When one of our students showed me all the different books she was reading at one time, it simply amazed me that she could keep the story lines separate as she read. Then I came to the realization that I too have been doing the same things without even realizing it. 

In the morning I listen to a book on CD as I work out, in the evenings I am reading “The Book Thief” from the school library, but during the day I am reading multiple books to different grade levels.  

The kindergarten and first graders get the same book, the second graders get a beginning chapter book that is read in one classroom time frame, but the third graders “(A Bear Called Trouble”) and the fourth graders (“No Place Like Home”) get chapter books that are read over multiple months.  

I am featuring the “Book Thief” as our highlighted book this week. It is written by Markus Zusak. This amazing book was turned into a major motion picture by Twentieth Century Fox.  It is a New York TImes bestseller.  If you have not seen the movie, I highly suggest you read the book first.  

The main character, Lisel Meminger, finds her life completely changed when as she stands by her little brother’s graveside she spots a single object hidden in the snow, “The Grave DIgger’s Handbook.” She knows the book was left behind on accident and this becomes the first book that she steals.  Liesel’s father is off at war and her only sibling has died and she soon finds herself taken away from her mother to live with a foster family.  Liesel’s love affair with books is truly what keeps her alive.  

The book is set in 1939, Nazi, Germany.  This story is told from the narrator Death.  This enduring story is superbly crafted.

Henning Library hours are Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 3:30-5:30 p.m. following the school calendar. We hope you’ll come on up and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee from our Kuerig that was donated to us by Precision Landscape and Irrigation, LLC through the adopt a classroom program.