Doss Library

Check out this event that a Doss mom is helping to organize! I am not sure that I will be able to attend, but hope that some Owls can represent. The event will take place on August 2nd at Holy Grounds (located inside St. David's Episcopal Church at 301 E. 8th St.). Jennifer will be speaking about her book, Revenge of the Happy Campers. At 11:00 there will be cookies and crafts. An interview with KUT's Jennifer Stayton will begin at noon, followed by a book signing and photos at 12:30. The opportunity to hear an author talk about her writing and to meet the talent the book is a great way to spend a hot summer day.

Hello! I am working on gathering summer reading information for you and have decided to start with a post taken directly from BookPeople's website. We are grateful to them for their partnership and collaboration with Doss and AISD!

SUMMER KICKOFF PARTY!

image from Adrift by Jessica Olien

We had a great 100th day and enjoyed hosting Jessica Olien with our kinder, first, and second graders. Jessica spoke about her newest book Adrift: An Odd Couple of Polar Bears and showed some amazing photographs of Arctic animals and the environment. She encouraged kids to care for the planet and fostered a curiosity about ocean animals. She drew a fantastic blobfish from The Blobfish Book and kids asked great questions including "Does the blobfish contribute to its community?". I love that Jessica suggested that students do some research and investigate to find an answer. Check out this article about blobfish in World Book Kids. There are many great electronic resources and databases that can be accessed through the district online catalog. Take a moment to look for more information here. Jessica's visit was the perfect kick-off for next week's book fair. She finished her talk with a great illustration from Shark Detective. Students and teachers look forward to this great event and we are lucky to once again partner with BookPeople to bring Topher Bradfield to book talk his favorite selections for this year's fair. He will be here all day Thursday and Friday and we are lucky to have him! He always inspires and captivates. Look for Topher's table at book fair next week! If you'd like to order books from today's author visit, please go to BookPeople's online store.

You will also be able to order books for next week's visit with Allie Carter there. Third, fourth, and fifth graders will hear Allie speak on February 7th---the release date for her second book in the Simon Thorn series--- so exciting! We are grateful to BookPeople for sending these talented authors to our school!

I am so excited about this year's Winter Reading Challenge! It is new and improved and will hopefully encourage all of the owls to access AISD's many databases and electronic books as well as Doss' subscriptions to PebbleGo and PebbleGoNext. Teachers sent home a copy of the challenge printed on blue paper, a bookmark with all password information for databases and electronic books, and a yellow quarter sheet ticket for myON this week. Please sign and return the challenge sheet after break. We will celebrate participation with hot cocoa on the playground sometime after January 6th. Happy reading, wondering, & exploring! Enjoy the break!

Phil Bildner with RAD committee, Mrs. Lang & Mrs. Palmer

Mrs. "Gobble Gracker" Lang with Abby Hanlon

We had a great September! On the morning of the 22nd we hosted Phil Bildner for our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. Phil is a picture book and chapter book author. He is this year's winner of the Margaret Wise Brown Prize for Children's Literature for his picture book, Marvelous Cornelius. His message included the importance of reading, writing, editing, hard work, and kindness! His energy and excitement were contagious and we were so fortunate to get to spend time with him. Phil suggested many great books for our owls to read and encouraged them to work hard and do their best. The kids came out in their jerseys to celebrate the newest book in the Rip and Red series. They were excited and engaged for the visit. It was a great learning opportunity and a reminder of the value of bringing authors to our school

Let me start by telling you how much I love being the librarian at Doss Elementary School! I cannot imagine a better place to spend my days. The icing on the cake is that I get to work with the most amazing group of students, teachers, administrators, and parents around! I cannot thank the community enough for all of the support that they show! That brings me to the library volunteers and Read Across Doss (RAD) committee chairs. These people make my world go 'round! We've hit the ground running and have a great bunch of people coming weekly to help shelve, organize, and complete everyday tasks. We are also busy planning some amazing author visits. RAD is hosting Phil Bildner and Abby Hanlon on Thursday, September 22nd. Phil's visit is sponsored by PTA with the help of the RAD committee. He has been to Doss before and I am thrilled that a new group of owls will have the opportunity to meet him- He is truly an inspiration! Check out his website and especially the video about the first book in the Rip and Red series. He has written books for all ages and had received many accolades for his work. He will be speaking to our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders in the morning. While we've never hosted two authors in one day- we will be able to say that we've done just that come Thursday afternoon when BookPeople brings Abby Hanlon to Doss. Abby has written and illustrated a series for young readers called Dory Fantasmagory. Our 3rd grade team didn't want to miss this so third graders will actually see both authors (this opportunity will likely never happen again!) and will be joined by second grade. Visit Abby's website for more on her adorable books!

BookPeople, Austin's independent bookseller supports our school in many ways. We host our book fair with them and the wonderful Topher Bradfield always spends a few days at Doss book talking and visiting with students. BookPeople also brings us talented authors and illustrators that inspire our students to read, write, think, and dream. We are grateful for their partnership and support them by purchasing books through the online web store that they have set up for us to use when authors visit our school. These purchases allow us to continue bringing authors to Doss. We appreciate BookPeople and encourage you to follow this link and buy books. Please consider buying a book for your child, your child's teacher, their classroom library, or as a gift for a friend. We would also like to provide books for students who may not be able to afford one; these books can be given to me to distribute. Our community is always so thoughtful and generous- I thank you for this!!!

Next up is Ridley Pearson. He will be speaking to 4th and 5th graders on Thursday, September 29th. This talented author has written many books for adults and children. He is known at Doss for his Starcatchers and Kingdom Keepers series. He will be promoting his new book, Lock and Key. Signed copies of his books are also available for purchase.

Many thanks for your support!!!
Bonnie

Wow! I hope that everyone had an amazing first week! I know that I did. I love the beginning of the school year. I spent this past week greeting returning Doss Owls and meeting new ones. I enjoyed being back to work with the awesome teachers, staff, administrators, and community that makes our school special. I met with the Read Across Doss (RAD) committee and my volunteer coordinators. I am grateful for these amazing parent volunteers who work with me to create an fantastic library program! I created a check out schedule, read to all of the first graders and all but two of the kindergarten classes (I will be reading to those classes tomorrow), and scheduled my required district inventory of all books and materials as well as the week that we will host the AISD Dome. I discarded at least two hundred books and have a cart full of at least that many more. It was a great week!  Back to school time feels like sitting down and opening up a new novel...the one you read slowly, lingering over each precious word and savoring the details. This is a time to set goals and plan ahead. While I try to be consistent with my posts, I do find it easier to tweet and post to Instagram... You can find me @dosslibrary! I hope that you will follow me! Come by and say hello--- you are always welcome at the Jane Willis Library! Best wished for an incredible 2016-17 school year!!