Jon Scieszka

As a librarian, I love Jon Scieszka, even though I can't pronounce his name. He is the leader of the wonderful Guys Read! movement, which not only encourages guys to read, but encourages teachers and librarians to let guys read what they want to read. He is the author of some great picture books and board books, such as The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and the Trucktown series.

One of his greatest offerings, though, is the Time Warp Trio series. This series seems to be too-often overlooked at Allerton Library and so I wanted to get the word out about it. It's a chapter book series that's a wonderful merging of Captain Underpants humor with Magic Tree House-type plots. Three kids from Brooklyn get a mysterious book that can transport them anywhere in time or space... while almost no time passes back at home. Like Jack and Annie in the Magic Tree House books, they encounter knights, pirates, cowboys, etc., and fend off gassy giants, cavemen with rotten taste, and much more to keep the laughs coming. Sure to be a hit with kids who have finished all the Captain Underpants/Magic Tree House and want more.

Independent Kids

There are a couple of books in our new nonfiction section that would help older kids who want to be more independent. I liked A Smart Girl's Guide to Staying Home Alone, published by the American Girl publishers. The book is full of great tips for staying safe, comfortable, and constructive, and it includes activities and quizzes that make it fun for kids to look through. It has everything, even no-bake snack recipes and fun activity ideas!

I also liked A Kid's Guide to Earning Money by Tamra Orr. It covers the pros and cons of all kinds of work that kids can do, from mowing a neighbor's lawn to setting up their own business to working for another person or company. It also includes information on things like labor laws, taxes, etc. Great for curious and enterprising kids.

See Stuffed Animals...

...on our brand new Flickr site!

I posted the pictures from the Stuffed Animal Overnight Party this past weekend on a new Flickr site, which you can view here. They had a great time sleeping over in the library on Saturday night.

Here they are, listening to a story.

They all got along very nicely with one another and were very good listeners.

Manga Musings

I'm hearing a lot about manga lately. It seems that this national trend is really catching on here. Kids are talking about One Piece, Azumanga Daioh, Hibiki's Magic, Naruto, Death Note, and some other ones I can't think of right now.

For those of you that don't know, manga is a kind of Japanese graphic novel that reads back to front and from top right to top left on a page. It takes some getting used to. For the most part, I think the translations are really well done (on the ones I've read, anyway), and I can see why kids would like the One Piece story (it's about pirates... what's not to love? :P )

Anyway, we don't have any of these series in Allerton Library right now, for three reasons: 1) Cost, 2) Space restrictions, and 3) Lack of demand. Since #3 is no longer the case, I'm wondering now if maybe I could find the money and the space for at least one series. The question is, which one?

I need help, everybody. Please, let me know what kind of manga you want, or what kind your kids/friends/whoever reads.

Read-A-Thons Start Tomorrow!

Come to the library tomorrow for our first Thursday morning read-a-thon! When kids read in the library between 10 and 12, they can earn double minutes. Older kids can read upstairs independently, and younger ones can listen to me read downstairs in the story room. No registration required, but of course you have to be signed up for the summer reading program in order to log reading minutes. Please let me know if you have questions!

Also, I decided to take down the poll and add an Astronomy Picture of the Day. Enjoy! :D

Amy Krouse Rosenthal...

...is truly one of my favorite picture book authors. See her website here. I look forward to her new books and lately I have been getting a lot of them. Recently I read Duck! Rabbit! to a storytime group and they really enjoyed it. It's about two kids who look at the same drawing, but one kid sees a duck and the other sees a rabbit. Each tries to convince the other that he's right.

I also really love Little Pea, Little Hoot, and Little Oink. They are such cute stories that all feature a fun reversal: Little Pea hates candy but has to eat it for dinner, Little Hoot wants to go to bed early but his parents insist they stay up late, and Little Oink would like a clean room but has to make it messy. The illustrations are lovely as well in all three books.

Any kid suffering from jealousy should read Spoon. Spoon is jealous of his friends Knife, Fork, and Chopsticks. At the same time, his friends are jealous of Spoon. Who else but Spoon could dive headfirst into a bowl of ice cream, or relax in a cup of hot tea? It's a sweet, comforting story.

A Fun Read

Recently I've been thinking about the chapter books I will pick to read to the kids during our upcoming weekly read-a-thons (starting Thursday, June 4 at 10 a.m.). I decided on Sara Pennypacker's hilarious book Clementine to start with. I challenge anyone to read the first five pages of the book without laughing. I will seriously give you a prize if you can do it.

Clementine is a very impulsive girl who has trouble staying focused on the teacher when she's in school. She always means well, but usually ends up getting into trouble because she doesn't think things through very often. Anyone would like this book, but I think it would be especially fun for kids in grades 2-5.