Blogiversary Round Up!

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September 14 marked  my 1 Year Bogiversary. I was lucky enough to have a great line up of guest bloggers help me celebrate! This is a recap of the fabulous posts for you to enjoy!

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Why Children's Books?  by The1stdaughter of There's a Book. Her site is a wonderful resource for parents who are looking for fabulous books to share with their children. Danielle knows how vital books are in the lives of kids and she is able to write about them in a way that lets parents know exactly what to be reading. Danielle has been a very loyal follower and contributor to Book Talk Tuesday. We share links and resources regularly on Twitter and Pinterest. Danielle has been an important part on my virtual learning community! Thank you for writing this post for me... I can think back to all of the pivotal times on my life and I know exactly which book I was reading. Books have shaped my life and I am a better person for all of the times spent devouring books.

Never Too Busy to Read by 11 year old Addy Smith. Of all the famous, published and well-known guest bloggers I have been lucky enough to host this week, none of them hold a candle to my next guest. Addy Smith is a sixth grader at Lemme School, but she could be a freshman in college. She is an amazing young lady. She reads like crazy, and reads all sorts of great books. We have been known to have 45 minute conversations about which faction we would choose if we were Tris. We have gotten caught up in our discussions of why we think Gale is so much better for Katniss than Peeta. And these conversations are some of the best I have ever had about books. Addy knows her stuff and can articulate her opinion better than girls 10 years her senior. But she isn't only good at reading- she is a whiz at math too and she is tech savvy. She is a caring big sister and someone I trust to look after the little tykes in the library when I need her. She is dependable and has a good head on her shoulders. She is funny and witty and I truly love spending time talking with her. You would think that a kid that has all of this and a bag of chips going for her would let it go to her head- and be smug and snooty. No. Not Addy. She is down to earth and she knows where she is going in life. I adore this girl and I know she will do big things with her life. I know she has her heart set on being a obstetrician (she told me that 6 years ago when I first met her in kindergarten), but don't be surprised if she is President of The united States one day. Don't be surprised at all. Thank you Addy for taking the time out of your very busy life to write a great blog post for this old lady. : )

The Golden Age of Children's Literature by Colby Sharp of Sharpread

My next guest blogger was nervous when he learned that he would be following Tom Angleberger & John Auxier. He shouldn't be. Colby Sharp of Sharpread has rocketed to the top of the kidlit blogosphere. I don't know how he does it- he reads everything, he tweets, he blogs, he teaches and he has a family. Does he ever sleep? Is he a droid? Is he crazy? Yes, he is crazy. I offer proof:

He is my kind of crazy. He is passionate, dedicated and knowledgeable. He is funny and kind.  It doesn't hurt that he likes the same books that I do.  We are both obsessed with Mr. Angleberger and his paper dolls to the point of stalker status. (Colby, does Tom have a restraining order out on you yet? No? Give it time.) I was thrilled when Colby said he'd post today. I agree with Colby Sharp- there is no better time to be involved in the world of children's literature. It is a scary time too- tiny budgets, closing libraries, e-books, internet, video games, crazy book banners, the dwindling test scores... When that all adds up, you should thank your lucky stars that Mr. Sharp is your child's teacher. Thanks, Colby!

What to do When You Hate a Classic by Tom Angleberger and Jonathan Auxier. I might be dreaming up this next post... I can't even believe it is real. Somebody pinch me! Today's post is a tag team piece written by Tom Angleberger and Jonathan Auxier. It's like having Captain Kirk AND Han Solo piloting the same intergalactic spacecraft. Seriously! Do you see how a blog can create new connections? 
In January, I awarded Tom's book The Strange Case of Origami Yoda with the prestigious Bizzaro Newbery Award. Tom took the time to contact me to thank me for the award. I think I actually squealed when I opened THAT email! Betsy Bird picked up my post on her amazing blog Fuse8.  I think my blog got over 500 hits in a 3 hour period! Tom and I share links and ideas (but mostly funny Star Wars pictures) on Twitter and last Spring he even Skyped with my kids! (I just counted and there are 18 posts on this blog tagged with Tom Angleberger... stalker?)  

This summer I read Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier. In 80 years, that will be hailed as a classic, I guarantee you that!  Anyway, I follow John on Twitter and he has been kind enough to follow me and visit my blog... even leaving comments! I have upped my status as a Rock Star Librarian because of these two guys- and my blog has been better for it. I write posts to leave an impression and get them to keep coming back. I am so completely blown away to have these 2 chaps blogging together today.  

Follow up to this post at Jonathan's site, The Scop.  

Ten Ways to Stick it to Your Librarian by TheReadAloudDad

Real men read... did you know that? The really-real men read to their kids. Do you know how I know that? My dad read to me- every single night until I was in fifth grade and #2, The Dad from ReadAloudDad.com says so. He is the father of twins, so he does double the reading that most dads do! He reviews books on his website- have you ever read one of his reviews? They are written with the utmost attention to detail. I can only imagine that it takes him hours to produce a single review... for example: My Father's Dragon. By the time you finished reading his review, you know that you best get up, get in the car and go to the nearest book store and buy every book he mentioned. And then, you better read them to your kids. The Dad is a fabulous advocate for getting dads involved in the lives of their children. He gives statistics, shares articles, gives tips and just encourages men to read to their children. He has been the most loyal follower of Book Talk Tuesday. His words of encouragement and support have helped me continue to put out my very best work. He is a vital part of my online learning community... thank you for your wisdom and support.

Little known fact, The Dad and I are Blogging Twins! He started his blog 1 year ago this month as well! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY READALOUD DAD!

Portrait of a Librarian as a Young Reader by by Laura Given (aka liblaura5) This post sent chills up my spine.  You don't know how many times I have heard teachers say "Comic books (graphic novels) don't count as a good fit books. Magazines can't be used for SSR. No you can't check out that Ripley's Believe it Or Not. I know you like nonfiction, but check out a chapter book."  After reading this, I think there might be a few interventions at Lemme School next week. I know how important it is for kids to get good fit books, but we need to put more value on interest and purpose in order to validate our kids as readers. They get good fit books all day... what they need a little love from Laura. Laura is a librarian, book blogger and fellow Twitter Rock Star. She participates in Book Talk Tuesday and visits this blog and shares her thoughts and ideas with me on Twitter. I had a good feeling about her... read on, I know you will agree.  Thank you, Laura for this post. It should be required reading for all teachers.  

Reading in Technicolor I have said on this blog time and again, how blogging has broadened my PLC (professional learning community). I have learned more from this circle of people in the last year than I have in 8 years of  professional development.  Angie Oliverson (MsO or @SenioritaO) at MsOReadsBooks has become part of my PLC.   She participates in Book Talk Tuesday, comments on this blog, gives me great ideas on Pinterest and shares great links and conversation on Twitter. It was only fitting that I ask her to be a part of my 1 Year Blogiversary Guest Blogger Line Up! She has helped me shape my blog and my instruction and I wanted my readers to get to know her! Thank you Angie for this great post! Angie put much thought into this post and I can tell how hard she worked because she had to find each picture, save it and attach it... little things that bloggers notice! : ) I am a very visual person myself, so this post is right up my alley! Enjoy, everyone... Reading in Technicolor! 

Books Were My Salvation by Laurel Snyder Before I entered the blog world, I had read Laurel's books and once I entered the blog world, I continued to read Laurel's books. I mentioned Any Which Wall in a post, and Laurel was nice enough to leave a comment on my post. I learned that Laurel spent part of her life in Iowa City, and actually married a boy (man now!) that graduated with my husband. The world is so small... And this summer, I was able to see Laurel at The Hamburg Inn and listen to her read Inside The Slidy Diner (which my 3 year old LOVES and now wants to go see the REAL Slidy Diner). I love that Laurel is so in tune with schools and libraries, but most of all with kids. She gets them. If you've ever read her books, you know that. If you read this post, you will know why. Thank you Laurel.

Librarians and Chocolate Cake! by Kirby Larson. Kirby won The Newbery Honor Award for Hattie Big Sky. Her newest book is The Friendship Doll. Thank you Kirby for your post, and thank you for your online friendship! I am so glad that cyber-fate brought us together!