Book Trailer created by Aleatha Brewster of Canadian, Texas
More about the book at our Maze Runner page
A book-loving boy from the small Oklahoma town of Americus grapples with the travails of high school and takes a stand when it looks as though his favorite fantasy series, starring a young sorceress who hunts monsters and tyrants, might be banned from the local library. That’s the storyline of Americus, written by MK Reed and illustrated by Jonathan Hill, due from Roaring Brook’s First Second Books in fall 2011. This graphic novel is making an earlier, serialized appearance on the Web, where new installments have been posted three times a week since early June. Given the theme of the book, the publisher plans an online promotion to tie in with Banned Books Week, which this year takes place September 25-October 2. Here's how the book--and the serialization--came to be.
Make Your Own Stone Soup
Stone Soup: A Puppet Show
Simple props and script for Stone Soup.
Stone Soup Activities
Making Stone Soup
A lesson plan for grade 2 mathematics, English language arts, and computer technology skills.
Stone Soup
Ideas for teaching Stone Soup.
Students will create a recipe and a shopping list.
Rascal and the Bad Smell
Author: Paul Jennings
Illustrator: Bob Lea
Real books for beginners
Someone made a bad smell. But who?
Like a bloodhound on a case, Rascal puts his nose to the task of finding the culprit.
Read a Rascal story to your children and before long they'll read it to you.
You can buy the book here => http://bit.ly/dd083c
More information on the book here => http://bit.ly/dy5L13
Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex
Author: Eoin Colfer
Young Artemis has frequently used high-tech fairy magic to mastermind the most devious criminal activity of the new century. Now, at a conference in Iceland, Artemis has gathered the fairies to present his latest idea to save the world from global warming. But Artemis is behaving strangely – he seems different. Something terrible has happened to him . . .
Artemis Fowl has become nice.
The fairies diagnose Atlantis Complex – that's obsessive compulsive disorder to you and me – dabbling in magic has damaged his mind. Fairy ally Captain Holly Short doesn't know what to do. Because the subterranean volcanoes are under attack from vicious robots and Artemis cannot fight them. Can Holly get the real Artemis back before the robot probes destroy every human and life form.
Ash and Benjamin are teenage mercenaries. They find stolen artifacts and return them to the owners - for a fee.
But when they are hired to rescue an imprisoned girl, they realise they're in over their heads. Because there are others looking for the girl too. Corrupt governments. Ruthless corporations. Rogue assassins.
As these forces converge on the place where the girl is trapped - the headquarters of the world's biggest intelligence agency - Ash realises she's made a terrible mistake; one that may cost her and Benjamin their lives...
You can get an autographed copy here
by Sonja Hartnett
Her muzzle wrinkled, and Andrej saw a glimpse of teeth and pale tongue. 'They smell the same, ' the lioness murmured. 'My cubs smelt as she does. Like pollen.' She breathed deeply again, and Andrej saw the missing cubs returning to her on the wings of the baby's perfume. 'All young ones must come from the same place,' she said: then sat down on her haunches, seemingly satisfied.
Under cover of darkness, two brothers cross a war-ravaged countryside carrying a secret bundle. One night they stumble across a deserted town reduced to smouldering ruins. But at the end of a blackened street they find a small green miracle: a zoo filled with animals in need of hope.
A moving and ageless fable about war, and freedom.
Wondering how to help your child get ready for school? Good habits are best formed when kids are young. In the primary years, kids sit on the floor to hear stories read by the teacher from a story book. In the middle and upper primary years, kids are expected to read independently and quietly to themselves as well. Preparing the foundations for good reading habits can begin as soon as your baby can sit up, from six months onwards.
Even before then, propping your baby on your lap with a book often, helps baby to associate holding books with being in a fun, safe environment. After your child is asleep in her cot, leave one or two picture books within reach so that she sees them when she wakes up. This can delay her crying out for you.
She learns very early that books are a fun, interesting companion, especially if one of them squeaks or is tactile made from various materials, or has shiny pictures and shapes that glitter from different angles. The best environment for reading is away from distractions like TV or computer screens. This can be on a designated 'reading couch' or bean bag, on a mat or on a bed.
If parents (or carer) are consistently relaxed and unhurried when reading together, kids are likely to follow suit, and remain calm and engaged with their book. Carers reading to kids often - even if only for short periods - prepares kids from a young age to enjoy listening to stories. It helps get them ready to engage with story-time at school.
Encouraging young kids to 'read' aloud as well - i.e. tell a story with book in hand while turning the pages - lays fabulous foundations to enjoy quiet reading in the future when they reach middle and upper primary school.
Author, Karen S. Thomas say she "is currently writing a fictional story in my blog, http://tommyswritingblog.wordpress.com. I am writing as I go without really knowing what the characters will do next. Check it out! Read it out aloud to your kids or to kids you know. Tell me what you think and where you want the story to go."
