First Lines of Great books

So did you guess that "It was a dark and stormy night." was the first line of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle?  Good for you if you did.  Check the end of this post for the next first line.

 "Make a Splash - READ!" is the theme for this summer's reading club.  The Youth Services staff has already posted the summer calendar on the Children's Area wall.   And all the dates are on the Events Calendar on the Parkland Community Library website.  Click here for a look at some of the activities planned for this summer. 

Check the Parkland Community Library website for updates on the Summer Reading Club as the sign-up date - JUNE 14th - approaches.


Now for today's first line.

"It was night and some fireflies danced around the moon."
Here are three choices:

A.  Counting our Way to Maine by Maggie Smith
B.  The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
C.  At the Firefly Gate by Linda Newbery

Good luck!

New Games

There are new games out there that rely on the players' knowledge of books!  One game, called "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night" gives the players an opening line or paragraph of a book.  All the players know about the book is the genre and the time period it was written in.  HARD!!! 

Another game, "Lie-brarian", (I think this is a Barnes & Noble exclusive),  is like the writing game "First Lines". The players are given the title, author and plot summary of a book and they have to create an opening sentence for the book.  The actual opening line is hidden among the players' entries and players get points for choosing the right first line AND for tricking their opponents into choosing their faked first line.  This second game can be played without the expensive box of cards.  Just gather some cool looking books and take turns being the "Lie-brarian" by telling the other players about the book and scribbling down the first line.  The Lie-brarian (I HATE that name), then reads ALL entries as if each one might be the first line.  The game is a lot of fun.  Try it with older readers (grades 5 and up).

Now, I want to play a form of "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night".  I will write out the first line of a book written for children or teens.  Then I will give you three choices.  Check back tomorrow (or the next day) to see if you have chosen correctly.

First line:  (I couldn't resist this one.) 
"It was a dark and stormy night."  

Choices:
A. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S Lewis
B. Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
C. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle 

Good luck!

New books at PCL

Here are some new titles to enjoy during Children's Book Week:
Picture books:
Push Button by Aliki.  A little boy loves to push all kinds of buttons until he hurts his finger and finds  other kinds of fun. Aliki's clear colorful drawings make this book easy to enjoy.

Pigs to the Rescue by John Himmelman.  The pigs want to help with everything on the farm much to the farm family's dismay.  The last page is the funniest page in the book.

Juvenile fiction: (grades 3 through 7)
Griff Carver, Hallway Patrol by Jim Krieg.  Griff Carver is the only safety monitor who has ever been expelled from school in the line of duty.  This is a seventh-grader who takes his job seriously. (grades 5 and up)

Zebrafish by Sharon Emerson.  Actually the whole title is Peter H. Reynolds and Fablevision present Zebrafish.  Vita starts a band at her new school even though none of the members can play instruments.  The band is called Zebrafish, in this colorful graphic novel about making new friends and making a difference.  (grades 3 and up)

Juvenile Non-Fiction
If Stones Could Speak :unlocking the secrets of Stonehenge by Marc Aronson.  Wonderful photos, charts and maps tell the story of the ongoing effort to understand the huge stones of Stonehenge.  (grades 5 and up)

Authors, Children's Book Week and the Wimpy Kid

Amy Ignatow visited the Parkland Community Library today to talk about her first book, The Popularity Papers. Amy is a wonderful presenter.  She drew cartoons for the audience, explained how her books came about and revealed that Lydia and Julie will star in a book about their first year of middle school!!  The library has a few signed copies of The Popularity Papers left.  So rush over and buy one now.

Children's Book Week begins on Monday, May 10th.  The Parkland Community Library is giving away two signed copies of Amy's book, The Popularity Papers, two signed copies of The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin and two copies of What a Treasure! by Jane and Will Hillenbrand.  There is a catch!  Entrants must write a short review of a favorite book for children or teens when they enter this drawing.   Pick up an entry form the next time you come into the Parkland Community Library.

Greg Heffy has left the building for awhile. If you can't wait for another Wimpy Kid  to come out, try these titles and authors:
No more dead dogs by Gordon Korman.  When a sixth grader takes over the school's production of a play based on a "dead dog" book, things quickly get crazy.

The strange case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger is the story of an origami finger puppet that gives advice - or does it?  Homework, love and friendship woes are all illustrated with line drawings in this case study of a paper phenomena.  Very funny.

Or look at Henry Winkler's Hank Zipfer series. The curtain went up, my pants fell down is just one title in this series.

Jon Scieszka's Time Warp Trio series has a lot of action and weird humor in each book.

Soup and Soup & Me by Robert Newton Peck show that guys repeat the same craziness over and over and over...  The books look old-fashioned but the high-jinks are up to date.  Read the other books in the seris, too.

Vote!! Vote !!! Vote!!!

Shark vs Train by Chris Barton, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld combines two of most small boys' favorite things.  Shark and Train vie for the upper hand at a variety of things.  Which one will win?

Vote for your favorite - Shark or Train - at the publisher's website and watch a short video.  Then come to the Parkland Community Library and check out the book.

Next, go to the Children's Book Week site and vote for your favorite children's books.  Voting for the Childrens Choice Awards ends on May 3rd so hurry up and get your vote in there.  This is open to children and teens.

Check out other fun activities on L-B Kids Fun & Games site.   The site includes online games and printable mazes, games and coloring sheets.  Then come to the library and find the books here.

Keep reading!

Poetry Month Continued

The Parkland Community Library purchases new poetry books every year.  Check these titles out!
 
All things bright and beautiful / by Cecil F. Alexander ; illustrated by Ashley Bryan.  Bryan's pictures bring this iconic poem to life.


Dinothesaurus : prehistoric poems and paintings / by Douglas Florian.  Florian's art and clever poems are fun for all ages, preschool and up.

Sharing the seasons : a book of poems / selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins ; illustrated by David Diaz.   Diaz's beautiful illustrations and Hopkins' selections make this a gem of a poetry book.

Mirror mirror : a book of reversible verse / Marilyn Singer ; illustrated by Josée Massee. Singer has written poems that can be read forwards and backwards - intriguing and clever. Words, wit, and wonder : writing your own poem / by Nancy Loewen ; illustrated by Christopher Lyles.  Here is a simple and elegant guide to get young people interested in producing poems. Please browse through the poetry section in Juvenile Non-fiction (J 811.xxx and J 821.xxx)  to find treasures of verse for all ages.

New book alerts

The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow is hilarious.  Lydia and Julie are two fifth-grade friends who are trying to figure out what makes people popular.  For readers in grades 4 through 6.

Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve takes place in a dystopian future London where names like Battersea are spelled B@tersea and keys from computer keyboards are used as floor tiles.  Fever is a foundling girl brought up by the all-male Engineers, an order of men dedicated to the pursuit of logic and knowledge who believed that women are too irrational to sturdy science.  When Fever is apprenticed to an archaeologist, she is accused of being a member of an alien race and her life is threatened.  This book is for teens and adults.  This is a prequel to Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet.

My Garden by Kevin Henkes is a beautiful book in which a little girl describes all the beautiful things that will grow in her imaginary garden.  Henkes' illustrations are delightful.  For preschoolers and Henkes fans.