Twitterville Talk #70

There was actually snow on the roofs yesterday morning.  It would appear that winter is on its way.  Our color has definitely peaked and the Halloween decorations are popping up all over town.  I finally got mine up last evening.  Twitter as usual was hopping with discourse and humor this week.  It's a great meeting place.  Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend of reading.


Last Saturday night (or rather in the early hours of Sunday morning) Mr. Schu was posting about his latest video find.  This has to be one of the best video interviews I have ever seen about Jerry and Eileen Spinelli.  I was completely taken with what both had to say.




Mr. Schu then graciously listed, at the request of another night owl, his source.
This is the link to more of these outstanding videos.

And...drum roll...The books for The November Sharp-Schu Book Club were announced.  The chat will be held on November 7, 2012.  Head over to Mr. Schu's blog for all the details.  Thanks to both he and Colby Sharp, fourth grade teacher and blogger at sharpread for providing followers with the best hour each month.


Thanks to John Schumacher, teacher librarian, 2011 Library Journal Mover & Shaker, and blogger at Watch. Connect. Read. for these tweets.




I have been a fan of the work of Elisha Cooper, loving Farm, Beach and A Good Walk Home.  I fell completely, madly in love with his title Homer this past year. (reviewed here)  Read what this amazing artist has done now, Art in the Children's Room: Elisha Cooper Style.

Author Tara Lazar has created a Kidlitionary that all kidlit lovers will enjoy.

J. K. Rowling Announces Return To Children's Literature, Makes Your Inner Child Squeal With Glee


Thanks to Travis Jonker, teacher librarian and blogger at 100 Scope Notes for these tweets.





There has been a lot of buzz about the release of A Wrinkle In Time: The Graphic Novel by Madeleine L'Engle and Hope Larson.  My copy keeps looking at me from my TBR pile.  This is interesting, How 'A Wrinkle in Time' Was Made Into a Graphic Novel.

Thanks to Publishers Weekly for the post and tweet.


Here's the link to an interactive website for learning the sign language for each letter of the alphabet along with a pronunciation.

You could get lost at this website for days and days.  These are children's literature quizzes courtesy of HarperCollins.

There's no doubt about it, I love being a storyteller and teaching how to tell stories to students.  This link to a Pinterest board simply labeled 398.2 is a goldmine.

Thanks goes to Sarah Ducharme, teacher librarian located in Budapest and blogging at Try Curiosity.




It's not every day you get to see a mountain of bookshelves but this is an architectural wonder, MVRDV: book mountain + library quarter, spijkenisse

15 Pinterest Boards for Book Lovers   Make sure you set a timer before you venture into this site.

Thanks to Debbie Alvarez, teacher librarian currently located in Hong Kong and blogging at The Styling Librarian.




Get your imaginations going and gear up for some writing.  Halloween story contest:  Finish Syracuse author Bruce Coville's 'Back From the Grave' (video)

Thanks to author Bruce Coville for this contest and his tweet.






Now this is what I call thinking outside the box. 

Thanks to Billy Spicer in Chicago for this tweet.  His website is Spicing Up Teaching.

Candlewick Press continues to post these outstanding videos as part of their We Believe In Picture Books campaign.  Many thanks.




The 2012 National Book Award Finalists were announced earlier this week.  Five young adult titles were named:

• Goblin Secrets by William Alexander
• Out of Reach by Carrie Arcos
• Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
• Endangered by Eliot Schrefer
• Bomb: The Race To Build---And Steal---The World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

For more information about the books and the authors please follow the link above.







Last week I did a post for my blog on the great curation tool, Learnist.  Imagine my surprise when I followed a link they posted on Twitter, The 10 Most Useful Learnist Boards Of The Week.  The board I prepared for the post and continue to maintain, Mock Caldecott 2013, was number 3 on the list.  It's nice to be noticed.

Thanks to Learnist for this tweet.



Don't forget to sign up for Using Children's Literature to Teach Math a free webinar hosted by Marilyn Burns on October 16, 2012 and again on November 15, 2012.

Thanks to Scholastic for this tweet.







This is wonderful news, Tomie dePaola Wins the Society of Illustrators Lifetime Achievement Award--Our Interview, Part One.

Thanks to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators for this tweet.




In case you missed the live webcast on Thursday of J. K. Rowling, you can watch it again and again by following this link; so lucky for those that missed this.

Loads of thanks to Greg Pincus, author and blogger at The Happy Accident, for this tweet.






Look at this Tolkien fans---Hobbit Currency To Be Legal Tender In 'Lord Of The Rings'-Obsessed New Zealand (PHOTOS)

Thanks to HuffPost Books for this tweet.











These are a few of the quotes and comments I feel are notable for this week.

"When all else fails, give up and go to the library." — Stephen King
— Meg Allison (@meg_allison) October 6, 2012

The dog howled, as if something were just around the bend. He saw nothing, but knew that either he or the dog was wrong. #25wordstory
— KevinHodgson (@dogtrax) October 6, 2012

So much depends upon. . .a great librarian/teacher.
— Sharon Creech (@ciaobellacreech) October 7, 2012

When we come together to tell stories and celebrate literacy, we are #Fierce #Fearless and #Free. --@pamallyn
— LitWorld (@litworldsays) October 11, 2012