Summer Reading: Shore to Please

Let's travel down the shore to Lavallette, New Jersey!  We're looking forward to catching up with Mrs. Stryker, one of Reading Road Trip's favorite readers.  Mrs. Stryker was the Library Media Specialist at Lafayette School for eleven years before her retirement at the end of the 2010 school year. Mrs. Stryker handed over the LMC keys to Mrs. Cifrodella, but she still enjoys summer reading and flip-flop summer fun! So, where-- and what-- will Mrs. Stryker be reading this summer?

A few weeks ago, Mrs. Stryker stopped by the LMC and flipped open Beach is to Fun: A Book of Relationships by Pat Brisson (RL K-3), a  rhyming story about a day at the beach that looks at relationships between things-- and introduces us to analogies and logic in a playful way.

Fore!  Mrs. Stryker will have a copy of The Million Dollar Putt by Dan Gutman (RL 4.3) tucked into her golf bag.  This 2009 Garden State Book Award nominee tells the story of thirteen-year-old Ed "Bogie" Bogard's quest to learn golf and to win a million dollar prize. We think that Mrs. Stryker may Drop Everything And Read realistic fiction on the 9th hole! 

Ahoy, mateys!  Mrs. Stryker will be floating and boating... and reading The Mary Celeste: An Unsolved Mystery from History by Jane Yolen and Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple (RL 4.5). This historical fiction picture book brings out the amateur sleuth in all of us: a young girl presents the case of the unexplained disappearance of the crew on the ship Mary Celeste in 1872.

When she's off to zumba class, Mrs. Stryker will carry a copy of The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow (RL 4.1) in her duffel bag. After an active dance aerobic class filled with lively Latin music, a quietly refreshing summer picture book hits the spot: a mother's words help a little boy imagine the sights and sounds of the seashore, even though he has never seen the ocean.

Well, here we are in Lavallette! We find Mrs. Stryker relaxing on the beach, wiggling her toes in the sand, soaking up summer sunshine, and reading Flotsam by David Wiesner (RL K-3). This colorful picture book features a science-minded boy who goes to the beach to collect and examine objects that have washed ashore-- including an underwater camera that contains a collection of unusual pictures!  Check out the book trailer for the 2007 Caldecott Award winner:

Let's take a walk on Book Beach with Mrs. Stryker. Don't forget to bring your imaginations... and your underwater cameras!