Mystery Readers 2008-09

David's mom read Mr. Pink Whistle Interferes by British author Enid Blyton. We found out that David's dad is actually from England, like the author! Enid Blyton has written over a hundred children's books, which David and his family enjoy reading together!

One of our clues this week  was that our reader lived  5,000 miles away. This sure  stumped us! Ben's  grandmother was visiting  from Israel and we were so excited that she came to our classroom!  She read Excalibur by Carol Heyer, which retells the story of how King Arthur came to possess his sword Excalibur. It was a really fun storytelling experience!

We were really surprised when Lucas' mom showed up since her clues were so tricky! Who would have guessed that she accidentally swam with sharks and that she attended 2 years of school in England! We enjoyed the 2 books she read, both of which won The Caldecott Medal! The first book, Many Moons, by James Thurber, was about a sick princess who only knows one thing that will make her better, the moon. The second book was one of Lucas' favorites, Casey At The Bat, byErnest Lawrence Thayer, which was actually a classic poem about the 19th century baseball player. We were really excited to hear 2 great books!      

 It's always exciting when our mystery reader brings a book about things we are learning in class! Ellie's dad brought a book called T is for Tarheel: A North Carolina Alphabet by Carol Crane. The best part about it was that many of the places mentioned in the book were places that many students had visited. Since we are learning about North Carolina, it is always fun to make connections with what we are learning!

     We couldn't believe that this week's mystery reader was Estes Hills 3rd grade teacher, Mr. Simmons! Many of us had Mr. Simmons last year and even those of us who didn't have him were equally as thrilled! He read a fun Halloween book called The Witch Has An Itch by Donna Guthrie. Some of us became characters in the book, which was really cool. We really appreciate him taking time out of his busy schedule to visit!

     We were definitely stumped this week after receiving the Mystery Reader clues! We were even more confused when the Mystery Reader showed up in a spooky costume...who could it be! It didn't take long for us to realize that this scary guest was Silja's mom! We loved her entrance and enjoyed the book she chose since it was perfect for Halloween. She read The Most Haunted House, a fun pop up book with a surprise twist at the end. Our Halloween guest could not have been more perfect!