Book Review

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney

It’s New Year’s Day, and since Greg Heffley is “already pretty much one of the best” people he knows, he resolves to help the less than perfect people in his life improve themselves. So begins the latest journal in Jeff Kinney’s hilarious “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series. This latest installment documents six months (January to June) of Greg’s middle school life through diary entries and simple sketches. We follow Greg through numerous laugh-out-loud situations as he warms the bench for his soccer team, attempts to romance classmate Holly Hills, tries his hand at becoming a Boy Scout, and faces getting shipped off to military school. Fans of the series will not be disappointed, and newcomers will be able to jump right into the story without having read any of the previous books.

Kinney promises a fourth book, which he can’t publish soon enough. (jmv)

Percy Jackson series nearing a close

From PW Children's Bookshelf 1/22/09 e-newsletter:

After a four-year run, Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series—about a boy who discovers he is a son of Poseidon and embarks on a string of modern-day adventures involving ancient Greek gods, heroes and villains—will draw to a close this spring. But arriving ahead of the fifth and final book is a companion title, The Demigod Files. The paper-over-board title aims to make readers experts on the Percy Jackson universe, offering interviews with characters from the series, games, puzzles and two original short stories by Riordan.

American Library Association Medal Winners Announced!

Winners of this year's most prestigious medals in children's literature:

Newbery Medal
"The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman

Newbery Honor Books
"The Underneath" by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by David Small
"The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom" by Margarita Engle
"Savvy" by Ingrid Law
"After Tupac and D Foster" by Jacqueline Woodson

Caldecott Medal
"The House in the Night," illustrated by Beth Krommes and written by Susan Marie Swanson

Caldecott Honor Books
"A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever" by Marla Frazee
"How I Learned Geography" by Uri Shulevitz
"A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams," illustrated by Melissa Sweet and written by Jen Bryant

Geisel Award
"Are You Ready to Play Outside?" written and illustrated by Mo Willems

Geisel Honor Books
"Chicken Said, 'Cluck!'" written by Judyann Ackerman Grant, illustrated by Sue Truesdell
"One Boy" written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
"Stinky" written and illustrated by Eleanor Davis
"Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator" written by Sarah C. Campbell, photographs by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell

Sibert Medal
"We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball" written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Sibert Honor Books
"Bodies from the Ice: Melting Glaciers and Rediscovery of the Past" written by James M. Deem
"What to Do about Alice?: How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy!" written by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

Jeff Smith’s Bone Saga Ends—Again

This complete story originally appeared in PW Comics Week on January 27, 2009. Follow the link above to read the entire article.

Graphix, the Scholastic division focused on comics and graphic novels for children, released the ninth and final color volume of Jeff Smith’s epic fantasy adventure series Bone this month. PW Comics Week spoke with Smith and interviewed David Saylor, v-p, associate publisher and creative director of Graphix, via e-mail regarding the significance of the milestone and their future publishing plans.

Plans for promoting Crown of Horns, the final volume, which has an initial print run of 100,000, include a Bone floor display at retail stores, trade and consumer advertising, and a national media campaign. Scholastic's Bone web site has been updated with information about the final volume well as an excerpt and a new Bone game that will launch on the site this spring.
The Graphix edition has been published in thirty countries. In 2006, a release of the first color volume was coordinated across Europe. Smith recently conducted a three-week book tour of India, where the first four volumes are in print.

More reasons to interact with your babies

Read this short, but interesting article from the Seattle Times about recent research about how infants best learn. This research offers even more support for reading with your babies!

Importance of Play

The American Academy of Pediatrics published this lengthy report on how important play is in the lives of children. Despite its length, it is worth reading. The report defines the many ways play benefits children in all aspects of development and encourages parents to spend time interacting with their children through play.

More great resources about play in the lives of children:
- Alliance for Childhood
- Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America
- National Public Radio

Arthur's looking for a new friend and you can help!

Between February 1st and March 31st, 2009, Arthur is on the hunt for a new friend who can show the gang in Elwood City that children come in all shapes, sizes, and abilities. Children between the ages of 6 and 12 are invited to take part in the search. Follow this link to see how you can help.

Make sure you check out books about Arthur and his friends at your Dakota County Library! We have Arthur chapter books, picture books, and more!

Curious about Graphic Novels?

Visit Get Graphic, a new website stemming from a two year project designed to introduce teens, parents, librarians and teachers to the exciting and extremely popular literary format of graphic novels. Although created for inhabitants of Western New York, you will find lots of universal information about the graphic novel format, including an excellent list of graphic novels for kids through adults. Read more about the website and the project that led to its creation here.

Preschoolers and Letters

This advice column, from the Duluth News Tribune, answers a parent's question about teaching his 4-year-old how to create more than scribbles when writing. The article includes a Head Start teacher's advice on expanding your child's Print Awareness, one of six early literacy skills kids need before they learn to read and write.

More Award-Winners!

The Cybils are announced! The Cybils are voted on by Children's and Teen Literature bloggers. The purpose of the award is to reward the children’s and young adult authors (and illustrators) whose books combine the highest literary merit and “kid appeal.”

The 2008-2009 Cybils Winners:

Easy Readers
I Love My New Toy written by Mo Willems

Fantasy & Science Fiction
Middle Grade
The Graveyard Book written by Neil Gaiman

Young Adult
The Hunger Games written by Suzanne Collins (a current fave among Galaxie librarians!)

Picture Books
How to Heal a Broken Wing written and illustrated by Bob Graham

Graphic Novels
Elementary/Middle Grade
Rapunzel's Revenge written by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, illustrated by Nathan Hale

Young Adult
Emiko Superstar written by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Steve Rolston

Middle-Grade Fiction
The London Eye Mystery written by Siobhan Dowd

Non-Fiction

Middle Grade/Young Adult
The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter Memoir written by Cylin Busby and John Busby

Non-Fiction Picture Books
Nic Bishop Frogs written and illustrated by Nic Bishop

Poetry
Honeybee written by Naomi Shihab Nye

Young Adult Fiction
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks written by E Lockhart

An Organized House = Better Reading Skills for Kids

A recent article in School Library Journal highlights the results of an interesting study. The findings indicated the more organized your home is, the better your 5 or 6 year old will read. What an interesting connection!

This excerpt from the article is a great synopsis of what all parents can do to improve upon their children's literacy skills:

“Cultivate an interest in reading through role modeling, visits to the library, and finding new and attractive books that are age-appropriate. And minimize distractions while you're reading together, and let the child spend time alone with books if he wants to even before he can read.”

The Leader of the Free World Says You Should Read to Your Kids

In President Obama’s address last night, he pointed how important it is for parents to engage with their children, particularly by reading aloud to their kids. See the relevant excerpt below:

OBAMA: These education policies will open the doors of opportunity for our children, but it is up to us to ensure they walk through them.

In the end, there is no program or policy that can substitute for a parent, for a mother or father who will attend those parent-teacher conferences, or help with homework, or turn off the TV, put away the video games, read to their child.

(APPLAUSE)

I speak to you not just as a president, but as a father when I say that responsibility for our children’s education must begin at home. That is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. That’s an American issue.

Exercise Fuels Kids' Brains

A recent article, The 3 R’s? A Fourth Is Crucial, Too: Recess, in The New York Times points to the value of exercise when it comes to kids' cognitive abilities.

"New research suggests that play and down time may be as important to a child’s academic experience as reading, science and math, and that regular recess, fitness or nature time can influence behavior, concentration and even grades."

So, encourage your kids to shake their sillies out, and they'll be able to focus better when it comes to school.

Happy 40th, Very Hungry Caterpillar!!

Eric Carle's beloved picture book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, is celebrating its 40th anniversary on March 20th. Mark the occasion by reading the book aloud to your kids. Perhaps eat some of the foods he eats in the book. The options for celebrating are limitless.

Download a printable activity kit here: http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/yr/pdf/caterpillar.pdf

If you have a few dollars to spare, check out some of this great Eric Carle merchandise. Mr. Carle only recently made his work available for merchandising, but there is now some great stuff out there for purchase. Check out the links below:

Chronicle Books -- flash cards, gift sets, decorative prints, and more

Loew Cornell -- art-based activity kits

Lunt Silversmiths -- high-end baby gifts, featuring Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear

Mudpuppy -- fun-n-games featuring Eric Carle's books, plus many more kids' classics

Ty's Toybox -- one-stop shopping for Eric Carle merchandise

In honor of the anniversary, Philomel has released a special pop-up version of the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Five Questions for Mo Willems

I loved this brief interview with Mo Willems, conducted by Roger Sutton of The Horn Book. It was featured in the "Notes from the Horn Book" March 2009 e-newsletter:

* * * * * * * * * * *

Five Questions for Mo Willems
Mo Willems has now won the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award twice in a row for his easy-reader books about best friends Elephant and Piggie; There Is a Bird on Your Head! won the honor in 2008 and Are You Ready to Play Outside? in 2009. With his books equally popular with kids, parents, and critics, Mo also has three Caldecott Honor Books to his name, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and the two Knuffle Bunny books. Mo knows books and friends and fun, so I decided to ask him about all three.

1. How is constructing an easy reader different from making a picture book?

Both essentially entail engineering a vehicle to get you from point A to point B.

A picture book is a motorcycle: small, loud, fun, and zippy.

An easy reader is a chartered bus: obliged to carry a rather dull passenger roster of sanctioned curriculum, plus the baggage of an approved, limited vocabulary.

The trick is to design your chartered bus to be as cool and sexy as a motorcycle.

2. What do you think Frog and Toad might make of Elephant and Piggie?

Lobel’s great innovation was to give early reader characters a full emotional life, an innovation that I have merrily attempted to appropriate.

I can only hope that if Frog and Toad were ever to run across Elephant and Piggie they would all head down to the local café to commiserate about the ups and downs of friendship.

3. Who do you think Elephant and Piggie will be when they grow up?

Elephant and Piggie are already grown up. It’s just hard to tell because they’re still willing to learn new things.

4. What is your favorite game to play outside?

Petanque (also known as jeu de boules) is a lovely game involving friends taking turns tossing heavy metal balls into dirt. More a pastime than a sport, it can be played by young or old with matches won utilizing either serious accuracy or casual luck.

I’m such a fan, I built a boules court in my yard and can be found on pleasant afternoons engaged in matches with the neighborhood kids.

5. What has being a parent taught you about playing that you didn't know (or had forgotten)?

From personal experience with my daughter, I can tell you that playing requires an intensity well beyond that of mundane activities like work. To play, you must be completely engaged physically, emotionally, and intellectually at all times just to keep up.

No wonder kids need to go to bed earlier than we do.

Get Ready for Spring -- Free Tomato Seeds

To get your home garden off to a good start, you can buy any Campbell's condensed soup and visit HelpGrowYourSoup.com after March 15th to request FREE CAMPBELL'S TOMATO SEEDS. With each request, Campbell's will make a donation to help grow gardens in communities and schools across America.

What a great opportunity to read books with your children about gardens, fruits & veggies, flowers, farmer's markets, and more. Talk to your local Dakota County children's librarian for recommended titles about these or any other topics of interest.

When the ground thaws enough, plant a garden together as a family.

Check out this website for ideas, instructions, and more: My First Garden.

Website Links Movies and Family Outings For You!

Looking for some interesting adventures to get you and your kids talking and exploring together? Kids Off the Couch is a free, weekly e-mail (and archive of past emails) that provides families with fresh ideas for getting kids off the couch and into the world. It combines fun, family-friendly movies with suggested follow-up adventures for real-life learning experiences.

Take this a step farther and combine books and family adventure. For example, read E.B. White's "The Trumpet of the Swan" aloud, then road trip to Monticello's Mississippi Drive Park for the Trumpeter Swan's annual visit.

Don't be afraid to go across the river. Explore what Minneapolis & St. Paul and all its suburbs have to offer your family.

Passing on love for favorite children's books

A recent article on cnn.com highlights how parents have a tendency to share favorite children's books from their own childhoods with their kids. Beloved titles like Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are and Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar endure because each generation passes them on to the next.

Here's an excellent -- but by no means complete -- list of other timeless picture books to share with your children.

Also try New York Public Library's list of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know.

Useful online resource for parents & caregivers

Reading is Fundamental has a great component to their website called Leading to Reading. Split into sections for babies & toddlers, preschoolers, and parents, it is full of games, videos, books, and more to entertain and inform. The babies & toddlers section features videos of people acting out fingerplays and action rhymes so there's no guesswork as to how to share them with children. The preschoolers section includes books read aloud so kids can follow along. The parents page offers book recommendations, articles of interest, and much more. It's a site worth visiting.

Kids & teens vote for their favorite books of the year

Kids and teens choose their favorite books of the year by voting for the Children's Book Council's Children's Choice Book Awards. Voting is open from March 16 through May 3.

This year’s Children’s Choice Book Award finalists are:

Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year:

The Donut Chef written and illustrated by Bob Staake

Katie Loves the Kittens written and illustrated by John Himmelman

The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! written and illustrated by Mo Willems

Sort It Out! written by Barbara Mariconda, illustrated by Sherry Rogers

Those Darn Squirrels written by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri

Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year:

Babymouse: Puppy Love by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm

One Million Things by Peter Chrisp

Spooky Cemeteries by Dinah Williams

Underwear: What We Wear Under There by Ruth Freeman Swain

Willow written by Denise Brennan-Nelson and Rosemarie Brennan, illustrated by Cyd Moore

Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year:

100 Most Dangerous Things On the Planet by Anna Claybourne

Amulet, Book One: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

The Big Field by Mike Lupica

Swords: An Artist's Devotion by Ben Boos

Thirteen by Lauren Myracle

Teen Choice Book Award:

Airhead by Meg Cabot

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Paper Towns by John Green

Author of the Year:

Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

Stephenie Meyer, Breaking Dawn

Christopher Paolini, Brisingr

James Patterson, Maximum Ride: The Final Warning

Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth

Illustrator of the Year:

Laura Cornell, Big Words for Little People

Robin Preiss Glasser, Fancy Nancy: Bonjour Butterfly!

Mo Willems, The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!

David Shannon, Loren Long and David Gordon, Smash! Crash!

Jon J Muth, Zen Ties

The Children’s Choice Book Awards winners will be announced live at the Children’s Choice Book Awards gala on May 12 in New York City as part of Children’s Book Week (May 11-17, 2009), the oldest national literacy event in the United States.

The awards ceremony, hosted by National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jon Scieszka, will include the presentation of an Impact Award to Whoopi Goldberg, in recognition of her vast contribution to the promotion of literacy and the love of reading among young people. Last year’s Impact Award recipient, Al Roker, will present the award.

This poster speaks for itself

Read an article from USA Today about the film.

The story behind The Very Hungry Caterpillar

An interesting interview with Eric Carle from the March 19th issue of USA Today about the origins of his beloved picture book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Happy 40th Anniversary, Caterpillar!

How many Waldos?

On April 2nd, 2009, students at Rutgers University broke the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest gathering of people dressed as Waldo. 1,052 Rutgers students, staff and community members banded together for charity -- each participant donated a book to the New Brunswick, NJ school district.

Blueberries for Sal back on sale

If you've been looking to purchase a new copy of Robert McCloskey's classic picture book, Blueberries for Sal, you may have had a difficult time finding it on bookstore shelves.

It hasn't been sold out; it's been out of print. After years of negotiations, it is finally coming back in print along with McCloskey's other classic works Make Way for Ducklings, Homer Price, and more. Read this article from Publishers Weekly to learn more.

Researching boys

An April 14, 2009 New York Times article investigated Disney's market research into their next frontier: boys, ages 6 -14.

A team of anthropologists "spent 18 months peering inside the heads of incommunicative boys" to discover what it is that interests them, what makes them tick, and - ultimately - what they'd be willing to watch on TV.

For the past few years, there has a been a huge push in public libraries, schools, and publishing houses to get boys to read more. No doubt the insights Disney gains from their research will spill into the book business.

For more information about getting the boys in your life to read more, visit http://www.guysread.com/.

Mystery award winners

The 63rd annual Edgar Awards were given out on April 30 by the Mystery Writers of America. The award for Best Juvenile title went to The Postcard by Tony Abbott, and the prize for Best Young Adult title went to Paper Towns by John Green.

Reading to your kids helps them become better readers

The benefits of reading aloud to your children are impossible to list. Studies continue to show that caregivers who share books with their children give their kids a headstart on reading. This article, published about a year ago on sciencedaily.com, points out that not only is reading important, but how you read makes a difference.

Middle class parents tend to use a more interactive style, making connections to the child's own experience or real world, explaining new words and the motivations of the characters, while working class parents tend to focus more on labelling and describing pictures. These differences in reading styles can impact on children's development of language and literacy-related skills.

Asking children questions to help ensure they understand what is being read and explained to them is also extremely beneficial.

Practice dialogic reading with your preschooler. This is a method of reading in which the child, who cannot yet read, becomes the storyteller. Learn more about how to do this here.

Publisher to sell "Eragon" companion

Publishers Weekly, 5/20/2009

This fall, Knopf Books for Young Readers will publish Christopher Paolini’s Eragon’s Guide to Alagaësia, a novelty gift book tie-in to the author’s bestselling Inheritance cycle novels. The book...goes on sale November 3. Framed as a gift from Eragon to the reader, the book will feature illustrated spreads of the landscape and inhabitants of Alagaësia and will include paper engineering and other interactive elements.

"Eragon’s Guide to Alagaësia will take readers deeper into the captivating world Christopher created, offering a visual perspective of the novels that millions of readers across the world have come to love," said Knopf publishing director Nancy Hinkel in announcing the book. Paolini’s Inheritance cycle (consisting of Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr) has sold more than 22 million copies worldwide. The author is working on the fourth and final Inheritance book; a publication date has not yet been announced.

Oh my darlin' "Clementine"!

From PW Children's Bookshelf, May 28, 2009:

Disney-Hyperion has signed up three more chapter books in the Clementine series by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Marla Frazee. Clementine: Friend of the Week, the fourth book in the series, will be published in summer 2010, with a new book following each subsequent summer.

Hooray!

Supporting your child's summer reading

A recent article in the Pioneer Press offers parents advice for supporting their children's summer reading. Tips include ideas such as:

- Playing board games together

- Reading aloud to your kids

- Putting junk mail to good use

- ...and more!!

Recent study finds children use language less when tv is on

A key excerpt from an article regarding a recent research study on children, language, and television:

"Audible television clearly reduces speech for both infants and their caregivers within the home, and this is potentially harmful for babies’ development. There is simply nothing better for early childhood language acquisition than the spoken and imitated words of caregivers, and every word counts. Television is not only a poor caregiver substitute, but it actually reduces the number of language sounds and words babies hear, vocalize and therefore learn," said lead researcher Dimitri Christakis.

Baby Talk Is Important to Early Literacy

"...There’s one thing that’s so easy parents can do it any time, any place — for free — and [babies] will love it: Talk to them and give their fledgling words your full attention."

That's the crux of a recent article published in The Vancouver Sun, reminding parents that even though they might not understand what their babies are saying, it is important to listen and respond.

It also reminds parents to share nursery rhymes with babies and toddlers. Knowledge of nursery rhymes has a strong relation to early reading and spelling success. So, check out some Mother Goose books from the library, and chant or sing or simply read them with your little one.

The First Lady and Children's Books

Oprah's website offers a list of children's books Michelle Obama has been seen reading or toting around. They are:
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.
- The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
- Olivia by Ian Falconer
- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Check out copies for your family at your local library!

Susan Runholt is visiting the Galaxie Library!

Susan Runholt, author of the Kari + Lucas Mysteries, The Mystery of the Third Lucretia and the brand-new Rescuing Seneca Crane, is visiting the Dakota County Galaxie Library! Join us Monday, September 28th, at 7pm to meet Ms. Runholt and learn more about her books.

Dakota County Galaxie Library
14955 Galaxie Avenue
Apple Valley, MN 55124
952-891-7045

If you liked..., try...

If you're looking for favorite book read-alikes, give this fun site a try! It conjures up matches for you, based on information it gleans from LibraryThing and Amazon.

The End of the Reading Rainbow

"Reading Rainbow comes to the end of its 26-year run on Friday; it has won more than two-dozen Emmys, and is the third longest-running children's show in PBS history — outlasted only by Sesame Street and Mister Rogers."

I have to be honest -- I thought it had ended years ago. That's not to take away from the wonderful work it did at its zenith in the 80s and early 90s. Surely it will live on in reruns and DVD releases.

I LOVE MY LIBRARIAN AWARD

STILL TIME FOR LIBRARY USERS TO NOMINATE LIBRARIANS FOR 2009 CARNEGIE CORPORATION OF NEW YORK/NEW YORK TIMES I LOVE MY LIBRARIAN AWARD

Nominations are still open for the 2009 Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award.

The award invites library users to recognize the accomplishments of librarians in public, school, college, community college and university libraries for their efforts to improve the lives of people in their community. Nominations will run through October 9 and are being accepted online at www.ilovelibraries.org/ilovemylibrarian.

Up to 10 librarians will be selected. Each will receive a $5,000 cash award, a plaque and a $500 travel stipend to attend an awards ceremony and reception in New York, hosted by The New York Times in December. In addition, a plaque will be given to each award winner’s library.

Each nominee must be a librarian with a master’s degree from a program accredited by the ALA in library and information studies or a master’s degree with a specialty in school library media from an educational unit accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. Nominees must be currently working in the United States in a public library, a library at an accredited two- or four-year college or university or at an accredited K-12 school.

Nominees will be judged by a selection committee based on quality of service to library users, demonstrated knowledge of the library and its resources and commitment shown in helping library users.

Adolescent Literacy

A September 21 post to YALSA's listserv:

According to a new report from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, adolescent literacy is a cornerstone of the current education reform movement, upon which efforts such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) should be built.

The capstone report of the Carnegie Council for Advancing Adolescent Literacy, Time to Act: An Agenda for Advancing Adolescent Literacy for College and Career Readiness (108 pages, PDF), notes that although U.S. students in grade four score among the best in the world in reading achievement, by grade ten they score among the lowest in the world. To combat this trend, the report recommends that the U.S. education system give teachers literacy-focused instructional tools and formative assessments, encourage schools and districts to collect and use information about student literacy performance more efficiently, and call upon state-level leaders to maximize the use of limited resources for literacy efforts in a strategic way. The report can be accessed at http://carnegie.org/literacy/tta/pdf/tta_Main.pdf

Reading in the Disciplines: The Challenges of Adolescent Literacy, a companion report to Carnegie's Time to Act, focuses on the specific skills and literacy support needed for reading in academic subject areas in higher grades. The report outlines strategies for teaching content knowledge and reading strategies together. It can be accessed at http://carnegie.org/literacy/tta/pdf/tta_Lee.pdf

Preview the new Pooh book online

Publisher Penguin Putnam has posted the first chapter of the new Winnie-the-Pooh book, Return to the Hundred Acre Wood.

Since Pooh's creator, A.A. Milne has been gone for over 50 years, it is obviously not written by him. Author David Benedictus tries really hard to get that Pooh feeling right, but how can you recreate something with such easy charm?

Regardless, it is winsome to get the chance to reconnect with those beloved characters again -- in a non-Disney manner. Hooray for this newest expotition into the world of Christopher Robin and Pooh.

Growing a Reader

I love this post, from Josie Leavitt, a blogger for Publisher's Weekly.

Growing a Reader
March 22, 2010
One of the absolute joys in owning a bookstore is the kids. I’m especially fond of three-and-four-year-olds who have embraced reading to such a degree that want to share their newfound love with everyone, including stuffed animals.

We have a bin of stuffies (as some kids call them now) in the picture book section that kids love to go through. Often the kids will just play with the toys, but every once in a while I see them carefully setting up the toys with books in their little stuffed laps. We have one little boy who is read to constantly by his parents and he comes in with his father about once a week or so. Young Finn is perfectly content in picture books by himself.

Someone donated three rather large dragon animals to us, and they are a favorite of Finn’s. He sets them up in the three kid-sized chairs in a circle. Then he carefully selects a book for each dragon to read. One dragon was reading a book about dragons, of course, I was told. The other two each had very different books:the red dragon had a fairy tale book and the blue dragon was reading a short truck book.

What was so revealing and lovely, was how Finn turned the pages for each dragon, retrieved fallen books and generally wanted to make sure each dragon had a satisfying and rewarding reading experience. Finn can’t read yet, but he was making up stories, mostly to the dragon reading the dragon book. I was charmed to pieces and only wish I was able to get a picture of Finn with the dragons, but he got very shy.

The care, and almost reverence, this little boy has with books was so touching. He wanted to share his love of story with anyone who would listen, and in our busy store it meant dragons. At his house, I’m sure the dog gets many books set out by his bed.

Finn’s behavior speaks to a household that loves books. He sees both parents, especially his stay at home dad, reading all the time. He is read to constantly. This simple act, sharing a story with a child, has an amazing ripple effect. These parents have grown a reader. And in turn, our stuffed animals have a reading buddy.

Valentine's Day Story Time

Painting rocks was lots of fun, but get ready for Tuesday, February 8th's story time because the entire story time will be devoted to Valentine's Day. We are going to make Valentine cards, snack on cookies, and read Valentine stories.

Last week we read Guido Van Genechtens book, No Ghost Under My Bed. Read the book to find out if this little penguin actually has a ghost in his room, conveniently at bedtime.

Want to see a cute Sumatran orangutan baby or how about a baby aardvark named Amani? Then check out Zoo Borns! by Andrew Bleiman and Chris Eastland.

We also read, Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak . A rumpus, a king, and wild things. It does not get much better than that!

Springing Into Action

Valentine's Day story time was a hit. The kids stamped, colored, and glued to their hearts delight. They made beautiful cards to give away. Instead of cookies, we gobbled up red and pink cupcakes. Yummy! And just as delicious, we gobbled up two funny books, Banana! By Ed Vere and Can I Play Too? By Mo Willems.

Next week's story time is a mystery. I will have all new picture books to share, but I am keeping the craft a mystery. Hmm, what will i find in my craft box next? Come to story time to find out. :-)

Spring is just around the corner- that means I will be looking for new nature crafts to make, and spring theme picture books to share.

Join the fun every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. in the Carnegie Room.

Carol

If You Love Books...

Come check out the Emergent Reader Story Time. Tuesday we read four fun books, starting with A Day in the Life of a Zookeeper by Nate LeBoutillier, think you know everything a zookeeper does in one day? You might be surprised to find out just how much a zookeeper does! To find out the most interesting facts about animals then you should read Out of Sight by Pittau & Gervais. Did you know pigs are good swimmers? Neither did I, this is just one of the amazing facts you'll discover in this book. And what else besides a fly will an old lady swallow, let me give you a hint, they rhyme with course, hat, and log! Read, Taback Simms' book There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, to finish this riddle. So just who will be delivering your next pizza? And what would you say if a cat delivered your pizza? The crowd favorite goes to Virginia Walters' book, Hi, Pizza Man! -Carol

I Spy...Story Time!

That's right the Emergent Reader Story Time is back from spring break. And boy did we kick story time off with a hit. I-Spy bottles! We used recycled plastic tennis ball bottles, a big bag of
white rice, and an array of fun trinkets and you have your very own I-Spy game.

Poor Gerald has broken his trunk, but wait until you hear the story of how he broke his trunk. Elephant & Piggie are back for another go around in,
I Broke My Trunk! By Mo Willems.

Duck has kisses to give, but the question is does poodle want to be on the receiving end? Will duck and poodle work things out? To find out the answers to these questions read Stop Kissing Me! By Ethan Long.

You won't be able to guess all the modes of transportation one very bold lady is willing to use to reach a star. The rhyming in There Was a Bold Lady Who Wanted a Star By Charise Mericle Harper will leave you smiling.

A group of cats want to share some of their secrets, but first you're going to have to meow or purr to prove you're a cat. Jef Czekahj's book Cat Secrets will put your kitty skills to the test.

Have you ever read a picture book about a bird and a gorilla being best friends? Sarah Adams' book Gary and Ray is filled with beautiful illustrations of just such a friendship. Gary the gorilla and Ray the bird are best friends, but will someone join them? Enjoy!

Join me every Tuesday through May 17th for books, crafts, and snacks!
Story time is always at 10:00 a.m. in the Carnegie Room. For kids ages 4-6.

-Carol