 |
| Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" to the March SOLSC sponsored by Two Writing Teachers. |
 |
| Pink and green - the perfect color scheme for spring! |
As I circulated among students and peered over shoulders at the lists, I discovered an old Newbery Honor title from 1935, The Pageant of Chinese History by Elizabeth Seeger. We're studying China right now, so I thought it would be fun to share this book with my students. I dashed to the technology that both peeves (bar codes on the front cover) and exhilarates to see if the title is available. Yes!
 |
| A peek inside this front cover reveals a few black and white illustrations and 497 pages of text. |
It arrived with the old stamped date due sheets inside the front cover. Checkouts of this book began in 1983 and continued with two to four checkouts per year until Dec. 1992. Then the record of checkouts jumped to once in 1994, once in 1995 and once in 2002. Under the date due slips is a glued card that shows a checkout to Mercer Island on Jan. 16, 1970. When I was a kid I loved looking down the list of names to see if someone I knew had previously read the book I was holding in my hands.
Share a favorite Newbery Medal or Newbery Honor title in your comments today, and we'll add your choice to our board (kites this time)!
Such a great reflection back on the past. I loved looking at who checked out books too. For fifth graders the older Newbery Honor titles tend to be too much of a stretch. More recent picks have been perfect for them, and fantastic read alouds. I'm going to pick The One and Only Ivan as a favorite because we just finished it and it's lingering in my mind.
ReplyDeleteYou ask a difficult question, what has been a favorite? I looked over a list and thought, I liked that one, and that one, and that one. Too hard to select just one! Walk Two Moons was powerful (I need to reread this) and The Tale of Despereaux was a favorite too. Can't say your book picture would grab me, 497 pages? Wow!
ReplyDeleteColorful board!
ReplyDeleteI love your slice about this book. How fascinating to look through the list of check-outs! A little book history right there in front of you!
Love the board!
ReplyDeleteChecked the list...I've read 4 out of the past 5 years, 34 overall. Favorites: Flora & Ulysses, Ivan, Sarah Plain and Tall, and A Wrinkle in Time.
I love how you traced the history of the book through who had checked it out. Now that our library has gone digital, there is no longer a list of names or dates of who checked out a book on the card. It's all on the computer. I think my all time Newbery favorite would be A WRINKLE IN TIME, but it's hard to pick just one.
ReplyDeleteI love your board, Ramona! I looked up the winners wa-a-y back, and discovered a few things I hadn't remembered. The Little House books won honors year after year during WWII. Anyway, from that time, & still recommending today, Eleanor Estes The Hundred Dresses, & that was the year Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson won-another sweet book. I used to look at the check-out names too, but especially miss the old card files...
ReplyDeleteThat's such a neat story. One of my friends works in the same high school where we graduated from, and they recently did a used book sale. Karan bought an old favorite of hers from h.s., and one of the names on the check-out card was Lisa, who was also a h.s. friend, and we're all still friends today. She loved telling Lisa she was buying the same book all these years later, and her name was written in it. Fun! My favorite Newbery winner was probably Bridge to Terabithia, and my favorite Honor is Charlotte's Web.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I loved used books sales - I check those dates, too, and also the inscriptions. So many stories can be found in those particular pages, ramona!
ReplyDelete