Category

Today, Betsy from the Book Stall, spent the afternoon with our students promoting just some of the wonderful titles that will be available at this weekend’s spring book fair. It is always so fun to watch the students get so excited when they hear about new books. The book fair takes place at the Book Stall in Winnetka and runs Saturday, Sunday and Monday. For the first time, we will have a special storytime imm

Congratulations to our 4th-6th grade Battle of the Books team members. Our three SFX teams competed Monday against six other teams from two other schools-Baker Progressive School and Chiaravalle School.  Two of our SFX teams came in 2nd and 3rd place in the individual team competition and in the overall school competition SFX came in 2nd. I couldn’t be prouder of how well these students worked together and how

There has been much going on in the library this month. The first week in March we held our qualifying competitions for our annual Battle of the Books competition for 4th-6th grade students.  We had to narrow it down to a finite number of students so the 12 students with the highest scores in our Battle of the Book game show will be representing the school on Monday, March 20 at 4:00 p.m. when we compete in an inters

Last week, we had a great time during Book Cafe where we discussed Masterminds by Gordon Korman. Our next meeting of the group will take place on Tuesday, April 11 during 4th and 5th grade recess and lunch. Dessert will be provided.  The discussion is open to all students in 4th and 5th grade.  We will be reading Last Man Out by Mike Lupica, who will be visiting SFX on that same day to talk with all 4th-8th grade stu

What a fun and busy week we had in the library last week. On Monday. local author Songju Ma Daemicke came to talk about her book A Case of Sense, a folktale she wrote based on a tale she was told when growing up in China. Second grade enjoyed hearing her talk about her journey to become an author and they even got to try out the author’s Chinese gong, an integral part of her book. On Thursday, we celebrated the

What a great time our 5th-8th grade girls had with author Elizabeth Eulberg last week. She gave us a sneak peek of the cover of her forthcoming book due out later this year, gave our students an opportunity to purchase her brand new book, Just Another Girl, which isn’t out in bookstores until later in March. Elizabeth thoroughly engaged our students with her wit, humor, and candor. She told the girls that SFX i

SFX has been given the opportunity to host popular middle school author Elizabeth Eulberg this Thursday, Feb. 16. Ms. Eulberg, who previously visited SFX and was deemed “fabulous” by our students, will be speaking to all the 5th-8th grade girls about the writing process and her two most recent books, The Great Shelby Holmes and Just Another Girl. For more information about the author, visit her website. C

On Wednesday, we had a great time at Book Cafe where we discussed Liberty by Kirby Larson. Our next meeting of the group will take place on Thursday, March 9, which is a noon dismissal day. Students can bring a sack lunch and stay at school for the discussion.  Dessert will be provided. All students must be picked up by 12:50 p.m. The discussion is open to all students in 4th and 5th grade.  We will be reading Master

Second grade students have been busy learning about different versions of classic folk and fairy tales. As part of this unit, we will be hosting local Glenview author Songju Ma Daemicke on Monday, February 27.  She is the author of A Case of Sense, a book inspired by a folktale her grandfather told her as a child. She will be visiting SFX to tell 2nd grade students about her childhood growing up in China and the role

In the world of children’s literature, this was a very important week. Each year, the American Library Association holds their midwinter conference where book award committees meet and select the most notable books published in the previous year. This Monday, the awards, which include the Caldecott and Newbery medals, were announced. I was excited to be at the awards announcement as I was fortunate enough to be

Kevin Henkes, author/illustrator of numerous award-winning books for children and a very popular author with our SFX students, will be visiting the Evanston Public Library on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 4:30 p.m. Henkes will celebrating the release of his 50th book for children, Egg. For details and to register for the event, visit the Evanston Public Library’s program calendar. Henkes is a wonderfully engaging speake

Book Cafe returns!  It is open to students in 4th and 5th grade. We will meet on Wednesday, February 8 during 4th and 5th grade lunch period. We will be reading Liberty by Kirby Larson, who is our featured author for this school year and will be visiting SFX on Friday, May 19. Students are invited to bring a sack lunch and come to the library and join me for a fun book discussion. Dessert will be provided. Registrati

Happy New Year to you all!  I hope you all enjoyed a joyous Christmas with your family and friends. As we return to school this week, I am very excited to share many great books with our students in 2017. Some of the exciting library programs coming up include Battle of the Books, the return of Book Cafe for students in 4th-5th grade, and the inaugural Breakfast with Books get together for middle school students. As

What fun we all had when David visited SFX on Monday! His visit was made possible by your generous support of the EPIC Difference Fund. His hilarious and engaging presentation had our Kindergarten-3rd grade students enraptured from the start. David showed the children how he created his artwork completely on his computer and he encouraged all the children who are interested in illustration to try sumopaint.com to cre

This week our 3rd grade students will become book award committee judges. In preparation for the January announcement of the winners of the 2017 Caldecott medal for outstanding illustrations in a children’s book, 3rd grade will embark on a few weeks of studying, analyzing, and critiquing children’s picture books published in 2016. Each week when they visit the library, I will guide them through spending t

Tuesday was an exciting day as the Scholastic truck pulled up to the school and boxes and boxes of books rolled off the truck in preparation for this year’s Holiday Book Fair. The book fair runs Thursday-Sunday and proceeds from the fair help support our school library. Proceeds from last year’s book fair enabled us to buy the online database suite of Scholastic Go! helping our students find credible and

Author David Biedrzycki, is a lifelong artist who drew all the time as a child even getting in trouble with his teachers for doodling on his homework. Having worked as a professional artist since 1980, he has written and/or illustrated numerous children’s books. His book, Breaking News: Bear Alert, won the 2016 Monarch Award: Illinois’ K-3 Readers’ Choice Award, and is incredibly popular with our st

SFX students in grades 4-6 will, for the second year in a row, have an opportunity to participate in Battle of the Books, a literary trivia game. For added fun, this year we will play an interscholastic game with two other area schools, Baker and Chiaravalle (Evanston). When we return from winter break, more information will be made available to students on how teams will be formed but until that time, this is the li

Sunday marked World Kindness Day. In a world that is full of unrest, it is wonderful to take a day to concentrate on giving to others. As Christians God calls us to do this all year round not just one day of the year. Last week, the Association of Library Services for Children, a division of the American Library Association, published a wonderful list of children’s books that share the message of creating unity

What a wonderful visit we had Friday afternoon with author Peter Kujawinski. You could hear a pin drop as Peter held the 5th-8th grade students in the palm of his hand as he enraptured them with his amazing storytelling. Students may still order a copy of Peter’s book Nightfall. Complete the order form and return it along with payment to school by Monday morning so that we can secure a signed copy of the book f

Mrs. Ann Gass is joining the library team on Monday, November 7.  She is filling the position previously held by the wonderful Mrs. Kanellos. Mrs. Gass has worked as a library assistant at a school in Northbrook and most recently held a long-term substitute position at Glenbrook South High School’s library. I have known Ann for a few years and I am very excited to have her working with me in the library.  Ann l

What an amazing week we had last week with our poet in residence, Bill Buczinsky, as he worked to nurture and grow a love for poetry writing in our students. Bill has a poetry writing journal, Strange World: A Poetic Journey, that is for sale if families would like to order a copy. Please fill out the order form and return it to the school along with your payment no later than November 15.  Checks should be made paya

Thanks to our partnership with the Book Stall at Chestnut Court, author Peter Kujawinski will be coming to SFX on Friday, November 11 to speak with our 5th-8th grade students. Peter was an American diplomat on assignment in Israel, Haiti, France and at the United Nations. He also served as U.S. Consul General in western Canada. During this time he began writing and has published books for young people and adults. His

The holiday season is rapidly approaching, as is our Christmas book fair, which starts Dec. 1.  Betsy Bird, collection manager of the Evanston Public Library, is one of the foremost authorities on new children’s books and she has just published her list of must read children’s books for 2016. The list encompasses a wide range of books. I have read many of the books on theBetsy Bird 2016 best books and wan

Thank you to all the students and families that attended last night’s fun-filled poetry event. Lead by our poet in residence, Bill Buczinsky, the students shined as they read their own poems and got caught up in the joy and excitement Bill has brought to our students this week. It was a delight to see.