From the Library

Third graders have been reading some favorites that parents (and grandparents?) might remember. Bernard Waber's Ira Sleeps Over (1972) and Faith Ringgold's Tar Beach (1991) were big hits, along with Waber's 1998 sequel Ira Says Goodbye. Ask your daughter why Reggie was worried and how Cassie owned the George Washington Bridge by flying over it. We then moved to a less urban setting with The Frog Prince Continued, in which author Jon Scieska reveals the "shocking truth about life happily ever after", and with Marjorie Rawlings' The Secret River. Ask your daughter how Calpurnia turns hard times into soft times. Our most recent oldie but goodie was Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton. Can you remember the name of Mike's beloved red steam shovel and what happened to them once they'd dug the cellar of the new Popperville town hall in one day?