
Anyone seen a moose?

February 28th, 2013

Who knew there were so many fun stories about moose? In addition to modern standards like Laura Numeroff’s If You Give a Moose a Muffin and Martin Waddell’s What Use is a Moose? there are a surprising number of recent and very appealing moose books. So many that last Saturday’s Family Tales was all about our branchy-antlered friends.

We began with Looking for a Moose by Phyllis Root, which has wonderful use of language  and encourages children to look very closely . . . they just might spot a moose before the children in the book do! Since you try to spy different parts of the “long-leggy” “bulgy-nose” moose as part of the story, we followed up with the Jim Gill action song ” Toe Leg Knee.” Our next book was Ernest, The Moose Who Doesn’t Fit by Catherine Rayner.

Poor Ernest is so tall that he can’t shimmy or squeeze into the book, no matter how hard he tries. He has a little friend who is ready to help him, armed with tape and paper. The children actually gasped with surprise (lots of audible wows!) when I unfolded the book at the end!

Next we did this short action rhyme:

Mr. Moose is very tall                          (hands to head for antlers)
His antlers touch the sky                    (hands high in the air)
They make a real good resting place      (make cradle with arms)
for birdies passing by.                        (wave arms like a bird flying)

And then listened and moved to the Moose Song by the Banana Slug String Band — the lyrics really encouraged movement:

“I have antlers and nose/ I have hooves for toes / And I stand about 6 feet tall. / I’m in the mud up to my knees /Just chewing on the leaves /I’m  a moose moose /Can you hear me call?”

The last book I shared was Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham,  a wacky alphabet book that had parents as captivated as the children.

Other great moose books to share include the new and brilliant The Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers; Duck Duck Moose, a hilarious take on migration, by Dave Horowitz, and Beaver Pond Moose Pond,  a wonderful nonfiction picture book by Jim Arnosky.

We ended by making moose antler headbands. Some traced a pattern for the antlers, while others traced their hands to use as antlers. Great fun for a Saturday morning!

Lovecraft Middle School Will Scare You Silly!

February 25th, 2013

If you have read all the Goosebumps and are bored of  even more Scary Stories…this new series may be just what you are looking for.

Book 1: Professor Gargoyle. Strange things are happening at Lovecraft Middle School. Rats are leaping from lockers. Students are disappearing.  The school library is a labyrinth of secret corridors. And the science teacher is acting very peculiar – in fact, he just might be a monster-in-disguise. (from Amazon.com)

Book 2: The Slither Sisters.  Seventh-grader Robert Arthur has discovered that two of his classmates are actually sinister snake-women in disguise. Even worse, his new middle school is full of “gates” to a terrifying alternate dimension – a haunted mansion full of strange spirits and monstrous beasts.  For Robert to protect his teachers and classmates, he’ll need to return to this haunted dimension with his best friends Glenn and Karina.   Can they uncover the secrets of Lovecraft Middle School before it’s too late? (from Amazon.com)

Book 3 (Coming in MAY 2013!) The Teacher’s Pest: DON’T BE FOOLED by his friendly smile, his perfect manners, or his shiny red apple. Student council president Howard Mergler is actually a sinister bug-monster in disguise—and he’s summoning swarms of roaches, wasps, fleas, and head lice into the corridors of Lovecraft Middle School!  Twelve-year-old Robert Arthur is the only student who can stop him–but he’ll need help from his best friends: the school bully, the school ghost, and an extremely courageous two-headed rat. (from Amazon.com)

 

STEM Storytime: Building

February 23rd, 2013

This week’s preschool STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Storytime focused on building. First I asked the children what materials they like use to build things. Blocks, legos, sticks, sand, and snow were mentioned. All of these, plus many more, can be found in Christy Hale’s Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building (Lee & Low, 2012), which pairs illustrations of a child building with different materials with a corresponding work of architecture.

Reserve It!

Wooden blocks are juxtaposed with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. Sand castles are paired with Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona. All the children nodded when I asked if they had a set of stacking rings when they were a baby.

After looking and talking about the book, children were given a variety of materials to construct their own edifices. And build they did!

 

Blast Off! Books about Space

February 20th, 2013

Space is all over the news these days, keep your young scientist filled with facts with these topical books!

Questions about meteors, like the one that lit up the sky over Russia last week? Read up on when a meteor becomes a meteorite and what happens once it hits the Earth…

Those are the facts, but what about the fun? Try these fictional accounts of meteors…

Curious about life in space? Who got there first? What do astronauts eats and more importantly–where do they go to the bathroom?!

If you have a kid aged 8-11 who is crazy about space, you won’t want to miss March’s You Wouldn’t Want to Be…book club.

This book club explores the gritty side of history with crafts, snacks and activities. In March we’ll be reading You Wouldn’t Want to be on Apollo 13! by Ian Graham

Ever wanted to take a tour of the International Space Station? Here is your chance!

Follow former commander Sunita Williams of NASA as she take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of humankind’s tiny home away from home.

This one’s for the birds!

February 13th, 2013

In a recent STEM storytime we explored birds you might see in your own backyard this winter. We read Simon James’ The Birdwatchers, in which a little girl goes birdwatching with her grandfather.

We found out more about birds in Carol Lerner’s Backyard Birds of Winter and from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Birding in Ohio site.

Reserve It!

Another great book for budding scientists is Citizen Scientists: Be a Part of Scientific Discovery From Your Own Backyard by Loree Griffin Burns, which has a different project for each season of the year (and includes birdwatching for winter.)

You can be a citizen scientist this weekend by participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count, February 15-18. It’s easy enough that kids can participate too — it’s free, fun, and you’ll be sharing your sightings with others around the world. Last year 17.4 million birds were counted!

 

 

Meet Ashley Bryan–An Author and Illustrator whom we Love!

February 6th, 2013

Are you familiar with Ashley Bryan? Known for his children’s books full of poetry, prose and folk tales and illustrated with his colorful paintings, woodcuts and collages, Ashley Bryan has been delighting children and adults for decades. In 2012 he was awarded the Coretta Scott King — Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Reserve a title today and enjoy these stories with the children you love. Interested in learning more about this author/illustrator? Visit Reading Rockets to hear an interview with Mr. Bryan about his life and work.

If you enjoy viewing and discussing picture books, considering attending our new discussion group! Picture books are not just for children anymore! Join other children’s literature enthusiasts in discussing new and notable books for children. Parents, teachers, librarians, caregivers and anyone interested are welcome to join the discussion.

And the winner is . . .

January 26th, 2013

More by I.C. Springman, illustrated by Brian Lies, was chosen as the Caldecott Award winner in the mock Caldecott discussion held Saturday, January 26, at the Westerville Public Library.

Two honor books were chosen:

And then it’s spring by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin E. Stead

(which was also the winner in our online voting!)

and

Sleep Like a Tiger  by Mary Logue, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski

Children also voted in person at the library, with slightly different results.

Island: A Story of the Galapagos by Jason Chin tied with

Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger.

Next down the list was More, which brings us full circle!

I can hardly wait until the actual awards are announced on Monday morning from the ALA Midwinter Conference in Seattle, beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern time.

Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni: Non-Standard Measurement and Storytelling

January 23rd, 2013

This week in Action Tales, our storytime that focuses on narrative skills and storytelling, we forgot about the single-digit temperature and retold the story of a clever little inchworm.

In Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni, the clever worm loves to measure by using his body. He measures the animals and objects in his environment and then escapes a hungry nightingale by measuring its “song” until the worm is far away from his hungry beak!

First we read the story and then we made talked about what it means to measure. Here’s a PBS Teachers article explaining measurement and non-standard measurement activities. To reinforce the concept of how little things can be used to measure bigger things, we used our own bodies to measure the width of our story room.

Then we got down to crafting our own inch worms.

How to Make an Inchworm

2 craft sticks or coffee stirrers
1 piece of ribbon (ours were 5 inches long)
2 googley eyes (optional–you could use a marker to make eyes)
glue

Glue one end of the ribbon to one stick and the other end to the other stick. Add eyes.

Behold our inchworm!

Then we retold the story. Use an old sheet or roll paper to sketch out the scenes from the story and then let your little inchworm practice measuring. How many inchworms long is that blade of grass? How many inchworms long is Daddy’s arm?

Want more math and science fun? Try our STEM Storytime or pick up a book about measurement.

Happy Reading!

 

 

AR Book Search is here!

January 21st, 2013

Does your child’s school use the AR or Accelerated Reader program?

Try our new Accelerated Reader search to quickly locate items in our catalog based on your child’s level and interests…

 

 

Then use our catalog’s limiters to show which books are available to check out …

 

 

 

or use our tags to narrow your search further by any number of user and librarian generated tags…

 

 

We are very excited about this new search feature and we hope it save you time and frustration as you try to keep your young reader reading! Have questions about using search or about finding books for kids?
Visit our Choosing Books for Kids Explore Guide or stop by the reference desk next time you are in the library–we’d love to show you how it works!

 

And the finalists are . . .

January 16th, 2013

We present to you the final discussion list for the Mock Caldecott Discussion (on Saturday, January 26 at the Westerville Public Library). Now, we don’t know what the actual committee will be talking about in Seattle this weekend, where the American Library Association (ALA) Conference is being held (it’s a secret!!)

How do we come up with a list? Well, we look at new picture books arriving all year. We read reviews and peruse those best of the year lists from places like School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, The Horn Book, Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, and The New York Times (and others!) We look at what other libraries are putting on their mock Caldecott lists. This year we created a Pinterest board of possible contenders before narrowing down to a group of 10 titles. And we’ve talked and recommended these books to each other and read them to children in storytimes.

If you can’t come to the discussion, you can still vote on your choice in the Youth Services section of the library or in the online poll below from now until 2:00 on January 26. At the end of the day, we’ll announce our results. The books will be in the Youth Services area so that you can take a look at the contenders yourself.  And on Monday, January 28, the Caldecott Award will be announced, part of ALA’s Youth Media Awards, streaming live from Seattle!

Here are the books we’ll be discussing (in no particular order!):

 

Nighttime Ninja by Barbara DaCosta, Art by Ed Young (Little, Brown)

 

Minette’s Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat by Susanna Reich, Illustrated by Amy Bates (Abrams)

Island: A Story of the Galapagos written & illustrated by Jason Chin (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook)

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)

Sleep Like a Tiger, written by Mary Logue, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski (Houghton Mifflin)

 

Step Gently Out, poem by Helen Frost, photographs by Rick Lieder (Candlewick)

Green written & illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook)

More by I.C. Springman, illustraed by Brian Lies (Houghton Mifflin)

One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo, pictures by David Small (Dial Books for Young Readers/Penguin)

And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin Stead (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook)
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