Looking for Good Read-Alouds?

Are you looking for good read-alouds for children? You should check out the nominees for the 2009 E.B. White Read Aloud Awards. These awards, established in 2004, honor books that reflect the universal read-aloud standards that were created by the work of the author E.B. White in his classic books for children--Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan. There are two categories: Picture Books and Older Readers.

Books are nominated for their universal appeal as a “terrific” book to read aloud. The Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC) receives a list of book nominations, which is pared down to a short list of four books in each category. A committee of booksellers, chaired by an ABC board member, then decides the winners. Here are the winners and honor books chosen this year:

E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Picture Books:
A Visitor for Bear
By Bonny Becker
Bear's efforts to keep out visitors to his house are undermined by a very persistent mouse.

E.B. White Read Aloud Picture Book Honors:
Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken
By Kate DiCamillo
Longing for adventure, intrepid Louise leaves her comfortable nest and goes to sea.

One
By Kathryn Otoshi
A number/color book that reminds us that it just takes one to make everyone count.

Too Many Toys
By David Shannon
Although he finally agrees that he has too many toys and needs to give them away, there is one toy that Spencer absolutely cannot part with.

E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Older Readers:
Masterpiece
By Elise Broach
After Marvin, who is a beetle, makes a miniature drawing as an eleventh birthday gift for James, a human with whom he shares a house, the two new friends work together to help recover a Durer drawing stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

E.B. White Read Aloud Older Reader Honors:
The Magic Thief
By Sarah Prineas
A young thief is drawn into a life of magic and adventure after picking the pocket of the powerful wizard Nevery Flinglas, who has returned from exile to try to reverse the troubling decline of magic in Wellmet City.

The Willoughbys
By Lois Lowry
In this tongue-in-cheek take on classic themes in children's literature, the four Willoughby children set about to become "deserving orphans" after their neglectful parents embark on a treacherous around-the-world adventure, leaving them in the care of an odious nanny.

Zorgamazoo
By Robert Paul Weston
Imaginative and adventurous Katrina eludes her maniacal guardian to help Morty, a member of a vanishing breed of zorgles, with his quest to uncover the fate of the fabled zorgles of Zorgmazoo as well as of other creatures that seem to have disappeared from the earth.

Looking for book ideas for boys?

Are you looking for book ideas for boys? You should check out Jon Scieszka's Guys Read web site. It's a web-based literacy program for boys whose mission is "to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers."

Book recommendations are listed by category, such as "Outer space, but without aliens," "Mysterious Occurrences," and "Monkeys and/or Apes," just to name a few. October's book-of-the-month is the non-fiction Battle in the Arctic Sea, and the New Book on the Pile is Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem by Mac Barnett.

Jon Scieszka (pronounced CHESS-ka) wrote The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, the Time Warp Trio series, and Squids Will Be Squids, among other books. He is also the first (and current) Children's Ambassador for Young People's Literature.

This blog is worth a look!

The Latest Movies Based on Kids' Books

Seems lately that best-selling books translate well to the big screen. Here's a run-down of the latest ones:

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Based on the book by Judi Barrett
Movie Release: September 18, 2009
In the land of Chewandswallow, food (rather than rain or snow) falls from the sky. But something goes awry -- the food falling from the sky gets larger and larger, causing residents to make an escape before being squashed by giant pancakes.
CAST: Anna Faris, Bill Hader, Bruce Campbell, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Tracy Morgan, Mr. T

Where the Wild Things Are
Based on the book by Maurice Sendak
Movie Release: October 16, 2009
Max is sent to bed without supper and imagines sailing away to the land of Wild Things. Max is loved by the wild creatures who make him their king, though he soon longs to be back home with his family.
CAST: Max Records, Catherine Keener, Pepita Emmerichs, Forest Whittaker, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)
Based on the book by Rick Riordan
Movie Release: February 12, 2010
Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson learns he is a demigod -- the son of a mortal woman and a Greek god. He and his new friends set out on a cross-country adventure to catch whoever stole the lightning bolt and to settle an ongoing battle between the gods.
CAST: Logan Lerman, Catherine Keener, Alexandra Daddario, Pierce Brosnan, Jake Abel, Demitri Lekkos

Middle School Mysteries

If you're looking for a fun mystery series for middle schoolers, check out the following:

Chasing Vermeer
By Blue Balliett
Illustrated by Brett Helquist

When a book of unexplainable occurrences brings sixth graders Petra and Calder together, strange things start to happen: Seemingly unrelated events connect, an eccentric old woman seeks their company, and an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal, where no one is spared from suspicion. But tracking down the Vermeer isn’t easy, as Calder and Petra try to figure out what a set of pentominos (mathematical puzzle pieces), a mysterious book about unexplainable phenomena and their nervous teacher have to do with a centuries old artwork. Can they solve a crime that has stumped even the FBI?
Sometime called The DaVinci Code for kids, Chasing Vermeer will have middle grade readers scrutinizing art books as they try to solve the mystery along with Calder and Petra. In an added bonus, artist Brett Helquist has also hidden a secret pentomino message in several of the book’s illustrations for readers to decode.

SEQUEL TO CHASING VERMEER:
The Wright 3
By Blue Balliett
Illustrated by Brett Helquist

Spring semester at the Lab School in Hyde Park finds Petra and Calder drawn into another mystery when unexplainable accidents and ghostly happenings throw a spotlight on Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, and it's up to the two young sleuths to piece together the clues. They become tangled in a dangerous web thanks to the return of Calder's friend Tommy, H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man, 3-D pentominoes, and the hunt for a coded message left behind by Wright.

SEQUEL TO THE WRIGHT 3:
The Calder Game
By Blue Balliett
Illustrated by Brett Helquist

When Calder Pillay travels with his father to a remote village in England, he finds mazes and mystery, including an unexpected Alexander Calder sculpture in the town square. Calder is strangely drawn to the sculpture, while other people have less-than-friendly feelings towards it. Both the boy and the sculpture seem to be out of place…and then, on the same night, they disappear! Calder's friends Petra and Tommy must fly out to help his father find him. But this mystery has many twists and turns that will keep readers guessing!

Award Nomination - I Love My Librarian!

Have you been impressed by a librarian in your community? Now's your chance to nominate that person for a special award! The "I Love My Librarian" award is sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and The New York Times. Nominations close Oct. 9, 2009. Winners will be announced in early November.

According to the American Library Association, librarians in our country’s 123,000 libraries make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans every day. On the nomination form, you can explain why your librarian should receive this prestigious honor.

Each of the up to ten librarians selected will receive $5,000 and will be recognized at a special awards ceremony. Nominations are being accepted in three categories: public librarians, school media specialists, and college, community college and university librarians.

To access the nomination form, click on this link: http://www.ilovelibraries.org/lovemylibrarian/public.cfm.

Chester County Library Fall Storytime Registration

Registration for Chester County Library's Fall Storytimes is on Tuesday, September 1st, at 9:30 am. You may register for one five-week session, and you must register IN PERSON. Children must be the required age when the session begins. Check out our web site at http://www.ccls.org/ for more information and for storytimes at other CCLS libraries!

Get Ready for Kindergarten - Book List

With my daughter’s PreK graduation a few weeks away, we have been getting excited for kindergarten! I have been bringing home a lot of picture books to share with her to ease those jitters. Here is a list of “Get Ready for Kindergarten” books. Share them all summer long so you and your little one will be ready for September, too!

Who Will Go to Kindergarten Today? by Karl Ruhmann
The Night Before Kindergarten by Natasha Wing
Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate
Tiptoe Into Kindergarten by Jacqueline Rogers
Countdown to Kindergarten by Alison McGhee
Kindergarten Kids by Ellen B. Senisi
Kindergarten Rocks by Katie Davis
Kindergarten Countdown by Anna Jane Hays
Little Bear Goes to Kindergarten by Jutta Langreuter
Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come! by Nancy Carlson
Ms. Bitsy Bat’s Kindergarten by Pamela Duncan Edwards
Off to Kindergarten by Tony Johnston
A Place Called Kindergarten by Jessica Harper
Welcome to Kindergarten by Anne Rockwell
Kindergarten ABC by Jacqueline Rogers
Tom Goes to Kindergarten by Margaret Wild
My First Day of School by Nancy J. Skarmeas
Will I Have a Friend? by Miriam Cohen
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
A Pocket Full of Kisses by Audrey Penn
I Love You All Day Long by Francesca Rusackas
The Berenstain Bears Go To School by Stan & Jan Berenstain

Suzanne M., Spring City Public Library