February Events!

Come in out of the snow and visit your library this month. Check out these highlights from our February calendar:

Chess Club is back! Mr. Bud from Million Youth Chess Club will be visiting the 1st and 4th Monday of every month to teach kids how to play chess and take on challenges from any kid chess whiz who thinks he can beat him!

Storytime! This month, we're diving into our favorite fairytales. Read along with us, make a mask craft so you can retell the stories at home, then watch a special puppet show! Perfect for little ones!

Clara, our licensed therapy dog is coming back! On February 12 at 4 pm, Clara and her handler Susan will visit and help kids read books. Clara is a trained therapy dog that listens to children read to her. All across the state, libraries are using therapy dogs to help children gain confidence in their literacy skills. Your child may be nervous or intimidated to read aloud in class or to you, but Clara the dog is non-judgmental and patient, so kids eagerly read to her and gain confidence page by page. After you read to Clara, make a craft at Crafty Corner!

Our next Block Party is on February 13 at 4 pm. Use Legos, blocks, connector straws and more to create fun gizmos and whirligigs. Enter our contest for tickets to the Gizmo Guys juggling show hosted by the Miller Centre for the Arts.

Valentine's Day is almost here! Make valentines and hear some heart-warming stories at the library on February 14 at 4 pm!

Do you love Dora? Join us for our Dora Fiesta where we celebrate the adventures of everybody's favorite exploradora with stories and party games. Enter our contest to win tickets to the Reading Public Museum's next interactive exhibit, Dora and Diego: Let's Explore!

Modern Girl

Wendy, 13, is a modern teen girl, so what book does she recommend reading? You may be surprised that she suggests a book series that was created in 1930!

A modern teen girl of her own time, Nancy Drew first appeared in books in 1930 and starred in a mystery series where she solves innumerable crimes. The series is still alive today in new adventure series like Nancy Drew and Clue Crew and even comic books where she hunts down vampires. 

“It’s kind of fun to see how Nancy and her friends solve mysteries. You see the whole process,” Wendy said. “You could probably solve mysteries in real life after reading these.” 

Wendy’s favorite mystery was a book in Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew series called "Scream for Ice Cream" and is about a stolen ice cream recipe. 

 “Nancy keeps her cool during all of the mysteries,” Wendy said. “She never panics.” 

Can a modern girl in 2014 relate to a character writen in 1930? “Well, she is a modern girl like us,” Wendy said. “It’s not so different.” 

Want to read what Nancy Drew has been up to since 1930? Click here for books on our catalog.

A Very Famous Teddy Bear

We all know the adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin thanks to author A.A. Milne’s loveable books and Disney’s darling films. But did you know that Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh were real? 

 

Christopher Robin was the son of author A.A. Milne, and Winnie was the name of his beloved teddy bear. His bear was named after a real bear that Christopher Robin often visited in the London Zoo. 

(That's author and father A.A. Milne, young Christopher Robin, and Winnie the Pooh!)

 

Just like his namesake, Winnie the zoo bear had a lot of adventures himself: Winnie was bought in Winnipeg (a Canadian city for which he is named) for $20 by a Canadian Lieutenant about to depart to England during World War I. While the soldiers were fighting in France, Winnie lived at the London Zoo. He became such a popular attraction that the Lieutenant donated him to the zoo. 

(There's the real life Winnie with a soldier.)

Where did the “Pooh” part of Winnie’s name come from? Pooh was the name of a swan! Christopher Robin had seen Pooh the swan while on holiday.

The forest where Christopher Robin and Pooh play is called the Hundred Acre Wood in the books. In real life, it is based on Ashdown Forest. Rumor has it that Christopher Robin once lost another one of his toys, Piglet, in these woods, and it has become a tradition for British children to search for Piglet while visiting the forest.

 

You can even see Christopher Robin’s teddy bear on display at the New York Public Library. 

Are you interested in learning more about Winnie the Pooh? Check our online catalog for A.A. Milne’s books HERE.

Dear Reader

Miss Nancy is an expert on good stories for parents and kids to read together. That’s because she has read so many with her own son, who loves books, especially novels. So which book does Miss Nancy recommend for a good read-together?

Miss Nancy chose The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. This book won the 2004 Newberry Medal, which means many people consider it to be the best book for kids of that year.

The Tale of Despereaux in an adventure story about a daring mouse living in a castle. But, what Miss Nancy likes most about the story is the narrator, the voice who tells the story.

The narrator made her son “really feel like he was there,” Miss Nancy said. “The narrator included you a lot in it. You were an active reader. You always felt engaged in the story.”

The narrator addresses you, the reader, by saying, “Dear reader.” The narrator asks you questions and helps you keep the plot straight by reminding you of what other characters are doing.

“The narrator’s questions were fun to discuss while we read together,” Miss Nancy said, which is why it’s such a good book for parents or teachers to read with their kids.

In fact, Miss Nancy likes this book and its author, Kate DiCamillo, so much that she’s reading Kate’s new book The Illuminated Adventures of Flora & Ulysses right now.

Well, dear reader, do you want to find more books by Kate DiCamillo? Click this link to see her books on our card catalog.

New Year, New Programs

It’s a brand new year, we have a brand new space, and the Children’s Department has a bunch of brand new programs to share with you in 2014! Here are some of the highlights for the January Calendar:

Jurassic January: Little kids love dinosaurs so roar with us every Tuesday at 4 pm during “Jurassic January” where we’ll read about dinosaurs, play cool dino learning games, and make crafts! Perfect for kids from pre-K through 2nd grade. Tuesdays at 4 pm in January.

Block Party: Our popular Block Party is back. Build with Legos, waffle blocks, and connector straws to create a cool design. Thursday 1/16 at 4 pm.

Wrestling Club’s Internet Scavenger Hunt: Win tickets to see WWE Live by hunting down the clues on the library’s first ever Internet Scavenger Hunt. Download a form here. Need help? Ask a librarian or visit us on Saturday 1/11 at 11 am for Wrestling Club where we’ll also be reading about WWE superstar Daniel Bryan.

Barbie Girls: Barbie Girls is back! Bring your favorite doll and join us for books and activities starring Barbie. Saturday 1/18 at 12:30 pm.

Spongebob Shindig: Everyone’s favorite cartoon sponge is the star of this party, where we’ll be reading books, playing party games, and making crafts inspired by Spongebob and his friends in Bikini Bottom. 1/24 at 4 pm.

Welcome Back!

The Main Library reopened this morning! It feels great to be back, but what a very long journey it has been! Over the past three weeks, we've been unpacking hundred of boxes. Check out some of the photos of our progress, and stop in to see the final result itself!

Boxes! This was actually taken after we put all of our novels away. We had to get rid of those boxes to make room for more boxes!

Our learning tower of book boxes.

 

 most of the non-fiction books are done and we could start to see the floor again.

 

 Finally ready for opening day. What do you think?

Our first ever Internet Scavenger Hunt!

December’s Wrestling Club is cancelled while we put the Main Library back in order. In the meantime, you can enter our INTERNET SCAVENGER HUNT. Visit these websites, hunt down these clues, and you could win 4 tickets to WWE Live at the Santander Arena in January!

Get a copy of the scavenger hunt HERE!
(Hint: One of the clues is right here on this blog!!!)

Need help with your scavenger hunt form? Want to talk with other kids about wrestling? Then come to the library's Wrestling Club on January 11th where we'll be reading about Daniel Bryan!