Book Review: Snow in Summer: Fairest of Them All-Jane Yolen

 

Once upon a time in the Appalachian Mountains, there lived a raven-hair girl named Snow-in-Summer. Loved by all, life seem wonderful till her mom and baby brother died.  Her father then remarries, but to a woman of dark magic and... snakes.

Yolen does a somewhat okay job retelling the tale of Snow White. It is very vivid and dark( too dark at times), full of rich and interesting characters ( especially the villainous Stepmama and Summer's kind nurse Cousin Nancy). Unfortunately, the actual retelling of the  fairy tale does not happen till the last half of the book (and it's a bit rushed.) The happy ending , however, is very surprising and did make up for the flaws.



Snow in Summer: Fairest of Them All by Jane Yolen
Age Range: 10-14
Lexile:840
*** (3 stars)

Looking for more books featuring a different take on fairy tales? Here are some recommendations:

Fairest of  All by Sarah Mlynowski
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
Snoring Beauty by Bruce Hale
The Storybook of Legends by Shannon Hale

Upcoming Programs in April

Here are some programs that will happening next month in the Children's Dept at the Central Library. Please visit Library Events for information and register.

Story Time for 2 and 3 yr olds- Monday, April 7 and 21 at 10 am- Audience: 2 and 3 year olds and caregivers.

Mother Goose on the Loose-Tuesday,April 1 and 15 at 10 am-Audience: Infants Birth to
23 months and caregiver (s).

Story Time for 4 and 5 yr olds- Tuesday,April 8 and 22  at 10 am - Audience: 4 and 5 year olds.



Lego Club-Monday, April 21 at 4 pm-Audience: Grades 2-6



Celebrate National Library Week-Thursday, April 17 at 4 pm-Audience: Grades K-5

Board Game Fun-Wednesday, April 2 at 6:30 pm- Audience: Grades 1-5

Gaming Night- Wednesday, April 16  at 6 pm- Audience: Grades K-6

Kids Art Club- Thursday, April 24at 4 pm- Audience: Grades 2-6


See you soon!!

Book Review: Moonday-Adam Rex

 

What would you do if you found the moon in your backyard?

Would you go for a walk on it? Would your classmates fall asleep in class? Would rockers sing lullabies and people yawn all the time? Could you hide it from dogs with table clothes? How would you get it back in the sky?

This is a very magically book from Rex, who is known more for laugh-out loud fun like Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and Psssssssss!.  The artwork is very luminous and haunting, rich with dark and jewel tones. I especially love the yawn in the park that affects everyone.

Moonday by Adam Rex
Age Range: 5 and up
Lexile: 525
**** ( 4 stars)

Here is a small preview of the book-

Storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds: Owl be Lucky!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

For today's storytime, we went to the forest to meet O'Hooly, the Irish owl ( who greeted the children with "Owl in the Tree" in an Irish accent.) The children heard three stories ( I'm Not Sleepy by Jane Chapman, Sam's Opposites by Yves Got, and The Luckiest St. Patrick's Day Ever! by Teddy Slater). We also shook some eggs and made some Irish Owls.

Here is a video for " I Know a Chicken" by the Laurie Berkner Band ( which we usually shake plastic eggs filled with dried rice ):

Our next Storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds will be ( all at 10 am in the Children's Programming Room)-
Monday, April 7
Monday, April 21
May-TBD

Book Review: Secrets of the Terra-Cotta Solider- Ying Chang Compestine and Vinson Compentine

 

13-yr old Ming lives with his father, an archeologist, in a small  communist Chinese village during the '70s. One day, while his father is away, some local farmers bring pieces of a terra-cotta solider to his home. The soldier magically comes to life, and tells Ming of China's past, from Emperor Qin and the Great Wall to how the terra-cotta soldiers came to exist.

To be honest, this is not a normal read for me. However, it moves pretty fast and kept my interest, reminding me of Goonies or any action/ fanasty movie from the '70s or '80s. Compenstine and her son, Vinson, also do a great job in providing information about China during the Qin dynasty and Maoist. They also provide a lot of photos, Chinese words ( and a glossary), plus a recipe for stir-fry noodles. I would recommend this to anyone looking for an adventure read or wanting to learn about Chinese history.

Secrets of the Terra-Cotta Soldier by Ying Chang Compestine and Vinson Compestine
Age Range: 9-11
**** ( 4 stars)

Storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds: Welcome to Winspring!

Mother Nature must be playing a lovely trick. It's March, but it's winspring ( winter-spring, sounds more magical than spinter) where it's sunny and bright but cold and white. The children heard three stories ( When Will it Be Spring? by Catherine Walters,Over in the Meadow by Jane Cabrera, and Snowmen all Year ( the blog's first post!!!) by Caralynn Buehner). We also played with scarves, counted some frogs, and make a snowflake flower ( brightly-colored snowflake turned into a flower by way of a stem and leaf.)

Here is a video of the Five Little Speckled Frogs. Enjoy!:

Our next Story-time for 2 and 3 yr olds will be ( all at 10am):
Monday, March 17
Monday April 7
Monday April 21
May-TBD

By the way, we are back!!! in the Children's Program room ( with a big surprise!!!!)

Happy winspring! See You Soon!