Here it comes-

The 2025-2026 school year is just around the corner. As a teacher, I feel overwhelmed and excited. I imagine as a student, you might feel the same. We'll get through it together, I promise! Let's start by thinking of all the fun we can have in the library.

This year in the library, we will have days we work on research, days we work on coding, days we focus on reading, and days we are creative. 

This year's 5th-grade author will be Lisa Graff so read her books if you want to visit with the author in the spring. She has a new book out called Rewind. 

If you are ready for a challenge, take on the Iowa Children's Choice Award books. We will watch some of the videos in class but feel free to take a look yourself. If you love to read this is a great opportunity to read a wide variety of books this year. We vote and have our ICCA party in May. 

Jennifer A. Nielsen - CVY Read Author

We welcome Jennifer A. Nielsen to Cedar Falls this week for our Cedar Valley's  Youth Read event.  She has a stack of unique books to read and it will be interesting to hear her speak about her process.  She will speak for a public event on Wednesday, April 24th at 6:30 and 5th grade students will travel by school bus to see her during the day. I've spent the last few months reading her book, Rescue, to 5th-grade students. The book transports us back to World War II and a young girl's journey to save her father. 

Jennifer A. Nielsen is one of those rare authors who switch between genres, writing both fantasy and historical fiction. The False Prince is one of my favorite fantasy books and I hope she'll talk a little bit about that as well. I hope our students enjoy the presentation as much as they did last year.  

Find more information here on Jennifer A. Nielsen's author page. 

Varian Johnson

 

Very soon Varian Johnson, an author of nine books for upper elementary, will arrive in Cedar Falls. Every year together with our library we host an author who speaks to all our 5th grade students in the district. Mr. Johnson will speak to school groups on Thursday and Friday and have a night for the general public on Wednesday, April 26th.  I look forward to hearing him speak about his books, his life, and his writing. Explore more about Mr. Johnson at these sites:

Teaching Books w/ Varian Johnson

Scholastic Reads Podcast

Varian Johnson website

Author Interview

Iowa Children's Choice Award

 

Every year we have a large group of Hansen students that read this set of books so they are able to vote and to come to the party I host every year. I generally have one or two students challenge themselves to read the whole list which is an incredible accomplishment.

Party requirements:  Write a short summary of the book making sure to add in character names and your opinion of the book. You can do this as a list or make a table in Google docs. Share it with me by the end of April. The party takes place in the second week of May. 

Use this link to vote: Iowa Children's Choice Award Books

Another Book Fair 2023

Most people love to shop and in a library it is cool to shop for books. We are hosting another Scholastic Book Fair just around the corner from March 3rd - March 9th.  On Friday students were able to preview the book fair video and were excited by many of the new titles. 

It's hard to believe that March is so close and that Spring Break is ahead.  That means our school year is winding down which strange. It's at this time that feel like pedaling backwards a bit, slowing the process down because their is so much to do and because the 6th graders will leave us and not come back. It's the very definition of bittersweet. 

Are you ready for Spring?

 Are you tired of indoor recess? Are you tired of freezing temperatures?  I love how much reading I get done over winter yet I am really missing spending time outdoors.  I am ready for Spring!  I liked the day last week when the snow was melting and you could hear the drip, drip sound of ice becoming water. I miss the sunshine, bright and brilliant, shining as I leave Hansen for the day. 

One exciting thing that is getting me through this last part of winter is 4 boxes of new boxes that arrived here in the library. I love new books almost as much as I love sunshine. Here are a few of the titles that I'm thrilled to add to our library:

Recess Warriors: New graphic novel series by Marcus Emerson, just the cover looks fun! We have #1 and #2 in already. 

Spy School and Fun Jungle series: Two fun mystery series by Stuart Gibbs that lots of students have asked me for.

Itty Bitty Bios: easy biographies on many different people; Chloe Kim, Marian Anderson, Maya Angelou, Booker T. Washington, and Sacagewea are a few of the new titles. 

Zach and Zoe Mystery series: Twins who solve mysteries with a sports twist written by Mike Lupica who has many older sports books. 

Come check out all our new books here at Hansen library. And hopefully Spring is just around the corner.

Welcome Fall 2021

Use Destiny to find the books, read the books, and then list the books after making a copy of this challenge page: Fall Reading Challenge

Turn it in either as a hard or digital copy to Mrs. Holt with all your titles filled in and get a PRIZE! Due right before we break for Thanksgiving.