Rest in Peace, Barbara Park.

I was browsing our  library Facebook page to see if there was anything about Sunday's storm ( I just had some tree branches down) and saw that Barbara Park, author of the Junie B Jones series, passed away over the weekend at age 66. ( Please see this link for her obit).

I actually got into the series about 6 yrs ago when I started work here at the library ( this and Magic Tree House were constantly being asked about.) For those not familiar with who or what Junie B Jones is, it is a chapter book series for ages 8 and up, focusing on a 5-year old (  later 6-years-old in books 18-28) girl named Junie B Jones and her many adventures at home and school. Her first  book, Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly School Bus, was published in 1992 and focused on the first  day of kindergarten. Over 28 books, Jones has dealt with a new baby sibling, cut her own hair, graduated kindergarten and entered first grade ( with glasses.)  Her last book, Turkeys We have Loved and Eaten ( and Other Thankful Stuff) came out last year, and takes places doing a Thanksgiving classroom decorating contest. ( And it is the one Jones book I have not read, may have to wait till December.) Kids loved and laughed at the antics of  the spunky, Ramona-like girl with catch phases  like "Wowie wow wow!" and " The "B" stands for Beatrice. Except, I don't like Beatrice.". Parents....not so much (in fact, she's number 71 on American Library Association's Top 100 Banned Books 2000-2009 due to her bratty attitude and poor grammar. I didn't have a problem. In fact, I really enjoyed Junie B Jones is Party Animal, Junie B Jones is A Beauty Shop Guy, and Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (PS So Does May).)

We have most of the Jones books on display, in the same area as Magic Tree House ( which, coincidentally, also came out in 1992 and is by the same publisher, Stepping Stones/Random House). Park also picture books and other chapter books including(check library catalog to see if and where the book(s) is)-

• Kid in the Red Jacket
• Mick Hart was Here
•  Skinnybones

Junie also has a website at http://juniebjones.com/

 Rest in Peace, Barbara Park.

Rest in Peace Maurice Sendak

With yesterday's pasting of  author/ illustrator Maurice Sendak, I felt like re-posting a review I did in October of last year  on Sendak's final book ( according to some obituaries, he was writing more book, release date unknown.) To be honest, I didn't really become of fan of his work until I got older ( although  as a kid, I did  enjoy seeing the cartoon Really Rosie, which is really an adaption of  the Nutshell Library series and The Sign on Rosie's Door). His work is a bit dark and strange, but it sort of grows on you. So enjoy the review and may the wild rumpuses continue.

Review-Bumble-Ardy-Maurice Sendak ( originally posted on October 4, 2011)

A few  weeks ago, I read Maurice Sendak's new picture book for our Cool Kids program ( and they enjoyed it, but said it was a little weird.Of course,  not all of Sendak's stuff is  cute and cuddly). What I did discovered via some of the book reviews is that the story  is based off a old Sesame Street cartoon ( and oh I remember it, especially the mom counting  nine until the pigs and her son left, then welcoming him back in and kissing him "nine times over nine.")

Here is the You tube link for those that want a trip down memory lane- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2TVYdQU3-I&noredirect=1 

In the story, Bumble-Ardy the pig ( in the cartoon, a boy) has never had a birthday party until at age eight his parents " gorged and gained weighted/ And got ate."  He is then adopted by his sweet aunt Adeline, who gives him a party for turning nine. But she has to work, so Bumble throws the party himself... and a wild rumpus is had by all. But what will Aunt Adeline think when she gets home?

Fans of Sendak will most likely treasure Bumble as much as  the author's past works, Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen . Some readers might it a little bit weird and dark, but it has the author's familiar visual style and rhymes and ends on a very sweet note

Bumble-Ardy-Maurice Sendak

Age Range: 5-7

**** ( 4 stars)

Rest in Peace Little Eisbarbaby

 

So yesterday, while reading an article on Hunger Games's star Jennifer Lawrence, I saw one of the side headlines was that Knut the polar bear had died (  see http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20475069,00.html  for more information).  To honor the memory of German's  beloved Eisbarbaby  ( German for " polar bear cub"), I felt like mentioning a book I used about two year ago for a program on the animals of the North and South Poles.


 Knut: How One Little Bear Captivated the World introduces to the beginning of Knut. Born Dec 5, 2006 at Zoo Berlin, he and an unnamed twin were raised by  zoo keeper Thomas Dorflein ( October 13, 1963 –  September 22,2008) after being abandon by their mother.  Sadly, the twin died a few day later due to an infection, so Thomas took to raise the bear that the world would know as "Knut" ( and Thomas selected that name thirty-two days after his birth because he felt the bear fit that name).

Written by Craig Hatkoff and his daughters Juliana and Isabella ( who wrote the books about Owen the hippo and Mzee the tortoise), Knut features lovable pictures of the cub and "dad", from exchaging a kiss to  learning to swim, along with facts about polars bears, prounuciation of German words and terms,  and how to keep their environment safe from global warming.  If you love animals, especially polar bears, you'll love this
 book.


Knut: How One Little Bear Captivated the World
Ages: 6 and up
Lexile: 950
***** ( 5 stars)

 On a personal note, when I read parts of this book for a program on animals of the North and South Poles ( and a few school visits for the library's Read-a-thon program), the kids love it. They even thought he was still cute when I showed them what he looked like as a grown bear.  RIP Knut.