Octavius Grimwood's Graveyard Guide

Octavius Grimwood's Graveyard Guide: 
Vampires, Zombies, and Things You Don't Want to Meet in the Night
     written by Rod Green

 Open the coffin lid of this book if you dare (yes this book is actually in the shape of a coffin!) and you are in for a spooky read!

Octavius Grimwood shares his investigations and personal notes with you about the supernatural, spooky, and weird.



His ghost serves as a guide through the book as you learn about ghosts, skeletons, mummies, zombies, and vampires.

You'll read graveyard tales, find out details about haunted houses, learn about witches through history and literature, how to cast a spell, and so much more.

ISBN: 978-0-7641-6377-7

101 Freaky Animals

101 Freaky Animals
     written by Melvin and Gilda Berger


REVIEW

Get a head start on your animal reports this year by reading about 101 Freaky Animals. Maybe after sampling animals and facts about them you'll find one that you want to go into depth and research more about it.



 

Did you know?
38. The Great Indian Hornbill males use their casques on their beaks as an inflight weapon.


24. The Fennec Fox's ears are almost 1/2 as long as its body.


51. Komodo Dragons smell with their tongues.

65. Octopuses have a bag of tricks they use to escape their predators: they can flee by squirting water out of their bodies to jet away, they can change their skin color to camoflage themselves, they can spread dark ink in the water to confuse their enemies, and they can squeeze themselves through cracks and rocks to escape quickly.

84. Sphynx Cats have no fur and they are not Egyptian.

88. Star-Nosed Moles use their 22 tentacled noses to "see."

That's just six of the 101 animals featured in the book with interesting information to learn about.

Each page has an animal named and numbered to locate easily. There's an index in the back of the book to check to see which animals are featured.

Included with each animal factoid is a full photo of the animal being discussed and a thumbnail for easy reference and connection to the text.



The facts are interesting, the photos detailed and stimulating...so this book should peak your interest and leave you wanting to find out more!

We'll be building a Wallwisher Wall this Spring with interesting animal facts and Discovery Streaming videos to watch so be sure to keep checking back on our Media Center website. When we launch the wall we will also launch a page to recommend good books to read and you can bet that this one will be on the list!

ISBN: 978-0-545-23758-1


Happy Reading!

A is for Amazing Moments

A is for Amazing Moments
 written by Brad Herzog



Sportswriter Brad Herzog shares some of the greatest moments in sports from A-Z as part of an extensive and ever expanding series of ABC books for all ages, but especially for tweens and teens.

Each letter of the alphabet has an oil painting and caption to identify the defining word, event, or person, and in the margin of each page is the running commentary detailing the page in historical perspective.

See how well you really know your sports trivia but I guarantee that you'll walk away after reading this book with something new you didn't know before!

This book is for all sports fans...but don't stop here! We have a growing collection of these books from the alphabet series. Just take a look to see the titles you'll find in our library!

ISBN: 978-1-58536-360-5

Roald Dahl: The Missing Golden Tickets

Roald Dahl: The Missing golden Tickets and other Splendiferous Secrets
    

If you are a Roald Dahl fan, and frankly, who isn't, then you simply have to read this book!

Inside you will learn all about the "missing children" from "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."

Roald Dahl said" Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."

Did you know that:

• Willie Wonka's Oompa Loompas were originally called Whipple Scrumpets?"
• Roald Dahl wanted to get rid of history teachers and replace them with chocolate teachers?
• At age 13 Roald Dahl did not get good grades in school? His teachers wrote"ideas limited" "consistently idle and too pleased with himself" and "rather dazed...might work harder" yet he grew up and became one of the world's most beloved authors
• Roald Dahl kept two idea books that he wrote in for over 40 years

Also inside the book you'll see Willie Wonka recipes, information about his illustrator, secret writing tips, Charlie's Quiz, and the missing chapter with the original ending to "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"

So go to the Roald Dahl display in our fiction section and check out your copy today!

ISBN: 978-0-14-241742-3

Cool Stuff 2.0 and How it Works

Cool Stuff 2.0 and How it Works
     written by Chris Woodford and Jon Woodcock

DK's Cool Stuff 2.0 and How it Works won the VOYA Nonfiction Honor and the IRA Young Author's Choice Award.

Find out how things work from smoke detectors, high tech toilets, floating beds, to smart carts, and security cameras, to super computers and roller coasters, to solar sails, and night vision just to name a few of the items from the book.

If you like science, inventions, and wonder how everything works, check out this book from the nonfiction section!




ISBN: 978-0-7566-7106-8

You Can't Scare Me!

You Can't Scare Me! A guide to the Strange and Supernatural
      written by Ticktock

Here is a collection of real life trivia about the supernatural organized into different categories with photos to accompany the text. Learn about everything from hauntings, to ghosts and vampires, to antural monsters, werecreatures, mysteries and the occult, ESP, close encounters, chnneling the supernatural, witches and warlocks, mysticism and miracles, magic, energies, and psychic powers, and more.

Learn about fakes and frauds, restless souls, phantom ships, ghost busting, and classical monsters, how to cast the oracle, use tarot cards, and dowsing for water.



ISBN: 978-0-545-28101-0

What in the Wild?

What in the Wild? Mysteries of nature Concealed...and Revealed
     written by David Schwartz and Yael Schy

Are you a nature detective? Can you solve riddles of nature?  This book has 8 animals for you to guess from hints within poems presented.






Each set of pages has a fold-out page with an animal photo answer and detailed information about the animal.




ISBN: 978-1-58246-310-0

The Slightly Odd United States of America: Wacky Facts Great Country

The Slightly Odd United States of America: Wacky Facts Great Country
              written by the editors of Klutz

Complete with a fold out map of the United States, each page in this book has trivia facts about one of the states of the US.

The states are positioned in the book according to their locations, Upper Right, Lower Right, Middle, Middle Middle, and Left.

Sprinkled within the text are games and trivia hunts focused on the states. Answers can be found in the back of the text. Challenge your friends and see how much you really know about the 50 states.


ISBN: 978-1-59174-904-2

Around the World: An Amazing World

Around the World: An Amazing World
   written by Heather E. Schwartz and Tammi Salzano

REVIEW.
I love this little interactive, 3-D Travel Book I found on one of the shelves of our fall bookfair at only $4.99! I see so many uses for this book in the classroom and Library Media Center! The photos are simple and iconic.

Put on your 3-D glasses included in this book and take a quick journey around the world learning some trivia about amazing landmarks we all hope to be able to see sometime in our lives face to face!

Teacher Note: The book is written for younger readers but I will use this book K-6 and believe the true power of the book is in the higher grades. There is just enough information and beautiful photographs to peak interest to pursue more information. Each student can pursue content knowledge that appeals to them, while learning access and internet skills I introduce to them... differentiated instructional lessons. Even my most reluctant readers will become involved with partners or small group investigations. I will use this book and several others in this blog as a "text" along with important WebTools that assist learners to locate, organize, and synthesize information using content selected to release motivation.

I plan to use this book as a project launch with my upper grades to learn and utilize Google Earth to develop an online travel map for younger students to experience later on, addressing social studies standards both lower and upper grades, 21st century skills, and Library/Media Center standards, all within one project.
Authentic projects researched, developed, and published by older students as a learning tool for younger students is a favorite learning process I use through my Library/Media Center program to maximize learning experiences.

Watch for the project to appear on our Media Center webpages at some point. It will be an ongoing and constantly evolving project building collective intelligence as it grows.

ISBN: 978-0-545-17229-5

Weird But True!

Weird But True!
written by National Geographic

This book is full of weird but true factoids about everything under the sun. 300 Outrageous Facts about animals, nature, physics, people, places and more. 
 
Watch the book trailer to see some of the interesting facts the researchers and photographers at National Geographic have put together to peak your interest in finding out about the world around you.

Already a hot title from last Spring's Book Fair, Weird But True2 was on the hot table at our Fall Book Fair "Reading Saves the Day" and Book 3 is on the way!








ISBN: 978-1-4263-0594-8

Would You Rather? Gross-Out

Would You Rather? Gross-Out
   written by Justin Heimberg and David Gomberg

There is a simple 4-Step Process to be able to have fun using this book:
1. Get together with your friends.
2. Read a question from the book and together talk about it taking turns.
3. Everyone has to participate.
4. Once everyone has chosen and shared, move along to the next question.

Here are a couple of samples of gross out choices that I can share here on the blog....others are so gross... you'll just have to read them for yourselves! Guaranteed to be a great read for those who like the gross side of things.

Topics include:
Gross!, You've Been Cursed, Powers and Fantasies, Grosser than Gross, Would you Rather Live in a World Where, Would You, Getting Personal, As Gross as it Gets, Random Play, and a section to Make Your Own Questions!


I'm creating a book trailer and definitely think it's worthy of a webpage on my Media Center site to poll our students using questions from the book. It will be especially fun to use as we explore and learn about online polls and surveys, and how to collect and interpret data.

Watch for this book to be added to our Extremely Popular Binder !

ISBN: 978-1-934734-35-3

The Ultimate Trivial Pursuit Question and Answer Book

The Ultimate Trivial Pursuit Question and Answer Book
edited by Hasbro

 This is a great little book that I found buried in one of the cases of our Book Fair last Spring, and after a quick Book Talk with my tweens, it became a hot title for the Fair!

Reviewers say that it's one of the largest compilations of Trivial Pursuit questions ever created.

My Book Talk covered how the book can actually take the place of the gameboard as a way to play the game individually or as a group on the go...especially great for those long car trips, and that was enough to generate interest to get the little book on our hot table! I also see this book as a great trivia encouragement to find out more after reading a little snipit.

The categories within the book are: Geography, Entertainment, History, Arts and Literature, Science and Nature, and Sports and Leisure.

It's definitely a keeper for Family Game Night or the Family Road Trip!

ISBN: 978-1-4027-7065-4

National Geographic Kids Almanac 2011

National Geographic Kids Almanac 2011
     written by Nat Geo
This year's Nat Geo Kids Almanac 2011 is full of over 5,000 fun and fabulous facts about the world and who's in it!

Geography, science, history, adventure, it's all here for you to discover through your reading.

You can literally spend hours browsing through the book, but don't take my word for it! Come along with me by watching the vimeo video below and you'll get a special sneak peak of the book!

Happy Reading!


National Geographic Kids Almanac 2011 Book Talk from Roxanne Clement on Vimeo.




ISBN: 978-1426306303

767 Sports Questions Your Friends Can't Answer

767 Sports Questions Your Friends Can't Answer
              edited by Wallie Walker Hammond
              published by Thomson Peterson's
                                                  

There are so many tween sports fanatics at our school and this book presents  a challenge as well as a great read for sports trivia fans.

The book is a series of set of trivia questions (737) organized by chapter and sports topic including Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey, Auro Racing, Women in Sports, Golf, Tennis, Olympic Games, Coaches, Hall of Famers, Boxing, Championship Teams, and Retired Numbers. At the end of each chapter there are sets of answers to the questions presented.

Also provided is a scoring key to rank yourself among other readers of the book according to the publishers.

This would make a great car travel book for a sports-minded family to help pass the time and have a great family read together, or for a group of kids who hang out together after games, scouting, or other activities.

I plan to use the book to post a sports trivia question weekly on my website for students to check in and respond to. I love these kinds of books for browsing and I often see students choosing other books as a result in order to dig deeper into sports content after becoming interested by a specific piece of trivia.

ISBN: 978-7689-2458-9

101 places You Gotta See Before You're 12

This "Bucket List" book for  tweens is one of the hottest books in our 900 section! It is designed as an interactive scavenger hunt including stickers to use as a rating scale when checking off items from the lists within the book, ranking them "Top 20, Loved it, Yawn Fest, No Way, Awesome, Way Strange, Been There", etc. There's a map to help guide exploring and planning, and a note section to add additional ideas and comments. Also included are some websites and links to support the listed items with directories, organizations, and other resources.

Book circulation increases with additional Book Talks and discussions to stimulate uses for this book, as well as potential lessons/activities:

• Google Earth Trips...even better, develop tours based on choices selected individually to share with others
• Keep it local...Take it National...use with social studies units exploring city, state, and country.
• Take a virtual trip...if you can't actually go to a farm...is there a website with a virtual tour?
• When traveling with the family develop a game to play with the list to see if you can name a site that fits the list... name "a very big thing", "a peaceful place" then read what the book has to say about it.
• Make a personal list of the "10 Things I most want to see this year"...share with family
• Find your 10 favorite places using Google Earth and show your friends.

Sullivan, Joanne. 101 Places You Gotta See Before You're 12. New York: Lark Books, 2006.
ISBN: 978-1-60059-147-1