Getting In the Christmas Mood!! Part 1- What is Your Favorite Christmas Song?

Hi readers,
 So I wanted to do a 25 days of reviews or something each day leading up to Christmas but saw it was not possible to do being part-time and all ( I prefer to do this blog on days that I work). Instead, each Tuesday will be about getting in the mood for the Christmas season. Today's post-what is favorite Christmas song? Yes readers, I'm inviting you to come post your favorite song you like  to listen to during this magical season.

What are my favorites? Well, I like lots but if I had to make a mix of my Top 5 favorites, they would be:

1. I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas- Gayla Peevey
2. Celebrate Me Home- Kenny Loggins
3. White Christmas-Bing Crosby
4. The Christmas Song-Nat King Cole
5. Merry Christmas, Darling- The Carpenters

Let the holiday season begin. Keep reading!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hi boys and girls. I know it's early but just felt like wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and keep reading!


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Happy Holidays 2011 programs

Here are our last programs of 2011 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, Dec. 5 at 10 am- Audience: 2 and 3 year olds and caregivers.

Mother Goose on the Loose-Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 10 am-Audience: Infants Birth to
23 months and caregiver (s).

Story Time for 4 and 5 yr olds- Tuesday,  Dec 13 at 10 am and 2 pm- Audience: 4 and 5 year olds.

Holiday Story Hour- Thursday, Dec 8 at 4-Audience: K-5 and families

Gaming Night- Wednesday, Dec 14 at 6 pm- Audience: 12 to 17 years old.

Lego Club- Tuesday, Dec 20 at 4pm- 2nd to 6th grade.

Note- All branches will be closed on Thursday, November 24 for Thanksgiving. We will be open the day after Thanksgiving, normal Friday hours.

Happy Holidays and see ya soon!!!

Bookworm List-Have a Party with Your Bear!!!

Boys and girls, do you have a special friend you call " Teddy"? Did you know they have a special day just for them tomorrow called " Have A Party with Your Bear"? Yep, they do. True, it's not as grand as say Christmas, but still it's nice to tell your bear ( or any stuffed animal) that you love them. So hug your bear, eat  a little cake ( perhaps with honey like Pooh Bear or marmalade like Paddington) , and have a "beary" good day tomorrow.

Want to have some " beary" good books? Here are a few titles you might on this month's display, located at the entrance of the children's department: ( for more, use the keywords "teddy bears" for juvenile fiction and literature.)

• Newton- Rory Tyger
• Corduroy-Don Freeman
• Return to The Hundred Acre Wood- David Benedictus
• Legend of The Teddy Bear- Frank Murphy

For a great site on teddy bears,  check out http://www.theteddybearmuseum.com/teddy-facts.htm

Have a beary good afternoon and keep reading!!

Review-Balloons over Broadway-Melissa Sweet

 

What are the things that make up Thanksgiving? Food, family, and floats. Yes, before heading to the relatives to fill up on turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie, boys and girls get up around 9 am to watch Macy's annual three hour parade of balloons, Broadway shows, and the big man himself, Santa Claus for 85 years ( it was suspended in 1942-44 because of WWII). But how did it all begin?

In Balloons over Broadway, we are introduced to Tony Sarag ( which the author says " rhymes with aargh" on the first page),  who as a child, loved to make marionettes( which are puppets that are operated  by strings. When he grew up, he first moved to London, England to work as a puppeteer, then came back to the States to perform on Broadway. But then R. H. Macy,  founder of Macy's, heard about Sarag's puppets and asked Sarag to create some for the store's holiday window display. But Macy's had bigger plans: a parade for their employees, particularly the immigrants unable to return home for the holidays. So in 1924,  the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade of floats, clowns, and  live animals was born. But  as the parade got popular, having live animals became a bit  of a problem. So in 1927, Sarag was asked to replace the animals. How? With balloons that worked like upside-down marionettes.

Sweet uses various items, from collage to 3-D puppets, to tell the story behind one of Thanksgiving's traditions.  We even gets news clippings and additional background information about Sarag.

Balloons Over Broadway-Melissa Sweet
Age Range: 6-9
Lexile: 835
***** ( 5 stars)

Want to learn more about the parade? Visit the official website for history, games, plus information on who will be performing this year.

Review- Is Everyone Ready for Fun?- Jan Thomas

 

What happens when three cows decide to have some fun on a chicken's sofa? Lots of laughs... and a frustrated chicken.


This is a very fun ( and simple) story filled bright color and even bigger, brighter words for really young readers. This is also a good book to use toward the end of story time so the kids can get up off their bottoms and jump, dance, and wiggle with the cows.... on the chicken's sofa.  (Note: The toddlers I read the book to today sure enjoyed it, especially my chicken voice.)

And if you like this book, here are some of Thomas's other books:

• Can You Make a Scary Face?
•  The Doghouse
• Rhyming Dust Bunnies
• What will The Fat Cat Sit on?
• Birthday for Cow
• Here comes the Big,  Mean Dust Bunny

Is Everyone Ready for Fun-Jan Thomas
Age Range: 2 and up
***** ( 5 stars)

Review- But Who will Bell the Cats- Cynthia von Buhler

 

Once upon a time there was a princess and eight  pampered cats . There was also a mouse and a bat, who lived downstairs in the dark, drafty cellar. And the mouse wanted the same things at the cats: perfumed pillows, hot baths, and so much more. So he and the bat decide to bell the cats. Will they succeed?

This book does a great job in solving the Aesop fable ( which is featured at the beginning of book for not familiar with it) and providing a great lesson in kindness and determination. The artwork is really great too, and so is the book's website( http://butwhowillbellthecats.com/), which features games, information on fables, crafts ( such as making your own dollhouse diorama), and more.

But Who Will Bell the Cats- Cynthia von Buhler (Note- This book is available at the main Lowell library, but can be requested.)
Age Range- 3-7
Lexile: 775
***** ( 5 Stars)

Happy Halloween!

Have a safe and Happy Halloween and keep reading!!!

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Review- Dread Locks- Neal Shusterman

 

Fifteen year-old Parker Baer is bored with his  perfect life. But the day he finds new girl Tara sleeping in his bed, his life  is turn upside down. New in town, she's a beautiful girl with blond dread locks, lives in a house filled with statues and never takes off her sun glasses. She and Parker becomes friends, but then strange things begin to happen to  his classmates. Can Parker uncover the truth before it's too late?


There are lots of twists and turns in the story that keep the reader interested until the very surprising ending. The author also does a great job of blending the fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears with Medusa of Greek mythology.

Dread Locks-Neal Shusterman
Age Range: 12 and up
Lexile: 710
**** ( 4 stars)

Review- Happy Pig Day!- Mo Willems

Piggie is excited. It's Happy Pig Day!! A day of pig songs and pig dances, and saying "Oinky, Oinky, Oink"( which is " Happy Pig Day" in Pig) Soon, more pigs join in the fun, and do pig acrobats, pig games, and all types of pig fun. But can Gerald, who is a an elephant, be able to join in the fun?


Fans of the Piggie and Elephant series will definitely love this book. With a cartoon quality and very simple story for preschoolers, this ( as well as the rest of the books in the series), teach a wonderful message of friendship. 

Happy Pig Day!-Mo Willems
Age Range: 3 and up
***** ( 5 stars)

Want to celebrate Pig Day ( which is actually March 1st)? Check out this cool kit created by Willems
(http://www.pigeonpresents.com/teachersguides/EandP-pigday-eventkit.pdf ).


By the way, for the fans of Willems' Pigeon ( who makes an appearance towards the end of the book), his new book, The Duckling Gets a Cookie, comes out April 2012.