Playaways Arrive!

Back in the fall, I used this blog to announce receiving a CCEP Grant to purchase 20 Playaway Digital Audiobooks. Well, they have arrived and will be ready for circulation after February vacation. These digital devices will begin replacing the old audiocassettes. The grant was written for Grade 3 and Grade 4 so those students and teachers will be able to check out these new resources from our library.

This week I've been telling those students about the upcoming Playaways and told them I would be posting the list of titles online through this blog. I expect the Playaways to be quite popular and will start lists and Hold lists when students ask for a particular title. Students can come to the library after vacation or a parent can help them request by sending an email to me at cerei@chariho.k12.ri.us. As I said, they will be ready for checkout after vacation.

Since Playaways are relatively new, the list of available titles is still limited (e.g. Harry Potter is not on a Playaway) Vendors and the manufacturer are continually getting copyright clearance to add more books into this format. I hope to add more titles in the future; for now, here's what we have added to our school library:

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever ( Barbara Robinson)
The Capture (Kathryn Lasky, 1st book of Guardians of Ga'Hoole series)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory + Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (Roald Dahl)
Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
Ella Enchanted (Gail Carson Levine)
Escape: the Story of the Great Houdini (Sid Fleishchman; nonfiction)
Holes (Louis Sachar)
Island of the Blue Dolphins (Scott O'Dell)
The Journey (Kathryn Lasky, 2nd in series mentioned above)
The Lightning Thief (Rick Riordan)
Lost and Found (Andrew Clements)
Love That Dog (Sharon Creech)
My Side of the Mountain (Jean Craighead George)
The Penderwicks (Jeanne Birdsall)
Ruby Holler (Sharon Creech)
Stuart Little (E.B. White)
The Tale of Despereaux (Kate DiCamil lo)
Tuck Everlasting (Natalie Babbitt)
Where the Red Fern Grows (Wilson Rawls)
A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle)

Hey, I just realized we got 21 titles since the Charlie Playaway has two books on it (narrated by Eric Idle!) After vacation we'll probably be seeing these "books on a lanyard" with lots of 3rd and 4th graders. BTW, the Playaways can also be connected to car or home speakers for family and class listening - enjoy!