The Right Word by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet

I love words. I love how authors take words and create amazing sentences that then becomes a story. Some stories are just plain fun, but others are so powerful that I savor every word. One of the reasons I wanted to be a librarian and work with children is that joy of introducing them to really great books.

Here is a list of some of my favorite books.

 

Now that he has mastered reading, Rocket, a loveable white dog, wants to write a story. Every day, Rocket collects new words and searches for inspiration. Don’t miss, Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills. To see the book trailer, go here.

Max’s older brothers are collectors. Benjamin collects stamps; Karl collects coins. After much thought, Max decides to collect words. When Benjamin puts all his stamps together, he just has a bunch of stamps. When Karl puts his coins together, he just has a pile of money. But when Max puts his words together, he creates a story. You’ll have to read, Max’s Words by Kate Banks and illustrated by Boris Kulikov to find out what Max wrote.

Like Max, Selig loved everything about words. The sound of them in his ears, the taste of them on his tongue, the thought of them when they percolated in his brain, and, most especially, the feel of them when they moved his heart. Collecting words and scattering the words on the wind was his life’s work. So, every time the perfect words comes to your mind, thank Selig. The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter; Illustrations by Giselle Potter.

The best of the bunch is The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Maine’s Melissa Sweet. It is the icing on this pile of wonderful stories. The Right Word is a biography of word collector, Peter Mark Roget (Roh-Zhay) who created that amazing tome helps you always find just the exact word to say exactly what it is you are trying to say. Splendid!

Recently, I read a book that I absolutely loved. Whenever I describe my experience reading it, I say it was…Delicious!

Mrs. C!

Science books for children

On her website, author-illustrator Molly Bang laments that over the past 10+ years,  "American children's lack of knowledge about even the most basic scientific principles. That information is what prompted Bang to write these four excellent books about the Sun's role in creating life on Earth. Her writing is engaging as she makes complex scientific principals easy to understand. Complementing the text are Bang's full-page color illustrations. The author also includes a detailed author's note that further explains the concepts highlighted in the book.

My Light (Scholastic, 2004) examines the sun's role in creating electricity by using water, wind
turbines, or fossil fuels.

Living Sunlight: how plants bring the Earth to life (Scholastic, 2009) partners with Penny Chisholm, an MIT professor, to explain the astounding process of photosynthesis. It connects all of life. Without plants, you could have no oxygen or food; without plants there would be no life on Earth.

In Ocean Sunlight: how tiny plants feed the seas (Scholastic, 2012). Bang and MIT professor Penny Chisholm write about the sea and how many sea creatures depend on the microscopic plants called phytoplankton.

Once again, Bang and Chisholm team up with the latest addition to these books, Buried Sunlight:  how fossil fuels have changed the Earth (Scholastic, 2014). They answer the question, What are fossil fuels and how did they come to exist? They also explain how, in a very short time, by burning coal, oil, and gas, we have changed the delicate carbon balance of air and water and it is changing our climate. What does this mean and what should we do about it?

All books have a strong environmental message. They are perfect for sharing with middle and high school science classes or to read aloud to your school-age children.

Dogs who sniff to make your world safe

A dog's nose is crammed with sensitive cells that can sort out thousands of odor messages. Depending on the type of dog, some will have more cells than others. According to Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, in her book Super Sniffers, a sheepdog's nose has more than two hundred million nerve cells. A bloodhound has over three hundred million. How does that compare to a human nose? Scientists believe we have somewhere between five and six million. No wonder dogs can smell that stale cookie you forgot was at the bottom of your back pack!

Two new books in our collection are about dogs and how they are used to help in many ways to save us...and our planet.

Super Sniffers: dog detectives on the job by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent explains the hard work, training, and commitment it takes to turn our faithful companions into essential partners both on the job and off.

Nancy F. Castaldo, in her book  
Sniffer Dogs: how dogs (and their
noses) save the world explains the science of sniffing and how dogs use their noses to find everything from people, both alive and dead, to explosives to whale poop.

Both books are have an engaging text and are loaded with color photographs. A must read for dog lovers.

Stop in for some suggestions on fiction stories that would complement these terrific informational books.

To those who wish to be an author

It's been awhile since I've posted. We've had a crazy, busy summer and only now do I feel I'm getting back to some routine.

So you want to be an author:

I cannot tell you the number of times I've received a phone call or a visit from someone who wishes to write a book for children.

"Hi! I've written a book for children and I'm wondering if you will read it."

Whenever possible I say no and explain that I am not an editor. I may know books, but I have no qualifications that would help you get your book published.

My advice:
1. Join the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators SCBWI
2. Find an editor.
3. Read, read, and read some more. You cannot write a children's book unless you read them.

Recently, Roger Sutton, editor of The Horn Book Magazine has been blogging about self published material. Read it. It will help would-be authors understand why their generous gift is often refused.

An open letter to the self-published author.

School Daze

Do you have children starting school in a few days? Maybe for the first time? The Library has put up displays of 'Back to School' books in the various display areas in Youth Services. Let me mention a few of my favorite titiles.

Sending your precious one off to preschool for the first time can be quite emotional. Here are a few books that reassure them about the anxiety of being separated from Mom or Dad.

Llama, Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney. Llama Llama has separation anxiety on his first day of nursery school. 

or

Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes. A whole list of worries keeps Wemberly awake the night before she starts nursery school.


Wonder what the day might be like in preschool? Read D.W.'s Guide to Preschool. Written by Arthur's little sister, D. W. offers lots of tips on how things work in preschool. 


Making friends in preschool is a new experience.  Mary and Clare's friendship is tested when one is given more attention because it is her birthday in Best, Best Friends by Margaret Chodos-Irvine.

Stop in and find books in our displays. Not sure of the start dates for public school? Check out the Scarborough School's new website for the up-to-date calendar.

Save your money and get a library card!

Here is a great article on why using your public library gives you more choices while saving you money.


http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/why-the-public-library-beats-amazonfor-now-1407863714-lMyQjAxMTA0MDEwNTExNDUyWj?tesla=y

Summer Reading

Things continue to be crazy, busy here in the Youth Services Department. Children are in every day we are open to have their Reading Logs stamped, then putting a sticker with their name on it for the Wall of Fame. As August approaches -- faster than we like -- our reading program is almost over. We have no requirement to complete a certain quantity of pages, minutes or number of books in order to finish. Just turn in that Reading Log and you are done! Remember, only those who have turned in their Reading Logs by August 9 can attend our End of Summer Ice Cream Party to be held on Wednesday, August 13.

Don't miss out on a very fun event...and reward yourself for a job well done!

Get a Clue Science!

On Wednesday, July 9, Marilyn Taylor and Mrs. C led a group of children in a science project.

First, we read the book, Mirette On the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully.

Because the book is about a young girl, Mirette, and how she learns to walk on a tightrope, we talked about how important ears are for balance. To tie in science, we made a battery using pennies, salt water, paper towels, and aluminum foil and tested it by scraping the wire along a headphone plug. If they could hear the static, their battery worked!

Steps in making the battery.
Supplies needed: copper wire, pennies, paper towels, salt water, and aluminum foil.

Step one: Make a sandwich of penny, paper towel soaked in salt water in the middle, and then a small piece of aluminum foil.
Step two: Attach one copper wire to the penny and wrap the other end around the plug of a pair of headphones.
Step three: Take the other wire and have one end touching the foil and with the other end, rub it on the headphone plug.

Can you hear static? If so, your battery works!

If you need a visual, go here. Keep in mind this is a project meant for a classroom. You do not need to use that many pennies.

This Wednesday, July 16, at 3:30 pm Annegret Baier will host a workshop on African Drumming. Pre-registration is required. Call 883-4723 opt. 3 to sign up!

Garden to Table by Katherine Hengel

What did you plant in your garden this year? Peas? Tomatoes? Carrots? Basil? Having such a bounty of fresh vegetables at your fingertips makes preparing supper fun.

In Garden to Table: a kid's guide to planting, growing, and preparing food author Katherine Hengel offers helpful tips for how to grow certain veggies and then includes some yummy recipes. For example, got lettuce or baby spinach? Try the 'Rock-On Raisin Salad. It's guaranteed to please! Or how about Sassy Citrus Zest Green Beans. Hengel claims that "this startling bean dish is almost a dessert!"

We have other books with recipes suggestions to help you find a yummy way to eat what you grow. Stop in and we will help you find a few.

Happy eating!

Maker Day

Coming up for all ages on Wednesday, June 25 at 3:00 PM-5:00 PM is our Maker Day! Our other Maker Day Events have been met with such great enthusiasm that we are offering a condensed version to start off our Wednesday afternoon programs. We will have "centers" set up in our Meeting Room where you can try something that will interest all levels of interest. Just what are we doing? You'll have to stop in to find out.

See you then!

Summer Reading Kick-Off with Norman Ng!

Don't miss our Kick-Off to Summer Reading at 6PM on Wednesday, June 18 with illusionist and magician, Norman Ng. The show is an exciting fusion of mind blowing magic, hilarious comedy, and tons of audience participation.

We hope to see you there!

New Books!

To help tempt your children into reading over the summer, the Library continues to have new books.

For those who love to read books in a series, we have the fourth book in Dan Gutman's Genius Files. From Texas with Love has the McDonald twins  dodging nefarious villains while visiting weird by true landmarks in the American Southwest.

Kelly Armstrong's, The Blackwell Pages. In this sequel to Loki's Wolves, Matt Thorsen and his friends are back in another adventure. Here, they must journey to the underworld to save a human descendant of the gods to help defeat Ragnarok, the apocalypse.

Origami Yoda is back!!! In Princess Label Maker to the Rescue! by Tom Angleberger, the Origami Rebel Alliance finds powerful allies in unexpected places as they attempt to fight the FunTime test preparation program. Will Principal Rabbski pledge her allegiance?

Fantasy lovers will be captivated by the rich plot and detailed worldbuilding in Tone Almhjell's debut novel, The TwistRose Key. Sylver is a frozen realm that is home to every dead pet that ever loved a

child. When eleven-year-old Lin Rosenquist received a mysterious key arrives that unlocks the gate to the world of Sylver, she is reunited with Rufus, the pet she buried under the rosebush. Will Lin and Rufus be able to locate the missing Winter Prince in order to save Sylver from destruction?

See you at the Library!

Fizz! Boom! Read! Summer reading at SPL

On Monday, we started signing children up for summer reading even though the program doesn't actually begin until June 18. On the 18, at 6:00pm will be our Kick-Off with Illusionist Norman Ng. No registration required. In an effort to have the reading program exciting and easy enough to finish, yet challenging for those who love to step things up, our program has several parts. Let me explain how it all works.

ALL CHILDREN WHO TURN IN THEIR READING LOGS WILL GET A FREE BOOK!

Our summer reading program encourages children to read for pleasure. We do not require they read a certain number of books, pages, or record time. All they must do in order to receive a FREE BOOK is to turn in their Reading Logs by Saturday, August 9.

THE BASICS: Write down the titles of books children read themselves or have read to them. Children who read aloud books to younger children can record those, too. If a child is reading a long book, one that takes them several days or weeks to get through, they can write down the page numbers or chapters on the lines inside the Reading Log. Turn in the Reading Log by Saturday, August 9 to be invited to the Summer Reading Grand Finale to be held on Wednesday, August 13. Can't come to the party? Stop in any time after the 13 to pick up your Reading Logs, certificate, and select a FREE BOOK. That's it!


TO STEP IT UP: To help children investigate other types of books, both fiction & nonfiction, we created a Game Board which is inside the Reading Log. Complete 24 squares, and it doesn't matter the order you choose them, and we will make you a refrigerator magnet with your picture taken in front of the Wall of Fame.

ANOTHER OPTION: Answer the ten Library Trivia Questions correctly AND complete the 24 squares on the Game Board and we will place your child's name on a bookplate that will be placed in a brand new library book.

Just remember that Reading Logs MUST be returned to get a certificate and a FREE BOOK.

Marilyn Taylor and I have spent the past month visiting all classes Grades K-7. Kids are really enthusiastic about summer reading. They want to be sure to STOP the SUMMER SLIDE.

Summer Reading Program

Students are counting the days until school is out. As of today, they tell me there are twelve and a half days left. Before you get to busy with summer activities, be sure to stop in to the Library and the Youth Services room and sign your children up for the 2014 Summer Reading Program. Sign ups begin the week of June 9, but the program officially begins the minute school is out on June 17!
This year our theme is 

 

The Kick-Off for Pre-School thru Grade 5 begins on Wednesday, June 18 at 6:00 PM with 

The Norman Magic Experience feature Norman Ng.

There is no show like it touring today!

This event is free. No preregistration is required.

For more information, please call the Youth Services Department at 883-4723, option 3!

Rules by Cynthia Lord

I wrote previously about the book club Barbara Merritt, Scarborough School District head librarian for Grades K-8, and I co-host. Barbara is a real dynamo when it comes to promoting books at the schools and is terrific at finding questions that get the students talking. Go hear to read about the books we read for Grades 3 and 4. 

This past Wednesday, May 7, had us finishing up the Newbery honor book, Rules, written by Maine author Cynthia Lord with fifth graders. The idea for the book came from the author's own experience raising a son with Autism. The story centers around twelve-year-old Catherine who is frustrated with having an autistic younger brother. Catherine longs for a normal existence, but finds her world is further complicated by a friendship with a young paraplegic. There was much to discuss. What was super special was having Cynthia Lord came in person! to talk with the students. She was fantastic. Cynthia brought along to share some of her plastic ducks -- you'd have to read the book to understand their significance, and her Newbery honor plaque (we all were allowed to make a wish by placing our hand over the Newbery medal). Lord also shared some writing tips we all found useful. Thank you, Cynthia Lord. We all hope you keep writing!

This Wednesday, May 14 another group of fifth graders who read, The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg will get to Skype with author Rodman Philbrick. His book is set during the Civil War and is about twelve-year-old Homer's extraordinary adventures after running away from his evil uncle in rural Maine to rescues his brother who has been sold into service in the Civil War. Another Newbery honor book from 2010, we are looking forward to hearing Mr. Philbrick, who also wrote the very popular young adult novel, Freak the Mighty.  

Stay tuned for upcoming information about the summer reading program, Fizz! Boom! Read! Sign up will begin the week school is out!

Reading and Electonic Devices

I'm speaking out about electronic devices. Though I see their advantages for adults, all too often smart phones to iPads become just another electronic babysitter. Instead of engaging children while shopping, you see young children, even infants, sitting in the shopping carts staring down at a screen watching some character move through a series of obstacles. Conversations with children are so very important to their development of language! By putting your child in front of any electronic device, according to research, can have a huge impact on how they process information and their overall behavior.

In this article from the Huffington Post (10 Reason Why Handheld Devices Should Be Banned for Children under 12), The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Society of Pediatrics state infants aged 0-2 years should not have any exposure to technology(no DVD's or TV), 3-5 years be restricted to one hour per day, and 6-18 years restricted to 2 hours per day (AAP 2001/13, CPS 2010). Though we do know that children and youth use 4-5 times the recommended amount of technology, with serious and often life threatening consequences (Kaiser Foundation 2010, Active Healthy Kids Canada 2012)
 
Another article asks the question, "Could ebooks actually get in the way of reading?" According to research, digital devices can be distracting, leading to diminished comprehension, fluency and engagement. Students reading comprehension is much better when using print. I know for myself, if I reading an ebook I tend to stop every few pages to check my email, FaceBook, even the weather! It is extremely difficult to stay on task, no matter how much I love the book.


We all know digital devices are here to stay. How we use them, and any new technology, is the key. Helping our children be the best they can be is important and the Library offers a tremendous collection of print materials to support your child's reading habit.

I often wonder if children would have been as absorbed in the Harry Potter if the popular series would have had to compete with today's technology.

Stop in. We love recommending books.

Spine Label Poetry

Instead of posting a favorite poetry book, I thought it would be fun to encourage you all to write your own poems. How? By using the spines of books you have at your house. Anything will do. Visit 100 Scope Notes for inspiration. 

Be wild and crazy, but most importantly just have a good time.
 

How do you do it? Just grab some books off your bookshelf and see if you can put together a poem. See what you can create. Take a picture and email it to me (lcapizzo (at) scarboroughlibrary(dot)org) and I'll post it on this blog.

Happy writing.

A Poke in the I, selected by Paul B. Janeczko

Concrete poetry are very, very different from regular poems because the visual appearance of the poem matches the subject. 

I

NEED

CONTACT

LENSES

like i need a poke in the eye

by John Hegley

Paul Janeczko is a poetry anthologist extraordinaire. He's also from Maine. He has put together a collection of poems using the concrete -- or shape-- appearance. A Poke in the Eye: a collection of concrete poems is a handsome collection with illustrations done by Chris Raschka, a Caldecott winner for illustrating the Hello, Goodbye Window. Raschka's abstract paintings lend a playfulness to these fun poems. Raschka says, "Concrete poetry is the yoga of words. Like feeling your breath and your bones, you begin to notice what words and sentences actually look like."

Pick this up to share with your family. You'll be glad you did.

Forget-Me-Nots: poems to learn by heart

I was made to memorize poems when I was in school, but, unfortunately, remember only one of them,  Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson, and then only the third stanza at that!

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
   Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell
   Rode the six hundred.

 
Forget-Me-Nots: poems to learn by Heart, selected by former Children's Poet Laureate and National Book Award Winner, Mary Ann Hoberman, is a collection of poems suitable for memorizing. Poets include Robert Louis Stevenson, Ogden Nash, Elizabeth Coatsworth, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Douglas Florian, and more.

Fog by Carl Sandburg

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

Next time you visit the Scarborough Public Library, ask Marilyn to recite a poem. She has a wealth of them

stored in her memory.

Valerie Worth

Valerie Worth (b.1933- d.1994) was the author of many poetry books for children. I have always loved the simplicity of Worth's free verse poems.

crows

when the high

snows lie worn

to rags along

the muddy furrows,

and the frozen

sky frays, dropping

gray and sodden

to the ground,

the sleek crows

appear, flying

low across the

threadbare meadow

to jeer at

winter's ruin

with their jubilant

Thaw! Thaw! Thaw!

Accompanying each poem is a pencil sketch by Natalie Babbitt, who is also an amazing author. Babbitt's images are perfect companions to the poems.

Worth's poetry encourages observation. You can see that in the poem back yard.

back yard

Sun in the back yard,

Grows lazy,

Dozing on the porch steps

All morning,

Getting up and nosing

About corners,

Gazing into an empty

Flowerpot,

Later easing over the grass

For a nap,

Unless

Someone hangs out the wash--

Which changes 

Everything to a rush and a clap

Of wet

Cloth, and fresh wind

And sun

Wide awake in the white sheets.

When reading this poem, it reminds me of lazy summer days; of gazing out and marking the time of day by where the sun is as it crosses the porch. I can even smell the freshness of the laundry after being hung outside all day, drying in the gentle breeze and warmed by the sunshine.

Check out all the small poems and fourteen more by Valerie Worth and share them with your children. 

From the stacks

 Sharing poems with your child helps children develop a love of language. Read more...
 
One book in our collection that is just right for introducing poems to your child is, Here's a Little Poem: a very first book of poetry, Ccollected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters; Illustrated by Poly Dumbar.

A.A. Milne, author of the beloved character Winnie-the-Pooh wrote some terrific poems.

Halfway Down by A.A. Milne
Halfway down the stairs
Is a stair
Where I sit.
There isn't any
Other stair
Quite like
It.

I'm not at the bottom,
I'm not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.

Celebrate National Poetry Month during April

Douglas Florian is just one of my favorite poets. His poems are witty and he frequently uses the natural world as his subject. Some titles include: Mammalabilia, Dinothesaurus, Insectlopedia, and many more. Florian is also an artist, so each book is illustrated by him. He incorporates elements of collage, watercolor, and gouache on a surface of primed paper bags. To learn more about Florian, visit his webpage.

In unBEElievables: honeybee poems and paintings takes readers through the life cycle of the honeybee. Added on each page is a scientific fact, making this a great book to share with children who want to learn more about how bees make honey.

Honey

So many blossoms!

So many flowers!

So much flying---

Hours and hours!

So much nectar

Needed to eat

So honey

All will end up sweet!

In the sidebar we learn that a colony of bees may visit more than a million flowers to make just one pound of honey.

Check out unBEElievables or other books by Florian. They are too good to miss.

What we are reading in our Book Group at Wentworth

Every Wednesday since January, Barbara Merritt, Scarborough School District head librarian for grades K-8, and I have co-hosted a book club held at Wentworth during lunch recess. The book clubs run 5 weeks and so far we've worked with 4th graders and today was our last time for grade 3.

When we met with the 4th graders, the book we read was The Dragon's Egg written by local author Sarah Thomson, who came and met with all the students at our final meeting. She was terrific and the children had ample time to ask her lots and lots of great questions.

The Third Graders just finished The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught her to Fly by Luis Sepulveda. An exciting adventure woven tightly around a strong environmental message, participants made a book trailer as their final project since we were not able to connect with the Sepulveda and ask if he was available to Skype with us. (He lives in Spain).

Do you know what a book trailer is? Similar to a movie trailer in format and
length, a book trailer promotes…a book. Making trailers takes some planning and lots of discussion. Students are asked to think about the book and pull out the most important parts. You don't want to tell too much and bore your audience, but you also want to keep them excited. As Mrs. Merritt explained, "You want to give just enough information so that when the trailer is over you can't wait to read the book!"

We would like to share our book trailers with you! If you want to see them, please stop in to the Wentworth Library and ask the staff to show them to you. The students did a great job.

Next week Barbara and I will begin meeting with Fifth Graders. We will be reading Rules by another local author Cynthia Lord.

Parrots over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore

Parrots Over Puerto Rico tells two stories. One is about the rescue and recovery of the Puerto Rican parrots; the other is the history of the island. 

Above the treetops of Puerto Rico flies a flock of parrots as green as their island home. The parrots lived on the island for millions of years, and then almost vanished when humans nearly caused their extinction.

The story is told beautifully in an easy to understand narrative. I really liked how the author's conveyed how intertwined the impact the island's development had on the birds. Another point to praise is the sense of hope that permeated the whole story, both with the text and pictures. That can be a huge challenge when the topic is about the loss of a species. What will draw readers in to this stunning informational book are the illustrations, done in Roth's paper-and-fabric collages. You will want to look at them again and again.

Parrots Over Puerto Rico was chosen as the 2014 Robert F. Sibert Winner by the American Library Association. It is a great book to share with your children, regardless of their age.

St. Patrick's Day!

Are you looking for some books to introduce St. Patrick's Day to children?

In her straight forward approach, Gail Gibbons, in St. Patrick's Day, retells the life of St. Patrick and offers facts about how St. Patrick's Day is celebrated today.

Adding another title in the Mrs. Madoff series, in St. Patrick's Day readers learn all about the history and Irish traditions as the children in Mrs. Madoff's preschool class do presentations.

Irish author, Eve Bunting, writes a grand story about Jamie, who tries to prove in he is not too young to march in the big St. Patrick's Day parade. Read, St. Patrick's Day in the Morning.

Reading Irish folktales introduces humor and a bit or Irish lore into story time.
One of my favorites is Fin M'Coul: the giant of Knockmany Hill retold and illustrated by Tomie De Paola. It's Fin M'Coul's clever wife, Oonagh, who helps Fin outsmart the giant, and arch rival, Cucullin.

Tomie De Paola, in Saint Patrick. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland relates the life and legends of  Patrick, patron saint of Ireland.

We have more titles, and are happy to help you request other great books through Minerva.