It's Coming August 10th #pb10for10

This year, I'm suffering from FOMO as I watch the tweets for #nErDcampMI.  I've attended most years, but this year I needed to stay home because of a calendar conflict.  Of course, I've been following the tweets from those attending.  Following all of the book conversations is keeping my Goodreads account hopping.  It also has me looking forward to building a list of favorite picture books for our August 10th, Picture Book 10 or 10 event.

This will be the 9th year for #pb10for10.  Picture Book 10 for 10 began from a conversation about must-have picture books for our classroom libraries.  Mandy Robek, Enjoy and Embrace Learning, and I were going back and forth about our favorite books for our classroom communities when we decided it would be interesting to be able to meander through the libraries of other educators to see what books were on their shelves.  It's not easy to fly around the world to see different libraries (though that would be fun!  Mandy, why haven't we done that?), but it was possible to ask others to share their favorites virtually.

Since then, educators, media specialists, parents, and book lovers in our PLN have been taking the time to create a list of their 10 favorite picture books to share with one another each year on August 10th.  Though it's my favorite event to kick off the new year, it's not for the faint at heart.  Trust me, each year I spend a little more money than I wish on books after reading everyone's posts.  I've gotten a little smarter about keeping my library card out as I read, but that doesn't completely solve the problem.

In just one month, our community will share their favorite titles.  I hope you'll join the conversation.  Stop by our #pb10for10 Google Community to learn more.

Counting down the days....

Here's how you can participate:

1. Grab a Badge (just copy the URL address of the one above or take a screenshot)
2. Join the #pb10for10 Google Community
3. Choose Your Favorites:  All you need to do is choose ten picture books you cannot live without for whatever reason.  In the first days of this event, everyone shared their ten very favorite titles.  This still works.  You will notice, however, that many past participants choose some type of theme to determine their selections.  We'll leave this up to you.
4. Narrow Your List to Ten:  It isn't easy, is it?  We've seen some crafty ways to get around that number.  
5. Write Your August 10th Post:  Write a post about the ten books you cannot live without.  Share your post on August 10th and link it to the Picture Book 10 for 10 Community.  
6. No Blog?  No Problem:  If you don't have a blog, this might be the perfect time to start one --- or there are a million digital ways to join (see post below).  Of course, now with the Google Community it is quite easy to just post your favorites directly into the community without a blog.  We will also be tweeting from the #pb10for10 hashtag.    
7. Comment:  On August 10th (and maybe for a week --- there are a lot of posts) take some time to read posts from other participants.  Please comment on at least three.