You will hear your child talk a lot about the 40 Book Challenge this year. The challenge is to read 40 "just right" books from now until the end of May. (That is an average of about a book a week.) "Just right" books are books at your child's independent reading level - books were he or she can understand all of the story or information and they can read/understand most of the words. The 40 Book Challenge encourages students to read a wide variety of books across many different genres. My goal is for students to explore new texts and topics as well as expand their reading repertoire. The graph in your child's reading notebook will allow students to keep track of the books they've already read, create a wish list of titles to read in the future, and document thoughts and feelings they've had to a particular story in a weekly letter to me. Students will also be creating "Book Commercials" throughout the year to share their book with others. I have many books in my classroom and we'll be making frequent visits to the school library to help your son or daughter find a fabulous book that is "just right" for them.