Lori Calabrese. THE BUG THAT PLAGUED THE ENTIRE THIRD GRADE.

I'm honored to be part of Lori Calabrese's Virtual Book Tour & Book Launch Party for THE BUG THAT PLAGUED THE ENTIRE THIRD GRADE!

Matt discovers an intriguing bug on his dad's car. He really wanted to win his school's Bug-a-Fair, so he scoured all his bug books, but couldn't figure out what kind of bug it was. That makes him ever more anxious to enter it in the Bug-a-Fair. But the next morning, he catches a different kind of bug, so his mom makes him stay home. Will he ever figure out what the bug is. Will he make it back to school in time?

Boys and bugs are a perfect match! The text is engaging and the illustrations are lively! This would be a great book to support insect curriculum, but it could work just as well in a poetry unit. In fact, the book has its own website with plenty of ideas and activities to use it in the classroom. Check it out here!

Lori Calabrese is a new author with a fascinating past. Check out this great interview here.

Also, check out the great book trailer:

Jon Scieszka. SPACEHEADZ

I adore every single one of  Jon Scieszka's picture books (MATH CURSE, THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS, ETC). ALL OF THEM!! He's the best! So, when I saw this chapter book of his, I jumped on it instantly. Now I'm sure I had most of you at Jon Scieszka, but for the remaining few, here's the summary:

The book is called Spaceheadz. It's the first day of school for Michael K. and it's not going so well. He's new and he gets grouped with two other very unusual new students. He thinks they're off their rocker and doesn't want to be associated with them. Here are some of the things that he noticed right away:
1. The new girl had eaten half of his only pencil
2. The new boy had just told him they were Spaceheadz from another planet.

It only gets worse as the kids recite commercial jingles throughout the day like: I'm Lovin' it, Just Do it, and Get Ready to RRRRUMBLE!!
They explain to Michael, I'm sorry, I mean their hamster explains to Michael that they are from another planet and they have to recruit 3.4 million earth people to be Spaceheadz or the planet Earth will be turned off. So, you can imagine that Michael was a little flummoxed after hearing this news.
There is another interesting character. Mr. Umber is an agent for AAA (the anti-alien agency) and he's sort of the bad guy, in a fumbling idiot kind of way.

Anyway, you'll love it. AND it's going to be a series! The next one comes out in December. Here's the cover for that:

There are also several awesome websites that go along with the book:

SPHDZ.COM  (go ahead! Sign up to be a Spaceheadz!)**

Anti-Alien Agency (AAA)

And of course, you should check out Jon Scieszka's website here.

**You can get your own Spaceheadz name! Mine is
Instant Margarine-SPHDZ.PH

Rachel Vail. JUSTIN CASE: SCHOOL, DROOL, AND OTHER DAILY DISASTERS

The last book I read from Rachel Vail was a YA called LUCKY. I loved it! (I still need to read the sequel). When I saw the cover of this one, I was immediately drawn to it, especially since my move to elementary librarian.

Justin is a bit of a worrier. A week before third grade begins, he cannot sleep. He worries about not getting into a good schedule. He worries about what teacher he'll get and whether or not his best friend will be in his class. When school starts, the kids notice his worrying one day when he's devising a back up plan for their project and they nickname him Justin Case. Justin had always wanted a nickname, but not anymore.

The novel is written in a diary format, so we really get to know Justin and all of his idiosyncrasies. He has a community of stuffed animals and they are fighting over who will be mayor. He is terrified of dogs, yet he is more terrified of robbers, so he still begs his parents for a dog. He is an adorable, funny kid, with an equally adorable family. His sister is precocious and sweet. Here is an example of her personality:
After her mom tells her that there are no boyfriends or girlfriends in elementary school, she says, "I know that, Mommy, but I have three boyfriends anyway."

Because Justin is such a worrier, this leads him to believe that he isn't brave. He encounters several situations in the book that cause him to grow and become the boy he needs to be.

I loved Justin, his family and everything about the book! The illustrations were delightful and totally matched the mood of the book! I hope Rachel Vail writes more children's books. I would love more about Justin!
Click here for my review of her YA book LUCKY. Click here for her website.

Andy Griffiths. TREASURE FEVER

Do you like silly funny? Do you like Jim Carrey? (and by Jim Carrey I mean Dumb & Dumber Jim Carrey, not so much The Cable Guy Jim Carrey). Do you like it when people resemble their names? For example: Mrs. Cross, Mrs. Chalkboard, Fiona McBrain, Gretel Armstrong and Grant Gadget? If so, then you will adore TREASURE FEVER.
It all begins when Henry gets sent to the principal’s office at Northwest Southeast Central School. During the conversation about what Henry did wrong, Principal Greenbeard tells Henry a story about how he played pirates when he was a boy at the school. He and his friends buried a treasure and it was found and stolen by a rival pirates. To this day, the principal has yet to find the treasure. Of course, this gets Henry and his friends on the hunt for buried treasure on the school grounds. (who doesn’t love a good treasure hunt!)
This is one in a series called SCHOOLING AROUND by Andy Griffiths. He also is known for his THE DAY MY BUTT WENT PSYCHO series, as well as several other goofy books. These are silly fun books. They’re great for reluctant readers as well as kids who just want a fun read! (your Captain Underpants readers will love these books!)

Check out the author’s website here. I'm real curious about his new one coming out next year called THE VERY BAD BOOK: click on the book for more...

Dan Gutman. MRS. DOLE IS OUT OF CONTROL

This is the first in a new series by Dan Gutman. It continues the adventures of the kids at Ella Mentry School from the MY WEIRD SCHOOL SERIES. In this book they graduate from 2nd grade into third. Normally you don’t graduate from second grade, but the new PTA president is the mom of one of the kids and she makes a huge deal about it (hence the title) and goes completely overboard.
I love this series! It’s totally relatable to kids. Like this:

Mrs. Dole says “Remember your first day of Kindergarten? My little baby Ryan was so scared to go to school that he peed in his pants. I remember it like it was yesterday.”
“You peed in your pants yesterday?” I asked Ryan.

It’s hysterical! There are many other quirky, funny parts that I won’t divulge here, so you can discover them for yourself. These are great for boys! Although girls will also enjoy them.
This series has 5 more books in it, some haven’t been published yet.

Dan Gutman has a great site to find out more about this series and all his other great books.

Lenore Look. ALVIN HO: ALLERGIC TO GIRLS, SCHOOL, AND OTHER SCARY THINGS

Alvin Ho is entering second grade with a PDK (a personal disaster kit). He’s afraid of everything, except explosions. He loves explosions. Before he started school, he was a superhero – Firecracker Man. (and he still dons the Firecracker Man hat from time to time). But even though he is a superhero, he is very scared of school. He never says a word at school. This makes it difficult to make friends, which he wants to do badly. So he ends up sitting with the only student who understands him: A girl named Flea. He’s disappointed, yet surprised by the book that she’s complied which turns out to be a dictionary of all of his facial expressions. Plus, the fact that she wears an eye patch makes sort of like a pirate. Maybe she will turn out to be OK after all.

Alvin is a refreshingly original character with a wild imagination. He's adorable! I enjoyed going on all of his journeys. I laughed out loud many times. Plus, the story is enriched with the most spectacular illustrations by Leuyen Pham. The facial expressions have uncanny resemblances to some of my favorite Dr. Suess characters.
Highly Recommended!