05.21.13
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Mrs. Ditto, Media Assistant, and Mrs. Hazelrigg, Parkview Media Specialist    

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* Picture Book Spotlight *  


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Sky Color

by Peter H. Reynolds

Marisol is an artist, so she is understandably excited when it is announced that her class will be painting a mural on a school wall. Marisol is in charge of painting the sky, but her plans hit a snag: there is no blue paint. How can she paint the sky without any blue paint?

Marisol is fretting over the lack of blue paint, and all the while the skies are swirling masses of every color in the spectrum except blue. Just beautiful, and true to life. Most afternoons give us bright blue skies, but some days we see afternoons of deep navy and clouds of charcoal, and the loveliest of colors at dusk and dawn. Eventually Marisol lifts her eyes to the skies and finds a beautiful solution on her own.

Sky Color celebrates both the beauty of the sky and the eyes of artists who see beyond the blue.

 

 * Chapter Book Spotlight*  


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The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy

by Nikki Loftin

What is there to dislike about a school with an amazing playground, teachers that allow you to leave class and ignore schoolwork without consequence, regular snacks in addition to massive breakfast and lunch feasts, and bottomless dishes of candy at each desk? Nothing at all, for most students of Splendid Academy.

Lorelei is mesmerized by nearly every aspect of the school until a boy named Andrew shares a dire warning: the food is addictive. Not just, "Boy, that's really good, I wish I had some more," addictive, but literal, "cannot stop stuffing my face full of this delicious food" addictive. And that's only the beginning of the strangeness that lives at Splendid.

The more Lorelei and Andrew discover about Splendid Academy and its teachers, the more frightened they become. Is that really sand on the playground, or something much creepier? Is there a chance that there is something sinister behind all the high-calorie, high-sugar, constantly-available menu items? Could their creepy teacher Ms. Morrigan really be a witch who is fattening up the students in preparation for a feast? Could it possibly be true?

I can practically guarantee that the foreshadowing in this thriller will keep kids up reading well past their bedtimes. It did me.		 

 

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 Download the handout for Terri Street & Kristi Hazelrigg's 
Fall 2012 Encyclo-Media "Flyin' Down I-35" Presentation here:



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