James and the Giant Peach

Be ready for some silly, crafty fun as we celebrate that classic book by Roald Dahl,

James and the Giant Peach!

The festivities will be held this Friday, July 25th at our Fabulous Fridays Book Party, starting at 2:00 p.m. See you there!

Summer Reading Program Events

This week in Children's Services at the Main Library:

• Tuesday, July 22nd @ 2pm - Indiana Insects presented by Fox Island
• Wednesday, July 23rd @ 10:30am - Smart Start Storytime Ballet Dreams with a special guest from the Fort Wayne Ballet
• Wednesday, July 23rd @ 2pm - Indiana Insects presented by Fox Island
• Thursday, July 24th @ 10:30am - Team Read
• Thursday, July 24th @ 2pm - Indiana Insects presented by Fox Island
• Thursday, July 24th @ 6:30pm - Paws to Read
• Friday, July 25th @ 10am - Babies & Books
• Friday, July 25th @ 10:30am & 11am - Toddler Time
• Friday, July 25th @ 2pm - Fabulous Fridays Book Party - James and the Giant Peach
• Saturday, July 26th - All Day - Creative & Crafty Saturday
• Saturday, July 26th - 9am to 1pm - Visit Children's Services at the Barr Street Market to do the bookworm boogie!
  
• Saturday, July 26th @ 1pm - National Ice Cream Month Celebration

The summer reading program ends on Friday, July 25th @ 6pm - don't forget to pick up your gifts before then. If you haven't signed up yet, it is not too late. Visit any library branch or click here.

Summer Reading Program Events

Events this week in Children's Services at the Main Library:

• Tuesday, July 8th @ 2pm - Make Your Own Recycled Art (registration required)
• Wednesday, July 9th @ 10:30am - Smart Start Storytime - Meet Froggy!
• Thursday, July 10th @ 10:30am - Team Read
• Thursday, July 10th @ 10:30am & 2pm - Aesop's Fables with Roz Puppets
• Thursday, July 10th @ 6:30pm - Paws to Read
• Friday, July 11th @ 10am - Babies & Books
• Friday, July 11th @ 10:30am & 11am - Toddler Time
• Friday, July 11th @ 2pm - Fabulous Fridays Book Party - Junie B. Jones
  
• Saturday, July 11th 9am to 1pm - Visit Children's Services at the Barr Street Market for Color Me Cool: Temporary Tattoos
  
• Saturday, July 12th All Day - Creative & Crafty Saturdays
  

Have you signed up for the summer reading program? Don't miss your chance to Catch the Reading Bug!

How to Eat Fried Worms - Taste Test Results

On Friday, June 27th, at our Fabulous Friday Book Party, we celebrated the book How to Eat Fried Worms, by Thomas Rockwell. We had a wormilicious time creating wormy art, investigating real earthworms, and trying out some "wormy" snacks.

















We even collected votes on our favorite wormy snack! The votes have all been tabulated, and the winner was....
Gummy Worms in Dirt Pudding!















Coming in a close 2nd place, behind by only one vote was....
Tootsie Roll Worms!

Our next Fabulous Fridays Book Party will be Friday, July 11, when we will celebrate the Junie B. Jones series, by Barbara Park.

Overdrive Audio Books - Download a good read now!

Have you heard about Overdrive Audio Books? With your ACPL library card and Internet access you can download audiobooks to your computer or mp3 player. I just downloaded A Cricket in Times Square by George Selden to my mp3 player so that I can listen to it on my daily walk. Click on the "kids" tab to see all of the children's books that are available. Here are a few:

• Spongebob Squarepants Chapter Books 1 to 8
  
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle


• Disney Fairies Collection #1


• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine


• The Bunnicula Collection Books 1 to 3 by Deborah and James Howe


• Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems


• The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
  

This service is FREE with your library card. Check it out today!

Early Reader Roundup: I Am Invited to a Party

The Fabulous Fridays Homeschool Book Club: Early Reader Roundup met yesterday afternoon to talk about the book I Am Invited to a Party by Mo Willems.

We made Elephant & Piggie puppets from fun stuff on Willems' Pigeon Presents website, we wrote our own Elephant & Piggie stories, we talked about emotions and even made some faces. Check out more photos of the program on Flickr.

Homeschoolers in Grades K to 2: Join us on Friday, May 16th @ 1:30 p.m. to discuss Nate the Great and the Mystery of the Stolen Base by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat.

Homeschoolers in Grades 3 to 6: Join the Reading Rocks group on Friday, May 16th @ 1:30 pm. to discuss Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis.

Kits for Kids

As you've walked through Children's Services, have you noticed the big, blue bags? They are Kits for Kids. These conveniently packaged, thematically-based kits each contain 8 books for the child, 1 book for the parent or teacher, and 1 DVD/videotape/CD on the subject. Each Kit may be checked out for 3 weeks with your ACPL library card and may be renewed. A complete list of Kits for Kids can be found here. Recent additions to our Kits for Kids selections include classroom/book club sets of books. If you have a group of interested readers who want to explore Little House on the Prairie or Charlotte's Web or Bridge to Terabithia or Because of Winn-Dixie, we now have a Kit just for you. Check it out!

2008 Scott O'Dell Award winner!

According to the blog, Read Roger, Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis has won the 2008 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.

Here's the summary from the book:
It's 1860, and 11-year-old Elijah is a first-generation freeborn child. His Canadian town of Buxton serves as a haven for runaway slaves. When the town's corrupt preacher steals money from a citizen who has been saving to buy his family's freedom, Elijah sets off for America in pursuit, in this powerful new novel by a Newbery Medalist.

ACPL Mock Newbery Results 2008!

Over the past year, our Mock Newbery group enjoyed reading books from a suggested reading list of 50 titles. Today, we gathered for a morning of intense discussion; issues of plot development, setting, characters and style were all brought to the table with energy and passion. In the end, we agreed that this was a great year for children's books!

We selected one title as our 2008 Mock Newbery Winner and three titles as Honor books.

The Mock Newbery winner we selected for 2008 was Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson.

Our group selected three Mock Honor books. They are:

• Bone by Bone by Bone by Tony Johnston
• Cracker by Cynthia Kadohata
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Audio

Several weeks ago in a blog post about the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret -- which I LOVE -- I asked people whose first experience with this story was as an audio book to report back what they thought. We've received a response back via our Mock Newbery Discussion Board. You can read the entire post, and respond with your own comments, but here is a brief excerpt from someone who experienced the book first as an audio book rather than as a book of bound paper.

What did I think of the story? I loved it. It was great. Yes, I cared deeply for Hugo and the struggles he was in. I was hoping the automaton would give him that message from dad. On and on, I can say that I thought the story was gripping and echo all of the positive comments others have already posted about the book.

I really did not feel that I missed out on anything by not having pictures. The story felt very complete in its text.

Is there anything special to note about the audio version? There is some use of sound effects, though not a lot. The sound of the train and the clicking of heels stands out. The author states in his interview that he used sound effects similarly to the way they were used in silent films. He says he used the sound effects to move the story along in the same way he used the illustrations in the print version. However, in the book there are A LOT of illustrations, while I don't feel the audio used a great deal of sound effects.

Thanks, JLB! We really appreciate your comments!

Fabulous Fridays Homeschool Book Club

Homeschoolers in grades K to 6: Every month we will get together and talk about a different book. We'll also have book related activities, food and fun! Pick up your copy of these titles to participate in the January meeting:

Early Reader Roundup (Grades K to 2): Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel

Reading Rocks (Grades 3 to 6): Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

The meeting will be held: Friday, January 11th 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Extra-Crunchy Website of Fun!

Are you a Captain Underpants fan? Then you've got to check out Dav Pilkey's Extra-Crunchy Website of Fun!

I could tell you all about it, but I really wouldn't be able to do it justice. Just go to http://www.pilkey.com/ to see it for yourself.

And, if you click on the Captain Underpants book, you can find more Captain Underpants books to read in the Library Catalog.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

A chapter book I've really enjoyed this year is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. This book incorporates both written word and full page pictures -- often a series of full page pictures -- to move the story forward. And what an incredible story it is!

It is because the pictures are so important to the story that I've been anxiously waiting to get copies of this book on CD. And now our Library has copies!! I am anxious to hear from people whose first experience with this story is as an audio book. Is it great? ('Cuz I thought the print version was GREAT!) I'll be waiting for all you listeners to report back what you thought! Just
send me an email.

Jack Plank Tells Tales by Natalie Babbitt

As Jack, a retired pirate, looks for work, he spins tales of exciting adventures. Although Jack is a wonderful storyteller, there are few jobs that he is suited for. Will he be a baker, a musician, a fisherman or an actor? Read this collection of fantastic pirate adventures to find out!

Pippi Longstocking

Pippi has a new look courtesy of Lauren Child! This beautiful new edition of Pippi Longstocking is a must see for fans of Pippi or Lauren.

Let's talk about which books should win awards!

Each year, the American Library Association is responsible for awarding some of the most prestigious awards in the world of children's literature.

• The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children
• The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year
• The John Newbery Medal is awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
• The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in English during the preceding year.

Each year our Children's Services department hosts gatherings at which we try to guess what books will win. We prepare reading lists for our Mock Elections which are held in January. We also have an online discussion board where anyone can post their comments about books we've added to our mock election list.

We'd love to have you join one (or more) of the online discussion!

• Click here to add to the discussion of this year's picture books.
• Click here to add to the discussion of this year's beginning readers.
• Click here to add to the discussion of this year's children's literature.
  
• Click here to add to the discussion of this year's information books for children.

Our actual Mock Elections will be held on January 5th and January 12th. Let us know if you'll be able to join us in person! For more information about these programs, or to sign up for one of them, send an email or call Children's Services at 260-421-1220.

My Weird School: Ms. Coco Is Loco!

In Ms. Coco is Loco!, the 16th book in the My Weird School series by Dan Gutman, it is National Poetry Month and A.J. finds that he has a REAL talent for writing poetry - how embarrassing! Here is a great poem that just popped into A.J.'s head when he wasn't paying attention:
I hate poetry.
Poetry is dumb.
It's hard to write poems
When you're chewing gum.

At first A.J. tries to keep this amazing talent from his friends, but then he finds a way to make money. What will A.J. think of next?

Guardians of Ga'Hoole: The Capture

Owls are fascinating creatures, even more so once you get inside their secret world as presented by Kathryn Lasky in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. In the first title in the series, The Capture, we meet Soren, a barn owl, and Gylfie, a dwarf owl, who have both been captured by evil owls who are attempting to take over the owl kingdoms. Imprisoned in St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls, Soren and Gylfie must work together against terrible odds to escape.