De regreso a la escuela: ¡Qué locura por la lectura!

I know, I know!  School just finished this past week and the stores are still weeks from filling their shelves with crayons and pocket folders.

However, I am always on the quest for good books to begin the school year because those first read-alouds seem to be so important in building community and establishing our class's identity.  Today, when I was perusing the children's section of Spanish books at my public library, I came across a few gems that I will be sharing over the next few weeks.  I know it is crazy early but this will give you time to buy or reserve the books at your library.  I promise, you'll thank me when August (or September) gets here! :)



¡Qué locura por la lectura! is the translation of Judy Sierra's book Wild about Books.  I have always been a fan of Marc Brown's illustrations and Yanitzia Canetti's translations are widely respected.  She has been the translator of most of Dr. Seuss's book.  Can you even imagine trying to translate those?

The book starts out like this:

Fue en verano; 2002, así todo comenzó:

Moly, la bibliotecaria de Springfield, se equivocó.

Su bibliotecaria ambulante al zoológico llevó.

Al llegar abrió la puerta y sacó la escalerilla,

prendió su computadora y se acomodó en la silla.

Los animales miraron con alguna indiferencia,

pero a Moly no había quién le hiciera resistencia.

Cuando leyó a Dr. Seuss, con tremenda entonación,

cautivó de inmediato a un alce y a un visón.

Atrajo a un wombat, a un orix, también a un lince,

a un lemur, a ocho elefantes y a estincos, más de quince.

Entonces los animales comenzaron a correr

para saber qué era aquello que se llamaba leer. 

Can't you just picture it?  Isn't this what every teacher wants to happen in her classroom?  We start to read with tremendous expression and our little charges are immediately captivated wanting to know more about this thing we call "reading".  This book can be the source of so many great literacy conversations with your students.  What do they love about books?  What kinds of books?  How do they select books?  This book would be an excellent pre-cursor to a reading interest survey.  I will try to find and post one of mine soon!

You could definitely decorate your classroom library around this book's theme "Locura por la lectura".  Check out this teacher's Wild About Books reading area!    

Of course, there is lots of bulletin board potential here too for those Meet the Teacher and Parent Conference nights.  With the title "Locura por la lectura", have each child identify his/her favorite genre of book and give one example.  Sierra's book describes the favorite genres of the different animals (dramas, chistes, misterio, etc.).  Run a copy of each child's favorite book's cover and staple it below his/her name on the board.

Okay, that's enough back to school talk for a little while!  For now, enjoy sleeping in, wearing flip-flops, and going to the restroom whenever you need or want to!