GreenBeanTeenQueen

Here's my storytime plan from our ABC toddler storytime: - Opening Song ( Finger Poppin by Georgiana Stewart) - Early Literacy Skill: Play With Letters (playing with letters and shapes help children recognize letters and will help them with reading!) - Read : Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert We have some amazing felt board pieces that go along with this book-a tree and A, B, and C. We have enough for every child in storytime to have their own flannel board and they make the letters climb the tree as I read Also, since this is a pretty long book, I just read the lowercase letter part of the book for toddlers and then read the entire thing when I did for preschool storytime. Song : These Are My Glasses by Laurie Berkner (I sing this every week-yay for repetition with toddlers!) "These are my glasses"-(make circles with your hands around eyes) "And here is my book"-(make ha...

I got this book in my mailbox this week: Sirens by Janet Fox Looks like the perfect addition to the Gossipy Historical Trend, don't you think?

I recently had the chance to be part of a conference call with author Hannah Harrington, author of the novel Speechless . Check out my part of the interview as well as enter to win a copy of Speechless and a Phone Skin thanks to Harlequin Teen and Big Honcho Media. About the Book: Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can’t keep a secret. Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast – and nearly got someone killed. Chelsea has taken a vow of silence – to learn to keep her mouth shut and to stop hurting anyone else. Speechless explores the real-life teen issues of bullying, mean girls, LGBT awareness and hate crimes. Compared to the many books already out about bullies, Harrington’s novel stands out for its authentic voice and unflinching portrayal of what it means to be part of the bullying. In October 2012, Harlequin TEEN will be releasing a brand new survey that has interviewed 1,500 girls between 13-18 years old on the subject of b...

How good does this look???        

As I read a lot this year, I've been posting about the various trends I've seen popping up in YA. Check out the previous trends: Italy is Awesome, Glass Blowing, One Crazy Night, Game of Thrones for Teens,  and Gossipy Historical ala Downton Abbey . I think that because of the rise in dystopian lit, we're also seeing a rise in survival stories. And one of the survival storylines that is making it's way into YA lit is stories based on plane crashes. This isn't new- Hatchet is a plane crash survival story that was first published in 1987. In fact, the first book in this trend has even been compared to Hatchet:   Survive by Alex Morel -I've seen the tagline Hatchet meets Lost for this one. A girl is on her way home, and she's actually planning on killing herself, when the plane she's on crashes and she and boy are the only survivors.     The Raft by S. A. Bodeen Robie decides to unexpectedly  take a cargo plane back home to the ...

I've posted about a colors storytime before (it's one of my favorite themes!) but I mixed it up this past week for the start of our Fall storytimes. So here's my Colors 2 storytime plan for toddlers: Opening Song (we use Finger Poppin ' by Georgiana Stewart.) Literacy Skill: Talk and Read (parental aside: the more you talk to your child, the more vocabulary they will learn! Today we'll be talking about colors and it's easy to point out all the colors you see around you every day) Read: Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh  (This one can be a bit long, so feel free to skip around or adapt to your group. I'll admit, I love using this one because it has one of my favorite crafts that goes with it!) Song : These Are My Glasses by Laurie Berkner "These are my glasses"-(make circles with your hands around eyes) "And here is my book"-(make hands into closed book in front of you) "I put on my glasses"-(lift circles w...

Here are some recent favorites I've discovered at the library! Oh No, Little Dragon ! by Jim Averbeck Rating: 4/5 Stars Poor dragon was roaring and firing his flame until-oops!-he swallowed some water and now his flame is out! How can he get it back? The illustrations are adorable. I mean, don't you just want to adopt that cute little dragon on the cover and give him a big hug?? The text is simple, the story is fun, and the illustrations are just too cute making this a perfect read aloud and great for storytimes. I also really appreciated that it had a bit of a sappy storyline (Mama Dragon helps Little Dragon get his fire back) but it never veers into annoyingly sappy territory. Zoe Gets Ready by Bethany Murguia Rating: 4/5 Stars Zoe is trying to get ready for the day, but what clothes will she need? Oh Zoe, I understand your dilemma so well. I hate trying to choose outfits and pick out clothes. (I'll admit that I will lay in bed trying to figure ou...

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry has become one of the biggest contemporary romance buzz books and thanks to Harlequin Teen I have a chance for you to win a copy! And follow Katie on Twitter Check out the trailer: You want to  read it now, don't you? :) Fill out the form below to enter. -One entry per person. -US or Canada Address Only -13+ only -Contest ends Sunday September 16 at midnight Loading...

Have you guys heard all the buzz about Jessica Khoury's debut Origin ? It's part of Penguin's Breathless Reads 2012 and   USA Today reviewed it on Sunday saying it was better than The Hunger Games so be sure to add this one to your TBR piles! As part of her book release, Jessica Khoury is annotating and sharing her thoughts on passages in Origin and I am thrilled to be hosting Jessica here at GreenBeanTeenQueen. Here's today's passage and Jessica's thoughts. Origin excerpt: Alai is the two-hundred pound jaguar that Uncle Paolo gave me for my ninth birthday, when Alai was just a cub. He hates everyone in Little Cam except me, Uncle Antonio, and the cook, Jacques, who brings Alai cookies every morning. Alai is mad about cookies. The alarms blare in two short bursts. Behind me, the monkeys start screaming in response. They like to think they run the menagerie, but I won’t have any of it. “Come on, Alai!” I say, heading for the door. The menagerie is a...

I've been hearing that question so much lately! It's September and that means the Fall Publishing Season is upon us. Which means my mailbox is starting to look like this: (sorry it's so fuzzy!) Ahh...the life of being on an award committee. OK-first off. I want to remind everyone that suggestions are not limited to committee members and that ANYONE can make a suggestion (authors and publishers can't suggest their own books of course). Have you read a book that you think should be considered by the Printz Committee? Suggest it! Don't assume we've read it and it's in our pile. I think it's better to have multiple suggestions of a title than none at all.  You can suggest a title for Printz on this handy form from YALSA.  (And you suggest for other committees too- Fabulous Films for Young Adults ,  Best Fiction for Young Adults ,  The Morris Award . Pretty cool, huh?) Now, up to this point, the mail hasn't looked like that every day. There...