Monster Mini Golf @ the Library!

It was one of those things I always wanted to do. Play mini golf in the Library of course! Halloween seemed like the perfect time, plus I had a willing co-worker and a bunch of teen volunteers which was key. 

The weather cooperated (though it was tad windy) since we had 4 of the 9 holes outside. Ultimately, with the rest of the staff pitching in, it worked out great!
We had 3 time slots that families could sign up for - 4-5pm, 5-6pm, and 6-7pm. This kept the event from being crazy! We also limited it to 9 families per hour, mostly due to a limited number of clubs. If we had more, I think we could have done 12-15 families an hour. 
My partner in crime for this event, Christine, made up these great scorecards:

 We had some refreshments (Monster eyeballs and inspiration courtesy of Pinterest (Library Mini Golf Board) and a Halloween prize wheel I found at Oriental Trading

Here are the 9 monster-themed holes we created:

The Big Green Monster

 The Grinch

 Monster High

 Cookie Monster

 

 Storytime Friends

The Headless Horseman

 Frankie Stein

 It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

 The Spooks of Halloween

 Tired pumpkins at the end of the day!

 

Author/Illustrator Spotlight: James Marshall

While I was hunting for a book for our first "Next Chapter" Reading Club of the school year, I came across Rats on the Roof by James Marshall and knew it was the one. It is short - good for our first book, has animal characters so I don't have to debate the whole boy/girl thing already, and has that unmistakable James Marshall artwork on the cover that makes me love him. And love him I do.
Which makes this factoid all the weirder - he wrote (sometimes as Edward Marshall) and/or illustrated all his greatest stuff during the years I was not reading or appreciating them. Aside from maybe the first two in the George & Martha series, I was in middle or high school or college when he worked on things like:

 But I'm fairly certain I do remember this title he illustrated as something I read BEFORE learning about James Marshall's books in college and graduate school:

His simple characters (and that witch!) are now classic Marshall - they look at least familiar to anyone who has read his books to their children at some point. How he conveys so much with such simple faces and expressions reminds me so much of Charles Schulz.

At our Next Chapter meeting, we talked about his illustrative style, and tried our hand at creating our own characters from some James Marshall body parts and faces:

 So make sure your kids get to enjoy some James Marshall books while they're still young. Or sorta young. Oh, just read them no matter what age you are!

Summer - That's A Wrap (Despite the Weather Today!)

It's pretty darn warm out today, but we have said BYE to Summer at RML and are focusing on some great programming for the Fall for all ages!
That is not to say that we aren't reflecting back on summer and learning how we can improve things next year. We also had a big Staff Development Meeting last week where the whole staff sat down to see how we can improve services to our community - we are constantly re-evaluating!
So back to Summer Reading. This summer was the third year of a 3-year State contract with the company behind the Evanced Summer Reading online system. We tried out their new offering this year - Wandoo Reader. There were pros and cons of using this program. The biggest hurdle was the parental approval email requirement which kept the School Media Specialist at Marlborough Elementary from registering all the students in June. Parents were tasked with registration at home, and I think this turned out to be more confusing to parents than we had thought.
Secondly, we found that while many kids and parents love logging their reading through the summer (some even compete!) there are many who just don't have the time to do this. 
So, while we aren't sure where the State Library will take us yet for next summer, we do know that we are taking a very close look at how we can make summer reading easier for everyone, and we are prepared to offer something new and more streamlined next year! Summer slide is still a real problem, and I think we all agree that keeping the kids reading throughout the year is important. Keeping that in mind, we want to offer the kids something that they can do while on vacation, but still come visit us at RML during the summer months. Stay tuned!

On another note, the Friends of RML helped bring summer to and end as usual, with their Ice Cream Social. I'll leave you with a few pics from that fun annual event and a reminder to please let me know any suggestions you have for your child's Children's Department at RML!
Ms Eileen

 

Heroes of Our National Parks

We had a Summer Book Club event this week for kids - our book was The Camping Trip That Changed America: Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and our National Parks by Barb Rosenstock. This book imagines what happened on the actual trip that President Roosevelt took with naturalist John Muir to Yosemite in 1903. It is thought that the two men laid the framework for our National Parks system during this short camping trip. It's a great book for families to read together - and the artwork by Mordicai Gerstein is wonderful!

 

Of course no book club event at RML would be complete with snacks - here's what's left of the Smores Cookies! (You can find the recipe at the Girl Who Ate Everything blog or follow the link):

Smores Cookies Recipe

 After talking about what we thought of the story, I gave the kids a little quiz that helped facilitate discussion. This is a great book for kids and helped me find lots of facts:

National Parks: A Kid's Guide to America's Parks, Monuments, and Landmarks by Erin McHugh

You can find more information (and fun!) here:

Mapquest List & links 

National Park Service 

WebRangers 

Every Kid in a Park

For our craft, I had the kids mimic Gerstein's artwork in the book by drawing pictures in pen on the lightning bug jar cutouts, and then painting with watercolors. The only rule was that the picture had to be something you could find in a National Park!

 "We are not building this country of ours for a day. It is to last through the ages." - Theodore Roosevelt, 1903

"As long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls and bird and winds sing. I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm and avalanche. I'll acqauint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can." - John Muir

Author Spotlight: Eva Ibbotson

Sometimes you come across an author that you immediately have a connection with. I was a young librarian, having just finished getting my MLS degree, a few months before Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone came out in the U.S. in 1998. I was lucky enough to read it before the other staff and of course, I was hooked.
You know what happened after that. But one of the things that librarians experienced - and still do - is many young readers asking for books "like Harry Potter". Back in the old days before the monster series we have today, we librarians traded and created lists of books that kids would like that maybe had magic in them, or a wizard, or anything to appease the hunger for more HP.




 This is where I first encountered Eva Ibbotson. Her books, Which Witch? (1979) and The Secret of Platform 13 (1994) were ALWAYS added to those lists. I found she had a charmingly wacky and magically fun way of telling stories.
I adored Island of the Aunts, her ghost books are a hoot, and she was many awards for her historical Journey to the River Sea. Then I found out she was an Austrian-born Brit and I liked her even more (those are my two main nationalities!)
For our last Next Chapter of the school year, we recently read the Ogre of Oglefort. Another great title filled with hilarious characters. And last year I read the Abominables for an awards committee I was on - of course I adored it. Sadly, it was published after her death in 2010.
So when you come into RML, needless to say you will find many Eva Ibbotson books. I hope young readers will connect with her the same way I have. This post from the Book Aunt blog says it all better than I can, so check it out!

Lessons From Eva Ibbotson

And I almost forgot! One Dog and His Boy was named an Intermediate Nutmeg Book Award selection this year!

Just Ducky!

I confess, sometimes I plan my story time around not just a book I want to read, but one character I want to read about. When this book came in, I knew right away that story time would be about ducks this week because of the little fellow on the cover: 

John's story about an extremely tired bear who wants nothing but to sleep, and an extremely annoying duck who only wants a friend to hang out with, had the kids smiling the whole way through. With a nod to Willems' pigeon, the duck repeatedly asks questions, only to have the bear answer, "No". What's kind of fun is that the bear doesn't give in, but ends up paying the price for his repeated interruptions anyway.

Here are the kiddos making some baby duck prints for their craft:

 For more great story time books about 'ducks', check out:
Ginsburg, Mirra ~ The Chick and the Duckling
Hest, Amy ~ In the Rain with Baby Duck
Hills, Tad ~ Duck & Goose
Hindley, Judy ~ Do Like a Duck Does!
John, Jory ~ Goodnight Already!
London, Jonathan ~ Wiggle Waggle
Nedwidek ~ Ducks Don't Wear Socks
Root, Phyllis ~ One Duck Stuck
Shannon, David ~ Duck on a Bike
Tafuri, Nancy ~ Have You Seen My Duckling?
Waddell, Martin ~ Farmer Duck
Willems, Mo ~ The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?

Why 'March Reading Madness' Is More Than Just a Game

I truly love children's books. So I find the idea of making them 'battle' each other in a reading tournament barbaric, and one that I have resisted for a few years. It's just too painful when you see Amelia Bedelia take down Frog & Toad. Sure, she's great and my older daughter was a huge fan. But she beat FROG & TOAD. I had them going to the final 2 (confession - I wimped out and never really picked a final 1). 
But for some reason, it made sense this year. Ms Patty and Director Nancy compiled the Adult Fiction Frenzy list and I took care of the Children's (picture book) Classic and Elementary Reading Battle. (I apologize for not making a Teen Tournament. Maybe next year?) Anyway, March Reading Madness is kind of wacky, not really scientific, and one could argue, a waste of time. Or is it?

So, here are 5 Reasons Why March Reading Madness is Worthwhile:

1. It reminds us what our patrons enjoy.
When our young patrons fill out the brackets, they are telling me what they like without having to actually tell me (which is sometimes hard). I thought for sure that Scaredy Squirrel would win in round 1, and while it was close, Curious George eventually beat Scaredy. I didn't see that coming.


2. It gives you a glimpse into someone else's reading life.
Most book people love to talk about books with other book people. It's what we do. Hearing parents and children discuss these match-ups is heart warming! We've also had a few heated discussions behind the desk as a result of this tournament! It's a blast to hear which books are favorites, and interesting to hear which books some kids just don't know. This goes for adults as well. (Confession - I had never heard of A Thousand Acres until March Reading Madness!)

3. It restored my faith that I have given my own daughters a solid reading foundation.
My 13-year-old really enjoys reading. But her 'reading life' hasn't always been easy for me. You would think as a child of a Children's Librarian, she would know what her obligations were! Read everything mom gives you, ask for more, gush over it all, repeat.
 In 5th grade, she had a project at school where the students made timelines of their 'Reading Lives', adding books they loved, ones that inspired them, etc. She brought it home one day and I nearly burst into tears. She clearly didn't put much effort in, listed maybe 2 book titles (and 1 was a gimmicky version of Wheels on the Bus), and seemed to have forgotten everything I thought I had instilled in her.
Flash forward to one night when I was creating the March Reading Madness brackets. My younger daughter found out what I was doing, and in an attempt to put off bedtime, had to fill out the brackets. Suddenly, my older daughter was interested too. Soon, she was remembering old characters that she loved, and gushing (yes, gushing!) over Amelia Bedelia and Lily's Purple Plastic Purse!  Needless to say, I let them stay up late to finish.
(just a note: I kept that school assignment and after this epiphany, I made the now 7th-grader redo it with me. What can I say, I'm her cross to bear.)

4. It's a fun gimmick that anyone can adapt and run with, and learn more about the readers in their lives.
One patron recently told me that she was inspired to create a mini-tournament for the students that she teaches, based on the books they read in class this year. Pass it on!

5. It helps children of this new age discover favorites from our old age.
Seeing empty spots on our display is one of my favorite things! It means someone took that book home, or at the very least, looked at it here in the Library. They may know The Day the Crayons Quit, but they may not know Harold and the Purple Crayon.


Next time here on the blog - 5 important March Reading Madness battles, and why they make you feel yucky inside when you have to choose!