Listened to a good book lately?

Check out Young Fredle by Newbery-Award-Winning-Author Cynthia Voigt. It's a sweet story about a house mouse who finds himself outside. Listen to his adventures as he tries to find his way home to safety -- and discovers that he's braver than he thought he was.

The library has a large selection of Books on CD and Playaways for your listening enjoyment. You may like to practice your reading by following along in the book.

Kids LOVE Graphic Novels

This is what the graphic novel collection looked like after a busy Saturday. So many books were taken home that the rest were falling over. We love to see books go home with kids. We hope that you will come back next weekend and take home MORE books!

What is happening on the Mock Caldecott blog?

The discussion has started already over at the ACPL Mock Caldecott blog. New, wonderfully illustrated books are being released every day! Check out the blog to see the best of the best & join the discussion.

My favorite illustrated book (so far) of the year, is not on the blog yet, but I am going to suggest that the moderator add it. Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins, illustrated by Vicky White is absolutely gorgeous! Be sure to suggest some of your own favorite books too.

Rainy Day

Now that our weather is (finally!) moving from snow to rain, it is time to enjoy some rainy day titles.

Join Sam, Pam, Will & Jill on a rainy, rainy, day. What will they do? Where will they go? You will never guess!

Rainy Day! by Patricia Lakin, pictures by Scott Nash

Have You Tried TumbleBooks?

A new service of the Allen County Public Library, TumbleBooks are e‑books for kids ‑‑ animated, talking picture books which help kids learn the joy of reading.

• You can listen to books, or read along at your own speed.
• Both storybooks and nonfiction titles are included
  
• You can play book-related games and work on book-related puzzles.
• Books are available in English, French, and Spanish.
  

You can use TumbleBooks on any kids' computer at the Allen County Public Library or on your own computer at home. The TumbleBooks link is always available on the top, right-hand side of the Children's Services page, and is also available by clicking on the TumbleBooks link on the Books & Literature portion of the ACPL's Research Databases page.

Check it out!

The Many Different Ways to Tell Rapunzel

Folk tales are one of my favorite things to read. I love the diversity of stories across cultures and I enjoy finding new stories with familiar twists and familiar stories with new twists. On the Children's Services booklist page we have several lists of folk tale variants.

While Paul O. Zelinsky's retelling of Rapunzel might be my favorite, there are many more on the variant list that are worth looking at. Read Sugar Cane: A Caribbean Rapunzel by Patricia Storace to appreciate a new setting, or try The Canary Prince by Eric Jon Nones for a Turinese version of the princess locked in the tower tale.

The Gingerbread Man is not just a cookie. He can be a tortilla, a matzo ball, or cornbread. If you are in the mood for a classic, straight retelling, try Paul Galdone's The Gingerbread Boy.

We also have booklists or variants for Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Rumpelstiltskin, and Three Little Pigs. Speaking of folktale variants, if you have a sense of humor, please do yourself a favor and read The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka. I won't go into how wonderful it is here, because I already went into how wonderful it is here.

Ruining Good Things

The new book Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child by Anthony Esolen caught my eye today as I was passing by the new book shelves because I am ALWAYS looking for ways to ruin good things.

I was hooked when I read this in the introduction:
"Here now for the first time, are ten sure ways to destroy the Imagination of Your Child...I am sure that a judicious application of even three or four of these methods will suffice to kill the imagination of an Einstein, a Beethoven, a Dante, or a Michelango." (from p.xiii)

Mind you, I haven't read the whole book, but what I have read, strangely enough, reminds me of Lemony Snicket and makes me want to put everything else aside so that I can give it my full attention. I imagine the message here will be similar to that found in Susan Linn's The Case for Make Believe: Saving Play in a Commercialized World which is a great parenting read.

2010: Living in the Future

While looking for books for the staff favorites display, we found a GREAT book: 2010: Living in the Future by Geoffrey Hoyle. It was written in 1973 and is full of predictions about the year 2010. It is fun to look through to see what did and didn't become reality.

Now would be a wonderful time to sit down with your family and create a time capsule. Draw pictures, write stories, print up photos and make predictions about your life and the world 35 years from now. Seal it up and put it somewhere safe, then remember to open it in 2046!

2010: A Good Year for Children's Books

Did you see the article about children's books in yesterday's Journal Gazette? If not, you can find it here. It is a nice list of new books. Some of my favorites that appear on the list:

Potty by Leslie Patricelli (Board Book)
It's a Book by Lane Smith (Picture Book)
Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same by Grace Lin (Early Reader)
We Are in a Book by Mo Willems (Early Reader)
Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Chapter Book)
Kakapo Rescue by Sy Montgomery, photos by Nic Bishop (Non-fiction)
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen (Poetry)

There are plenty more great books on the list, check it out.

The Shortest Day!

Happy Winter Solstice!

Today is the shortest day of the year, so try to soak up all of the sunlight that you can. The days will grow longer, but will continue to be shorter than the nights until the spring equinox in March, when day and night are exactly 12 hours each.

Read a book about the winter solstice to learn how the tilt of the earth creates the seasons and to discover ways that you can celebrate the shortest day.

Celebrate the Imagination!

I just picked up Antoinette Portis' Not A Box to use in a presentation that I am preparing. I am glad that I did because I had forgotten how wonderful this book is.

The dedication is enough to stir the imagination (and the memory) of any grownup: "To children everywhere sitting in cardboard boxes". From there it only gets better as the cute little rabbit takes the reader through several amazing transformations of his plain, brown cardboard box.

Share this book and a cardboard box with your favorite child today!

Happy Halloween!

We hope that you have a great Halloween!

Yesterday, Junie B. Jones & Pippi Longstocking spent some time reading at the Reading Tower in Children's Services.

Note: Pippi can't really read. She doesn't have time with all of the thing finding that she has to do to learn about reading and plutification. Junie B. is in first grade now and is a big important reader and that is all.

Pippi Visits the Library!

Pippi Longstocking dropped in at Main Library this week! Actually, it was Delaney, but she sure looks like Pippi. Delaney just finished reading Pippi Longstocking and came in to pick up Pippi Goes On Board and Pippi In the South Seas, all by Astrid Lindgren.

If you're trying to think of some way to dress up, book characters make great costume ideas. We love your costume, Delaney!

Ninja Cowboy Bear presents...

The Way of the Ninja by David Bruins and Hilary Leung

Fans of ninjas, cowboys or bears will love this hilarious new picture book series. Join ninja, cowboy and bear as they learn about friendship and fun AND get in a little trouble.

Don't miss the first book in the series: The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear

A beautiful and elaborate alphabet book

A is for absolutely adorable! Beloved artist Gyo Fujikawa teaches toddlers
their alphabetin a picture-packed A to Z.
Each letter is illustrated by a multitude of marvelous things to help build a child's vocabulary, including chicks, chocolate cake, and cuckoo clock for C

and moon, mouse, and monkey for M.

As always, Fujikawa has created a charming collection of cute children

and huggable animals

of all kinds.

Scenes from a self checkout...

What is inside YOUR head?

Your brain is the most complicated and mysterious part of your body. It contains more than 100 billion brain cells! Every second, billions of electrical signals dart between these cells at speeds of up to 250 mph!
This awesome book helps make sense of the brain's mind-boggling structure and explains how it controls everything you do. It does this in a colorful and engaging format that kids will respond to.

• Discover why your internal clock makes it so difficult to get up in the morning
• Find out why you dream or feel deja vu
• Test your personality

amazing photographs

Nic Bishop is an author and photographer of many award winning books for children. He has a doctorate in biological sciences and a passionate interest in animals. His books are filled with the most amazing photographs of animals. We all get so excited when a new Nic Bishop comes across our desks. Check out his website for a taste of what he does www.nicbishop.com
His latest offering is Lizards and it does not disappoint; the photographs are beautiful.
Stop by the library and check out our selection of Nic Bishop books - you will love them.

He gives me goosebumps....

Today is the birthday of prolific author, R. L. Stine. He is the author of the Goosebumps series, the Rotten School series and Goosebumps Horrorland series. In total, he has written more than 300 books! Visit his website for fun, creepy games and you can even listen to a story!
His favorite book that he has written is The Cuckoo Clock of Doom. Stop by your library and check it out!
Believe it or not, R. L. Stine is also in the 2003 Guinness Book of World Records as the #1 best-selling children's book series author...
Happy birthday, Mr. Stine! Thanks for the goosebumps!

Read to a Dog - Tonight!

Thursday evenings, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
at the downtown library
in the Children's Department

The mission of the Paws to Read is to improve the literacy skills of children with the assistance of registered canine reading companions in a fun and relaxed environment. Research with therapy animals indicates that children with low self-esteem are often more willing to interact with an animal than another person. Even more, they are inclined to forget about their limitations. Children involved in Paws to Read nationwide have shown:

• Improved reading skills
• A sense of pride in their accomplishments
• Willingness to become Involved in other positive activities
• More respect and kindness in their interaction with animals
• Found reading more enjoyable
• Check out more books from the library