Monday, September 27, 2010

Fall fun!

Today's rain makes the world feel like Fall has finally come.  Crunchy Fall leaves, acorns, squirrels, pumpkins on porches, windows full of light because of early evenings, sweaters, and anticipation!!! - Fall brings all of these.
Here are some great books for Fall afternoons and evenings:
Picture Books:
Applesauce season by Eden Ross Lipson.  A city family gets together to make applesauce.

Fletcher and the falling leaves by Julia Rawlinson.  When a young fox's favorite tree begins to lose its leaves, her worries that the tree is sick.

The little yellow leaf by Carin Berger.  A little leaf doesn't want to let go, until it finds a friend to fall with.

Thanking the moon : celebrating the Mid-autumn Moon Festival by Grace Lin.  Each member of a Chinese family contributes to the celebration.  The author includes notes about this Fall festival.

When the frost is on the punkin by James Whitcomb Riley.  Celebrate the season with this classic American poem.

Non-fiction:
Autumn across America by Seymour Simon.   The book travels across America and describes the signs of autumn, such as bird migrations, falling leaves and changes in the weather.

Autumnblings : poems and paintings by Douglas Florian.  Florian's paintings and poems describe the change from summer to fall.

Crinkleroot's  guide to knowing the trees by Jim Arnosky.  A guide to trees with illustrations of bark and leaves and the ways animals use trees for shelter and food.

Leaves by Ruth Thomson.  A very simple introduction to leaves and trees.

Fiction:
The brilliant fall of Gianna Z by Kate Messner.   Gianna is more interested in running than in completing her homework, which is to collect autumn leaves.  Then her failing schoolwork threatens to put an end to her participation in track events.

Coyote autumn by Bill Wallace.  After moving to the country, a thirteen year old boy adopts a coyote pup.

Henry and Mudge under the yellow moon by Cynthia Rylant. Henry and his huge dog, Mudge, have adventures in the Fall.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Storytime sign-ups and crickets

Storytime sign-ups started an hour ago.  Wednesday Family Storytime is almost filled so call in soon if that is the storytime of your choice.  There is room in Thursday Family Storytime and both Preschool Storytimes.   Click here to see the storytime schedule.

With today's busy family schedules, committing to a storytime slot can be difficult.  Parents and caregivers can try Drop-in Storytimes on Friday mornings at 10:30 am.  No registration is required for Drop-in storytime and there is no upper or lower age limit.

All storytimes at the Parkland Community Library start the week of October 4th.

The celebration continues for The Cricket in Times Square's 50th anniversary.  Here are a couple of websites about the book and about crickets in general.

This excellent teacher's site offers comprehension questions, craft ideas and activities.  Check out the great clothepin cricket featured on this site.

Nancy Polette put together a literature exploration site with links to Amateur Entomologists' site and activities for class and group discussion.

Random House has a great site for the book as well.

To learn more about these noisy and sometimes hungry insects, check out BioKIDS site on crickets.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Book Discussion Kits

Book discussions are all the rage, not just among grown-ups.  Parent/child book groups are springing up all over the place.   To help these eager readers along, the Parkland Community Library will offer book discussion kits for readers as young as 8 through middle school.  Each kit will hold 10 paperback copies of the featured title, discussion questions and suggestions for further reading and.or activities.  These kits will be known as Talk Totes, Jr.  The Parkland Community Library offers similar kits for adults called Talk Totes.

The first three Talk Totes, Jr. will be The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden, The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, and Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray.  Talk Totes, Jr. should be available by October 1st.

The Cricket in Times Square celebrates a milestone this Fall.  Chester the Cricket is 50 years old!  Celebrate fifty years of making music in the subway underneath Times Square, plotting his return to a land of meadows and trees and helping a family newsstand survive by checking this classic story out of the Parkland Community Library.  Hooray for The Cricket in Times Square!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Read with the Cat in the Hat

The Civic Theatre of Allentown brings "Read with the Cat in the Hat" to the Parkland Community Library on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 4:30 to 5:30 pm.  There is still some room so call (610-398-1361 ext. 19) and sign up.  Check out Seussville for games and info about Dr. Seuss.