Endlessly Ever After by Laurel Snyder and Dan Santat

Ever since the arrival in my library of Endlessly Ever After by Laurel Snyder and Dan Santat, I’ve looked forward to featuring it as a read-aloud. It features choose-your-own-adventure storytelling similar to the mass-market books I used to devour as a young person: except that Endlessly Ever After is a beautiful example of the picture-book format with its lavish, full-color, and evocative illustrations. This week, I debuted it with my school’s two third-grade classes; each class experienced a very different outcome as determined by the choices they voted upon each step along the way. Endlessly Ever After was the winner, in 2026, of the California Young Reader Medal in its “Primary” category.

Celebrating Children’s Book Week in SRCSA library

It’s Children’s Book Week, a time to celebrate books for young people and the joy of reading. During read-alouds this week in SRCSA library, I’ve shared the opening chapter from Dav Pilkey’s A Friend for Dragon. It’s one among a boxful of books and other amazing resources from Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council, in partnership with Dav Pilkey and Scholastic. I’ve also been sharing activity pages from the Dog Man and Friends Epic Activity Guide.
https://everychildareader.net/cbw/davpilkey2025/

I Must Betray You (eBook preview)

Presenting … First-chapter Friday, the eBook edition. This month’s selection features I Must Betray You, by Ruta Sepetys. (My student-group book club, University of Central Missouri, is reading it this semester with discussion to take place in March.)

SRCSA library : What I’m looking forward to

As we embark on a new school year (2024-2025), here are some of the things I’m looking forward to in the library at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts.
https://youtu.be/AB6dNbQ3hkw

Read-aloud : Millions of Cats, by Wanda Gág

Happy New Year! With the arrival of 2024, Millions of Cats, by Wanda Gág, is now in the public domain. Here is a commemorative read-aloud.

Story Boat : QR code links to read-aloud in Ukrainian

This copy of Story Boat by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh, has a QR code inside it that links to a read-aloud of the book in Ukrainian, created by Liza Pedash, Yuliya Hordievska, and Yana Gumeniuk with the permission of Penguin Random House Canada. Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts was one of several recipients of this book through a give-away by I’m Your Neighbor books. For more information: https://imyourneighborbooks.org/ukrainian-read-aloud-story-boat/

Medina appointed National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

Meg Medina, author of Merci Suárez Changes Gears and the Young Adult novel, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, has been appointed National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2023-2024, by the U.S. Library of Congress and Every Child a Reader. From my “First-chapter Friday” video collection, here is a reading from Merci Suárez Changes Gears.

Read-alouds and audiobooks offer similar benefits

A while ago, I came across some observations I really like, from Jim Trelease with The Read-Aloud Handbook. Those observations came to my mind during a discussion of audiobooks for LIS 5250.

Read-aloud update, Summer 2022

Video: Read-aloud update, Summer 2022. Between “First-chapter Friday” previews of new and interesting books, as well as full-length read-alouds of stories in the public domain, I hope that my recordings encourage young listeners’ imagination and vocabulary.

Book-Talk : Dragons in a Bag

If you haven’t yet listened to my read-aloud of Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott, now is an excellent time to do so. Dragons in a Bag is the selection for younger readers in this year’s Global Read Aloud. I am now recording a read-aloud for The Dragon Thief, second book in the series, and the story will continue in The Witch’s Apprentice, which is expected to be published in January 2022.

Video review: ‘Crunch’

Video: Get to know my latest read-aloud, Crunch, by Leslie Connor.

‘The Eleventh Trade,’ my current read-aloud

Recently, I agreed to record a read-aloud of a suspenseful story, and the middle-school language arts teacher at my school posed a vote among her students for the titles I’d suggested. The Eleventh Trade was the winning vote-getter. Here’s my Book-Talk video for The Eleventh Trade. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you are enjoying my videos.

SRCSA library : Welcome to 2021

It’s a brand-new year, and there’s a lot going on in SRCSA library. Here’s a review of recent highlights, including my read-alouds. The charter school lottery application window is open, if you’ve thought about attending our school.

SRCSA library : ‘I Survived’ read-aloud available

Video: I’m recording a read-aloud of Lauren Tarshis’ I Survived the California Wildfires, 2018. I’ll post segments to my Google Classroom for read-alouds as they become available.

What I’m reading : Ramped-Up Read Aloud

During this time of pandemic, I’m reaching out to my school community through live and recorded read-alouds. I consider it a way to maintain connections, and to preserve comfortable routines, while providing additional educational resources for students, staff, and families.

To learn more about, and to adopt, best-practices for read-alouds, I’ve turned to The Ramped-Up Read Aloud. This book, by Maria Walther, offers a variety of resources for enhancing the read-aloud experience. But above all and always, I hope to infuse my readings with the SIMPLE JOY of sharing a book.

Global Read Aloud 2020

For Global Read Aloud 2020, I’m recording read-alouds in the Middle-School / Intermediate and the “Picture Book Study” categories. School families, students, and staff, you can access those readings through my Google Classroom for read-alouds.

First-chapter Fridays in SRCSA library

Video: I’ve started posting read-alouds for opening chapters of books available in our school library. Look for readings to post at 7 a.m. in observance of “First-chapter Friday.”

Read-alouds, exciting developments in SRCSA library

In my latest YouTube video: I’m looking forward to presenting read-alouds that are live, as well as recorded, during 2020-2021. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you are enjoying my videos.