Goodbye

This is my last post here - I've accepted a job offer in Colorado and I'll be moving there soon. Friday April 26 will be my last day here at Allerton Library. If you want to keep informed about the books I've been reading, please feel free to friend me on Goodreads. You can see my profile here.

Thank you and good luck to everyone I've worked with and helped over the years here in Monticello!

We're Back: Bigger and Better Than Ever!

After a vacation and a couple of days spent training on the new circulation system we are once again up, running, and ready to rock and roll! Our new online catalog can be found here:

allp.illshareit.com

PLEASE use this link instead of the link on our website for all your library requests. I think you'll find that our new online catalog is easier to use and has a better selection than our old one.

We will be open for our normal hours from now until Maintenance Day on May 15, so if you have any questions about the new system, please call us or stop by.

I've Finished the 2014 Caudill List!

I just finished the last few pages of Boys Without Names (not one of my favorites). Overall I liked this list better than some other years. As I mentioned before, I thought it was nice that at least half the titles didn't have horribly upsetting or depressing stories. I particularly liked Wonder, Close to Famous, Okay for Now, and Candy Bomber. I found Words in the Dust, Bamboo People, The Hunt for the Seventh, and Boys Without Names hard to get through. I outright sobbed through the whole second half of Ways to Live Forever, but I laughed out loud while reading Close to Famous. I wish more Rebecca Caudill books were laugh-out-loud types... sigh. Maybe next year.

I've Been Invited...

...to serve on the Rebecca Caudill Evaluator's Committee!

I can tell this is going to be a great experience, and I'm honored to have been chosen. Soon I'll get a list of books to start reading and evaluating. I can't wait to get started!

I've also put together an early literacy calendar, a great idea I got from Amy Koester, another children's librarian who writes the blog The Show Me Librarian. You can see her original post here. There are print copies available in the children's section of the library, but you can see mine here.

A lot of people don't realize that getting kids ready to read is pretty easy - something as simple as singing a song or playing a game of I Spy helps develop some of the six pre-literacy skills experts agree will help kids prepare for learning how to read once they reach school. For more information on activities you can do with toddlers and preschoolers, please visit the Kent District Library's fabulous page here.

Books and Angry Birds!

Come to the Angry Birds Party this Saturday at 11 a.m.! It's for kids of all ages and we're going to re-enact the Angry Birds game in real life. First, kids will divide into teams and build structures from boxes for the pigs (green plastic balls) to hide in. Then, they will use beach towels to launch the birds (red plastic balls) at the buildings to try and knock the pigs to the floor. Snacks and drinks will be served. Please sign up if you are interested!

I recently read a new picture book I really liked called Monsters Love Colors by Mike Austin. I used it with my Baby Lap Time group, but it's a great, versatile book that can be used with a wide age range. The concept and basic story is simple enough for two-year-olds, but the dialogue on each page and the small jokes in the illustrations would be enjoyed by kindergarteners or first graders. I also liked that Austin incorporated rhyming words, but I wondered if kids might be confused by the abstract concept of how rhyming words can also be colors: he says that blue is the color of "scribble, and dribble, and nibble, nibble, nibble!" Still, overall that's a small quibble, and I did like the book.

I also read a great middle-grade novel recently that's on the 2014 Rebecca Caudill list called Close to Famous by Joan Bauer. I liked this book as much as I liked Wonder, so that's really saying something. Here's my Goodreads review:

I really, really enjoyed this story about a girl with a great memory and an incredible talent for baking who also struggles with an near-inability to read (her difficulty stems from dyslexia or something similar). She and her mom have fallen on hard times since her father was killed in Iraq, but find some good friends in a small West Virginia town. This book touches some deep emotional issues but never gets bogged down with them, and has a lot that kids can take from it. Recommended for fans of Cynthia Lord and Barbara O'Connor, and especially for older fans of Sarah Weeks's chapter book Pie.

2014 Monarchs and Bluestems

So I've finally gotten my act together and set up displays for the 2014 Monarch books and the 2014 Bluestem books. I saw some great selections on those lists! I've only read 6 of the 20 on the Monarch list so far but I've liked all of them: The Trouble With Chickens, I Want My Hat Back, 11 Experiments That Failed, One, Swirl By Swirl, and Balloons Over Broadway.




I've read 7 of the 20 on the Bluestem list, and I was THRILLED to see Clementine on it! Clementine was a Monarch book a few years ago but I'm glad it's back in the limelight. I also liked Pie, Wonder, and of course Number the Stars quite a bit. I liked (but am slightly less enthusiastic about) Edgar Allan's Official Crime Investigation Notebook, Because of Winn-Dixie, and Knights of the Kitchen Table.

What did you think of the lists? Does anything stand out for you?

Rebecca Caudill Progress

So far I've read 12 of the 2014 Rebecca Caudills and I'm pleased to say that I've really been enjoying them so far! My favorites are Wonder and Okay for Now, but I also really liked Candy Bomber, A Tale Dark & Grimm, Blizzard of Glass, The Running Dream, and The Lions of Little Rock. As far as the others go (I, Emma Freke, How They Croaked, The Outcasts, The Apothecary, and Breaking Stalin's Nose) I thought they were fine, and only had a few minor issues with them.

I'm a little apprehensive about some of the titles; Ghetto Cowboy, Boys Without Names, Words in the Dust, and Bamboo People all sound like they might be extremely depressing. But I like knowing that this year at least the kids will be able to read 10 of 20 books without running into one of the super-sad ones.

New Picture Books

 I was totally charmed by a new picture book that recently arrived at the library called The Goldilocks Variations by Allan Ahlberg. It's simultaneously kid-friendly and grownup-friendly, with rich language, a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, and lots of interactive pull tabs and similar items to offset the long length of the book. I absolutely loved reading it and I think this is a book that kindergarteners and first graders will ask for over and over.



We also got this year's Geisel Award winner for the best book for beginning readers. It is Ethan Long's book Up! Tall! And High! I really enjoyed reading this simple book as well. The vocabulary is tailored for kids who are just starting out, with most of the story told using sight words. The illustrations are exemplary, bursting with life and humor. It's on par with Mo Willems's work, and for me that is high praise.



I also found a new book to read during storytimes, called Dog In Charge by K.L. Going. It made me laugh out loud right from the first page, and it presents a problem that will be familiar to kids: will Dog get blamed for the cats' mischief? The text begs to be read aloud, as it features lots of sound effects, familiar refrains, and an easy, natural-sounding rhythm. I can't wait to try it out.

More Notable Books

Last week I neglected to mention the Siebert Medal winner Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin. That's because I had just started reading it at the time, but now that I've finished it I have to let everyone know about my TOTAL ENTHUSIASM for this book.

Here's my Goodreads review: This is an amazing book for teens about the Manhattan Project. The author did a fantastic job of picking out the most interesting and humanizing stories surrounding the development of the atomic bomb. The science and politics were all very complex, but Sheinkin made them accessible enough for young teens to understand. And it's all woven together really well - the book reads like a novel, and I was even more amazed and impressed with it every time I reminded myself that this all REALLY HAPPENED! Recommended for anyone with any kind of interest in history.
  
Also, last week I neglected to mention in my post that the 2014 Rebecca Caudill list is out! Take a look here. I was very pleased to see that three nonfiction books made it on the list! I've only read one of them so far, Blizzard of Glass, but if that is any indication of the quality of the others I think I'll have a wonderful time discovering the other two. I also really, really liked both Wonder and Okay for Now. There are 13 books on the list that I haven't read yet though, so I guess I better get busy!

Award Winners!

I was so excited on Monday morning when I heard about this year's ALA Youth Book & Media Awards! Lots of amazing books won awards and honors, including (to my absolute delight) The One and Only Ivan by Katharine Applegate, which won the Newbery. Jon Klassen's picture book This Is Not My Hat won the Caldecott for its illustrations (which I also thought were very clever and well-executed).

I had been really hoping that John Green's amazing book The Fault In Our Stars would win the Printz, or at least a Printz Honor, but it didn't... although, the audio version did snag an Odyssey Award, so I'll be listening to that as soon as I'm done with Locked in Time by Lois Duncan.

As usual, there were several books that won honors or awards that I'm not yet familiar with, so I'll be looking forward to reading this year's Printz winner, In Darkness by Nick Lake, as well as the Newbery honor book Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage.

Did you follow the awards? What did you think of the books that were chosen?

Library Program Fun

Alice B. McGinty's visit was fantastic! We had a great turnout and everyone enjoyed themselves. We sang, we acted, we did a craft, and we fed Cookie the (very happy) guinea pig. Thanks to Alice and to the Monticello Rotary Club for making the whole event possible.

A great program like that makes me really energized, so we're jumping right into the next one, coming up on February 16. It'll be a Disney party, at 11 a.m. for kids ages 3+. At the party, kids will be able to assemble a prototype for Phineas & Ferb's next invention, race Cars, make princess jewelry with beads, and draw pictures like Rapunzel. There will also be snacks & drinks. Those who are interested should sign up by Feb. 14, because I would much rather have too many princess beads than NOT ENOUGH princess beads. :-P

Reminder: Meet Alice B. McGinty!

She's coming here this Saturday, Jan. 19 at 11 a.m. She's going to have a fabulous program for kids in grades K-5, featuring interactive reading, a craft, and Cookie the real live guinea pig and star of Alice's book Eliza's Kindergarten Pet! You'll also have a chance to buy signed books. Please register if you're interested!

That's all for now - my desk is a huge disaster area and I'd like to get it cleaned up before I leave tonight. :)

Starting My Year Right

2013 is only 10 days old and already I've read three fantastic children's/teen books! I'm making an effort to read more children's and teen's nonfiction, so I recently picked up Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World by Sy Montgomery. It's a great biography for young teens about Temple, who overcame her early difficulties stemming from autism and grew up to make a huge difference in the lives of millions of animals by changing the way ranches and factory farms work. The author makes Temple's life very engaging even for people who might not think they're interested in autism or animals.


I also finally read Seraphina by Rachel Hartman and, although I felt like the story got off to a slow start, I ended up really liking it. It contains some great characters and worldbuilding; her portrayal of dragons is really unique. The plot is complex and interesting as well. People who like Tamora Pierce's work should really give Seraphina a try.

And finally, today I just finished Grace Lin's book Starry River of the Sky, which is a companion novel to her Newbery Honor-winning Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Mountain was also a Rebecca Caudill book in 2012). Starry River of the Sky is also completely Newbery-worthy and left me reeling with very powerful emotions at the end - but in a good way, I promise! Her writing is absolutely gorgeous with its use of imagery and metaphor, and I love how she ties Chinese mythology to her books. This is a must-read for anyone who likes middle-grade fantasy.

Best of 2012 (My Humble Opinion)

I have 12 children's/teen books that can go on record as my favorites to be published in 2012! Those are, in order from most to least recently published:

• Ask the Passengers by A.S. King 
• Ungifted by Gordon Korman 
• Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead 
• About Average by Andrew Clements 
• Fake Mustache by Tom Angleberger 
• Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick 
• Partials by Dan Wells
• Wonder by R.J. Palacio
• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
• The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

 These books made it to my "favorites" list based on how much I personally enjoyed reading them, not necessarily on the basis of literary merit. However, based on what other teachers and children's librarians are saying, many of them do have strong literary merit as well and are likely being considered for the Newbery or Printz prizes.

What did you think of this year's crop of books? Do you agree or disagree with any on my list?