I was going to post a new picture of my composting worms, but when I went to check on them today, they were all too busy eating cucumber peels and yelled at me to close the lid.
Instead, I offer up the most random collection of links you ever did see…
1. I am extremely entertained by this concept.
Click here to spell your own name — or whatever — with Flickr.
2. On a less frivolous note, here’s a great Publishers Weekly Talkback about the appropriateness of YA books for younger readers.
3. School librarian Stacy Dillon has started a great blog called Welcome to My Tweendom, reviewing books for those 10, 11, and 12-year-old kids who seem to be stuck in limbo between the children’s room and the YA room at the library.
4. This link, courtesy of HipWriterMama, is about a team of U.S. and British scientists testing a real live invisibility cloak in the laboratory. In truth, they say it’s not as light and airy as the Harry Potter model and is really more of an invisibility shed. Still mighty cool, if you ask me.
5. Oprah’s Reading List for kids is out, and it’s pretty darn good. Usually, I’m not much of a fan of reading lists because kids, like the rest of us, like all kinds of different books. But Oprah has some serious clout in our culture, and I’m pleased to see her using it to promote reading. I was impressed with the variety of titles on the list, too — many of which I recommend often in my own classroom.
6. If you read my review of Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning and had book envy, you’re in luck. The book comes out in two weeks, and Violet’s creator, Danette Haworth, is hosting a contest on her blog. She’s giving away a copy of Violet Raines and some other Florida goodies.
7. When I walk down the aisle of an airplane to get to my seat, I always look to see what everyone is reading. Sometimes I’ll ask strangers questions about their books. This horrifies my children, but I keep telling them it could be worse. Sonya Worthy has a blog called People Reading, in which she not only checks out the books strangers are reading; she takes pictures, interviews them, and uploads the whole thing to share with the world. That allows the rest of us to gawk away without embarrassing our kids quite so often.
Awesome list of links, Kate! Thanks for sharing these!
Composting worms are good, but you’ve shared a bunch of fun stuff and sometimes fun is (more) important.
Thanks for mentioning my contest, Kate!
I do number seven. My technique is to stare at their books when they’re not looking, maybe walk by if I have to. A good title forces me to address the reader, “Hey, how’s that book?”
Danette
I a SO jealous of your worm farm. I haven’t convinced my husband yet to let me have one.
Thanks for the links, Kate! I may not get any work done today! : )
You should try createsticksandstones.com. A mom was teaching her kids the ABCs by finding letters in the environment and architechture. They’s photograph them. Eventually, she made a teacher gift from the letters (spelled her name). All the parents loved it & wanted one, thus this business was born. It’s actually pretty cool.
Thanks for posting the links Kate! I love the way your Flickr name came out.