A few good books to take back to school...
By Assistant Director Sudie Blanchard
YORK VILLAGE - August is about to end and September is upon us, and as much as we may want to stay at the beach, many of us are called back to the reality of classroom life.This week, Children's Librarian Kathleen Whalin offers suggestions for good books to read as everyone prepares to go back to school - or begins school for the very first time.
As with any important life event, there are plenty of books with school settings, the most famous of which are, of course, the Harry Potter novels.
Anyone wanting to get ready for September might try picking up such a book. Here are a few titles, old and new and for all ages, to celebrate all that school is, and to help us get in the mood for a change in season.
Picture books
"David Goes to School" by David Shannon; "I am Absolutely Too Small for School" by Lauren Child; "Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten" by Joseph Slate, illustrated by Ashley Wolff; "Miss Nelson is Missing" by Harry Allard, illustrated by James Marshall; "Owen" by Kevin Henkes; "Super Fly Guy" by Ted Arnold; "The Twelve Days of Kindergarten" by Deborah Lee Rose, illustrated by Carey Armstrong-Ellis; "Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys" by Elizabeth Howard, illustrated by E.B. Lewis; "Yoko" by Rosemary Wells.
Fiction
"The Austere Academy" by Lemony Snicket (grades 5-7); "Good-bye, Mr. Chips" by James Hilton (adult); "The Homework Machine" by Dan Gutman (grades 4-6); "Judy Moody" by Megan McDonald (grades 3-5); "No More Dead Dogs" by Gordon Korman (grades 6-8); "Ramona Quimby, Age 8" by Beverly Cleary (grades 2-4); "Surviving the Applewhites" by Stephanie S. Tolan (grades 5-7); "The Teacher's Funeral" by Richard Peck (grades 6-8); "To Serve Them All My Days" by RF Delderfield (adult); "The View from Saturday" by EL Konigsburg (grades 5-7).
Summer Story Times have ended and our librarians are taking a short break to get ready for fall. Regular Story Times will resume at 10:30 a.m. on Thursdays and Fridays beginning on Sept. 28 and 29. Miss Kate's infant lap-sits will begin the same week on Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 10:30 a.m.
For more, visit www.york.lib.me.us.
