A Visit from St. Nicholas

            We’ve been reading Clement C. Moore’s The Night Before Christmas this week.  There was a little background information in the front of the version we were reading and that led to a little “googling.”  (isbn 978-14027-5484 – ordered from Amazon.com)

There are some that dispute that Moore is actually the author…. We’ll leave that for another day.  Did you know that the original title is A Visit from S. Nicholas?  And it is 188 years old?   The story is that Moore wrote it while going out to pick up a forgotten turkey and he recited it at supper for his children.  It was later published in a newspaper without his name.  He claimed it later. 

             Now for the big question…. Does Santa Claus actually smoke a pipe?  Well according to Moore.  Santa stood right there in his parlor and took a puff or two.  He actually claimed that the smoke “encircled his head like a wreath.”  I’m curious if these lines are more likely to be left out these days.  Tom Browning has a beautiful picture of St Nick with a nice pipe with a little twirl of smoke. 

What do you think?  Should these lines be left out?  Or would that be censorship?  Hmmm…. Tricky little question.

You can find the poem and information about Moore on the following link.  It also has an original draft of the poem.  

http://www.clementcmoore.com/

Holiday Reading with the Olympians

I’ve made my holiday reading plans.  I’m going to try to knock out Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.  Yes, I know I’m way behind the times.  Everybody has already read them and seen the movie.  If you’re a fan of Riordan and his characters, check out his website ~ www.rickriordan.com.

Maybe I'll have time to add a couple of more titles before we go back to school.

The Book Tank

Had to share this...

My assistant principal, Wendy, passed a huge tank to me to use in the library.  I think in the past it must have been used for some kind of reptiles.  Of course, that is not an option for me.  I'm planning on using it for a themed terrarium.  Meanwhile, I stuck a few books on that topic in it until after the holidays.  I overheard one of my 1st graders exclaim, "It's a book tank!"  Then followed a whole discussion among themselves on the book tank versus a fish tank.
I can't wait to fill it with plants and tuck little storybook characters in among them.

have kindle... will travel

sunglasses, check

chocolate, check

cash, not much, but check

books... no... not this time.... I have a kindle!

Tomorrow I'm headed off to National Writing Project's Annual Meeting in Orlando.  I'm so excited! It's my first time to travel with my new kindle.  I can reread favorites or professional stuffy stuff or just for fun paper backs.... all in a nice little techy package that is less than 9 ounces.  

just reading

When I opened up my computer to write this little blurb, I thought would start with a peek into a conversation.  Then I realized that wouldn’t work.  It won’t work because no one was talking.  We were reading.  The students were reading.  All of them were reading…. well, maybe some were just looking at pictures.   Now this is not a special population of students.  It’s just another group of 6^th graders who had many other ideas about what they would rather be doing.  But for this one point in time, we read together. 

Hmmm…… how does a rowdy bunch of 6^th graders settle in for a 20 minute “SSR” time?  Is it timers? PBS tickets? Candy? Threats?

No, I just sat down and read.

Drowning in Cards

Mrs. Birdwell stamps every book and every card as we step forward to her desk with our precious choices.  She smiles as she passes the book back to me.  Did I ever wonder what she did with those cards? Of course not, I couldn’t wait to read about little sure shot. 

Cards, cards, cards, what to do with all these cards?  Please hurry up paperwork!  I’m drowning in cards.    Somewhere between here and the school board is the paperwork for purchasing the lifesaving Destiny.  When the last book is bar-coded every last book is entered, I think I’m going to build a bonfire with all the cards!  Maybe we’ll roast marshmallows and sell hot chocolate for a fundraiser.

What would Mrs. Birdwell think of Destiny and other library automation programs?  In 1979, I’m sure she would have never believed it.   It’s possible that she would have thought it was crazy since she had the latest model of the date stamp and ink pad.  She might have even been using one of those new fangled self-inking stamps.

Welcome to my little pocket garden.

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.  I've seen claims that this "proverb" is from China and Persia.  Either way, I like it.  I love books and I love flowers... so it's perfect.  I think of my library as a garden.  The shelves of books remind me of rows of vegetables or flowers.  Each book ready to be picked and enjoyed.