A Flock of Shoes- Blue Spruce Title #2

The second Blue Spruce nominee, all primary students have read Sarah Tsang's A Flock of Shoes.  The story begins with little Abby who is desperate to locate her sandals who have flown away in a flock of other shoes when the cold weather appears.  Luckily, her shoes haven't forgotten her and regularly send her postcards and photos from their warm and sunny location.  As the warm weather approaches, her sandals return home, but where might her boots relocate to?

An adorable favourite of many Runnymede students.  Another one to watch for at voting time!

Noni Says No- Blue Spruce Title #1

We have read our first Blue Spruce nominee!  All students, in grades K-3, have read Heather Hart-Susmann's Noni Says No.  This story features a likable character, Noni, and her so-called friend Susie.  Instead of disappointing Susie, Noni always says "yes".  Susie begins to take advantage of Noni's kindness and asks her to do all sorts of silly things, including cutting off her hair!  Over time, Noni finally develops the confidence to say "NO!"

A sure favourite with many classes at Runnymede who asked to hear it multiple times.  This will be a fierce contender during the final vote in May.

Grades K-3 Blue Spruce

Grades K-3 students have begun to explore the ten Blue Spruce titles.  Together we will read the books and will culminate our reading with a celebratory vote where the children will fill out a secret ballot to select their favourite of the ten selections.  All of the books have been recommended by the Ontario Library Association and I can confidently say they are all fantastic!  The province wide vote will take place in May.  It will be interesting to see how Runnymede compares with the province.  The blog will now feature the titles we have read.  On average, we will read one new nominee a week.

Holiday Favourites

Beautiful stories to share during the holidays.....
This timeless classic shows readers that believing in the magic of Christmas is within all of us.

David's up to his old antics again, but this time it's Christmas!  A funny holiday treat!



An adorable Canadian rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas".  Kids can't help but sing along to this one!

Another Seuss classic that can be revisited time and time again.  This story of the mean-spirited Grinch's endeavor to ruin Christmas for the locals of Who-Vill shows readers that the true spirit of the holidays is about giving, and not necessarily about receiving.



A wonderful story about the traditions and celebrations held during Hanukkah and the new moon that always accompanies this holiday.







A wonderfully illustrated picture book on the ABC's of Kwanzaa.

What Are We Reading??

The grades 4-6 classes have just finished reading Roald Dahl's beloved tale of a strong-minded and brilliant young protagonist, Matilda.  We were all sad to read the last page but are elated to begin The Invention of Hugo Cabret which is now a featured movie.  This amazing book is part text, part charcoal sketches and is quite hard to put down!  With the turn of each page, a new mystery emerges...

Forest of Reading Nominees Are In

It's that time of year again, Runnymede!!  The Forest of Reading nominees are in!  I'll be working hard over the next couple of weeks to order in the nominee titles for all of us to read and discuss throughout the year.

There will be two clubs for grades 4-8.  Grades 4-6 will concentrate on the Silver Birch titles, while grades 7-8 will focus on the Red Maple books.  If these clubs interest you, please see Ms. Edgar ASAP.

In the meantime, read a summary of the following nominees by clicking on the link below.

http://www.accessola.org/ola_prod/OLAWEB/Forest_of_Reading/Current_Program_Year/OLAWEB/Forest_of_Reading/Current_Program_Year.aspx?hkey=5af29ddd-628e-431d-9b3b-321b8393bd25

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate-Review by Clare in Ms. Lakoff's Class

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly is a pioneer book with a modern twist.  With excerpts from Darwin's book "The Origins of the Species", at the beginning of each chapter, the authors tells the story of a girl's forbidden obsession with science in a fresh and fun-filled way.  As the main character, Calpurnia, starts spending more time with her grandfather discussing and exploring science, society requires her to spend less and less time doing experiments  and instead spend long, boring afternoons learning how to sew and knit socks, cook and learn how to be a gentlemen's wife.  Calpurnia wants to fight this fate.

Although this book is set at the turn of the century, Calpurnia's thoughts and feelings are surprisingly modern.  Don't let the somewhat slow beginning fool you, as the book progresses it gets way more exciting.  Ms. Kelly uses a unique cast of characters to act out usual elements like an embroidery contest and a turkey killing.  Two thumbs up for this book!  A must read for all science and history enthusiasts!