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TL 16.31.indd The Teaching Librarian volume 16, no. 3 23 ID EA FILE Unit, I have had Intermediate students read novels purchased for Junior division students. The older students prepare slide shows promoting their assigned novel. Circulation of these materials is excellent both amongst the target audience as well as amongst the peers of the previewers. I often use this method to introduce the Silver Birch Books. Susan A. Packer, Teacher-Librarian Woodcrest Public School Durham District School Board One of the ways that I like to introduce a new book to a class is by what I call "unlocking the book." I start with the book tied up with a small combination lock. I tell them that the book is locked up and we need to find the right combination to get it open. I explain that they need to make predictions about the book in order to use the combination. The students have some time to examine the book, looking for clues and evidence. Students offer up their predictions, providing support, and we discuss as a group. Eventually we have four good predictions, and the combination. By the time the book is "unlocked," the children are so engaged they listen very intently to find out if their predictions were correct. I enjoy overhearing the children taking the time to "unlock" their own books before they begin to read. Gail Sedgewick Vellore Woods Public School York Region District School Board I project the cover art for two to four novels onto the SMART Board and give students a chance to "think, pair, share" about which book they think they would like or not like based on the cover. They discuss predictions for what the books might be about and the elements that lead them to that opinion, such as cover art, the author's name and so forth. I then read aloud an exciting section from the books to confirm or deny their predictions. There is always a fight to sign out the books after this intro. My only complaint is that I have to prepare a different set of books for every class. Tara Truscott, Teacher-Librarian Mount Joy Public School York Region District School Board A recent trend seems to be that authors and publishers are borrowing presentation techniques and tone from a variety of other media formats. A couple of the Blue Spruce book nominations this year are examples. Chester by Mélanie Watt incorporates graffiti and diagram notation, and Such a Prince by Dan Bar-el has a cover which looks like a tabloid newspaper. Before reading Such a Prince to a Grade 2 class, I brought in a couple of tabloids. We looked for the publication title and we distinguished between advertisements and copy. We identified the main headlines. Then we discussed what tricks the publishers had used to encourage us to open the paper. We explored other strategies that publishers could use to get us to buy the product. Without showing the cover, I then gave the students a summary of the story of Such a Prince. The class was divided into pairs and asked to design a cover to entice people to read the story. The results demonstrated very savvy and sophisticated consumers and readers. We had fun comparing their covers to the original and then proceeded to enjoy reading the story. Afterwards we discussed the main differences between book covers and newspapers and the reasons why they were not the same. Catherine Harris, Teacher-Librarian William Berzcy Public School York Region District School Board During Freedom to Read week, I create a display of books that have been banned in schools, or at least challenged. The display has a big sign that indicates that these books are "Forbidden Fruit" or "Banned Books." Some years, I wrap yellow "Caution" tape from the dollar store around the display surface, although this sometimes makes some of the kids wonder if they should even touch the books! Under each book is information that has a flip-up cover. On this cover, a sign reads: "Why was this book banned?" Under the flip-up cover is a brief explanation of why this book was challenged. This display creates interest in the books and students read the books to investigate why some of these books have been challenged. As a book is removed from the display a new "Forbidden Fruit" arrives in its place. The Freedom the Read website, www.freedomtoread.ca has a great list of books and the banning background as a resource. Three Wishes, Snow Falling on Cedars and of course Handmaid's Tale are just a few of the books on the list! Stephanie Alexander The Woodlands School Peel District School Board I work in a large school where teachers may not find it convenient to visit the library at all, let alone consult the professional development section. In order to get books into teachers' hands, I decided to take the library to the teachers. I annexed a study carrel in the staff room and declared it library territory. The Library Annex features recent fiction and non-fiction likely to interest adults,