Monday, January 25, 2016

A Bit of Awesome

January in Western Pennsylvania can be a bit... gray. The snow has finally set in, for better or worse, and there's more on the way.

This seems like the perfect time to stock up on some inspiration.

Some of my favorite things to watch when I'm feeling blah are the video messages from Kid President (aka Robby Novak) . For those who have never seen him, Kid President is an enthusiastic 9-year-old who wants to see all of us make the world a better place. He has videos for students and teachers, videos made with President Obama, and videos inviting you to join in a Dance-a-thon.


But mostly, Kid President wants to challenge us to be better. Kids and adults can both respond to his calls for a more awesome world.

If Kid President's call to awesome has inspired you, come and check out more stories that can help you and your family be more awesome everyday (even in this weather).

The Most Magnificent Thing

One day, a young girl who enjoys creating things decides to build something truly special. So, after drawing diagrams, hiring an assistant (aka her best-pal pooch), and collecting materials, she establishes her sidewalk workshop. But, alas, bringing vision to fruition isn't easy. Progressively, excitement and confidence wane, motivation turns to meltdown then to defeat (I'm no good at this. I QUIT!). Happily, some timely dog walking brings clarity, calm, and an inspiration for an imaginative solution that just might work.


Think Big

Art is so much more than easels and paintbrushes as this delightful new picture book by two exciting talents makes clear. Follow along as a classroom of exuberant young kids explore art and the power of creativity in its most varied forms-painting, music, writing, cooking, performing ... there's no end to where their imaginations can take them!





The sheep in this story is a dreamer, while her friend the wolf has a more practical disposition. One day the sheep runs to the wolf with an idea. She wants to build a flying machine! But the wolf tells her it's impossible. Eventually, however, the sheep's dream gets the better of the wolf's doubts, and they begin to work on the project together. Through perseverance and the process of trial and error, the sheep and wolf manage to create a winning design, brought to life by architecturally and mathematically inspired paper collage art. At the end of this whimsical tale, even the wolf has to admit that anything is possible!

The Dangerous Book for Boys

In this digital age there is still a place for knots, skimming stones and stories of incredible courage. This book recaptures Sunday afternoons, stimulates curiosity, and makes for great father-son activities. The brothers Conn and Hal have put together a wonderful collection of all things that make being young or young at heart fun--building go-carts and electromagnets, identifying insects and spiders, and flying the world's best paper airplanes.









The Daring Book for Girls is the manual for everything that girls need to know--and that doesn't mean sewing buttonholes! Whether it's female heroes in history, secret note-passing skills, science projects, friendship bracelets, double dutch, cats cradle, the perfect cartwheel or the eternal mystery of what boys are thinking, this book has it all. But it's not just a guide to giggling at sleepovers--although that's included, of course! Whether readers consider themselves tomboys, girly-girls, or a little bit of both, this book is every girl's invitation to adventure.

Monday, January 18, 2016

New Season, New Storytime Songs and Rhymes

Every season, I like to change up the songs and rhymes we do in our storytimes for babies and toddlers.  It keeps us the librarians on our toes and gives a whole new repetoire for little ones to learn and love.  I only change it 3 times a year so that all the little ones (and me!) have time to really learn the words, movements and tunes.  As we say in the children's librarian profession:

Repeat Repeat Repeat! 

Repetition is amazingly helpful to your little one and as much as you might tire of a song (or a book!) believe it or not, it's great to sing and read the same things over and over and over.

This season, I thought I'd link to the songs we'll be singing in case any of you would like to do any of these songs on non-library days (is there such a thing?)

So, if you're coming to Baby Circle Time on Wednesdays @ 9:30, here's what we're doing:

You'll notice, these are ALL from a great duo, JBrary.  They're a great team of children's librarians in Canada who are our professional rock stars.  We LOVE them!  They always have lots of great songs, rhymes and books to share.  Here's their website if you'd like to check them out.  


If you're coming to Toddler Storytime every Wednesday at 10:30, here's what we're up to January - April:
Again, lots of songs from JBrary!  

Monday, January 11, 2016

2016 Youth Media Awards

This morning the Youth Media Awards were announced.  Here are some of the winners (find other winners and honor books here):

Newbery (children's)

Winner
Honor Book
Honor Book
Honor Book


Caldecott (illustrations)

Winner

Honor Book
Honor Book
Honor Book
Honor Book


Coretta Scott King (African American author)
Winner

Coretta Scott King (African American illustrator)
Winner


Printz (teen)
Winner
Honor Book
Honor Book


Schneider Family (disability experience)
Winner


Stonewall (children's or teen GLBTQ experience)

Winner

Seuss Geisel (beginning reader)
Winner

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Odyssey Awards


So here's some fun news: I've been asked to take part in the 2017 ALA Award Committee for the annual Odyssey Awards.  The award, among the Newbery, Caldecott and Printz Awards given annually, is awarded to the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults in the US. The 2015 winner was H.O.R.S.E. A Game of Basketball and Imagination, written by Christopher Meyers, produced by Live Oak Media (sadly, no libraries in our county own the audioCD).  Past winners include The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, produced by Brilliance Audio (2013) and The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, produced by Recorded Books (2009). The award was born in 2008 and named for Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey as its stories were shared primarily in the oral tradition.  The committee boasts 9 members each year.  I'm one of 4 children's librarians appointed in the whole country!  Wahoo!  At the end of the Mid-Winter American Library Association conference next week, my time will begin and finish at the completion of the 2017 Mid-Winter ALA conference. The Youth Media Awards are announced every January (this year, on 1/11 at 8 AM) so my listening-work will commence at the end of this month. Publishers will send all the committee members pre-pub audiobooks directly - one of the best parts of being on an awards committee!  My background is in writing and education and I'm a greedy reader of books of all kinds, particularly, as you know, picture books and both fiction and nonfiction for children but I love books for grown-ups too - Anne Tyler and Bill Bryson are among my favorites. I just recently finished listening to Mary Poppins In the Park by P.L.Travers (available for free on Hoopla!)