Have You HEARD?

We have audiobooks in the Children's Room! Audiobooks are a wonderful way to bring your child's favorite titles to life. Unabridged and wonderfully narrated, audiobooks are a great way to occupy time on long road trips, or to help along your reluctant reader with summer reading. Listening to a novel can reinforce listening comprehension skills while entertaining everyone in the family. They are a great way to "unplug" from the screen this summer and come together. From the Harry Potter series to Amber Brown, we've got them all. And for younger readers, we have picture book favorites on CD as well as our Tumblebooks reader.

Come on in and see what's new to listen to at the library!

Reading... It's Out Of This World!

This past Monday marked the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11's moon landing. We've all seen and shared with our kids Neil Armstrong's "one small step for man..." video. Forty years later, that video moment continues to evoke awe, curiousity and inspiration for kids and adults alike. Lucky for us the recent anniversary has sparked a wave of new children's books devoted to space exploration and the Apollo missions.

One Small Step by Jerry Stone celebrates the Apollo 11 moon landing. Set in scrapbook form, this book is full of wonderful photos, interactive artifacts and loads of facts about the first manned mission to space.

Mission to the Moon by Alan Dyer gives readers a wonderful behind the scenes look at what it took to travel to the moon on Apollo 11 as well as recent shuttle missions. The illustrations are stunning and the companion DVD contains actual footage of the moon landings. A sure hit for any space enthusiast!

If you still want more, visit NASA for Kids online or take a trip with your kids to the moon on Google Earth's new 3D visual lunar tour. It's a trip.

We look forward to seeing you!

We're Creating....With Legos!

Last week kicked off our first ever official Lego building club here in the Children's Room. The one hour program flew by as participants worked in teams to design their own original Lego masterpieces. With heads down and fingers nimble, these kids showcased their creative skills and, more importantly, their ability to work together. We were so impressed that we have added pictures of their creations to our blog. Check out our flickr stream in the lower right hand corner of this page to see for yourself.

And, don't forget, our Picture Your Summer photo contest has already begun. Your summer photos will be featured on our photo stream as well.

Check back soon to see more Lego creations and other summer events.

Watch That Pigeon!

One of our favorite authors is now tweeting as his beloved character, The Pigeon. Mo Willems' hilarious tweets are sure to get you laughing. Look for his new Elephant and Piggie series in our early chapter book section. We've even added a link to his blog for you to enjoy.

Art, Nutrition, and Punk'd Out Farm Animals

We've got it all here in the Children's Room. You might even say we're "creative", especially when it comes to our programs and our patrons. Here are a few things we think you might like to know about:

Visit the Artist - Art specialist, Tina Geller, will be here on Thursday 7/23 and 7/30 from 7pm-8pm. This program provides children entering grades 3-5 with an introduction to the works of Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso. The fee is $5. Registration is limited.

Nutrition 101 Back to Basics: Are you frustrated trying to be creative with nutrition at mealtime? Do you want to cook more but you don't know where to begin? Nutritionist Madeline Berg will be here to guide and inform adults on Thursday 7/16 at 2:30pm. The program is free.

Need a fun summer read that'll get your little one's laughing and singing? Author illustrator, Jarrett Krosoczka (one of our favorites), takes Old MacDonald to new heights with his punked out animals in his picture book, Punk Farm. Thanks to our friends at the Rockville Center Kids' Center Blog for their links to the video as well as Jarrett's blog for more on this fabulously funny (and talented) author. And for your older readers, check out his anticipated new graphic novel series Lunch Lady due out in late July.

We look forward to seeing you!

Lights, Camera.... Action!

It seems as if Hollywood has discovered what our little readers (and their librarians) have known for quite sometime. Children's books are full of great, original and exciting adventures. Many fabulous stories are coming to film this year. What better way to make summer reading worthwhile than tying it into an upcoming feature film?

2009 will bring some blockbuster hits to the big screen that are all based upon childhood book favorites. Of course there is the long awaited return of our favorite boy wizard, Harry, in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince opening on July 15. Feeling hungry? How about a 3D trip to the town of Chewandswallow? Judi Barrett's delicious tale, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs opens September 18. And who can forget that devilish little imp we all love, Max, in Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are?

Stop by the Children's Room and grab some exciting soon-to-be movie titles .

Let the wild reading rumpus start!