Town School for Boys Library

As you listen to the read-aloud, think about these questions.  Then add your responses as comments to this post.

Would you rather be friends with Adam or Jennifer? Why?

Do you think Phoebe is a good reporter?  Why or why not?

What do you think will happen to Adam and Jennifer when Mrs. Marris finds out about the story they are doing?

Okay, 5th grade: here’s the idea. As you listen to today’s read-aloud, add a comment to this blog entry by clicking on “comments” and entering in the required info. You do NOT need to give a real e-mail address, or a website.

Some things you might want to comment on:

• How does Mrs. Boland want to change Tremble? What do you think of her plans?

• Why doesn’t Jennifer want to accept the reward for the return of the cow? What would you do in her position?

• How do you think Jennifer and Adam will prove that Marris stole the $75,000 gift and used it for herself?

You can also respond to other people’s comments, so long as you do so politely.

Not in the mood for a 250-page book?  Take a gander at our short story collection, which just moved into a new home on top of the rolling fiction shelves (see photo below).   We have collections of funny stories, scary stories, sad stories, adventure stories — any type of story you’re looking for, we’ve got it here, in a short and sweet form.

Congratulations to Abe S., in 4B, for his victory in the January/February Factfinder Challenge!  Lots of students entered this contest, but this time, Abe was the only boy to answer all four questions correctly.  Nice going, Abe!

Thank you to everyone who entered this last contest.  Keep your eyes peeled for new questions, coming soon!

Spider update: Esmerelda, our original library spider, seems to have moved on. We’re not sure where she’s gone, but we wish her well in all her future endeavors.

Luckily, the library is not yet spider-free. In Esmerelda’s place, we now have a smaller spider whom we have named Oswald. We don’t know what kind of spider Oswald is, either, but if you have any theories, do let us know.

Here’s a photo of him:

And for all you spider-fans out there, we just got in a beautiful new book by Nic Bishop called Spiders. It’s a short book, but it contains some amazing pictures, including a four-page pull-out spread of a jumping spider. (According to Bishop, “jumping spiders are easy to recognize because of their big eyes. You often find them in backyards, and sometimes they even come indoors.”)

Meet Esmerelda, the library spider!

We’re not sure why Esmerelda chose to spin her web right outside the library window, but we’re thrilled that she did.

Here’s a picture Ms. Wolfram took of her on Friday morning.

We don’t know what kind of spider Esmerelda is, or even if she actually is a female spider, but if you’d like to stop by the library and do a little arachnid research, we’d be very grateful for your help in answering these questions!

You will find lots of books about spiders grouped together in the section of our shelves where we keep books with the Dewey Decimal number 595. Some of our spider books include:

Amazing Spiders, by Alexandra Parsons (595.4 PAR)

I Wonder What It’s Like to Be a Spider, by E. Hovanec (595.44 HOV)

The Spider, by Sabrina Crewe (595.4 CRE)

For spider stories, try E.B. White’s classic work of fiction, Charlotte’s Web (FIC WHI) or Faith McNulty’s lovely picture book, The Lady and the Spider (E FIC MCN).