A Very Strange Story
By the Columbiana Kids
When Bob stepped into his time machine that morning, he knew something bad was going to happen. He was on his way to the library, carrying his big, silk, pink polka dotted purse over his shoulder. This was the bag he carried his books in whenever he went to the library. Bob was a good looking man, with bushy brown eyebrows over blue eyes and a shaved head.
While he was time traveling, Frankie, a rich girl, who always carried a suitcase full of things she had stolen from others, set her evil plan into motion. Frankie had discovered a way to get into the timestream and take items from people who were traveling. When she saw Bob's purse, she decided she had to have it. So, she grabbed it by the strap and pulled it right out of his hand.
When Bob got to his destination and found he had been robbed, he called Timmie, a panda who is always very helpful, and who, by the way, is a great architect. Timmie knew exactly what to do. Fashioning a long fishing pole out of bamboo, Timmie snagged the purse from Frankie's bag, causing all the stolen items to fall to the floor. The police saw the chaos and arrested Frankie, solving several crimes with one arrest. Timmie was hailed as a hero, and Frankie changed her ways and used her talents for something much more productive.
The End
I like a story that ends well for everyone. What do you think? Leave us a comment.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
BB Comer Library, Sylacauga, AL
The Case of the Missing Gold
By the Kids at the BB Comer Library
Beware! There is a gold thief in this story!
Bob is a weird looking, very muscular space man who is always kind to others. Years ago, he found a big chunk of gold, and he keeps it in his house in Georgia. It's in a box, and he looks at it every morning.
One night, while Bob was asleep, a hairy, scary, gray haired musty smelling bad guy named Billy broke into Bob's house and stole the gold. When Bob woke up, he went to the box, opened it up, and looked inside, expecting to see his gold. "Oh no!" said Bob, "My gold is missing!"
He called Annie, his friend with super powers, and asked for her help. Annie has been a spy for several years, so she knows how to follow a trail and use clues to solve a mystery. Once she found it, she used telekinesis to move the gold back to Bob's box, and called the police to put Billy in jail. Now Bob locks the box every night to make it harder for a thief to get his gold.
The End
What a fun story (for everyone but Billy!). Claudia loves the fact that the hero was a girl with super powers! What do you think?
By the Kids at the BB Comer Library
Beware! There is a gold thief in this story!
Bob is a weird looking, very muscular space man who is always kind to others. Years ago, he found a big chunk of gold, and he keeps it in his house in Georgia. It's in a box, and he looks at it every morning.
One night, while Bob was asleep, a hairy, scary, gray haired musty smelling bad guy named Billy broke into Bob's house and stole the gold. When Bob woke up, he went to the box, opened it up, and looked inside, expecting to see his gold. "Oh no!" said Bob, "My gold is missing!"
He called Annie, his friend with super powers, and asked for her help. Annie has been a spy for several years, so she knows how to follow a trail and use clues to solve a mystery. Once she found it, she used telekinesis to move the gold back to Bob's box, and called the police to put Billy in jail. Now Bob locks the box every night to make it harder for a thief to get his gold.
The End
What a fun story (for everyone but Billy!). Claudia loves the fact that the hero was a girl with super powers! What do you think?
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Alma/Bacon County Public Library, Alma, GA
Space Vegetables
By the Alma Readers and Writers
What would you do if you were in outer space and someone robbed you? That very thing happened to Mr. Potato Head just last week. Mr. Potato Head was wearing his mustache and hair disguise so no one would recognize him while he was taking his beautiful diamond to the vault. This diamond was huge and it was as shiny as the sun!
Mr. Onion Head, a grumpy robber in a bad mood, snuck into the bank at night and stole the diamond! It was easy to get away, since all of this was taking place in outer space, where there is no gravity. The alarms went off and Sgt. Pluto, a bald headed police officer who always wore a hat, was called to the scene of the crime.
Pluto watched the surveillance tape and discovered the criminal's identity. He then went to Mr, Onion Head's house and stole the diamond back. The thief was apprehended and taken away to jail, where he learned his lesson and became a productive member of society.
Mr. Potato Head had some very nice things to say about how quickly the police, especially Officer Pluto, solved the crime.
I love a story with a happy ending!
How about you? Let us know what you think!
By the Alma Readers and Writers
What would you do if you were in outer space and someone robbed you? That very thing happened to Mr. Potato Head just last week. Mr. Potato Head was wearing his mustache and hair disguise so no one would recognize him while he was taking his beautiful diamond to the vault. This diamond was huge and it was as shiny as the sun!
Mr. Onion Head, a grumpy robber in a bad mood, snuck into the bank at night and stole the diamond! It was easy to get away, since all of this was taking place in outer space, where there is no gravity. The alarms went off and Sgt. Pluto, a bald headed police officer who always wore a hat, was called to the scene of the crime.
Pluto watched the surveillance tape and discovered the criminal's identity. He then went to Mr, Onion Head's house and stole the diamond back. The thief was apprehended and taken away to jail, where he learned his lesson and became a productive member of society.
Mr. Potato Head had some very nice things to say about how quickly the police, especially Officer Pluto, solved the crime.
I love a story with a happy ending!
How about you? Let us know what you think!
Appling County Library, Baxley, GA
This Train Has Left the Station!
By the Baxley Writers Guild
Why would Bowser want a toy train?
Nobody knows for sure, but it seems that he wanted a train bad enough to steal one from Mario, the famous video game guy. Mario was running through Lava Land and pretending he was a train. He was carrying his toy train that he bought from Wal-Mart, and was making train noises. All of a sudden, Bowser, his big spiky shell gleaming in the light from the lava, ran up and pushed Mario right into the molten, red hot lava!
Fortunately, Mario had an extra life, but by the time he recovered, Bowser had gotten away with the train. Mario called the lovely Princess Peach to ask for help. She was the picture of poise and grace, decked out in her beautiful pink gown, but she got right to work to help track the missing train.
She got into her jet (apparently these video game characters have a LOT of money!) and, using her hands and arms, swooped down and got the train from Bowser to bring it back to her friend. Bowser escaped, but he promised to return to get the train another day, on another level.
The End
Can you write what happens next? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
By the Baxley Writers Guild
Why would Bowser want a toy train?
Nobody knows for sure, but it seems that he wanted a train bad enough to steal one from Mario, the famous video game guy. Mario was running through Lava Land and pretending he was a train. He was carrying his toy train that he bought from Wal-Mart, and was making train noises. All of a sudden, Bowser, his big spiky shell gleaming in the light from the lava, ran up and pushed Mario right into the molten, red hot lava!
Fortunately, Mario had an extra life, but by the time he recovered, Bowser had gotten away with the train. Mario called the lovely Princess Peach to ask for help. She was the picture of poise and grace, decked out in her beautiful pink gown, but she got right to work to help track the missing train.
She got into her jet (apparently these video game characters have a LOT of money!) and, using her hands and arms, swooped down and got the train from Bowser to bring it back to her friend. Bowser escaped, but he promised to return to get the train another day, on another level.
The End
Can you write what happens next? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Book List for Reading Round Up!
Some of you have asked about the books used and referred to in the show. Here they are!
Book List for Reading Round Up!
If your library does not have these titles, books LIKE these are great! Info in parentheses tell why the book was chosen. The following titles are used or referred to in Reading Round Up! in no particular order:
Fun with Words and Punctuation
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (beautiful language, Caldecott winner)
It Figures!: Fun Figures of Speech by Terban, Marvin; Maestro, Giulio (makes linguistics fun!)
"CDB! (Stories to Go!)" William Steig (clever wordplay)
Max's Words by Kate Banks (Georgia Book nominee)
Eats, Shoots and Leaves (the children’s version) by Lynne Truss (makes punctuation fun!)
Interesting Characters
Agatha’s Feather Bed by Carmen Deedy (GA author)
How I Became a Pirate by David Shannon (popular children’s author)
The Boy of a Thousand Faces by Brian Selznick (beautiful artwork, he won a Caldecott medal)
The Writing Process
What Does an Author Do? by Eileen Christelow (excellent picture book about what authors do)
Writing Magic by Gail Levine (a book for kids on writing by the author of Ella Enchanted)
Books to Movies
Shrek by William Steig* (the story of the REAL Shrek)
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (Newbery Award winner)
Classic Tales Retold
A Handful of Beans by Jeanne Steig and William Steig (Six classic fairy tales retold)
Johnny Appleseed by Will Moses (American folklore)*
Picture Books
Tuesday by David Wiesner (Caldecott Winner)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Caldecott Winner)*
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg (this book is just amazing!)*
Folk Tales – regional and well known*
Hook Moon Night: Spooky Tales from the Georgia Mountains by Faye Gibbons(GA ghost stories)
New York’s Bravest by Mary Pope Osborne (
Whoppers: Tall Tales and Other Lies by Alvin Schwartz (US folktales)
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark retold by Alvin Schwartz (scary legends)
Alice Nizzy Nazzy: The Witch of Santa Fe by Tony Johnston (Russian, adapted to US)
The Frog Who Wouldn’t Laugh by Egan and Alger (Australian folklore)
Akimba and the Magic Cow by Anne Rose (African folklore)
Iktomi and the Boulder by Paul Goble (Native American folklore)
Lucky Jack and the Giant, retold by Janet P. Johnson (African American folklore)
Series
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (chosen because of the great opening line!)
Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keane (adventure!)
The American Girl Series (historical fiction)
Other Books
Books about the earth (We talk about geography very briefly)
*these books also have some interesting characters!
Franklin Memorial Library, Swainsboro, GA
Book Thief!
by the Swainsboro Library Kids
Christopher was sleeping in the park on Mars. Christopher is a small alien who looks like a frog, and he LOVES books! His favorite book is one on World War II, and he caries it everywhere. While Christopher was taking a nap in the park, Jack, a giant alien who looks like a tiger, slipped the book out from under him and took off.
When Chris awoke and discovered that his book was gone, he called Laney, a very nice police officer, who happened to be a monster. All the clues pointed to Jack as the thief, because he was known to steal books from people in the park.
Laney followed the trail of tiger paws and when she found Jack, he was reading the book! She asked him to return it, and he refused. A scuffle ensued and Jack was handcuffed (or paw-cuffed since he was tiger-like) and taken to jail.
Christopher was quite happy to get his book back.
The end.
How did we do? Leave a comment!
by the Swainsboro Library Kids
Christopher was sleeping in the park on Mars. Christopher is a small alien who looks like a frog, and he LOVES books! His favorite book is one on World War II, and he caries it everywhere. While Christopher was taking a nap in the park, Jack, a giant alien who looks like a tiger, slipped the book out from under him and took off.
When Chris awoke and discovered that his book was gone, he called Laney, a very nice police officer, who happened to be a monster. All the clues pointed to Jack as the thief, because he was known to steal books from people in the park.
Laney followed the trail of tiger paws and when she found Jack, he was reading the book! She asked him to return it, and he refused. A scuffle ensued and Jack was handcuffed (or paw-cuffed since he was tiger-like) and taken to jail.
Christopher was quite happy to get his book back.
The end.
How did we do? Leave a comment!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Atmore Regional Library, Atmore, AL
Dogs, a Dragon, and a Big Red Ball
By the Atmore Writers
In a space center in Virginia, there was a space dog that had a red ball. Her name was Jennifer, and she was a big beautiful dog who was as black as night. She loved play with and chew on her brand new, shiny red ball.
She was playing with the ball on the lawn of the space center when it just vanished! A sneaky green and red dog named Jack used his magical powers to make the ball disappear and reappear in his hands. He ran away as fast as he could.
Jennifer began barking like crazy and her good friend April showed up at her side in a puff of smoke. April is a magic red dragon, who is as skinny as a snake. When Jennifer told her what had happened, she realized that magic had been used to make the ball vanish. That could only mean that Jack was nearby. He was the only magician in Virginia who would do a thing like this.
She used her jet pack and magic wand and, quick as a wink, she had the ball back. Jennifer was so happy she cried. The space police were able to catch Jack and they put him in dog jail. Would he learn his lesson? Would he escape? You can write the next chapter!
What do you think about the Atmore kids’ imagination? Leave us a comment below!
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