A Treasure for Fans of Strega Nona

Tomie dePaola has published a NEW Strega Nona book -- and this may be the best, yet (that's my personal opinion, of course!) Working with Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart of pop-up book fame, he has given us

Brava Strega Nona! A Heartwarming Pop-Up Book

And heartwarming it is, indeed! Those familiar with the Strega Nona stories will recognize some famous scenes...but everyone can appreciate the stunning artwork and, just maybe, will come to love Strega Nona as much as I do.

For more poppin'-up fun, take a peek at our Pop-Up Books Booklist.

Want to read more about Strega Nona? Click here!

New Booklist: At-Home Dads & Working Moms

We have a new booklist all about At-Home Dads & Working Moms. Too Small for Honey Cake is a great book about an at-home dad fox and his little fox as they adjust to having a new baby in the house. Find this list and more on our booklist page.

Early Learning Center Mailbox

Thank you for sharing your lovely drawing with us, Heidi!

Bring your preschooler to draw in the Early Learning Center Monday through Thursday 9am to 8pm, Friday & Saturday 9am to 6pm or Sunday 12pm to 5pm.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

If you would like to read an interesting new book about the history of Thanksgiving, check out Thanksgiving: The True Story by Penny Colman. Did you know that there was a "first thanksgiving" celebrated in Texas 80 years before the Plymouth celebration? If you didn't know this you are not alone, I learned a lot from this book - it is not just for kids!

The ACPL is closed today, we'll see you tomorrow at 9am.

I'm Thankful

Stop by Children's Services before Wednesday, December 3rd to add a leaf to our "I'm Thankful" display. If you visit today at 10:30 am you can attend our I'm Thankful! Smart Start Preschool Storytime.

Go Green Poetry Contest

The 26st annual Poetry Contest has drawn to a close. Nearly 900 children and young adults from 51 schools participated in this year's creative writing contest. All winning poets have been notified and will be publicly announced at our Awards Ceremony to be held on Saturday, December 6.

You are invited to the Award Ceremony at 11:00 in the theater of the Main Library to hear the poets read their winning works!

Click here to find some of the books of winning poems from previous years.

Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is absolutely unbelievable! Visit the Children's Library for free access to children's books online. Check out:

• Old French Fairytales c1920
• Cinderella c1865
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn c1885
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz c1899

The high quality scanning allows an excellent view of the beautiful illustrations. This is a great opportunity to see history close up, the only thing missing is that old book smell. There are over a million books available (so far). Spend some time browsing the Internet Archive today.

Swing! by Rufus Butler Seder

Another Scanimation picture book by Rufus Butler Seder! Check out Swing! to see kids batting, kicking, riding and running. You really do have to see Scanimation in action to believe it!

American Girl Books

American Girl fans -- take notice!!


Kaya, Felicity , Josefina, ...and all the other American Girls can now be found on our new American Girl Booklist! Look for your favorites, or explore something new -- all titles on the list can be found at the Library. Can't find something? Ask the Librarian! We love to help!

The Library is Closed Today!

All branches of the ACPL are closed today for a staff in-service day. We'll be open our regular hours tomorrow, refreshed, well-trained and ready to answer your questions!

Hooray for Fly Guy!

I love Fly Guy. We go way back. Fly Guy might be my favorite fly character, though I do love Old Black Fly too.

The great thing about Fly Guy is that just when I think I have found my favorite Fly Guy book ever - Tedd Arnold writes a new one that I like even more! Last year There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy made me laugh super hard and while I still think that one is funny, I think that this year's Hooray for Fly Guy! might be EVEN FUNNIER!

An Autobiography

This hysterically funny autobiography is brought to you by none other than the first National Ambassador of Young People's Literature: Mr. Ambassador AKA Jon Scieszka.

Jon grew up with 5 brothers and in Knucklehead:Tall tales and mostly true stories of growing up Scieszka, he shares a lot of their adventures and mis-adventures. But even better than that - this book might answer the question: "How did Mr. Ambassador get so funny?"

If you like Jon Scieszka, or if you just like funny, or if someone told you " you have to read an autobiography", or if you like to read, or if you don't like to read, check out Knucklehead. I bet that you'll like it.

Alphabet Books

Looking for some good alphabet books to share with your child or classroom? Check out our recently updated Alphabet booklist. Not only do we have a great & varied list of alphabet books, we also have a list of books that will help children learn the alphabet. If you prefer non-print alphabet resources, try this list or check out our list of alphabet websites.

If you don't care to look through a list of books, you can always fill out a custom collection form and librarians will pull alphabet books to meet your needs.

Embroidery Fun!

It's not too late to join the fun!

Join the Fort Wayne Area Chapter of the Embroiders' Guild of America on Thursday evenings from 6:30pm to 7:30pm in November and December.

Contact Sarah Litzer to sign up!

Location: Orientation Room at the Allen County Public Library

Dates: Thursdays - November 20 & December 4, 11,18

All We Need Is Love...and The Beatles

All Together Now: Beatles stuff for kids of all ages is a CD & book set celebrating the fab four. The songs on the CD are respectably covered and some even include children singing backup vocals, which adds a fun, child-friendly feel. The Bangles make a fantastic guest appearance to cover "Good Day Sunshine".

The book includes poems & child-like illustrations inspired by the songs on the CD, plus Beatle facts to give new fans background information.

My mother filled our house with the scratchy sound of The Beatles on LP and as a second generation fan, I welcome this effort to connect yet another generation with a wonderful sound. Check it out!

Best Books of the Year

I was so happy to see Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson on the Best Books of the Year list in Publisher's Weekly.

Chains is definitely on my list of favorite books of the year. It is also on the ACPL Mock Newbery list, click here to read what people are saying about it and to add comments of your own.

GO Fort Wayne!

Fort Wayne was recently rated one of the best places to raise kids by BusinessWeek magazine. Congrats, Fort Wayne!

Paws to Read

Join us every Thursday night from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. for Paws to Read, a program that allows children to practice reading to trained therapy dogs.

Children can read their favorite dog story if they would like, but the dogs are happy to listen to any stories - even stories about cats.

One of my favorite dog books is Dog and Bear: Two Friends, Three Stories by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. Check it out!

Letter M Play Day!

Today is Letter M Play Day! Visit the Early Learning Center between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. to play with the letter M. Participating in letter play days will help your preschooler gain letter knowledge, one of the six early literacy skills.

Please join us at 10:30 a.m. for a Smart Start Preschool storytime about Manners. Thank you!

Even if you can't make it to the Early Learning Center or to storytime today, you can enjoy letter M activities with your preschooler at home. Spend the day noticing things that start with the letter M, talk about the sound that M makes, make a letter M out of clay or cut an M out of paper and decorate it with macaroni. You can even bake cookies shaped like mice or monkeys and share them with your favorite blogger!

Our Heroes' Tree

Honor a Hoosier Hero
Purdue University has partnered with Indiana libraries to recognize veterans.The Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University (MFRI) has created the Our Heroes' Tree Project.

This tree is displayed in honor of those, and the families of those, who have served or are currently serving our country.
Be sure to stop in the Children's Services of the Allen County Public Library to add your ornament to our Heroes' Tree!

To participate in the Our Heroes’ Tree initiative:
-simply create a handmade ornament honoring the service member in your family or community from past and present wars, conflicts or peacetime operations,
-or stop in to Children's Services and write the name of your military hero on one of our yellow ribbons!
Please check out our Military booklist here.


This tree will be displayed in Children's Services until November 20th.

Recycled Art Display

Stop in to the library to check out some cool recycled art!

Sculptor Greg Knipe has loaned his collection of recycled art to the Allen County Public Library until November 26th,2008.

Come in and see how Greg has created beautiful artwork out of what some people might consider "trash".

Location: Just outside of Children's Service's entrance next to the Ewing Street Security desk.

Pictured ( left to right): Grasshopper-Steel rod, jack parts and
Percy the Penguin-Oil can, tank, garden tools, hardware

A Favorite Food Book

Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban is a classic picture book about delicious bread and jam. Frances doesn't like to eat eggs, she doesn't like to eat breaded veal, she only likes to eat bread and jam. What happens when her parents decide to give her bread and jam at every meal? Read this picture book with a child to find out!

This story is available in early reader format as well, find it here.

A Child's Book Review: Dinosaur vs. Bedtime

Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea was reviewed by 4-year-old Helena:

That was a pretty good book. Can you read it again?

And again, and again, and again...

Submit your child's book review to me via email and you may see it in a future "A Child's Book Review" blog post.

You can comment on this title on the ACPL Mock Caldecott blog here or on the ACPL Mock Geisel blog here. We would love to hear what you think about this book!

Don't Miss the Justin Roberts Concert!

If you don't have plans this afternoon, plan to attend the Justin Roberts concert at 1 p.m. If you DO have plans, change them! This concert is super fun with wonderful opportunities for adult and child play. Check out this short video to see for yourself.



See you at 1 p.m. today!

Justin Roberts LIVE!

Don't forget to attend the Justin Roberts concert today at 10:30 a.m. or 1 p.m!

Justin Roberts and his 4-piece band will present a rousing performance of songs from his many sound recordings. Seating is limited; tickets will be available in Children's Services beginning at 9 a.m.

Mock Newbery Program for KIDS

Kids who love reading are invited to a special kids’ version of our popular Mock Newbery Election program. The Kids' Mock Newbery program will be held Sunday, January 18th from 2:00 to 4:00 at the Main Library. Advance registration is required, click here to register.

Kids in grades 3 through 6 are encouraged to read the following six books, add comments to our blog as they read, and then join us for a discussion to decide which was the best children’s book of the year. The books we will be discussing are:

· Diamond Willow by Helen Frost
· Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech
· Savvy by Ingrid Law
· The Trouble Begins at 8 – A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild Wild West by Sid Fleischman
· The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
· The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry

We will have refreshments, door prizes, and a lively discussion. Advance Registration is required.

Election Day!

Today is Election Day!

Looking for a good election book to read while you wait in line, or perhaps for a way to explain the democratic process to a young child? Check out the titles on our Election Booklist.

Today is the Last Day to Enter!

Go Green! Today is the last day to enter the 26th annual Poetry Contest.

This year's theme is Go Green!

Check out the rules here and make sure you get your entry in to the Main Library by 9:00 pm tonight. Go Green!

Resources for Homeschooling Families

Whether you are a seasoned home-schooling parent, just starting to think about this educational choice for your children, or anywhere in between, you'll want to take a look at Children's Services' list of Homeschooling Books and Resources. You'll find an updated list of books and other materials available at the Library, as well as contact information for local homeschooling organizations, online resources, and library programs for homeschoolers.

A Child's Book Review: Bad Kitty Gets a Bath

Tessa, 9, reviewed Bad Kitty Gets a Bath by Nick Bruel:

Bad Kitty Gets a Bath is about how to give Kitty a bath, the things you will need to give Kitty a bath, and what kitty will do to you when he gets a bath.Kitty will try to hide. Kitty will never forgive you. You might consider taking Kitty to the groomers next time. Also, you should try to be super nice to Kitty.

My favorite part was the list of things you will need for the bath, like lots of plasma and a suit of armor. I also liked the glossary.

This book looks like a book for preschoolers, but it’s a book anyone can enjoy.

Submit your child's book review to me via email and you may see it in a future "A Child's Book Review" blog post.