Deadline Approaching - and a Giveaway!

Saturday is the LAST DAY to nominate children's and YA books for the Cybils Award in any categories. As a little extra motivation, we are offering a free copy of one of the titles that has already been nominated in the Fiction Picture Book category:

9780545883788

$17.99

You can read our review here, and an interview with Eric Litwin here. 

All you have to do to be entered to win a copy of this book is 1) Go to this link and nominate at least one title in any category, then 2) Come back here and leave a comment telling us what you nominated, along with contact information in the event that you win. Already submitted your nomination? Totally counts, just let us know in the comments!

Here are some Fiction Picture Book titles that have yet to make the list, but which might be worth a look:

Dirt + Water = Mud by Katherine Hannigan 9780062345172

A Squiggly Story by Andrew Larsen 9781771380164

A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers 9780763690779

Snapsy the Alligator Did Not Ask to Be in This Book by Julie Falatko 9780451469458

This is Not a Picture Book by Sergio Ruzzier 9781452129075

Bear & Hare Share by Emily Gravett 9781481462174
Mervin the Sloth is About to Do the Best Thing in the World by Venable 9780062338471
Home at Last by Vera B. Williams 9780061349737
Can I Tell You a Secret? by Anna Kang 9780062396846
Otter Goes to School by Sam Garton 9780062352255


For Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction:

The Poet's Dog by Patricia Maclachlan 9780062292629

For Middle Grade Fiction:

Six Kids and a Stuffed Cat by Gary Paulsen 9781481452236

But, hurry! Nominations close in just a few days, and I will be picking a winner at random from the comments Sunday evening!

(U.S. addresses only, please!)

Review: Big Brands series from Lerner

I love Lerner's nonfiction, have I mentioned that a dozen or more times yet? Especially the junior readers - large, bright pictures, accurate text broken into eye-pleasing chunks, and sturdy binding that makes my librarian heart go pitter-pat. 

This series is for older kids (middle grades), but the visuals and binding are still pleasing.

9781512405880

$26.65 (or $19.99 from Lerner right now!)

9781512405903

$26.65 ($19.99)

Other titles so far include Minecraft and Samsung. All are names that many kids in this age group knew before they realized their mother had a name besides "Mom".

Lerner's web site only had cover photos, so bear with my amateur photography here:

As you can see, the publishers make the effort to keep even the table of contents from looking dry and boring. A seventh grader who needs to write a report, and who isn't incredibly enthused about the idea, might flip this open and decide it's a little more doable. 

Different fonts and 'chunking' of text help deliver a decent amount of information, without readers feeling like they are too bogged down.

Hey, I ate at that McDonald's in Mosccow! I still have a place mat from it!

 Pie graphs and side bars add to the visuals as well as to the information contained. And, of course, the photographs are both visually appealing and informative. I got a kick out of the servers from many years ago standing next to the line of cars, outside the building, to take orders. No talking into a static-filled metal box! I'm not so sure we have progressed in some areas...

Something extra for the middle school teachers; both of the titles I looked at include steps and examples for creating a marketing plan. Once you have an overview of how each company was founded, and learn how it found its niche and expanded, why not try your hand at it yourself? 

Who knows, you may ignite the fire of free enterprise in some of your students. Challenge them to come up with a marketing plan for something the school could do to raise money, or something they could do for extra funds for themselves. (Hmm...I remember a certain little brother selling slightly off-color t-shirts at my high school, then raising the price when the administration banned them. He is now a pretty successful adult working in marketing. But...er...you may not want to use that story as an example.)

At any rate, this looks like a solid series for a school library (middle or high school), and one that math or business teachers could have fun with in class! We will be watching to see if more titles are added to the series.

*These titles have not yet been nominated for Cybils, hint hint!

Builder's Club at the Library

How to have a successful program while expending little to no effort:

1. Advertise that there will be Legos and other building materials.

2. Open the door.

Of course, this can be a very expensive program unless you 

a) have wonderful donations (including boxes of duplos that arrived as the program began!), and 

b) can convince your kids to let you bring their collection to the library once a month.

We only spent about $70 on base plates and people, but we have been saving and begging FOREVER.

We started this last month, and I just advertised within other library programs at first to see how it would go. This month I ventured out onto Facebook, and our attendance more than doubled, but there was still plenty of fun for everyone!

Of course, nothing is quite so heartbreaking as spending hours on a creation, and then being told to tear it apart. We don't have room to display everything, but I promised to put any Lego creations in our big glass display case. It took some maneuvering, but they all fit! (And then I didn't have to find a place to store the Legos until next month)

This one took several people working almost the whole two hours.

The Golden Palace, complete with a spinning table and a crown.

They are taking the crystal to a museum. The stories the kids told were as much fun as the creations!

Halloween party! There is a teeny tiny spider on top of the yellow dome thing.

Teleportation device. There is a wheel on the other side that you spin to get it going, and buttons to program where you want to go. 

Made by the kids who love to camp by the lake, go figure! And yes, that appears to be Abe Lincoln in one of those boats.

Best of all, everyone automatically cleaned up when the time was through, so everything was sorted into the proper containers for me. Can I just say I love my parents?!

Playdate Picnic at the Library

Why is starting something new so nerve-wracking? Even when you have done it before? The regular preschool program routine of stories and crafts is familiar and comfortable, but everything gets a bit stale after a while. One of the things I hear often from parents is that they bring their kids to story time so they can be around other kids. For some kids (and parents), sitting together on the rug or at the craft table is enough to form bff relationships, but others need a little more purposeful but relaxed interaction.

With that in mind, I took a portion of our old lapsit programs, stole a program name from another library, and this week launched a monthly Playdate Picnic. Generally speaking, parents bring an early lunch or snack for themselves and their kids, and I put out some sort of semi-educational creative play items, and we just see what happens.

Since we are starting in October, dress-ups were a natural first choice! They are also not something I am lacking at home, so I carefully washed everything we had on hand, and added a few items from the dollar store.

No pictures of the program, because I was too busy having fun, but both days went well! Wednesday's group was a little more gregarious than Monday's - it's funny how you get a different mix each time. Monday's kids were more interested in using ME as a dress-up doll, which was unexpected but loads of fun! One little girl had the most infectious laugh, which she would launch into every time they added a costume piece to my head.

I made snacks to share, which helped break the ice - pumpkin bread on Monday and pumpkin cookies on Wednesday, because - October! I put them up on a table away from the costumes, with ingredients posted, so parents could steer their kids away without drama if necessary.

We had hand mirrors to look at ourselves in. I wish I had funds (and space) for a big, sturdy stand-alone mirror! One hand mirror hit the ground hard and broke Wednesday, but no injuries. It was one of those more-plastic-than-glass types, and I was able to get right there and clean up all the pieces.

I also brought in some board books that featured clothing. That helped on Monday with some of the shyer kids - they squatted down next to me and we looked at the pictures together. With some of the babies I put semi-sheer scarves over my face and tried to get them to pull them off.

All in all a success, I think, and a couple parents thanked me for having it. Next month our theme will be building - duplos, mega-blox, and some newly donated Lincoln Logs!

Review: Halloweeny Picture Books

It's October! Let the Halloweening begin! (Yes, I know, it began at Walmart in July, but I'm a purist on somethings.)

Two books today from Harper Collins:

9780062264480

$16.99

Grimelda’s house may not be tidy, but it’s cozy, and that’s just the way she likes it. She also likes pickle pie. There’s only one problem—she can’t find the main ingredient in her messy house!

Okay, my house may always be a bit of a mess, but NEVER my cooking supplies! This, after all, is my spice rack:

One of them, anyway. Yes, it's alphabetized, why are you even asking?

Grimelda, on the other hand, really needs that pickle root, so after trying everything else, she finally has to resort to...cleaning the house. She finds all manner of neat things she hasn't seen in a long time, scaring up wonderful puns along the way (her ratty clothes have rats peeking out of the pockets - the illustrations are a treasure trove!) 

The pickle root, of course, is not found until everything is spic and span, and Grimelda is amazed at how neat everything looks. What does she decide to do about it? Well, you'll just have to read and find out. A silly, sing-songy crowd-pleaser, just right for story times. Plenty of craft and activity extensions - making up spell words, drawing goofy ingredients, or even - gasp - cleaning your room!

9780062380616

$17.99

When Halloween comes around, Enzo doesn’t know what to expect. Jack-o’-lanterns light up the streets, giant spiders weave webs on porches, and ordinary lawns become creepy graveyards while every child and dog transforms into a creature of some kind—including Enzo!

Enzo the dragon is determined to protect fairy princess Zoë from the monsters and goblins in their neighborhood, but when things get a little too scary, his family is there to reassure him that everything is make-believe and only meant to be fun—just like the wonderful trick-or-treat parade that ends this spook-tastic night! 

We are not into dressing dogs up in costumes.

Well, okay, but only if it's really cute and it matches ours.

This is one of those picture book series spun off of a popular adult novel/movie. Those usually have mixed results (hello Marley, I see you.) I have mixed feelings about this particular title. While it is meant to be reassuring (Enzo is afraid of the Halloween sights and sounds, but of course ends up having fun), there is much said at the beginning about demons being released into the house - really?? Not the wording I would have chosen - nor is it wording I care to explain to a four-year-old. While the story line in general shows how confusing pretend things can be to a dog or small child, it was a bit too much on the scary side for the intended age group. It will go on the shelves, but not into a story time.

***Neither of these titles has been nominated for Cybils yet!

Get Those Nominations In!

Cybils nominations opened Saturday, and you have just two short weeks to nominate your favorite title in each category! Yes, you! One of the beauties of the Cybils Awards is, it doesn't matter who your publisher is, who your agent is (or if you even have one), or who you know. Anybody can nominate a book - you can even nominate your own book, provided it was published, in English, for the first time in the past twelve months. Of course it has to be reasonably available in print, so I can't nominate Sheridan this time - maybe next year! Click on this link for the full rules and categories (please read the descriptions carefully), and start filling up those lists. The panelists are itching to get started, so give us plenty of titles to keep us busy!

Editing to add some screen shots. Start off at this link, which will take you to this page:

Clicking on "Public Nominations" will take you to this form:

Creating an account is pretty simple, and it brings you to this screen:

As you see, you can go back and nominate things later for categories you aren't sure of yet. Or, if other people keep 'taking' the titles you had picked, which is what keeps happening to me in MG Fiction.

If you need suggestions, I have some for a few categories! I would also be happy to put in titles for someone else for audio books and graphic novels, since I don't have favorites in those categories. Just comment or message me!

When you are ready to nominate in a category, click on that button, and you will see this:

Very handy if you don't happen to have the book or its ISBN on hand! Just type in the title, and it will come up with a list of suggestions, and you can click on the one you meant. See, easy as pie! And try not to nominate things for the wrong category, especially if you are a judge, it's a little embarrassing (thanks for fixing that, Jennifer!)

***Edited again to provide links to other bloggers' suggestions, in case you are drawing a complete blank on what has been published this year! Check out the lists at:

Charlotte's Library

Jean Little Library

Log Cabin Library

(more to come!)

Interviewing Bloggers: Bridget from Bridget and the Books

So, I have a new favorite blogger, and...she's 7! Bridget and the Books is only a few months old, but she already has an impressive mix of reviews and interviews under her belt. I have especially enjoyed reading about some of her other experiences, such as her trip to her grandparents' farm. Run over and take a look - today, she has an interview with me! Turnabout is fair play, so I asked her a few questions as well, which she and her mother answered together:

How long have you been blogging? Bridget started at the end of June. Melissa (aka Mom) has a long past as a blogger.

What got you started? Bridget wanted to start a vlog and review toys. Melissa and Ted (aka Dad) didn't want to take on that work load, so suggested a blog.

How do you decide what books to review? Bridget reviews whatever she is currently reading. She has also started to receive requests from authors to read their books. She agrees to read everything but no guarantee she will like it.

Who do you think your main audience is? We can't tell just yet. Everything is growing really fast. We know authors read it and it seems librarians are starting to. The stats do show an international audience. 

How much time do you spend on your blog during the week? Bridget probably spends an average of 10 minutes a day working on posts and comments. Sometimes she and Melissa will write a whole bunch of posts on Sunday mornings. Melissa spends a lot more time on this as she does all the admin/online management. 

Do you think blogging helps you with your school work (or in any other areas?) Bridget doesn't start school until next week but the grownups have noticed a self confidence boost. She is learning how to express herself in an appropriate manner and what good feedback looks like. 

What do your friends think about your blog? I haven't seen my friends this summer. I spent most of it with my grandparents out of state.  I know the adults in my life think it is cool.

***Update from Bridget, now that school has started: 

"My friends think it is cool I have a blog. I am currently asking the authors and illustrators to send my school letters of encouragement." Awesome idea! Authors and illustrators, get on that!!

What is the most interesting experience you have had so far as a blogger? The most interesting person you have met? Probably being on Kids Place Live and making book recommendations.  I was really excited to meet Guy Raz in person. He is super cool.