Today was very exciting for story time!  This week is Kansas Reads to Preschoolers Week and the book that was Kansas Center for the Book chose as this year's title is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by the late Bill Martin, Jr.  I love this book, as I love everything that Martin ever wrote.  The rhythm of the text and the bright illustrations just beg to be enjoyed by kids. I was thrilled that over 30 children were present at story time today. I also provided some early literacy activities for the children and caregivers to do at home.  If anyone needs extra copies of the activities, please let me know. Happy Reading!

National Gaming Day is Saturday, November 12th.  The library is hosting gaming activities for members of the gaming club. Games will begin at 11:30am in the library meeting room. At noon, gamers will compete in the national Smash Brothers tournament, competing against other libraries across the nation.
For more information, contact the library at 326-2011 and ask for the children's desk.

The Summer Reading Program "One World, Many Stories" is ending for the year. This year, the library was excited to be able to give books as prizes to all the participants.  Over 200 young people participated in the program this year. 

May is here and that means that the summer reading program is right around the corner. We are so excited about our theme this year - One World, Many Stories. Get ready to take an adventure around the world with us! Registration begins on May 16th.

It's time to Be Creative @ the library! Summer reading is in full swing. The library has been a busy place all month. In addition to the story times, the library has offered a drama club and an art lab. We're having a great time...come and join us!

We have a lot going on at the library right now. Our preschool story times started again in January. We will have those every Thursday morning at 10:00 am until spring break.
It's time again for the Reading Rainbow KPTS Young Writer's and Illustrator's Contest. The contest is open to children in grades K-3. Official rules and entry forms are available at the childrens desk.
Look for our newsletter to start up again. We will have lists of new books and news about our upcoming summer reading program.
Check out my reviews of books for older readers on the GoodReads link. New picture books will be listed on the LibraryThing link. Both can be found on the blog.
Happy Reading.

We have added some great new titles to the shelves. Many of these have been on the New York Times Bestsellers List.
Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo
A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker
Big Words for Little People by Jamie Lee Curtis
If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff
Bats at the Library by Brian Lies
Madam President by Lane Smith
Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton
Bear Feels Scared by Karma Wilson

New books are on display on the brown shelving as you enter the library. Come check them out!

I recently The Underneath by Kathi Appelt. A new addition to the children's library, I have seen it showing up on many mock Newbery lists. The book cover shows a hound dog and kittens underneath a porch and the jacket flap leads one to believe that it is a simple animal story. Rest assured, there is nothing simple about this multi-layered fantasy about good and evil, love and hate and all its power.
The story is set in a bayou where an evil man, known as Gar Face, lives with a hound dog. His is a sad story but he is not a sympathetic character. He traps and skins animals and mistreats the old dog. A mother cat, seeking refuge, moves in with the dog under the porch despite the constant threat that she and her kittens will be discovered. The kittens are special and must survive.
There is an old tree, dying in the bayou. At its roots is a jar containing a cotton mouth snake, a selkie thousands of years old. Her story is told alternately with the cat's story in a gripping tale that you can't put down. The past and the present collide in an unforgettable climax that the reader won't soon forget.
Expecting one thing in a book and getting another was not wholly unpleasant. This story grabbed me and held me from beginning to end with a satisfying enough ending which demonstrates while evil and hate are strong, love can conquer all.
This book is suitable for readers at the 4th or 5th grade level and above. If you read it, let me know what you think.

When you come to visit, you may notice that things are not in their usual places. Don't panic! We are revamping the children's area to make it more efficient. The beginning readers are not gone, they have been moved behind the picture books. We are removing the shelves where they formerly sat to make room for a new computer desk. If you can't find what you need, please be sure to ask one of us for help.

We are so excited about our new picture books. There are books by some of our favorite authors and some exciting new choices. Some of our new titles include Hilda Must Be Dancing by Karma Wilson, Mouse Island by Eve Bunting, Aaaarrgghh Spider! By Lydia Monks, Finklehopper Frog by Irene Livingston, The Boy Who Loved Bananas by George Elliott, Mother, Mother I Want Another by Maria Polushkin Robbins, I’m a Duck by Teri Sloat and Animals Are Sleeping by Suzanne Slade,

For beginning readers, we have added more titles by Harriet Ziefert. These books are written with 50 words or 100 words. The Reader’s Clubhouse books are phonics based.

Fans of the Dog Watch series by Mary Casanova will be happy to see books 4-6 in the series. There is a new series called Time Spies written by Candice Ransom which combine history, biography, mystery and adventure in one package for readers on a third grade level. Mystery lovers will enjoy the new Cabin Creek mysteries by Kristiana Gregory.

We have added some great new nonfiction titles as well. Chickens May Not Cross the Road and Other Crazy But True Laws by Kathi Linz; two Boys’ Life titles, Real-Life Robots and Really Big Things; two new art books, 123 I Can Draw and 123 I Can Make Prints by Irene Luxbacher and an Extreme Reader series by Teresa Domnauer including the titles Arachnid Attack, Odd Birds, Peculiar Pets, and Warning Snakes.

Can you believe that the summer reading program will end next week? We have had a lot of fun these past two months. The Buggy Picnic is the finale of the summer and is scheduled for Thursday, July 24th at 11:00 am. Everyone who has participated in the program this summer is invited. Awards and prizes will be handed out to all participants. Reserve your spot by visiting or calling the children's desk and getting your name on the list. See you there!

Wow! It was a really busy month at the Children's Library in June. Almost 600 children attended story time programs with their parents. It has been really great to see everyone in the library! Keep it up!!!
I won't be posting a book of the day until after the end of summer reading. You probably knew that since I didn't post at all in June. We will get back on schedule in August, at least that is the plan.
Watch for all the green Catch the Reading Bug t-shirts around town. Thanks again to the Friends of the Library for purchasing them for the summer reading participants.
Have a great holiday weekend. Be safe and hope to have some updates on the Premier Bugologist competition up next week.

Tonight we are having a Fancy Nancy party at the library. Everyone is going to dress in their fanciest clothes and have fancy snacks and fancy crafts with lots of glitter! There are lots of books for the fancy readers out there.
Jane O'Connor has written three Fancy Nancy picture books which are illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. These are Fancy Nancy, Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy and Fancy Nancy, Bonjour Butterfly. These books have hardly stayed on the shelf. We added two Fancy Nancy beginning readers: Fancy Nancy and the Boy from Paris and Fancy Nancy at the Museum. On a book shopping expedition last week, we were able to get the latest book Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words. From A to Z, she has a fancy word for every letter.
If you like other fancy books, check out Pinkalicious and Purplicious by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann. These are also great favorites among our fancy crowd.
Another new book on the shelf is Sassafras Goes to Hollywood by Lynn Hirshfield. Princess Sassafras is not an ordinary poodle. She is a Royal Bedrosian Long-Necked Spotted Poodle and she finally has her chance to go to Hollywood. Will she make it or will her ego get in the way? It's a fun adventure and a great story.

The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! by Mo Willems arrived today. It is every bit as funny as the previous pigeon books. The Pigeon talks to the reader about why he really, really wants a puppy. Does he? The simple illustrations are expressive. As always, you feel everything that Pigeon feels. This is a wonderful continuation of the Pigeon series.

If you enjoyed Punk Farm by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, you will have to read Punk Farm On Tour. The first book showed our punk rock barn band holding a local concerts without Farmer Joe finding out. The rendition of "Old McDonald Had a Farm" is hilarious. The second book has the animals going on tour across the country while Farmer Joe heads to the National Tractor Society Conference in Reno. As they roll in the Rock Van, they perform their unique rendition of "Wheels on the Van". Will they get back to the farm before Farmer Joe? The illustrations are clever and the text is engaging. These are a must read for all the little rock & roll barn band fans out there.

Tex & Sugar: A Big City Kitty Ditty by Barbara Johansen Newman is a wonderful book about making dreams come true. Tex Mex Rex and Sugar Lee Snughead are country singing cats who leave home looking to make it big and the stage. Life in the big city isn't as easy as they think until they meet each other. This is a fun read aloud with great illustrations and has a wonderful feeling. A great book to share.

Wow! April is a busy month. I have really fallen behind in my book and poetry posts. There are a lot of holidays still coming up. We have books for every occasion.

National Library Week - Check out The Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen or The Boy Who was Raised by Librarians by Carla Morris.

Earth Day and Arbor Day - This is a great time to read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss or Our Tree Named Steve by Alan Zweibel.

National Dance Day - Read Angelina Ballerina by Katherine Holabird or Katy Duck, Dance Star by Alyssa Satin Capucilli.

El Dia de Los Ninos/Children's Day - We have lots of great bilingual books and Dora & Diego books to celebrate the day.

Baseball Season - Our favorites are Casey Back at Bat by Dan Gutman and Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Check out the Step up to the Plate @ your library promotion and get your game book here.

Of course, we are celebrating National Poetry Month. We have great selections for all ages.

Stop by. We look forward to seeing you!

Banananananananana

I thought I'd win the spelling bee

And get right to the top,

But I started to spell “banana”,

And I didn't know when to stop.

~~William Cole

For Laughing Out Loud: Poems to Tickle Your Funnybone

Moo Who? by Margie Palatini is a fabulously funny book. Hilda Mae Heifer gets conked on the head by a cowpie and forgets how to moo. Will she get her memory back? The book is clever and children will love to make the animal sounds when the book is read aloud. It is a good story for preschoolers and up.

April Rain Song

Let the rain kiss you,

Let the rain beat upon your head with liquid silver drops.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk.

The rain makes running pools in the gutter.

The rain plays a little sleep-song on our roof at night--

And I love the rain.

--Langston Hughes

The Dream Keeper and Other Poems

Not a Box by Antoinette Portis is a fun adventure of imagination. When asked what he is doing with the box, the rabbit says it is his not-a-box and imagines all sorts of uses for it. The pictures are simple but encourage children to use their imaginations. A great companion to Not a Stick by the same author.

One of the new favorites in the library is Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann & Elizabeth Kann. This is a fun book about Pinkalicious, a little girl who loves the color pink more than anything. She especially loves to eat pink cupcakes. When she eats too many, she turns pink. Will she stay pink forever? This is a popular picture book, perfect for little girls. If you like Pinkalicious, check out its companion Purplicious. Both are in the picture book section of the library filed under J KANN.

I love the book Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. If you have ever dealt with a child who is a picky eater, this is a must read for you both. Little Pea hates having to eat candy at every meal but can't have dessert unless he does. The humor is tongue in cheek, the text is simple and the illustrations are charming. It's new to our shelves and has been a popular choice among parents and young readers.