As part of our preparation for our Read Across America celebration in March, we will be kicking off our fourth annual OPS Picture Book Awards this week.  The OPS Picture Book Awards are a school-wide reading event where five nominated picture books published in 2023 are read aloud to all of our students in grades K - 6.  After having all five books read aloud to them, our students have an opportunity to judge the books and award three OPS Picture Book Awards for Best Message, Best Illustrations, and Best Overall.  The winning book(s) receive an award sticker and are made available (along with the other nominees) to all of our students in the OPS Library.  This year's nominees are We Are Starlings by Robert Furrow and Donna Jo Napoli with illustrations by Marc Martin, Evergreen by Matthew Cordell, A Few Beautiful Minutes by Kate Allen Fox with illustrations by Khoa Le, Oh, Olive by Lian Cho, and Bibi by Jo Weaver.  

As part of this year's awards, the OPS PTA has been kind enough to run a design contest for each of the three award stickers that will be affixed to the winning book(s).  If your OPS student is interested in participating in the design contest, please click here to download an official entry form.

Survivor Tree, written by Marcie Colleen and illustrated by Caldecott Honored illustrator Aaron Becker, is the fifth and final book up for consideration in our 2022 OPS Picture Book Awards.

This beautiful picture book tells the story of the resilient pear tree that survived the devastating tragedy of September 11th, 2001, and still grows on the site of the former Twin Towers to this day.  Marcie Colleen's simple text and Aaron Becker's use of nature's cycle of colors provides young readers with a moving story about how hope and healing can follow a tragedy. 

To take a quick look at this uplifting story of resilience please watch this video:​

Survivor Tree is one of the five picture books our OPS students will be reading, analyzing, and considering for three OPS Picture Book Awards:  Best Illustrations, Best Message, and Best Overall Picture Book.  Voting will take place by homeroom class on Thursday, March 3rd, and the winning book(s) will be announced on Friday, March 4th.  To check out a copy please visit the Oradell Public Library's BCCL's system.

Keeping the City Going by Caldecott Medal winning author/illustrator Brian Floca is the fourth book up for consideration in our 2022 OPS Picture Book Awards. 

Created during the lockdown that occurred in New York City at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Keeping the City Going is a tribute to healthcare and other essential workers who stayed on the streets and on the job despite the risk of infection.  Written from the perspective of a young child and featuring a mix of detailed watercolor, ink, acrylic, and gouache illustrations, the book is an evocative reminder of the sacrifice many people made to keep New York City going during this difficult period.

To enjoy this beautiful picture book, please watch this animated read aloud of Keeping the City Going by Brian Floca:   

Keeping the City Going is one of the five picture books our OPS students will be reading, analyzing, and considering for three OPS Picture Book Awards:  Best Illustrations, Best Message, and Best Overall Picture Book.  Voting will take place by homeroom class on Thursday, March 3rd, and the winning book(s) will be announced on Friday, March 4th.  To check out a copy please visit the Oradell Public Library's BCCLS system.

The next nominated book we would like to spotlight in our 2022 OPS Picture Book Awards is Someone Builds The Dream by Lisa Wheeler with illustrations by Loren Long.

In this inspiring picture book, Lisa Wheeler pays tribute to the hard working men and women of the building trades.  With illustrations by Loren Long inspired by the WPA murals of the great depression, Someone Builds The Dream is a thank you to American workers whose labor, team work, and dedication to their craft is often forgotten when we consider what they have built.

Watch Lisa Wheeler and Loren Long discuss their inspiration for Someone Builds The Dream.

Someone Builds The Dream is one of the five picture books our OPS students will be reading, analyzing, and considering for three OPS Picture Book Awards: Best Illustrations, Best Message, and Best Overall Picture Book.  Voting will take place by homeroom class on Thursday, March 3rd, and the winning book(s) will be announced on Friday, March 4th.  To check out a copy visit the Oradell Public Library's BCCLS system.

​This week in the OPS Library we continue our consideration of another nominated book in our 2022 OPS Picture Book Awards, Inside Cat by Brendan Wenzel. 

Brendan's latest picture book, Inside Cat, is a fun and fascinating look at a cat whose inquisitive nature opens up a whole new world beyond the walls and windows of his home.  Brendan's mix of drawings and collage create a feast for the eyes and allow the reader to follow along with the cat as he wanders from room to room discovering new sensations and encountering a host of surprises along the way.  Brendan is an accomplished author/illustrator, whose previous book They All Saw A Cat was a Caldecott Honor book.

To find out more about Brendan's creative process and watch him demonstrate how to draw Inside Cat, please watch this video.

Inside Cat is one of the five picture books our OPS students will be reading, analyzing, and considering for three OPS Picture Book Awards:  Best Illustrations, Best Message, and Best Overall Picture Book.  Voting will take place by homeroom class on Thursday, March 3rd, and the winning book(s) will be announced on Friday, March 4th.  To check out a copy of Inside Cat, please visit the Oradell Public Library's BCCLS system.

We are very excited to kick off the first week of our second annual OPS Picture Book Awards, an event where our OPS reading community is given the opportunity to recognize some of the best picture books from the previous year. 

Our students will be reading, analyzing, and considering five picture books selected by our award committee, which is made up of myself, OPS Principal Michelle Hawley, and our Director of Curriculum Amy Brancato.  Each of the five books will be read aloud and discussed with our OPS students, who will then have an opportunity to vote on which book(s) will be awarded with one of three awards:  Best Illustrations, Best Message, and Best Overall picture book.  The winning book(s) will be announced on Friday, March 4th as the culmination of our Read Across America festivities.

The first book our students will consider is Be A Tree! by Maria Gianferrari with illustrations by Felicita Sala.  To find out more about the inspiration behind Be A Tree! and to see how Felicita Sala created some of it's illustrations, please watch the video below. 

If You Come To Earth, from two-time Caldecott Medal winning author/illustrator Sophie Blackall, is the fifth and final book up for consideration in our OPS Picture Book Awards.  Inspired by the children Sophie has met all over the world during her travels in support of UNICEF and Save the Children, If You Come To Earth is an alien's guide to Earth as seen from the eyes of a child.  With lush illustrations and whimsical text, Ms. Blackall creates an amusing and heartfelt story that reminds the reader of the importance of caring for the earth and it inhabitants.  In the video below, Sophie describes the various experiences that inspired this book.

If You Come To Earth is one of the five picture books our OPS students will be reading, analyzing, and considering for three OPS Picture Book Awards:  Best Message, Best Illustrations, and Best Overall Picture Book.  Voting will take place by homeroom class on Wednesday, March 3rd, and the winning book(s) will be announced on Friday, March 5th.  To check out a copy from the OPS Library visit Destiny Discover or check out a copy from the Oradell Public Library's BCCLS system.

I Talk Like A River is the fourth book up for consideration in the OPS Picture Book Awards.  Written by Jordan Scott and illustrated by Sydney Smith, this book tells the story of a boy who has a "bad speech day" at school, and the new perspective his father helps him develop about his stutter over a trip to a nearby river.  Inspired by Jordan Scott's own experiences, I Talk Like A River is a personal story that gives voice to a young boy's feelings about his stutter through evocative language and lush illustrations. 

​In the video below, Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith talk about what inspired them as they worked on this Schneider Family Book Award winning project.

​I Talk Like A River is one of the five picture books our OPS students will be reading, analyzing, and considering for three OPS Picture Book Awards:  Best Message, Best Illustrations, and Best Overall Picture Book.  Voting will take place by homeroom class on Wednesday, March 3rd, and the winning book(s) will be announced on Friday, March 5th.  To check out a copy from the OPS Library visit Destiny Discover or check out a copy from the Oradell Public Library's BCCLS system.

The next book we would like to spotlight in our OPS Picture Book Awards is In A Jar by Deborah Marcero.  This touching tale of two friends focuses on how shared memories can forge lifelong bonds between two people that transcend time and space.  In A Jar, which was named one of the best picture books of 2020 by Kirkus Reviews and BookPage, is the latest book from Deborah, who has also illustrated books for other authors.  

According to Deborah, "​Llewellyn and Evelyn are two bunnies who collect moments and memories in jars, and Evelyn has to move away and they figure out a way to share their magical connection and friendship together. This story was very personal for me and it's based on a lot of things that are important to me. I am a collector. I collect stamps and sea shells and stones; I collect letters and little treasures. I have always loved jars. I believe they're eco-friendly, see-through, sentimental. They allow the light to come in.

I have also lived a nomadic life and I'm often the one saying goodbye and moving away, but I have a lot of friends all over the world who kind of hold a special place in my heart and whenever I see them again it's like no time has passed. I wanted to capture that feeling of what it's like to collect and connect to someone in a meaningful way."

In the video below, Deborah discusses her childhood, her journey to becoming an author/illustrator,  and the influences that inspired In A Jar.

In A Jar is one of the five picture books our OPS students will be reading, analyzing, and considering for three OPS Picture Book Awards:  Best Message, Best Illustrations, and Best Overall Picture Book.  Voting will take place by homeroom class on Wednesday, March 3rd, and the winning book(s) will be announced on Friday, March 5th.

Marcero, Deborah. "Meet-the-Author Recording with Deborah Marcero." TeachingBooks.net, TeachingBooks LLC, 2021, https://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=18437#.

This week we continue the OPS Picture Book Awards by spotlighting another book that is up for consideration, Your Place In The Universe by Jason Chin.  Jason is an author/illustrator of nonfiction picture books who has won numerous accolades for his work including the Sibert Medal and a Caldecott Honor Book award among others. 

In Your Place In The Universe, Jason takes a complex subject, the universe, and through the use of engaging text and illustrations makes it accessible and easy to understand for the reader.  In the video below, Jason explains the process he uses to illustrate a fact.

Your Place In The Universe is one of the five picture books our OPS students will be reading, analyzing, and considering for three OPS Picture Book Awards:  Best Message, Best Illustrations, and Best Overall Picture Book.  Voting will take place by homeroom class on Wednesday, March 3rd, and the winning book(s) will be announced on Friday, March 5th.  To check out a copy from the OPS Library visit Destiny Discover or check out a copy from the Oradell Public Library's BCCLS system.