3 New Non-Fiction by Tina Davis

The library just received three new children's non-fiction books by Tina Davis, and they are definitely worth checking out! Tina Davis is a graphic designer and all three of her books, informative and helpful, are also beautiful and full of vintage illustrations. (We were all admiring them when they arrived at the library.)

Ms. Davis began with "Look and Cook", a child's cookbook, based on her years of collecting classic recipes. You'll find lots of old-fashioned comfort foods here along with clear, child-friendly instructions. In "See and Sew", you and your child are introduced to sewing without the need for a sewing machine. It features step-by-step instructions, kid-friendly projects and charming illustrations. Finally, in her most recent book, "Sow and Grow", children are introduced to gardening with a year-round calendar of activities, including planting tiny spring gardens in eggshells, and pressing late-summer's last blooms. Again, it's also beautiful to look through.

I hope to see these books OFF the shelves and into your children's hands to be enjoyed.

A Book Picnic

To me books and picnics just seem to go together. I have great memories of being with my mother and siblings laying on a blanket on a warm summer day with a great cooler of food besides us as our mother read to us.

Any good book will work for a book picnic, but it's nice to read a book that isn't dependent on pictures, that way the children can look up at the sky or follow an ant while the story washes over them. How about reading a classic fairytale or folktale. In the library, these are not shelved with the rest of the picture books, but rather with non-fiction (I know, I know, it's one of the quirks of the Dewey system), so you may have overlooked them. Next time you're in the library look at the JE 398.2 or J 398.2 section to find many lovely stories perfect for reading on a warm day, under an apple tree, while your children munch their sandwiches.

Here are some suggestions of folktale/fairytale collections:
"Mightier Than the Sword: World Folktales for Strong Boys", edited by Jane Yolen. Fourteen folktales from around the world that show there's more to might than muscle.
"The Adventures of Tom Thumb", by Marianna Mayer. Despite his small size, Tom Thumb is determined to do anything and everything that everyone else can do--and sometimes even more.
"Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales", retold by Lucy Cousins. Revamps eight classic stories, from "Little Red Riding Hood" to "The Musicians of Bremen," retaining all the emotion and humor from the original fairy tales.
"A Treasury for 5 Year Olds", edited by Daniel Howarth. This treasury brings together best-loved traditional fairy tales, favorite nursery rhymes,and exciting new stories

(Ah, I think I have time to take a book outside and read a bit right now.)

Reading is FUNdamental!

Remember those PSAs for Reading is Fundamental (RIF) that we saw as kids watching our Saturday morning cartoons? Well, RIF is still around and doing wonderful things. Reading is Fundamental was started in 1966 and is the oldest and largest literacy program in the United States. They are devoted to creating reading motivation and excitement, along with family and community involvement in literacy. To that end they have created a GREAT website where there are fun literacy games, book reviews, articles, and other activities for everyone. There are many pages of the website including "Reading Planet" for kids ages 6-15 and "Leading to Reading" for children age 0-5 (These are clickable links). I recommend you click on over there and look around. Have fun!

DON'T FORGET THE BLOG CONTEST! LOOK BELOW

Bedtime Stories #3

We had a lovely group last night for our last Bedtime Stories (I have to be away next Wednesday night and Ms. Eileen will also be away...alas, no storytime ladies, no storytime.)

We read "Where the Wild Things Are", by Maurice Sendak (one of my son's favorites), "Owl Babies", by Martin Waddell (one of my daughter's favorites), the classic "Goodnight Gorilla", by Peggy Rathman, as well as a newer book "The Noisy Way to Bed". A tale told with sound effects (crawling ants!) and some songs rounded out the evening. Thanks to everyone who came out for bedtime stories. Perhaps we'll do some more bedtime stories in the late summer or early fall (it gives me an excuse to buy new jammies!)

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE BLOG BIRTHDAY DRAWING BELOW! THE WINNER GETS TWO NEW CHILDREN'S HARDCOVER BOOKS OF HIS/HER CHOICE!

Bedtime Stories and Mom's Club

The library was filled with stories, music, and children on Wednesday night and Thursday morning for Bedtime Stories and a Mom's Club storytime.

At Bedtime Stories we shared stories that featured different perspectives. In "Inside Mouse, Outside Mouse", by Lindsay Barrett George two mice live in parallel worlds, coming face-to-face at the end. The illustrations are quite detailed and make this book perfect for poring over with your child. In "Bob and Otto", a worm and a caterpillar are best friends but have to follow their individual paths; a sweet story with charming illustrations. We also shared the beautiful and unique two-in-one book by Nancy Tafuri, "What the Moon Sees/What the Sun Sees". In addition, "Sam's Sandwich" (with book props), music, and action rhymes made for a fun evening. Thanks to all who came out on the cold, dreary night!

Thursday morning the Marlborough Mom's Club featured some old and new favorites including "Caps For Sale", by Esphyr Slobodkina and "The Mouse Who Ate Bananas" by Keith Faulkner and Rory Tyger. I brought out some musical instruments as well, to make for a noisy, but fun storytime. Again, thanks to all for coming.

REMINDER: DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CONTEST....LOOK BELOW!

The Blog Turns One! A Contest!

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear bloggity-blog
Happy Birthday to you!

This blog began a year ago June 9th, so in anticipation of our first birthday I thought we'd run a little contest. A really easy contest. Simply tell us about a favorite children's book in the "Comments" section of this blog post. Be sure to sign your post, but you may use only your first name and last initial if you wish. On June 9th I'll enter all the names into a hat, pull one winner, and announce the winner's name on the blog that day. The winner will get to choose TWO NEW children's hardcover books (or the equivalent of softcover books) of his/ her choosing. Yay!

(This contest is only available to users of the Richmond Memorial Library and you may only enter once per child.)

Bedtime Stories Have Begun!

Thanks to Talon, Heather, Trevor, Teresa, Haley, Ben, Carly, and their parents for coming to Bedtime Stories last night! We shared some "small" stories, some action rhymes, and some songs. We read "The Very Small", by Joyce Dunbar with charming illustrations by Debi Gliori. A giant baby bear finds a very small something in the woods and tries to make him feel at home. But of course, he just wants to go home to his family. Debi Gliori not only illustrated but wrote "Flora's Blanket", in which the youngest child, Flora, can't go to sleep without her blanket. And we shared a flannel board story based a personal favorite, "Piggy in the Puddle" with great rhyming text by Charlotte Pomerantz and fun cartoon-y illustrations by James Marshall. A little "Twinkle, Twinkle", "If You're Happy and You Know It" and new action rhyme rounded out the evening. The new action rhyme, "On My Toe There Is a Flea", may show up in regular rotation. It goes like this:

On my toe, there is a flea
Now it's climbing up on me
Past my belly, past my nose
On my head where my hair grows!
On my head there is a flea
Now it's climbing down on me
Past my belly, past my knee
On my toe....now take that flea!

(make crawling motions for the flea, then let it hop on your head a bit and finally "flick" it off your toe at the end.)

Hope to see everyone next week for more Bedtime Stories!