Kids Blog

After a few days of rainy weather you may be looking for a pick me up, and “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” by Judi Barrett is just the ticket to chase the gloom away.  In the town of Chewandswallow, clouds don't bring rain or snow. They bring dinner (and lunch and breakfast). People just take their plates and bowls outside and catch the meal of the day. But what happens when storms brew? How do you handle pea soup fog? Will the residents survive the food weather catastrophe? Put "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" on your plate and find out!

    Oliver Olson’s problem is over-protective parents.  When his third grade teacher opens a space unit by asking, “How many of you would like to walk on the moon?”, Oliver doesn’t raise his hand.  “Oliver’s parents would never let him walk on the moon.  The moon was too far away.  It was too cold.  It didn’t have enough gravity. The rocket might explode.”  And when his teacher announces that the whole class is invited to a space sleepover at school, he knows he won’t be allowed to go.  Ever since Oliver was a sickly preschooler, his parents have worried about him too much.

Today, Sesame Street turns 40 years old. As a child of the '70's, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, and Grover became my very close pals. The music–from the uplifting "Sunny Days" intro theme to the swinging "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-tweeeelve" pinball disco song–became personal anthems. I learned phonics from the letter of the day and counting from...who else?...The Count.

Right now there is a sick kid upstairs, reading and coughing. And laughing, in between coughs. "Mom, this book is hilarious!" he manages to squeak out, somewhat breathlessly. When I ask what the book is, I'm told, "This Book is Not Good For You," which doesn't sound like a promising read when you are ill. The plot summary includes something about adventure, chocolate, and kidnapping. And a narrator who writes himself into the story, sometimes even falling asleep for pages at a time.

“In fourteen hundred and ninety-two/ Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”  But there’s more to the story.  As Columbus Day approaches, take a new look at the explorer in Russell Freedman’s “Who Was First? Discovering the Americas.” 

 Lauren Thompson’s story begins, “This is the pie, warm and sweet, that Papa baked.”  But how did Papa make the pie?  Start with apples, “juicy and red,” then the tree, “crooked and strong,” and so on until we come to “the world, blooming with life, that spins with the sun, fiery and bright…” 
 Perfect for this time of year, “The Apple Pie That Papa Baked” is a rollicking picture book illustrated by Jonathan Bean in tones of cream, sepia, black and red, evoking classic illustrations by Virginia Lee Burton and Wanda Gag. 

Let your own imagination run wild with these books from our newest booklist.

Come vote for your favorite of the 3 pumpkins that library staff members decorated. There's "Some Pig," a tie in with Charlotte's Web, a Day of the Dead jack-o-lantern, and a howdy partner cowboy pumpkin. This is just one of the many fun things you can do @ your local library.

Halloween is October 31, 2009. We have scared up some great articles and booklists for you to learn more about this spooky holiday.

Halloween Fun
Get ready for some spooky good times! We found lots of games to play, stories to share, crafts and recipes beyond compare.

Halloween History
Did you know that Halloween is one of the world’s oldest holidays? It has gone through many changes, but was originally a Celtic festival called Samhain (pronounced sow-in), marking the end of harvest and the beginning of the new year (November 1st).

Spooky Stories
Ghoulish, ghastly and deliciously fun books for all ages!

Get the creepy crawlies with R. L. Stine. He's a master of conjuring things that go bump in the dark. Imagine you've just moved to the town of Dark Falls where you don't know anybody.