November is Picture Book Month. It’s a month to study the fine art of picture books and their importance in our lives no matter what our age. We’e been celebrating Picture Book Month since its creation 3 years ago by author Dianne de Las Casas. Each year, she rounds up a month-long celebration with posts by numerous authors each describing the importance of picture books in our lives.
Each year our own celebration grows. This year, we are holding a shelf challenge. Last year, Matthew Winner (aka The Busy Librarian) did a shelf challenge for School Library Month, so we are borrowing his model and modifying it for Picture Book Month. Here are our “rules”:
Who can participate:
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Any students, teachers, or families at Barrow!
Where to find picture books:
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Any book in the Everybody section
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Any book in 398.2 or 811
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Any book in the holiday section
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Any book where the story is told through pictures or pictures & text.
What to do:
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Set a goal for yourself. Examples: Read every book in the Everybody section A’s. Choose a shelf and read every book on that shelf. Set a specific number of picture books to read. The possibilities are endless!
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Write your goal on the back of this sheet and keep track of your progress. Add sheets if you need to.
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Turn your sheet in to Mr. Plemmons on December 2nd.
If you finish your challenge, you will get:
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A certificate
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A bookmark
- A chance to win a hardcover picture book such as Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses, Bugs in My Hair, That is Not a Good Idea, Green, and A Ball for Daisy. (Many thanks to Edie Crook for donating 2 of these books for our contest!)
In addition to our shelf challenge, we are recording students and teachers for our morning broadcast talking about their challenge goal and a favorite picture book they have read for the challenge.
We are also planning some connections with other libraries to share favorite picture books as well. I love to see how this celebration grows each year. I hope that this year we set our own record for the number of picture books checked out in November.
Expect the Miraculous 
I love this idea! I’d like to try it next year. I hope you will post the results at the end of the month!
Reblogged this on Once Upon a Page and commented:
I’m always looking for new ways to get my students involved in these “celebration” months. This year I created an opening lines challenge bulletin board, and I had already started worrying about what I would do next year. I like this idea. I may be all set for 2014!