Valentine's Week was Book Fair week in our library! What a great time to show our love for books and reading! This was the first book fair that this school had hosted in over 10 years and once the students figured out what it was, they loved it!If you talk with different librarians, you will find some that enjoy book fair and some that do not. I LOVE sharing books with students, teachers, and parents, so I just can't imagine not having book fair because it is such a great way to get everyone excited.
I enjoy the book talk and author videos that Scholastic puts together. They are a great way to get the students thinking about what they might like to read. I enjoy any time I can hear an author talk about what they have written and the students really love to put a face to the author's name. It's like a mini author visit without having to pay anything.
I also like to bring the students in to make wish lists. There are a lot of students at my school who don't have money to buy books, but when they make wish lists I can see what they want to read... and then I buy a copy for the library so they can check it out!!
I do a lot of reading during the book fair! Scholastic doesn't mind if I sample the books while they are with me. My two favorites this book fair have been: The Very Impatient Caterpillar by Ross Burach and Because of the Rabbit by Cynthia Lord.I'm a huge Mo Willems fan and The Very Impatient Caterpillar reminded me so much of Mo Willem's Pigeon. This is a VERY impatient caterpillar, who can't believe he can't read a book or order a pizza while he's waiting for TWO WEEKS in a chrysalis!! I laughed so hard at this story and I shared it with a number of classes who loved it too.
Because of the Rabbit was a beautiful story about a 5th grade girl who is going to public school for the first time. I don't think you can go wrong with Cynthia Lord, and this was a good example. It was a beautiful story of how hard making friends is, how important honesty is, and how small things can bring bigger things together.
