GIVING AWAY FREE BOOKS!

Have you heard? Barnes and Nobel's summer reading program is up and running -- between now and September 4, 2012, they're giving away free books! Read any 8 books, complete your Imagination's Destination Journal, and go to any B&N store to get a free book. (Details are HERE.) 

SOME GOOD BOOK LISTS TO GET YOUR KIDS' SUMMER READING STARTED:
I hope you visit your local library this summer as well - they have lots of fun incentives to get your kids reading.  Not sure what to read?

26 foot tall "READ" Across America sign on the steps of the NYPL, 2011.

Helpful Links:

THE TOP 100 PICTURE BOOK POLL RESULTS These books are for children ages 4-8.  The poll is from 2009.

THE TOP 100 CHILDREN'S NOVELS (CHAPTER BOOK) POLL RESULTS These are books for kids who can read full chapters on their own and who are under the age of 13.  The poll is from 2010.

You might also find these two lists from the NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY website helpful:
100 PICTURE BOOKS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW (this list of recommended books is in alphabetical order and contains short picture book summaries).
100 FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOKS (This reading list allows you to look at the recommended chapter books according to genre).

Do have musically inclined kids?  Check out the CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY'S Noteworthy Books and Music LIST.

A BEAUTIFUL SHORT FILM, INSPIRED BY BOOKS - AND A HURRICANE

Morris and Humpty Dumpty [source]

Have you seen the Oscar nominated short film, "The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore"?  The animation is riveting, but so is the story. The first scene opens, with "Pop Goes the Weasel" playing in the background, and the camera shot panning down to Morris. He is sitting on his (New-Orleans-French-Quarter-looking) balcony, humming to himself and writing in his journal when, suddenly a strong wind kicks up, blowing his words right off the page.  Ultimately - in true Wizard of Oz style - he and all his books are swept away as well.  This occurrence, like the song accompanying it, seems nonsensical.

"Why" and "Where" are the questions that make you want to watch until the end.  And the engaging little Humpty Dumpty flip-book character, stylized animation, and Buster Keaton dance numbers (albeit with stick-leg books!), won't let you look away.

In doing some quick investigating, I discovered that the impetus for this film, all about Book Love, was born in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  These words of author/creator/director William Joyce brought tears to my eyes:
"The main thing I guess," Joyce said, "was going into the shelters and seeing the displaced people and seeing the kids in these, usually a sports arena, with no privacy or any of the stuff they knew as home. But they had been given books -- there were different organizations to make sure kids had books to read while they were in the shelter. Seeing these kids reading these books and being able to shut out all the sadness and the uncertainty and lose themselves in a book..." [source]

I don't know how long the film will be available to view on YouTube, but I've embedded the link - enjoy! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adzywe9xeIU] (And if you would like to give a book to a child in need, or support groups doing this, visit one of these sites: BookEnds, Better World Books, Reading Is Fundamental [RIF], or Save The Children.)

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Founder of America's First Lending Library...

source

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. Franklin is probably best known in the library community for founding the Library Company of Philadelphia in 1731. It was America's first lending library and can lay claim to being the predecessor of the free public library. For a brief period (Dec. 1733-Mar. 1734) Franklin actually served as the librarian for the Library Company. He also served as its secretary from 1746 to 1757. Franklin considered the Library Company to be the "Mother of all N. American Subscription Libraries ....". [Source: The Library History Buff]

"If you're going to be a writer..."

A (grown-up) Betsy illustration by Vera Neville. Source HERE.

"But if you're going to be a writer," he went on, "you've got to read. Good books. Great books. The classics. And fortunately ... that's what I'm driving at ... Deep Valley has a new Carnegie Library, almost ready to open. White marble building, sunny, spick and span, just full of books."- Mr. Ray to his daughter Betsy


If you've followed my blog for any amount of time, you can probably guess how thrilled I was to come across this quote in BETSY AND TACY GO DOWNTOWN (the fourth book from one of my favorite series, by Maud Hart Lovelace) about libraries (one of my favorite places) and "good" books (obviously one of my favorite pastimes).

Illustration by Lois Lenski of Betsy at the Library,
from BETSY AND TACY GO DOWNTOWN.

If you'd like to read about and see pictures of the real life Carnegie Library in Mankato (Deep Valley), click here to go to the Betsy-Tacy Encyclopedia Blog.


You can also stop by and read my past post about the Betsy Tacy books HERE, in "Chapter Books My Daughter Loved".

A DAY AT THE LOS ANGELES CENTRAL LIBRARY

I sometimes get frustrated that I live so close to Los Angeles, but rarely go there. Yesterday, my daughter and I, along with our good friend, Monika, decided to brave the traffic (the main reason I don't go) and visit the Central Public Library.

We were not disappointed - it's a true landmark...

Note about parking: it's expensive, so make sure you go to their website for details of where to park and how to get a validation discount.  (Read this carefully - you have to apply for a library card - if you don't already have one - in order to get validation.  It's free to residents of LA, Orange, and Ventura Counties, but be prepared to wait in line.)

Finally out of the parking structure, we approached the steps, fountains, and entryway in the McGuire Garden...
These elements comprise Jud Fine’s major art program, “Spine”, and feature inscriptions and sculptures symbolizing an open book. Flanking this Flower Street entrance to the gardens are two pieces not unlike the frontispiece or end sheets of a book. Looking ahead is a series of stairs past raised pools titled “Bright,” “Lucid,” and “Clear.”

Risers on the steps on either side of the fountains encompass a slightly patina brass finish with letters from 19 languages etched in green; black copper plate with printed words in nine languages cut into the surface in white; and symbolic communications in higher math, art and poetry established during the electron age, etched on stainless steel plate in black.

Source: To learn more, look HERE and also check out the library website's page, "Art & Architecture in Central Library".

Entrance off Flower Street, "WISDOM OF THE EAST AND WEST"

Once inside the library, we went to the Tom Bradley Wing...it was built after two arson fires in 1986 damaged the building and destroyed 20% of the Library’s books. Many of the surviving books suffered smoke and water damage. 


Mayor Tom Bradley and Lodwrick Cook, then CEO of the oil company ARCO, co-chaired the $10 million fund-raising drive to repair and replace the books that were damaged or destroyed. Their “Save the Books” campaign is commemorated with the renaming of the main rotunda for Cook, and the modern wing for Mayor Bradley.

The escalators and walkways at each level provide different perspectives on the atrium, and on three chandeliers decorated with a rather enigmatic collection of objects and figures.                                                                   

Each chandelier contains a ton of aluminum and fiberglass. They’re the work of Therman Statom, an artist primarily known for his work with sheet glass.

On each of the three landings on the atrium’s lower floors is an Illumination, a “functional sculpture” by Anne Preston. These four-meter-high lanterns refer to “light, understanding, and books.” They’re circular arrays of aluminum vanes, the top of which is shaped like an upside-down human profile.

We moved on to the Rotunda, which houses the Children's Literature Department. As we entered, we were surrounded with beautiful murals by Dean Cornwell...depicting four great eras of California history, including discovery, mission building, Americanization and the founding of Los Angeles. They were completed in 1932.

"Americanization"

THE CHILDREN'S LITERATURE DEPARTMENT, "A Library within a Library"!

The first thing we noticed was a feeling of calm, as our eyes were met with inviting wooden tables and chairs, low lighting, and green carpet - patterned in a nature motif, with images like this cute bushy-tailed squirrel.

My favorite area was, of course, the picture book room, at the far end of the department!

So. Many. Lovely. Books.

Several of the tables had baskets full of board books for toddlers.

On the library website, I had noted there would be an International Language Picture Book Collection - "A historic collection of over 5,000 titles from more than 50 countries. We had fun digging up all the HARRY POTTER books we could find in different languages...

Korean

Russian

Vietnamese

French (had my favorite illustrations)

German (gotta love the glasses!)

To us it seemed like this book opened backwards,
but not when you read the pages right to left!

Japanese

Time to leave the library...

and go find lunch --

       at Philppe's on Alameda Street (it's been there since 1908!) Established by Philippe Mathieu, who claimed the distinction of having created the "French Dipped Sandwich."

Placing our order at the counter.

These are the prices, folks!

Yes, a cup of coffee is 9 cents. (The price 
remained a nickel until 1977.)

French onion soup. (We also got a home-made doughnut - for 70 cents -
to go with the 9 cent cup of coffee my daughter ordered.)

Bye, bye! (Seems kind of weird that young adults my daughter's age consider telephone booths with pay phones to be vintage. I must be getting old!)

NO SEWING REQUIRED: FUN & EASY BOOK BAG PROJECT YOU CAN MAKE AT HOME

In the old days, you carried your books like this!
(Click here to see more from this vintage photo shoot by
 Becca Bond Photography)

Kids love having their own book bags to tote their library books around in, so when I was invited to have a "Good Books" table at the Placentia Library's Summer Reading Celebration last weekend, I decided to make a couple of book bags to give away to my young visitors. I held an opportunity drawing for all the families who came by my table and signed up for a chance to win.

I don't sew, so I went to a local fabric store and found cute, inexpensive canvas bags, and iron-on alphabet letters and patches.

Since I couldn't personalize the bags, I decided to put "B-O-O-K-S" in iron-on letters onto each tote.  I chose a denim-blue satchel and robot patch for the boy winner, and a white-and-pink satchel and mermaid patch for the girl winner.

  

It only took me about an hour to cut out the letters and iron them, along with the fun patches, onto both bags...I think they turned out pretty cute!!
  

Here they are, all ready to mail to my two winners so they can take them along on their next visit to their local library.

SUMMER READING CELEBRATION AT THE PLACENTIA LIBRARY

My table was full of information about good read aloud books.

I met and talked to at least 200 kids and their parents today that stopped by my table on their way to free pony and train rides, puppet shows, crafts, and free food (snowcones, hotdogs, pizza, and more!)

Marisa Timothy, Administrative Assistant

It's absolutely amazing to me what a good "Friends of the Library Foundation" can accomplish.  In Placentia, California, they were able to donate money to their library -- not only for an awesome computer center, but also to sponsor the library's 3rd Annual Summer Reading Celebration for the community, marking the end of their summer reading program.

The visionary library director, Jeanette Contreras, has a wonderful staff and team of volunteers to thank for all their help in putting together a wonderfully organized day.

Click HERE to read my past post about the Placentia Library and their great storytime for children.

SUMMER SEDUCTION AT THE LIBRARY?

seduce (v.)- to win over, attract, or lure.


Yes - Summer Reading Programs are a successful way many libraries lure children to their bookshelves and win kids over to the world of reading.  For example, the CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY'S 2011 Summer Reading Theme is "Book Beats".  Check out their great list of Noteworthy Books and Music ("to extend your knowledge and experience with music").


BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY'S Summer Reading Program is "One World, Many Stories".  Their website has an interesting book list by subject that can be found HERE.  Many public libraries share this same theme for 2011, including the LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY - CLICK HERE to see LA's many planned events this summer.

My kids always looked forward to the Summer Reading Program at our local library (Huntington Beach Public Library, see article at the end of this post). Armed with their book satchels, they made weekly visits and eagerly awaited the incentive prizes given out for reading a certain number of books - usually stickers, pencils, and coupons for free food at local kid-friendly restaurants.


Don't Get Caught Without a Good Book List...
The challenge was finding quality literature that was inspirational, and of course, F-U-N.  I recently came across two polls conducted by one of School Library Journal's bloggers, Elizabeth Bird (A Fuse #8 Production), that I think you'll find helpful in your book searches.  Elizabeth (who is also a librarian at the Children's Center 42nd Street of the NY Public Library system) polled other children's book bloggers to get these lists.  Do you agree with the poll results?

THE TOP 100 PICTURE BOOK POLL RESULTS These books are for children ages 4-8.  The poll is from 2009.
THE TOP 100 CHILDREN'S NOVELS (CHAPTER BOOK) POLL RESULTS These are books for kids who can read full chapters on their own and who are under the age of 13.  The poll is from 2010.

You might also find these two lists from the NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY website helpful:
100 PICTURE BOOKS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW (this list of recommended books is in alphabetical order and contains short book summaries).
100 FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOKS (This reading list allows you to look at the recommended chapter books according to genre).

From "Lola at the Library", by Anna McQuinn,
illustrations by Rosalind Beardshaw.

NOTE: The impetus for my post today was a great article by Teryl Zarnow, from my own local ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER.  In "They Go Old School to Hook Little Readers", Zarnow applauds the FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN'S LIBRARY in Huntington Beach for helping the city's public library kick-off its Summer Reading Program with its daylong FESTIVAL OF FOLKTALES.  She reports that during the Summer Reading Program "...some 63 volunteers read to about 200 children, burning through stickers like tissues during allergy season."  Zarnow suggests readers visit their local public library, where "they are still practicing magic and bringing new generations under the spell of reading".

Do you live in Orange County, CA, like I do?  Check out the O.C. Public Library Summer Reading Program Schedule HERE.