of my FAVORITE authors today (Esme Codell). It’s the story about a girl, Paris, who learns about Holocaust. I always love the characters in Esme’s books…I feel like I get to know them.
Check it out!
Mrs. Byrd Fort
Tackling Dad
I finished Tackling Dad by Elizabeth Levy this morning. This book is about two middle school girls who play football. They aren’t playing with a bunch of other girls though, they play with the boys. Do you think boys would like to be on a football team with girls? Find out in this South Carolina Children’s Book Award nominee! Good one for 4th and 5th graders…
Love,
Mrs. Byrd Fort
Lowji Discovers America
Lowji Discovers America is about a family from India who moves to America. Lowji and his parents live in an apartment building run by grumpy Landlady Crisp. In this book, you’ll meet Lowji, a weightlifter and his pet pig, goats, a dog named King, and my favorite character, Lowji’s dad (he makes lots of not-so-funny jokes).
An excellent choice to read aloud, teachers! Be sure to check out this South Carolina Children’s Book Award Nominee!
Love,
Mrs. Byrd Fort
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I finished the new Harry Potter on Wednesday-it took me 4 days. Much longer than some of you, I bet! I was very scared I would find out the ending in my internet readings before I was finished, so I am giving nothing away here in case you have not finished. I will say that I enjoyed it very much. I liked knowing what happened to most of the main characters (thanks to the epilogue at the end) and we will have two copies available for checkout when the school year starts.
I did go to a midnight Harry Potter Party this year. Barnes and Noble on Harbison Blvd. I saw the Henderson Family there and I am sure there were other DFES family members around, but with SO MANY PEOPLE, it was hard to see everyone.
Not much longer now until school starts! Keep reading and logging the titles on a summer reading list of some sort 
You can use the State Department list, the public library list, or any blank piece of paper you have around your house! Reading logs can be found on the library webpage. Keep up with these documents of summer reading so that you can be invited to our celebration when the school year starts!
Love,
Mrs. Byrd Fort
The Penderwicks
Just finished The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall.
So good! First, a perfect “summer tale” to read IN the summer, because you aren’t jealous of the girls and the fact that they can do whatever they want all day long. If I were to read this during the school year, I may be a little envious of their free time. A family of four girls, a dog, and a dad rent a cottage that is part of a large house owned by the not so nice, Mrs. Tifton. Mrs. Tifton has a son who is so nice and the girls become friends with him and the folks who work for Mrs. Tifton at her house. The book is basically thier summer adventures, which include a bull, a piano, and a fall into a pond. Very much worth a read and it is one of this year’s South Carolina Children’s Book Award nominees.
Love,
Mrs. Byrd Fort
What I thought of The Higher Power of Lucky and now reading…
I finished The Higher Power of Lucky and it is going in our library in August! It is a beautiful story about a little girl (Lucky) who has never met her father; her mother has passed away; and she lives with her father’s first wife, who really had nothing to do with Lucky until her father called and asked her to take care of her instead of having her put in a foster home. The father’s first wife is from France, so not only do you get a really wonderful story, but you learn some french words while you are at it. Perfect! I told you that I got to hear the author accept the Newbery Award for this book…during her speech, she mentioned that her husband is french. I wonder if he had to help her with some of the french words. She also said that France and all things french have always been a little of an obsession for her, so even if her husband was not french, there would have been lots of french influence in this book. That’s my feeling anyway.
Next up is a South Carolina Children’s Book Award nominee for 2007-2008: The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall. My friend, Mrs. Nebesky Lawson at Chapin Elementary liked it, so we’ll see if I like it too…
Keep reading!
Love,
Mrs. Byrd Fort
The Higher Power of Lucky
Just finished Love, Stargirl this morning. I don’t want to give anything away, but it was wonderful…just like Stargirl. Remember how Stargirl was told by Leo? Love, Stargirl is told by Stargirl! I really liked getting to know her better.
Next up in my stack of books is The Higher Power of Lucky. It is the latest Newbery Award winner and is a “must read” for a couple of reasons…I want to read it because it won the Newbery (that means it was the BEST BEST BEST book published for youth last year) and because I need to read this one before I decide to put it in the library. Might be one of those titles that is best for middle or high school, but I don’t know yet.
Stay tuned!
Love,
Mrs. Byrd Fort
Love, Stargirl
Hello!
Summer is here! I have been busy…I just returned from Washington DC for the American Library Association Annual Conference. I met Bruce Coville, Mo Willems, Judy Blume, and so many other authors…it was great! I got lots of autographs to show you when we return to school.
What else have I been doing this summer? READING!
I have finished Only Emma (Children’s Book Award nominee about a girl who has to babysit her neighbor) and Rob&Sara.com (young adult novel). At the conference, they were giving away copies of books that haven’t even come out yet…one book I got was the sequel to Stargirl; Love, Stargirl. That’s what I am reading now, in fact, it is bedtime and that means time to read!
What are YOU reading?
Summer!
The school year is almost over and our blog is VERY quiet during the break. My goal for the summer is write about the books I read…I hope to read all of the South Carolina Picture Book Award nominees and the South Carolina Children’s Book Award nominees. What do you plan to read over the summer? Please comment and let me know!
Love,
Mrs. Byrd Fort
MAYFLY.
MAYFLY. MAYFLY MAYFLY WHAT DO I SEE I SEE MAYFLYS ALL OVER ME.MAY FLY MAYFLY WHAT DO I SEE I SEE MAYFLYS ALL OVER YOU!
BY:ANTHONY
