Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The Shot Heard 'Round the World

Today is my father’s birthday. He would have been 89 years old. Since I can no longer celebrate with him, I wanted to honor his memory by blogging about something he really enjoyed: Baseball and his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers. It is spring and baseball season is just beginning, so it seems the perfect time to highlight a book about a famous moment in baseball history: The Shot Heard ‘Round the World by Phil Bildner. It’s set in 1951, during the National League playoff series with the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Giants. From my Dad’s stories, I feel like I know all the players; even the places and street names are familiar to me. The language and illustrations bring you right into that time and place. And while the ending is sad (for the Dodgers and their faithful), it is still a thrilling time and the book captures that anticipation and excitement perfectly. I’ve heard so much about the Dodgers all my life, I’m sorry they don’t play in Brooklyn any more.


Happy Birthday, Dad.


Posted by Sue Ann

Wednesday, March 23, 2011



Happy Near Miss Day!

Did you know that today is Near Miss day? Why do we celebrate this holiday? That's a good question. On March 23, 1989 the earth was almost hit by an asteroid the size of a mountain! "The asteroid came within 500,000 miles of hitting the earth." If we were hit by this asteroid it would have left an enormous crater the size of Washington, D.C. WHEW, were we lucky!! But don't worry kids this doesn't happen very often and there is a European Space Agency (ESA) that is constantly trying to figure out how to avoid an asteroid.


Click on the link below to read more about asteroids or to learn about astronomy!!!

http://www.kidsastronomy.com/asteroid.htm

Posted by Josephine

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Jack and Anime


Fans of Jack and Annie rejoice!


An announcement has been made that an animated movie based on Mary Pope Osbourne's "Magic Tree House" series is being developed in Japan! This "anime" version of Osbourne's well loved series is slated to be released in Japan early 2012.


With 45 books in the series and still going, there is little doubt that the film will make it to our shores.
While it is still unknown how many books in the series the film will cover, the teaser art above suggests it will start from the beginning with "Dinosaurs Before Dark."
I will post more information as it becomes available.
-Posted by Miss Jessikah

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Happy (Belated) Birthday

Wednesday, March 2 marked the 107 anniversary of the birth of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to most as Dr. Seuss. In celebration of the author, fourteen years ago, the day was also designated "Read Across America Day". According to the National Education Association, Read Across America Day "is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of beloved children's author Dr. Seuss".



We here in the Children's Room joined the celebration by donning our very own Cat in the Hat hats!



Be sure to visit Seussville for all things Seuss!

Posted by: Amy

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Ebooks for Kids - Go On and Take A Tumble!

Ebooks and ebook readers are all the rage these days. Although we all love to sit down and read with a book in our hands, it's also great to mix up reading with something interactive and fun. Let me introduce you to Tumble Books.

Simply put, Tumble Books provides young readers with animated and talking story books, graphic novels, and non-fiction books online. The narration, highlighted text, sounds, music, and full pictures add to this fantastic and fun way to read! It's great for visual learners or reluctant readers who dread traditional reading. Kids can create their own playlists and favorites to customize Tumble Books for themselves. All they need is their library barcode to sign in and start reading.

Books are available in several languages as well. Tumble Books also offers a wide range of literacy based activities including online puzzles and games, Book TV, language learning, read-a-longs, and more. Their collection of books and reading resources is constantly growing!

Check out Tumble Books (you can get to it from our Children's Room page) and see for yourself how fun reading can be!


-posted by Nadine