Laurelhurst Elementary School

Welcome to the Laurelhurst Media Center. As our school's Teacher Librarians, our goal is to provide an inviting space for students to browse and select books they will enjoy. Our curriculum is designed to promote the love of literature, and provide the research skills students need to be successful now and as they progress in school. Look in the Media Center for our collection of 2006-2007 Young Reader's Choice Award novels. The YRCA is a Northwest-based contest that has students select their favorite books from a list of popular novels for young people. Laurelhurst students will have the chance to vote for their favorite book this Spring.

Here are some great suggestions if you are looking for books to read or purchase. Most of these titles are available for check out in the Library.

The Randolph Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

The house in the night

by Susan Marie Swanson

The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

The graveyard book

The 2008 Junior level (4th-6th) winner is:

A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray by Ann Martin

The 2008 Intermediate level (6th-9th) winner is:

The lightning thief

by Rick Riordan

Past Winners

2009 Nominees

Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Awards

The 2007 Winner is The SOS Files by Betsy Byars, Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers

Past Winners

2008 Nominees

Step back to an English village in 1255, where life plays out in dramatic vignettes illuminating twenty-two unforgettable characters. Maidens, monks, and millers' sons — in these pages, readers will meet them all. There's Hugo, the lord's nephew, forced to prove his manhood by hunting a wild boar; sharp-tongued Nelly, who supports her family by selling live eels; and the peasant's daughter, Mogg, who gets a clever lesson in how to save a cow from a greedy landlord. There's also mud-slinging Barbary (and her noble victim); Jack, the compassionate half-wit; Alice, the singing shepherdess; and many more. With a deep appreciation for the period and a grand affection for both characters and audience, Laura Amy Schlitz creates twenty-two riveting portraits and linguistic gems equally suited to silent reading or performance.

In 2007-2008 we hope to offer students in the 3rd -6th grade the chance to participate in some exciting book promotion activities. 3rd grade will have the opportunity to read and vote for the Beverly Cleary Choice Awards. 4th & 5th will have the opportunity to read and vote for the Young Readers Choice Awards. 6th will have the option of participating in a Battle of the Books program. All of these promotions require multiple copies of each title. If you would like to help support these exciting programs, you can help purchase the titles we need. Just visit www.powells.com and click on the Wish List link on the top right side of their homepage. Use amywick@pps.k12.or.us as the e-mail when asked to Find A Friend's List.

Below you will find a repeat of those same lists of titles as well as others as we work toward expanding our Non-Fiction section for 6th Grade and freshening up some well loved picture books.

While a highly motivated killer murders his family, a baby, ignorant of the horrific goings-on but bent on independence, pulls himself out of his crib and toddles out of the house and into the night. This is most unfortunate for the killer, since the baby was his prime target. Finding his way through the barred fence of an ancient graveyard, the baby is discovered by Mr. and Mrs. Owens, a stable and caring couple with no children of their own—and who just happen to be dead. After much debate with the graveyard’s rather opinionated denizens, it is decided that the Owenses will take in the child. Under their care and the sponsorship of the mysterious Silas, the baby is named “Nobody” and raised among the dead to protect him from the killer, who relentlessly pursues him. This is an utterly captivating tale that is cleverly told through an entertaining cast of ghostly characters. There is plenty of darkness, but the novel’s ultimate message is strong and life affirming. Although marketed to the younger YA set, this is a rich story with broad appeal and is highly recommended for teens of all ages.A young girl is given a golden key to a house. “In the house / burns a light. / In that light / rests a bed. On that bed / waits a book.” And so continues this simple text, which describes sometimes fantastical pleasures as a bird from the book spirits the child through the starry sky to a wise-faced moon. The cumulative tale is a familiar picture-book conceit; the difference in success comes from the artwork. Here, the art is spectacular. Executed in scratchboard decorated in droplets of gold, Krommes’ illustrations expand on Swanson’s reassuring story (inspired by a nursery rhyme that begins, “This is the key of the kingdom”) to create a world as cozy inside the house as it is majestic outside. The two-page spread depicting rolling meadows beyond the home, dotted with trees, houses, barns, and road meeting the inky sky, is mesmerizing. The use of gold is especially effective, coloring the stars and a knowing moon, all surrounded with black-and-white halos. A beautiful piece of bookmaking that will delight both parents and children.

The house in the night

by Susan Marie Swanson

The graveyard book

The 2008 Intermediate level (6th-9th) winner is:

The lightning thief