The Magic's In Me and You

We had a wonderful Friday the 13th at RML. Even with the internet down all day (!), somehow Ms. Eileen and I were able to go over her plans for this year's summer reading program. Wow, does she have a lot of fun things planned for us as we take our reading passports and head out around the world. Fun! Plus we put the finishing touches on our Not-Too-Old-For-Storytime session next week.

But the best part of the day, of course, was our visit from Christina the Magician! Wasn't she great?! Were you as amazed as I was by her tricks? Were they tricks, or was it real magic?! Even after the show, Christina stuck around a bit, visited with the children, and continued to amaze us. By the way, Christina will be back at RML this summer to give a magic workshop, as well as a balloon animal workshop to older kids (8 and up), so keep that in mind. I certainly feel the magic in me after her show, and hope you do too.

(BTW, that's the wonderful Lucille Ball in the photo doing her impression of Ms. Patty at Magic Show.)

Bedtime Stories and Mom's Club

Back-to-back storytimes this week as we held Bedtime Stories Wednesday night, and hosted a Mom's Club storytime this morning. Our Bedtimes Stories featured "Wow! Said the Owl", by Tim Hopgood about a young owl who stays up to experience daytime and is delighted by the beautiful colors. In "Aunt Nina, Good Night", by Franz Brandenberg with illustrations by Aliki, a patient aunt helps her nieces and nephews fall asleep and ultimately has a great bonding moment.

This morning we held Mom's Club storytime outside under the trees while the chimes rang (for a full half hour!). We shared books about friends who hold different ideas about fun, including "Mac and Cheese", an easy reader by Sarah Weeks, illustrated by Jane Manning, and "Hello, My Name is Bob", by Linas Alsenas.

Both events featured a flannel board game with rocketships! Thanks to all who came.

Loud!

I can't help it, I'm loud. I grew up in a family with 5 siblings, all very close in age and we had to talk over each other to be heard. We talked loudly and made music loudly and played loudly. Recently I was reminded that I do work in a library and probably should try to not be so loud. So it made me laugh when I saw a new book by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Renata Liwska, collaborators of "The Quiet Book", called "The Loud Book".

Just like their previous book, "The Loud Book" is beautifully illustrated with a cast of friendly animals done in gentle pencil and brush strokes. There is humor and charm as the animals make and experience loud noises, like alarm clocks ringing, things dropping, and even whistling. (You know how I love to whistle!) As the book states, "Just like there are lots of quiets, there are also lots of louds." I look forward to having this book in the library and sharing it at storytime.

(And by the way, if you hear me being loud just remind me to use my "library voice". Thanks. Ms. Patty)

Children's Choice Book Awards

Last week was National Children's Book Week and the Children's Book Council announced the winners of their annual Children's Choice Book Awards. Over 500,000 children across the nation voted for their favorites in several categories. Here are the winners:

Author of the Year
Rick Riordan for The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, Book 1) (Disney-Hyperion)

Illustrator of the Year
David Wiesner for Art & Max (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year
Little Pink Pup by Johanna Kerby (Putnam/Penguin)

Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year
Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Knopf/Random House)

Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year
The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, Book 1) by Rick Riordan (Disney-Hyperion)


Teen Choice Book of the Year
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan (Dutton/Penguin)

We have "Art & Max" at the library and will be getting "Little Pink Pup" (it looks so cute!).

Bedtime Stories

Bedtime Stories, a drop-in storytime for children ages 2-6, has begun and continues every Wednesday in May at 6:30 p.m. We met last week on a rainy evening (it always seems to rain for Bedtime Stories!) and had a lovely time. We shared books with characters coming and going in and out of the book, including "The Character in the Book" by Kaethe Zemach, and "More Bears!" by Kenn Nesbitt. After an impromptu singing of "Twinkle, Twinkle" and a flannel board game with umbrellas, we finished up with quiet stories and low lights. Some even lay on the floor with their stuffed animals and started to doze!

Thanks to all who came and see you next week.