Tag Archives: books

Children’s Book Week 2013

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cbw2013 Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes — wherever young readers and books connect!

Celebrate at the Amelia Branch. Stop in anytime during regular library hours Monday-Saturday, May 13-18 to find a craft featuring characters from some of your favorite children’s books!

Children’s Book Week originated in the belief that children’s books and literacy are life-changers. In 1913, Franklin K. Matthiews, the librarian of the Boy Scouts of America, began touring the country to promote higher standards in children’s books. He proposed creating a Children’s Book Week, which would be supported by all interested groups: publishers, booksellers, and librarians.

Mathiews enlisted two important allies: Frederic G. Melcher, the visionary editor of Publishers Weekly, and Anne Carroll Moore, the Superintendent of Children’s Works at the New York Public Library and a major figure in the library world. With the help of Melcher and Moore, in 1916, the American Booksellers Association and the American Library Association sponsored a Good Book Week with the Boy Scouts of America.

Children’s Book Week is administered by Every Child A Reader, a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children.

March is Sing With Your Child Month

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spiderSinging is a fun way to introduce new words and sounds to children.  Singing also includes rhyming and increases a child’s awareness to the sounds in words.  Singing, talking, playing, writing, and reading are all easy practices you can do at home to help your child get ready to read.

My sons are not a big fan of my singing, I don’t blame them.  But we do enjoy reading books together.  When I read them a book that is also a song, like Old MacDonald Had a Farm, they sing along.  They may not be able to read the words, but using the picture clues on each page helps them sing along to the story.

Some of our favorite songs to sing and read are:

For more great tips about singing and reading books together, check out the Music Together Website at www.musictogether.com/singmonth.

Next time you come into the library, don’t forget to check out our great selection of CDs for kids.  Some of my favorite artists are Raffi, Jim Gill, and Choo Choo Soul (Disney Channel).  For more great ideas about songs to sing to your children, stop by one of our branches and ask the librarian about the songs played during story time.  There is also some information on our Ready to Read link on the website.

Whether you sing, play instruments, or dance, have fun making music together!

Maurice Sendak’s Final Book

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sendak My Brother’s Book  is the final book from Maurice Sendak completed before his death in May 2012.  From the publisher: With influences from Shakespeare and William Blake, Sendak pays homage to his late brother, Jack, whom he credited for his passion for writing and drawing. Pairing Sendak’s poignant poetry with his exquisite and dramatic artwork, this book redefines what mature readers expect from Maurice Sendak while continuing the lasting legacy he created over his long, illustrious career. Sendak’s tribute to his brother is an expression of both grief and love and will resonate with his lifelong fans who may have read his children’s books and will be ecstatic to discover something for them now. Pulitzer Prize–winning literary critic and Shakespearean scholar Stephen Greenblatt contributes a moving introduction.

2013 Award Winners

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Caldecott Award
This is not my hat - J. Klassen
A follow-up to the award-winning I Want My Hat Back follows the antics of a tiny fish who wears a perfectly fitting round blue hat while trying to avoid an enormous sleeping fish.

Creepy carrots! - Aaron Reynolds
The carrots that grow in Crackenhopper Field are the fattest and crispiest around and Jasper Rabbit cannot resist pulling some to eat each time he passes by, until he begins hearing and seeing creepy carrots wherever he goes.

Extra yarn - Mac Barnett and J. Klassen
With a supply of yarn that never runs out, Annabelle knits for everyone and everything in town until an evil archduke decides he wants the yarn for himself.

Green - Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Illustrations and simple, rhyming text explore the many shades of the color green.

One cool friend - Toni Buzzeo
Elliot, a very proper young man, feels a kinship with the penguins at the aquarium and wants to take one home with him.

Sleep like a tiger - Mary Logue
At bedtime a young girl asks “Does everything in the world go to sleep?”.

Newbery Award

The one and only Ivan - Katherine Applegate
When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life.

Splendors and glooms - Laura Amy Schlitz
When Clara vanishes after the puppeteer Grisini and two orphaned assistants were at her twelfth birthday party, suspicion of kidnapping chases the trio away from London and soon the two orphans are caught in a trap set by Grisini’s ancient rival, a witch with a deadly inheritance to shed before it is too late.

Recounts the scientific discoveries that enabled atom splitting, the military intelligence operations that occurred in rival countries, and the work of brilliant scientists hidden at Los Alamos.

Three times lucky - Sheila Turnage
Washed ashore as a baby in tiny Tupelo Landing, North Carolina, Mo LoBeau, now eleven, and her best friend Dale turn detective when the amnesiac Colonel, owner of a cafe and co-parent of Mo with his cook, Miss Lana, seems implicated in a murder.

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award

Presents the stories of ten African-American men from different eras in American history, organized chronologically to provide a scope from slavery to the modern day.

Each Kindness - by Jacqueline Woodson; illustrated by Earl B. Lewis
After their teacher Ms. Albert gives a lesson on kindness, Chloe realizes that she and her friends have been wrong — they’ve been relentlessly cruel to new student Maya, making fun of her shabby clothes and refusing to play with her. But has Chloe learned her lesson too late? This gorgeously illustrated, quiet, and realistically melancholy story delivers its message gently yet indelibly, bringing home the full emotional impact of having missed one’s final chance to make up for hurting someone else. For another honest look at kid-level relationship dynamics, check out Mary Ann Rodman’s My Best Friend, also illustrated by Earl B. Lewis.

No crystal stair - Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
A fictionalized biography of the bookseller and civil rights activist who owned the African National Memorial Bookstore in Harlem, New York City.

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award

I, too, am America - Langston Hughes
Presents the popular poem by one of the central figures in the Harlem Renaissance, highlighting the courage and dignity of the African American Pullman porters in the early twentieth century.

H.O.R.S.E - Christopher Myers
“Two friends try to outdo each other on the basketball court in an out-of-this-world game of H.O.R.S.E”–.

A 50th anniversary tribute to the Civil Rights leader and the inspirational speech he delivered in August of 1963 combines magnificent artwork by the Caldecott Honor-winning artist of Henry’s Freedom Box with the actual text from one of the most powerful and memorable speeches in our nation’s history. Includes a CD of Martin Luther King, Jr. giving his famous speech.

Michael L. Printz Award

In Darkness - by Nick Lake
Fiction. In this book that Kirkus Reviews calls “engrossing, disturbing, illuminating” and “a journey well worth taking,” readers meet Shorty, a young Haitian man who is trapped in the ruins of a hospital after the devastating 2010 earthquake, waiting for someone — anyone — to come to his rescue. As he thinks about the events that led him there, we learn Shorty’s story, which alternates with that of 19th-century slave Toussaint L’Ouverture, the leader of the revolution that ousted the French and established Haiti as a black republic. Brutal yet mesmerizing, this novel weaves Haiti’s past and present together brilliantly and is certain to provoke both thought and discussion.

Code Name Verity - by Elizabeth Wein
Historical Spy Thriller. After crash-landing in France in 1943 and being captured by Nazis, a female wireless operator for the British (who goes by Queenie, Eva, Verity, and various other aliases) reveals bits of code in exchange for reprieve from torture…and to postpone her execution. Woven into Verity’s confession is a powerful, gritty tale of war, friendship, espionage, and great courage — one that reviewers describe as “gut-wrenching” (Booklist), “downright sizzling” (Horn Book), “heartbreaking” (VOYA), and “unforgettable” (Kirkus Reviews).

Dodger - by Terry Pratchett
Historical Fiction. Late one rainy night in Victorian-era London, 17-year-old Dodger (a street urchin who makes his living scavenging in the city’s sewers) witnesses a young lady being held against her will. A noble sort, Dodger rescues the girl — and from there, his story takes many unexpected turns, including some that involve famous historical figures and fictional characters from the period (such as Charles Dickens and Sweeney Todd). A ripping good tale filled with dry humor, unusual characters, and great descriptions of Victorian London, Dodger is a bit different from Terry Pratchett’s other novels but no less enjoyable — especially for readers who enjoy a clever turn of phrase.

Fifteen-year-old Ari Mendoza is an angry loner with a brother in prison, but when he meets Dante and they become friends, Ari starts to ask questions about himself, his parents, and his family that he has never asked before.

The white bicycle - Beverley Brenna
A young woman with Asperger’s Syndrome travels to the south of France with her mother and friends and strives for independence. This is a story about life, obstacles and ultimately, the dignity found in the search for independence.

Schneider Family Book Award

Wounded in Iraq while his Army unit is on convoy and treated for many months for traumatic brain injury, the first person Ben remembers from his earlier life is his autistic brother.

While the rest of the class makes birthday cards for the principal, Stanley struggles with his words and letters. 650:.

A dog called Homeless - Sarah Lean
Fifth-grader Cally Louise Fisher stops talking, partly because her father and brother never speak of her mother who died a year earlier, but visions of her mother, friendships with a homeless man and a disabled boy, and a huge dog ensure that she still communicates.

All Aboard the Polar Express

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polar expressJoin us at the Goshen Branch on Saturday, December 8 at 2:00 p.m. for a fun afternoon. We’ll read the story, ride the “train”, serve hot chocolate and make train snacks. We’ll create a polar craft and watch the movie too! Be sure to wear your pajamas.

Sign Up Now! Space is limited, so please reserve your spot by visiting the branch, calling 722-1221, or registering online.

The Polar Express books and movie.

New Skippyjohn Jones Book

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 It’s time for a new Skippyjohn Jones book, Skippyjohn Jones and the Cirque de Ole! This series of picture books about a Siamese cat who thinks he’s a Chihuahua is adorable. The rhyming, rhythmic writing is fun to read and if my oldest nephew is a judge, giggle inducing to hear. In his latest adventure, Skippyjohn wants to perform his high wire act in the circus.

Book trailer.

 

Pizza Party!

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This summer at Amelia, we’re putting on our PJs and celebrating the summer reading theme, Dream Big!, with Pajama StoryTimes. Our first session was a big hit, especially because we had a delicious theme: pizza!

We read some great stories about making pizza, including The Pizza That We Made by Joan Holub, and even one about a boy who became a pizza, in Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig. Sam of Sam’s Pizza by David Pelham baked some yucky surprises (hint: they were all creepy crawly) into a pizza for his sister, and Curious George tried his hands (all four of them) at making and delivering pizza in Curious George and the Pizza by Margret Rey.

Because we also sang songs about making pizza, the literacy tip for this StoryTime involved one of the five practices for developing literacy skills, Singing. Kids can learn many things by singing songs, but two aspects that will help them get ready to read are new vocabulary (like the terms for pizza and baking) and hearing how smaller sounds work together to make words (such as the rhymes “man” and “can” or “cheese” and “please” in the song below). Singing with your child is a fun and easy way to develop these important skills.

Our favorite song of the evening turned out to be this adaptation of Pat-a-Cake:
Pat-a-pie, pat-a-pie, Pizza Man,
Make me a pizza as fast as you can!
Roll it, and toss it, and sprinkle it with cheese,
And don’t forget five pepperoni please!
The best part is acting out each step to make a pizza.

We concluded our pizza party by making two types of (paper) pizza. First, everyone helped decorate three large pizzas; with all the sauce and toppings we added, they became rainbow pizzas! (The pizzas were made from hula hoops and butcher paper.) After these gigantic pizzas went in the oven, the kids made their own personal pizzas to take home, paper plates cut into four slices (we also talked about fourths, halves, and wholes, a great early math lesson!) that everyone decorated beautifully.

I had a great time sharing stories in my jammies, and I hope you’ll join us for the next Pajama StoryTime at the Amelia Branch on Monday, July 23 at 6:30 PM, when we’ll be talking about the Tooth Fairy.

Family Story Time: Stars

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Hello again! While Story Time at the Union Township Branch might have stopped for the month of May, we just started our new series of evening story hours. Family Night meets on the first Tuesday of every month at 6:45. Our goal is to allow families with weekday school and work conflicts a chance to enjoy stories. All ages are welcome at Family Night, and we highly encourage our visitors to wear their pajamas!

Our Summer Reading theme this year is Read: Morning, Noon and Night, so our evening Family Time themes are all about the night.

Our first session met Tuesday May 1st, and we talked about Celestial Bodies (the kids were very interested to learn that bit of fancy, grown-up lingo). We read lots of stories about the stars and moon:

Our last book, Stars had a great idea, which we used for our craft. It suggested that we make a star and keep it in our pockets for days that we don’t feel so shiny. So, all of our attendees got to make and personalize their very own star to keep in their pocket, as well as one to give away to their favorite person. (After all, while you should always share, you don’t want to give away YOUR star, because then you wouldn’t have one anymore!) I made mine a star-shaped magic wand, so that I could banish all bad days that dared to occur in my presence.

Family Night will be happening every month; we’ll meet again June 5, from 6:45-7:30 to talk about Things That go Bump in the Night! Come with the whole family, wear your PJ’s and bring your favorite stuffed friend to hear stories about creepy, crawly, spooky monsters and to make your very on pet monster to take home with you!

Register online here, or call the Union Township Branch at 513-528-1744 to save your spot! Remember to check out all of the awesome events happening at the Clermont County Public Libraries this summer for both children AND adults!

 

 

StoryTime: Miss Cara’s Favorites

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should I share my ice cream?Welcome to your first peek at StoryTimes at the Amelia Branch! We’ve just wrapped up our spring session, but we can’t wait to see everyone this summer to explore the Dream Big! theme. You can join us by signing up for All Ages StoryTime on Thursdays at 10:30, starting June 14th.

During the last week of April, we ended our spring StoryTimes with the best books of all (according to Miss Cara, anyway). Because we were celebrating my favorite books, our literacy skill this week was Print Motivation, which basically means that kids learn to love books and reading by having fun experiences with books, especially if the adults in their lives spend time reading and enjoying books with them. You can develop this skill by bringing your kids to the library, having many books available for them, and spending time reading to them.

In ToddlerTime, we read books by some of my favorite authors for toddlers:

Preschool StoryTime featured some longer stories that are by more of my favorite authors:

We wrapped up both StoryTimes by creating huge butcher paper murals that we rolled out on the carpet so that all the kids could draw their favorite things about StoryTime. These murals are hanging on the walls of our meeting room at Amelia, so the kids can enjoy their artwork when they visit the library. I hope to see you this summer at Amelia; until then, happy reading!