Yesterday, we learned that a mysterious card found in a copy of Charlotte’s Web sends Biblio Twins Tom and Becky on a summer-long adventure in The Dewey Deception. Today, we find fifth grade Language Arts teacher Mrs. Keating relaxing in a favorite chair, starting her summer reading with the 1953 Newbery Honors book and Reading Road Trip classic.
Charlotte's Web spins the unforgettable story of Wilbur, a lovable barnyard pig who is sad and worried when he discovers that he is destined to be the farmer's Christmas dinner-- until his intelligent and true spider friend Charlotte decides to help him. Let's explore Charlotte's Web.We can create and print our own comic stripsto share with family and friends. Later, we'll become tangled up in a challenging Pick-the-Perfect-Word game featuring our favorite Charlotte's Web characters. Just click on the red-highlighted words to get started! Here's a comic strip we created:
It looks like Wilbur will be joining us on our Reading Road Trip: some pig!
Let’s take a short day trip to 214 Main Street, Chatham, New Jersey. We’ll open the building's wide welcoming doors, stroll through the cool comfortable interior, and discover… One World, Many Stories!The Library of the Chatham’s annual reading club adventure begins today and continues throughout the summer, offering excellent prizes, exciting programs, and a grand finale picnic on August 18th. Click on the red-highlighted words and then on the For Children tab to learn all about the club and to view a list of events.
Summer Reading at the Library by Lauren H.
Reading Road Tripper Lauren H. has big plans for summer reading at the Library of the Chathams-- and beyond. She enthusiastically proclaims, “I’m going to read a lot… I love reading! I’m going to read more than I did last summer!” Let’s join her in exploring One World, Many Stories. It all begins at the library....
At the Lafayette LMC and at the Library of the Chathams, we always find good, friendly, and helpful staff. But what if the world is turned upside down on the pages of a book? What if the local librarians are not so good? Not so friendly? Not so helpful? What if they want to take over the world? Sounds like a great summer read!
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson.
Scholastic, 2007. 308 pages. RL 5.6.
On his thirteenth birthday, foster child Alcatraz Smedry receives a bag of sand—a strange gift which is immediately stolen by a secret network of Evil Librarians who are trying to take over the world. Alcatraz plunges into an action-packed adventure. Along the way, he meets his grandfather, discovers a talent for clumsiness, and realizes that he must use his special abilities to save civilization as we know it.
Alcatraz by Bobby B.
Reading Road Tripper Riley F. highly recommends Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians, particularly to “fourth through sixth grade boys.” Both Riley and Bobby B. enjoy the non-stop action, humor, and suspense of this zany fantasy.
Speaking of libraries and zaniness, let's check out The Dewey Decimal Rap:
Now that we’ve brushed up on the Dewey decimal system, let’s do some more Dewey withThe Dewey Deception: The First Adventure from the Biblio Files by Ralph Raab (Ages 9-12). Twin siblings Tom and Becky Biblio find a mysterious white card in a library copy of Charlotte’s Web and embark on a summer-long adventure, using the Dewey decimal system and other resources to solve puzzles that take them from their hometown to the Morgan Library in New York City.
Melvil Dewey
Reading Road Tripper Christian C. recommends The Dewey Deception to readers who like mystery and detective stories and to friends who enjoy cracking codes and unscrambling ciphers. He observes, “Every time they solve a puzzle, a puzzle that’s even harder comes up!” Christian relates to the character Tom Biblio, a reluctant puzzle solver who is "a little lazy like me.”
Whodunit in The Garden State? Author Ralph Raab lives with his wife and daughters in New Jersey. He has taught music, computer science, and study skills for many years. He insists that his illustrious writing career began at the age of ten, when exasperated teachers encouraged him to write things one hundred times after school.
And by the way… we’re not sure about the laziness, Christian. Your book review of The Dewey Deception is industrious and energetic!
Next stop: Down East Maine! This summer, fifth grade teacher Mr. Cronin and his family will be exploring the rugged Atlantic coastline and enjoying the refreshing scenic beauty of The Pine Tree State. Reading Road Trip did a bit of detective work and discovered that our favorite bow-tied math and science instructor may have a good summer mystery or two tucked into his backpack when he hits the road:
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett.
Scholastic Press, 2004. 254 pages. RL 5.4.
The mysterious disappearance of a valuable painting by seventeenth-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer-- and a sequence of seemingly unrelated but strange occurrences-- prompt eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder to join forces to solve an international art scandal. Chasing Vermeer is all about making connections and discovering coincidences: alert Reading Road Trip detectives will notice that the book’s artwork is by Brett Helquist, the illustrator of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events. After the Chasing Vermeer mystery is solved, there’s much more sleuthing in store: click the red highlighted words to meet the author, meet the illustrator, and to play games related to Chasing Vermeer. You’ll find art adventures, pattern puzzles, a flash board, and challenging pentominoes!
No doubt about it, Maine and mysteries go together. In The Ghost of Lizard Light by Elvira Woodruff, ten-year-old Jack moves from Iowa to a lighthouse cottage in Maine, where he encounters a young ghost and an old unsolved sea mystery (RL 5.0).
Lafayette gumshoes can investigate other mysteries from the world of art: Art Fraud Detective by Anna Nilsen is a spot-the-difference game, a mystery story, and an art book rolled into one great summer read. The book challenges Reading Road Trippers to decide which paintings are genuine and which are forgeries (RL 5.2).
The Great Art Scandal , also by Anna Nilsen, introduces twentieth- century art through hidden details in thirty-two paintings by sixteen artists (RL 7.2).
Let's give a round of applause with our claws: each year, nearly ninety per cent of the nation's lobster supply is caught off the coast of Maine! And if we're feeling blueberry, Maine is the top producer of blueberries (also known as bilberries, whortleberries, or hurtleberries) in the United States.
Mr. Cronin may want to keep a copy of L is for Lobster: A Maine Alphabet by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds stored in his glove compartment for handy reference. It’s an illustrated alphabet book that celebrates the many attractions of Maine (RL 4.9).
Let's travel to 1930's Paris, France! Within the walls of a bustling railway station in the City of Lights, Hugo Cabret, an orphaned clock keeper and thief, lives an isolated existence. Hugo meets a bookish young girl and an elderly toy booth owner who change his life—and place his well-guarded secret in jeopardy. We begin our Reading Road Trip to the magical, imaginative, page-turning world of Hugo Cabret with a video book review by fifth-grader Alex B.:
Automaton by Alex B.
Alex B. also shared original artwork inspired by The Invention of Hugo Cabret: an illustration of a mechanical writing automaton! Next, let's visit the workshop of master illustrator David Macaulay to learn more about The Way Things Work (click the red highlighted words). We can watch fascinating demonstrations of the inner workings of all sorts of things... the Internet, musical instruments, and drinking straws, for example. And while we're at it, we can play games inspired by Hugo Cabret. Click the red highlighted words and then on "Explore Hugo Cabret" to open the tool trunk, the mechanical maze, and the automaton workbench.
Live from the Garden State Parkway: Brian Selznick, the author and illustrator of Hugo Cabret, was born in New Jersey! In addition to The Invention of Hugo Cabret, he has written and illustrated several other books, including The Houdini Box and The Boy of a Thousand Faces:
If we take a close look at the cover artwork and illustrations for Frindle by Andrew Clements, The Doll People by Ann Martin and Laura Godwin, and the Caldecott Honor book The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley, we'll recognize Brian Selznick’s distinctive artistic style.
While we’re exploring the world of Hugo Cabret, we might take a side excursion… to the moon! We've learned that Brian Selznick found inspiration for his book in the work of George Méliés, a movie maker who made films in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1902, Méliés created the very first science fiction film, A Trip to the Moon. Let's take a look:
The Automaton by Caroline M.
Down the road: we can expect a Nintendo DS game based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret. In November 2011, we’ll look for a 3D adventure film based on the book, directed by Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese and starring Asa Butterfield, Chloë Moretz, Ben Kingsley, and Sacha Baron Cohen. Fifth grader Caroline M. found The Invention of Hugo Cabret “very interesting.” She recommends the book because “it allows you to have an imagination when you read.”
Charlotte's Web spins the unforgettable story of Wilbur, a lovable barnyard pig who is sad and worried when he discovers that he is destined to be the farmer's Christmas dinner-- until his intelligent and true spider friend Charlotte decides to help him. Let's explore Charlotte's Web. We can create and print our own comic strips to share with family and friends. Later, we'll become tangled up in a challenging Pick-the-Perfect-Word game featuring our favorite Charlotte's Web characters. Just click on the red-highlighted words to get started! Here's a comic strip we created:
