On Our Shelves: New Children’s DVD’s

November 20, 2013November 20, 2013 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

The library’s DVD collection (including regular and blue ray discs) grows rapidly and is often hard to keep up with. This holds true with the children’s collection just as much as it does with the family film and adult collections. There are feature films, favorite television shows (old and new), as well as educational programs. Here is just a small sample of some new DVD’s in the children’s room, though it barely scratches the surface!

Regular Show Fright Pack
The adventures of Mordecai and Rigby, two park groundskeepers who seek out various ways to escape the everyday boredom of their job.

Ivan the Incredible
After constantly being bullied by kids at school and ridiculed by his father, Ivan Olsen is given the chance to be the best at everything after a witch mixes him a magic potion.

Robot Zot
This is a tale of a robot determined to conquer the earth. But once discovers the princess – a toy cell phone – he must learn how to be a hero.

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That. Hurray! It’s Valentine’s Day!
It’s Valentine’s Day with The Cat in the Hat, a great time to make friends with the Cat. Spend the whole day with wonderful friends in a place where adventure and fun never ends. Yes, friendship’s the key on this special day, and the Cat is the one who will lead the way.

Minnie’s The Wizard of Dizz
Minnie and Pluto end up in the silly but spectacular land of Dizz. It’s an amazing place, with rainbow trees, butterfly bows, and friendly ‘Chipmunchkins,’ but what Minnie wants most is to get home. Together, Minnie and her new friends Scarecrow Goofy, Mickey the Tin Mouse, and Donald the Lion, set off to ask the wonderful Wizard of Dizz to make their dreams come true. But look out! Bad Witch Pete wants Minnie’s magical, sparkly green shoes, and he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve. Includes bonus features.

Fish ‘n Chips
Hilarious adventures of a young fish, Fish, and his nemesis Chips, a cat, as they tear across land and sea, facing off for the love of the same catfish and bones of Fish’s ancestor.

Phineas and Ferb, the Perry Files. Animal Agents
So you thought Perry the Platypus, a.k.a. Agent P, was the only crime-fighting animal in the Tri-State area? Meet Perry’s animal agent comrades who are all members of the O.W.C.A., ”Organization Without a Cool Acronym.” This hilarious collection of animal agent-themed adventures will leave viewers wanting to join forces with the O.W.C.A. to help shell out trouble for evil-doers.

Other new DVD’s that might catch you eye include: Ruby Gloom. Happiest Girl in the World, Wild Kratts. Rainforest Rescue, Farm Animals: Nature & Animals, Dino King 3D, VeggieTales. MacLarry & the Stinky Cheese Battle, American Girl. McKenna Shoots for the Stars, Bill Nye the Science Guy. Germs, Room on the Broom, The Saddle Club. Season 1 , and Chloe’s Closet. Outdoor Explorer.

Counting, Measuring, and More: Children’s Books About Math

November 14, 2013July 11, 2014 / Sharon Tyler / 1 Comment

Are you or your child a math whiz, or are you like me and dread the very idea of sitting down and tacking the related homework? Well, here are some books for children that get your youngest children on the right track, and help school age children stave off the fear of math or feed their math love. I have broken down my recommended books into three sections; Preschool and Kindergarten, First through Third Graders, and Above and Beyond.

For Preschool and Kindergarten Aged Children:
1. Help Me Learn Subtraction written by Jean Marzollo, Illustrated by Chad Phillips.

2. Janice VanCleave’s Play and Find Out About Math: Easy Activities for Young Children by Janice Pratt VanCleave.

3. Millions, Billions, and Trillions: Understanding Big Numbers written by David Adler, Illustrated by Edward Miller.

4. Musk Ox Counts written by Erin Cabatingan, Illustrated by Matthew Myers.

5. Tyrannosaurus Math written by Michelle Markel; illustrated by Doug Cushman.

For First through Third Graders:
1. A Dollar, a Penny, How Much and How Many? written by Brian P. Cleary , illustrated by Brian Gable.

2. The Wing Wing Brothers: Math Spectacular! by Ethan Long.

3. Fractals, Googols, and Other Mathematical Tales by Theoni Pappas.

4. Dazzling Division : Games and Activities that Make Math Easy and Fun by Lynette Long.

5. Sir Cumference and All the King’s Tens : A Math Adventure written by Cindy Neuschwander ; illustrated by Wayne Geehan.
But do not stop there, because this is a series, simply look here for more.

Too simple for your math whiz? Then try these math related books that go Above and Beyond.
1. One Minute Mysteries : 65 Short Stories You Solve With Math! by Eric Yoder and Natalie Yoder.

2. Math created by Basher; written by Dan Green.

3. Math Games for Middle School: Challenges and Skill-Builders for Students at Every Level by Mario Salvadori and Joseph P. Wright.

4. Timekeeping: Explore the History and Science of Telling Time with 15 Projects by Linda Formichelli & W. Eric Martin; illustrated by Sam Carbaugh.

5. How Math Works by Carol Vorderman.

Still want more? Then you can also check out: Mummy Math: an Adventure in Geometry by Cindy Neuschwander; illustrated by Bryan Langdo, Measurement Mania: Games and Activities that Make Math Easy and Fun by Lynette Long, Mystery Math: A First Book of Algebra written by David A. Adler ; illustrated by Edward Miller, Math on Call: a Mathematics Handbook by Andrew Kaplan; edited by Carol DeBold, Susan Rogalski, and Pat Boudreau, or Number Sense and Nonsense : Building Math Creativity and Confidence Through Number Play by Claudia Zaslavsky.

Pictures Really Worth a Thousand (or More) Words

November 9, 2013July 16, 2014 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

A great picturebook is one that has a perfect pairing of illustrations and words. It should have a story that is interesting to most age groups, and artwork that makes you want to go back for more. Sometimes however you find a picturebook that has such wonderful illustrations that it could be wordless or a reader could ignore the words all together simply because of the perfection of the illustrations. Here are some picture books that have great stories and concepts, but truly stand out because of the fabulous artwork that helps to tell the story.

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge written by Mem Fox, illustrated by Julie Vivas
A small boy tries to discover the meaning of “memory” so he can restore that of an elderly friend.

Blueberry Girl written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Charles Vess
Rhyming text expresses a prayer for a girl to be protected from such dangers as nightmares at age three or false friends at fifteen, and to be granted clearness of sight and other favors.

Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth
When Stillwater the bear moves into the neighborhood, the stories he tells to three siblings teach them to look at the world in new ways.

On Market Street written by Arnold Lobel, pictures by Anita Lobel
A child buys presents from A to Z in the shops along Market Street.

Owl Moon written by Jane Yolen illustrated by John Schoenherr
On a winter’s night under a full moon, a father and daughter trek into the woods to see the Great Horned Owl.

The Mitten: a Ukrainian Folktale adapted and illustrated by Jan Brett
Several animals sleep snugly in Nicki’s lost mitten until the bear sneezes.

More great artwork and stories can be found in: The Napping House by Audrey Wood illustrated by Don Wood, In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak , The Polar Express written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg, Stellaluna by Janell Cannon, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney, The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses story and illustrations by Paul Goble, The Clown of God told and illustrated by Tomie de Paola, Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág , and Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney.

As always, I know I missed some picturebooks with picture perfect pages. Do you have a favorite picturebook that you treasure or remember because of the artwork?

Susan vs. the Wizards + Warriors

November 7, 2013November 7, 2013 / Susan O. / 1 Comment

The long-bearded ancestor of all wizard, warrior, and chivalrous knight stories is arguably Le Morte d’Arthur, compiled by Sir Thomas Mallory and first published in 1485 – not bad, considering the printing press was only invented in 1450. These tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Roundtable was later worked by T.H. White into The Once and Future King, published in sections between 1938 and 1958, and taken up by Disney in 1963 as The Sword in the Stone. In the same time period (1937-1954), J.R.R. Tolkien was busy pounding out The Lord of the Rings, his infinitesimally detailed trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King) that set the bar for most fantasy novels to come, so massive in scope that ten hours of movie magic can’t encompass it all.

Tolkien helped shape Dungeons and Dragons (1974), the endlessly successful fantasy game – wizards, warriors, dwarves with their battle axes, elves, orcs, checking for traps and spells – they all started with Tolkien. Dungeons and Dragons, however, is directly responsible for creating several lines of worthy novels, perhaps the best being the two original Dragonlance trilogies, Chronicles (Dragons of Autumn Twilight, etc) and Legends (Time of the Twins, etc). While some have complained that “you can hear the dice rolling in the background,” these are the novels that set my brain on fire. I had the misfortune to read them as they were being released, having to wait anxious months for each delicious installment. While Chronicles sets up the characters and sends them off on a very D&D-type adventure, Legends runs with the developed characters and explodes with adventure. These trilogies are clean enough for the 11-15 year old crowd, and a great place to send them after (or in preparation for) Lord of the Rings. There are more than 200 novels under the Dragonlance umbrella (and a film), so let them read!

The modern crown of medieval fantasy, however, must go to George R. R. Martin (what’s with all those R’s?). His Song of Ice and Fire series, better known as Game of Thrones, the first title of the series, is Tolkien grown up dark and twisted (yes, darker than Mordor, where evil is only ever alluded to). Dragons, kingdoms, sex, murder, warfare, dwarves, incest, murder, swords, traitors, child brides, sex, murder, backstabbing, murder, sex, murder – Game of Thrones is nothing short of a massive soap opera set in a fantasy world of medieval powerstruggles. While the HBO series consists heavily of nudity and violence, it is not a tenth of the amount of extreme brutality and sexual depravity of the books – these are NOT chivalrous tales for the young, but bloody and too-realistic horror stories of warfare. Yet, they will suck you in with compelling characters in a story that is too painful to read further, and too engaging and dramatic to ever put down. Each volume runs 800-1200 pages, so unless you can clear your schedule (you won’t want to stop), you may want to check out the audiobooks instead.

Read them. Savor them. Imagine them. Then go beat up a tree with a sword. Just make sure it’s not an Ent first.

Reading Around the Globe – For Book Clubs

November 5, 2013June 5, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

Do the members of your book club like to travel? Or do they like to “travel” via books? Here are some books that will take them on a trip around the world.