Mrs. Taylor is moving to Fergus!

:( I am sad to report that I will be leaving Victory at the end of the school year, but am looking forward to keeping in touch with all of the wonderful friends I have made there! KEEP ON BLOGGING!! :)

:) I am happy to report that in September I will be taking over as the Teacher-Librarian at James McQueen Public School! I am very excited to meet everyone there!!

To my new friends at James McQueen,

Some things you might want to know about me:

1. I LOVE to read!!

2. I live in Arthur with my husband and my daughter Alex.

3. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to read!!

4. I love to talk about books with other readers.

5. I have 3 dogs: Jack, Abby and Liz.

6. I am VERY excited to be working at James McQueen next year! :)

See you soon,

:) Mrs. Taylor

Hamlet, William Shakespeare (adapted by Mme Higgin's 4/5 Class)

While it has been YEARS since I last read Hamlet, I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the production I was treated to last week! Obvious hard work and creativity came together to create a concise, to the point, adaptation of Shakespeares Tragedy.

From the first scene, to the grand finale, this production was exceptionally well executed (no pun intended!). I loved the incorporation of digital media and the added introduction and conclusion. I felt like without having studied the play, without these additions, it might have been a difficult production to follow.

Perfectly casted, the actors were believable and quite convincing. I wait patiently for The Higgins Company's next show! What a treat!

Don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (Mo Willems)

By Mme Tipler's Grade 2/3 Class

We rated  this book an 8/10 because it is really funny. Pigeon tries hard to convince us to let him drive the bus, but is not successful - he does not get to drive the bus! Pigeon is a very funny, determined and creative bird. He Does everything he can think of to get us to let him drive the bus! NOOOOOOO! Pigeon cannot drive the bus!

We would recommend this book to children from 2 to 8 years old, parents, teachers and people who like hilarious books! If you enjoyed Mo Willem's other books (Piggy and Elephant, Knuffle Bunny, etc.) or Melanie Watt's books (Scaredy Squirrel, Chester, etc.), you will love Pigeon!

And Then it Happened.... (Michael Wade)

Right now I'm reading the And Then it Happened series by Michael Wade. These books are great for kids in grade 4, 5, and 6. These books are insanely awesome (10/10) because they are extremely funny and because all the things that happen could easily happen to somebody in real life. I also love them because they are all short stories, so if you've got 5 minutes and have nothing to do, you can read these. All in all, to anybody with a sense of humour, I strongly recommend these books to you!

Michael B. Baribault

Michael Wade will be visiting Victory Public School on Monday March 7th to talk to the Junior Students in the library! We Can't wait for his visit! (Mrs. Taylor)

Perfect Snow (Barbara Reid)

Barbara Reid's Perfect Snow is an excellent book to help boost our spirits considering the weatehr we have been having lately! The illustrations are incredible and her technique is so facinating. I have always been a fan of Barbara Reid's work, and Perfect Snow is no exception! As a cake decorator, I am always looking for different ways to create art on my cakes. I think that Barbara's technique is something that I could use in my art!

Barbara Reid's Plasticine Art Technique in 3 parts:

The City of Ember (Jeanne DuPrau)

The City of ember by Jeanne DuPrau was one of the first young fiction books I read when I began working in the Victory Public School Library. I have to say it was a very intense book that really kept my attention! I had my ideas of what the City of Ember was all about as I read, but I wanted to know if I was right, and more importantly, what was going to happen to Lina and Doon!! This book kept my attention through the whole story. I strongly recommend it to readers who enjoy suspense and excitement!

A movie was made based on the book in 2008 which I have not seen and a second book that picks up where Ember leaves off called the People of the Sparks as well. I am thinking about renting the movie and then reading the second book.....any recommendations?

Love, Splat! (Rob Scotton)

Love, Splat! by Rob Scotton is a very cute story about a fuzzy cat named Splat. We first met Splat in Scotton's first Splat book called Splat the Cat.
Splat attends Cat School and with Valentine's day fast approaching, he has a special card for a special Kitten in his class. Does she like Splat too?
My daughter and I read this book on Valentine's Day together and we both loved it! Splat shows lots of emotion and is a very sweet cat with a very big heart.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves to love!
8/10 - VERY CUTE!!

Smile (Raina Telgemeier)

Smile by Raina Telgemeier is an excellent graphic novel for junior students!! As a child of the 90s, I appreciated the references to Nintendo Power magazine and other fun 90s references!! Even as child of the 21st Century, many of the situations that Raina encounters are things that children today can relate to. If you check out Raina's website (http://www.goraina.com/) you can see some of her web comics as well! She is also the illustrator of the Babysitter's Club graphic novels that we have in the library! 9/10 - Excellent!!

It's a Book! (Lane Smith)

It's a Book! by Lane Smith is a very cute conversation between a book-loving ape and a tech-savvy donkey. By the end of the book, I definitely felt like I should set my computer down and pick up a book!! 10/10 - excellent connections to media!

Have I got a Book for You!

Melanie Watt
Have I got a book for you!

I read this book to my daughter Alex last week and as  2-year-old, she really didn't get it! She is more into Melanie's other characters (Scaredy Squirrel and Chester).

I however did LOVE this book! Al uses a variety of different ploys to try to get you to buy this book! It is a great book for looking at media and marketing.

I would rate this book a 9/10 - it was awesome!!