Bookworm List:Pass the Sweet Potato Latkes, Thanksgivukkah coming!

This month, as you shop for your turkey and all the trimmings of Thanksgiving, you might all see pumpkin driedels and menurkeys. Say hello to Thanksgivukkah!

This year (and this year only) the first night of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, falls on... Thanksgiving (okay, it's starts sundown on Thanksgiving Eve, but the first full day is on Thanksgiving. Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday celebrated for eight days and nights. It starts on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev, which coincides with late November-late December on the secular calendar. This holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 B.C.E.)  Yes, this year, we'll be seeing turkey-shaped menorahs ( created by a nine-yr old in New York), recipes for pumpkin challah bread and other Jewish/Thankgiving food and a giant driedel in the Macy's Thanksgiving parade ( which I'm find very interesting, I might be working into my 2 and 3 yr old story time just this once. I'm not even Jewish!)

 According to a lot of articles on the web ( including Wikepedia), this is only the second time to ever happen ( the first time was 1888, but it may have happen way before Thanksgiving was declared a federal holiday by President Lincoln in 1863.) The next time this will happen ... might be a long, long time ( possibly the year 79811). Why? Well, the Hebrew calender and the Gregorian calender do not always calculate the same way ( and I'm not going to try to explain here, so have fun looking up yourself.)

Here are some websites to help you get in the  Thanksgivukkah spirit ( even if you're Jewish or not):

Thanksgivukkah- The Offical site of all things turkey and Yiddish, including how the two holidays were combined to create Thanksgivukkah.

Thanksgivukkah: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Holiday-A Pinterest board of recipes, images, and all Thanksgivukkah.  

Menurky-Learn the story of a how a nine-yr old New York boy , with the help of Kickstarter, created this blue turkey-menorah ( which you can also buy from this site)

Thankgivukkah-David Paskin- Cute song created by a Boston Rabbi ( also a page of lyrics).

And here are some Hanukkah books to check out-

The Hanukkah Hop  by Erica Silverman

Happy Sparkling Hanukkah by Elizabeth Spurr

All the Lights in the Night by Arthur Levine

On Hanukkah  by Cathy Goldberg

 Happy Thankgivukkah!!

Storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds: Artful Reading

For  today's storytime , I got some inspiration from a posting from the Kids at Cedar Lake Children's Blog and decided to have a day of art, shapes, music and motion. The kids heard Windblown by Edouard Manceau and Artful Reading  by Bob Raczka  and learned about shapes through My First Look at Shapes. We also had some fun with scarves and made some Windblown-inspired artwork (visit  http://www.owlkidsbooks.com/Portals/0/docs/windblown-activity.pdf to get the shapes to make your own artwork.)

Here are some of the songs we did today

Pretty Leaves are Falling Down added 9-9-98 Original Author Unknown

Sung to: "London Bridge"

Pretty leaves are falling down, falling down, falling down.
Pretty leaves are falling down, all around the town.
(wiggle fingers)
Let's rake them up in a pile, in a pile, in a pile.
Let's rake them up in a pile, all around the town.
(make raking motions)
Let's all jump in and have some fun,
have some fun, have some fun.
Let's all jump in and have some fun, all around the town.
(jump into circle)



Ten Little Fingers added 9-1-01 Original Author Unknown
(Hold up ten fingers. Suit actions to words.)
I have ten little fingers,
And they all belong to me.
I can make them do things,
Would you like to see?
I can shut them up tight,
Or open them wide.
I can put them together,
Or make them all hide.
I can make them jump high,
I can make them jump low.
I can fold them up quietly,
And hold them just so.


Our next couple of story times are:
Monday, November 18
Monday, December 2
Monday December 16.

All are at 10 am in the Children's Programing Room.

See You Soon

Happy Halloween

 Have a safe( hopefully nice) and Happy Halloween! Keep Reading!
glitter-graphics.com

Have you heard about the Neighborhoods?

Everyday, patrons ask us " Where I can find stories about animals?" or " Where are your Bob the Builder books?" and we librarians have to go on a bit of a scavenger hunt to find the book ( unless it is by the same author, then it's a little less of a search).

Well to lessen this search a bit, we now have the Neighborhoods. What are the Neighborhoods? They are a unique collection of books that are ready and easily labeled for patrons to check out.Currently, the Merrillville and Griffith Branch of the Lake County Public Library system are the only places where you can find the them.  There are six Neighborhoods, each color-coded according to what they are ( and listed as such on our catalog.) They are:

Celebrations-Holidays, Birthdays, and Special Events
Transportation-Cars, Trains, and things that go
Concepts-Numbers, ABC's, colors, and other learning concept
Songs and Rhymes-Song and Rhyme books
Nature-Animals, weather, and all things nature
Popular-Princesses, Bob the Builder, and many more ( little different from our first popular character shelf of Thomas the Train, fairies, Sesame Street, Pooh, Spongebob, Dora and Diego)

In postings to come, we take a closer look at  what each Neighborhood is, along with a list of recommended titles.
So the next time you want a book on ABC's or 123's, come to the Neighborhoods. Located in the Children's Department, between the Easy Readers and picture books.

Welcome to the Neighborhoods!   

Book Review: How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow-Wendall Minor

Every fall, folks grow very big pumpkins to win big blue ribbons at the fair. But how big could your pumpkin grow? Big enough to use as a boat? Or tall like a lighthouse on the beach? Perhaps big enough to hide behind the Capitol building of D.C? Use your imagination and think BIG.

I love Wendall Minor's books ( especially Pumpkin Heads). I love the use of orange to emphasize the pumpkins and the many synonyms for big ( like " immense" and "jumbo.) I also love all the landmarks featured to show off the "monster" pumpkins ( and the description of each landmark at the end.) A perfect book to use during the fall season.

How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? by Wendall Minor
Age Range: All Ages
***** ( 5 Stars)

For information on Wendall Minor, visit his website.

Storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds- It's Halloween Fun!

Today we celebrated Halloween one week early ( and we had a big crowd today. So big some didn't get a chance to make name tags and I had to "sweep" the book to make sure everyone saw the pictures.) We heard three stories ( Click Clack Boo: A Tricky Treat by Doreen Cronin, Ten Orange Pumpkins by Stephen Savage, and We're Going to Find the Witch's House by Mr. Krieb). We also got some treats, one more visit from the Five Little Pumpkins ( they have one more stop tomorrow for the 4 and 5 yr Costume Parade and Storytime at 10 am, costumes and treats optional, NO PEANUTS PLEASE!), and made a cow jumping over the Halloween Pumpkin with orange glitter glue.

Here are some of the songs we did today-

Pumpkin, Pumpkin added 7-29-98 Original Author Unknown
Pumpkin, Pumpkin sitting on a wall,
Pumpkin, Pumpkin tip and fall,
Pumpkin, Pumpkin Rolling down the street
Pumpkin, Pumpkin Trick or treat


Five Little Pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The first one said " Oh my, it's getting late!"
The second one said "There are witches in the air".*
And the third one said " We don't care."
The fourth one said " Let's run, run, run."
And the fifth one said " It's Halloween fun"
Then Woooooo went the wind, and out went the lights.
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

* In case one feels the use of "witch" is going to be a problem, I have changed it to " There's a chill in the air".




 The next Storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds will be  Monday,November 4 and  Monday, November 18, both at 10 am. 

Happy Halloween!!

Upcoming Programs in November

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, Nov. 4 and 18at 10 am- Audience: 2 and 3 year olds and caregivers.

Mother Goose on the Loose-Tuesday, Nov. 5 and 19 at 10 am-Audience: Infants Birth to
23 months and caregiver (s).

Story Time for 4 and 5 yr olds- Tuesday, Nov. 12 and 26 at 10 am- Audience: 4 and 5 year olds.

Board Game Fun-Wednesday, November 6 at 6:30 pm-Audience: 2-6th grade

Gaming Night- Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 6 pm- Audience: 12 to 17 years old.

Lego Club- Monday, Nov. 18 at 4pm- Audience: 2nd to 6th grade.

Celebrate LCPL Children's Book Week with the New Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book!-Thursday, Nov. 14 at 4pm-Audience: K-5 and families

Also this November-
*NEW*
KidsArt Club- Thursday, November 21 at 4 pm
   Children in grades 2-6, will learn how to draw and paint in this one hour, monthly art club.
*NEW*

COMING IN DECEMBER-STUFFED ANIMAL SLEEPOVER !!!


See you s-o-o-n!

Book Review- Click, Clack, Boo!: A Tricky Treat-Doreen Cronin

 

Farmer Brown does not like Halloween. So every year, he places a bowl of candy on the porch, draws the shades and locks the door. But at the barn, the cows, the pigs and the duck are ready to party.

For those that love Click Clack Moo and Thump, Quack, Moo, this is a cute addition to the series. Cronin and illustrator Betsy Lewin provide great, not-so spooky tale for Halloween, especially the "crunch, crunch, crunching" and " tap, tap, tapping" ( plus the " quack, quack, quackle".) I'm a little confused by the ending, overall it's a fun read





Click, Clack, Boo!: A Tricky Treat by Doreen Cronin
Age Range: All Ages
**** ( 4 stars)

Story time for 2 and 3 yr olds: Autumn Woods

glitter-graphics.com

Today was the second 2 and 3 yr old story time  of the fall. It was a fall trip to the forest. I had about 11 participants. I read two stories ( Every Autumn Comes the Bear by Jim Arnosky and Owlet's First Flight by Modarressi). We also had an early visit from the Five Little Pumpkins and did a cute baby owl craft ( because cute owls are featured everywhere, like pillows, clothes, dishware, etc.)

Here are  some  of  the songs that we did -




Owl in the Tree
Owl in the Tree goes Who, Who, Who
Owl in the Tree goes Who, Who, Who
Owl in the Tree goes Who, Who, Who
Owl says Who are You?

( This is usually done with an owl puppet. From past experience, some kids may by shy in greeting the owl, other will hug him, which the owl will say " Thank you, but I have to see the other boys and girls now. Bye)

Pretty Leaves are Falling Down added 9-9-98 Original Author Unknown

Sung to: "London Bridge"

Pretty leaves are falling down, falling down, falling down.
Pretty leaves are falling down, all around the town.
(wiggle fingers)
Let's rake them up in a pile, in a pile, in a pile.
Let's rake them up in a pile, all around the town.
(make raking motions)
Let's all jump in and have some fun,
have some fun, have some fun.
Let's all jump in and have some fun, all around the town.
(jump into circle)

The Wide Eyed Owl added 9-30-98 Original Author Unknown

There's a wide-eyed owl,
with a pointed nose,
with two pointed ears,
and claws for his toes.
He lives high in a tree.
When he looks at you
he flaps his wings,
and says, "Whoo, Whoo, Whoo."



The next Storytime for 2 and 3-yr olds will be Monday, October 21 at 10 am.  We will be celebrating Halloween a few weeks early.


Happy Autumn, see you soon!

Let's Go Get a Movie:Not-so Scary Movies for Friendly, Fearful Nights

It's the first week of October and the bewitching hour is upon us. Hopefully everyone is coming for some spooky boooooooks ( I am, I'm currently rereading Meg Cabot's   YA series, The Mediator ).

Besides being the time for  spooky and pumpkiny tales, this is also the time for scary movies . However, not everyone is into Saw or Halloween ( including yours truly). I much prefer old-fashioned haunts or silly and scary. So, here are some of my favorite not-so scary movies( a bit of a different bookworm list) to check out. Most can be found on DVD, but they also be playing this month on TV ( or you can always Netflix or Youtube). While these are mildly scary, it's best to screen ahead of time before showing it to the kids.

• Hocus Pocus ( 1993)- Directed by Kenny Orgeta ( High School Musical), this frightfully fun Disney movie of twenty years ago stars Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker as three witches that return on Halloween to seek out the souls of children to gain immortality. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll go "amuck, amuck, amuck." (Best line of the movie!) Rated PG.

• Haunted Mansion ( 2003)- After the success of Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney decided to turn another beloved attraction into a movie, this one featuring Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Tilly. It wasn't successful as Pirates, but if you are a fan of the actual ride, you'll enjoy all the nods to its elements, from singing busts to Madame Leota.Rated PG.

• Adams Family (1991)  and Adams Family Values (1993)- Possibly one of the better TV to movie adaptations, both ghoulishly fun movies feature Anjelica Huston as Morticia, Christina Ricci as Wednesday, and the late great Raul Julia as Gomez. I actually like Values more because of the summer camp that features perky counselors, the Harmony Hut ( a shed filled with oh so adorable stuff where Wednesday, Pugsley, and another misfit are forced to watch Annie and other oh so cute movies) and the inaccurate Thanksgiving pageant with Puglesy the singing turkey ( "Eat me!")  Both are rated PG-13.

• Casper ( 1995)- After playing Wednesday Addams, Christina Ricci starred in this wonderful cartoon/live action film of the friendliest ghost. It's silly, it's sweet, but you will need lots of tissues toward the end. There are also a few direct to DVD sequels, but I don't anything about them ( other than Casper and Wendy has a young Hillary Duff.) Rated PG.

• The Wizard of Oz (1939)-Because of witches and costumes (oh my), I think Oz is perfect during this time of year ( plus they are starting their 75th anniversary celebrations a bit early). For a triple feature, I am also recommending the Disney-inspired sequels, 1985's Return to Oz ( which features a lot of characters from the Baum books, like Ozma and Tik-Tok) and this year's Oz the Great and Powerful ( which is bright and beautiful, and features the most awesome transformation scene of the Wicked Witch of the West.) Rated G.

• Any Tim Burton film- Well, not Sweeney Todd ( a bit too violent.) For younger kids, I would go with Nightmare before Christmas and Corpse Bride. For older kids, check out Beetlejuice, Alice in Wonderland, and Sleepy Hollow. ( Rating vary from G to PG-13.)

• Women in Black (2012)- This is just good old-fashioned jump in your seat horrors, starring Daniel Radcliffe in his first non-Harry Potter role. Set in Edwardian era, a young lawyer (Radcliffe) travels to a remote village where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals. Very good thematic elements, lots of loud noise (so you know the scariness is coming), but not so nuts about the ending. ( Note-Radcliffe is starring another horror-like movie coming out next year is  Horns. Having seen some of the early pictures, I'm looking forward to this). Rated PG-13.

• The Good Witch series (2008-)  Only  the first movie, The Good Witch, is available on DVD. For the rest of the series, you might want to try Youtube or check the Hallmark Channel website to see when the movie(s) are airing. A mysterious woman (Catherine Bell of JAG) causes a stir when she moves to a small town and begins having a strange effect on those around her, including the town police chief and his family. Being that this is from Hallmark, this and the five other movies are cute and sappy and enjoyable. A new one, The Good Witch's Destiny, will air the weekend before Halloween ( and there will be a marathon of all the movies before this one). No Rating
•  Harry Potter  movies ( First two movies of the series are rated PG, later movies in the series are rated PG-13.

• Twilight movies ( All five movies are PG-13.)

I am also going to recommending anything involving a character (s) that could pass for a costume. In other words, any Disney movie, any superhero movie, Spongebob, Indiana Jones, Scooby-Doo, etc. 

And not to forget, there's always It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. 

 Happy Halloween and good viewing!