2014 State Children's Choice Awards Announced!

The 2014 Oregon Reader's Choice Award and Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Awards have been announced!!!

In it's 4th year, the Oregon Reader's Choice Award (ORCA) is sponsored by the Children's Services Division and Oregon Young Adult Network, both divisions of the Oregon Library Association, the Oregon Association for School Libraries, the Oregon Reading Association, and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association.  2635 students from across the state participated in the award in their grade division and voted for their favorite.  The results are:

Upper Elementary (Junior) Division:
Pie by Sarah Weeks

Middle School (Intermediate) Division:
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson

High school (Senior) Division:
Divergent by Veronica Roth


Now in it's 12th year, the 2014 Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award goes to 8 Class Pets = 1 Squirrel (Divided by) 1 Dog = Chaos by Vivian Vande Velde.  The award is sponsored by the Oregon Association for School Libraries and is named after long-time Oregon resident and beloved author, Beverly Cleary.  The award is geared towards books at a 2nd and 3rd grade reading level.

June is Audiobook Month!

Every June, the Audio Publishers Association carries out a campaign to enhance visibility, awareness and popularity for audiobooks.  In 2011, over 75 authors and narrators teamed up with publishers to reach approximately 7.5 million people through all forms of social media.  As part of this initiative, they are asking for others to speak out about audiobooks!  And as a big fan and huge supporter of audiobooks, I can not stress enough how audiobooks play an important role in early literacy and throughout life, just as print books are. 

Audiobooks are great for family listening on the road
this summer--nothing ends the "are we there yet?" blues like a great audiobook!  Audiobooks keep everyone in the car entertained while also increasing literacy skills…families can even knock out a few of the titles on their children's summer reading lists on the way to vacation.

Audiobooks are also a great tool for building literacy. Listening to audiobooks helps children build better vocabularies and also helps them to read with better expression.

Have a downloadable device?  There's also Library2Go, which is a service provided by libraries across Oregon, which gives you access to downloadable ebooks, audiobooks, and videos on your mobile device via the Overdrive app. Media can also be transferred from your computer to your ebook reader or mp3 player.

Click here for a listing of published research articles that address the benefits of audiobooks for young people.

New Read-Along Kits

We've just gotten in some new juvenile audiobook kits at the library.  These recordings are sure to be pleasing to the ear while being educational and entertaining.  Check out some of these new titles:


RRRALPH Narrator Andrew Watts cleverly describes how Ralph the dog can talk, appropriately saying words such as "roof," "rough," "bark," and "wolf."


Wonder Horse: The True Story of the World's Smartest Horse This fictionalized account of Bill "Doc" Key, a former slave who became a veterinarian, trained his horse, Jim Key, to recognize letters and numbers and to perform in skits around the country, and moved the nation toward a belief in treating animals humanely as narrator Kevin R. Free tells the tale with loving care.


The Django A young boy named Jean has an imaginary friend, Django, who keeps getting him in trouble and eventually is sent away, but whenever Jean plays the banjo he continues to feel close to Django. Inspired by the life of jazz musician Django Reinhardt; includes facts about his life, which includes one of his hit songs following the story narration.

Who Stole Mona Lisa? Skilled narrator, Barbar Rosenblat voices the famous Mona Lisa painting as she is stolen from the Louvre in Paris and her terror of her unknown future.



Here Comes The Garbage Barge! In the spring of 1987, the town of Islip, New York, with no place for its 3,168 tons of garbage, loads it on a barge that sets out on a 162-day journey along the east coast, around the Gulf of Mexico, down to Belize, and back again, in search of a place willing to accept and dispose of its very smelly cargo.  Who would have known that one town could accumulate so much trash?

Interrupting Chicken This 2011 Caldecott Honor Book is now available as a read-along.  Papa is reading Little Red Chicken bedtime stories, but Little Red keeps interrupting and making up is own stories in this hillarious bedtime tale.

Meet the Collection Monday- Young Adult Audiobooks

 Is there anything better than kicking back in the car or on a plane or at home and listening to a great reader bring a story to life? Audiobooks can be so vivid and compelling, whether they are read by a full cast complete with sound effects or are more intimate productions with a single, excellent reader. Perhaps you've already discovered our audiobooks for children and adults, but have you found the Young Adult Books on CD collection yet? If not, you're in for a treat, and if so, you know that there are hundreds of fabulous audio versions of incredible YA books, from non-fiction to classics to contemporary. Find them upstairs in the YA section near the magazines.

If you're a fan of irreverent comedy/social commentary, you will love Libba Bray's Beauty Queens, and the audiobook (read by the author) is especially fun. Usually, authors simply cannot compete with the professional actors who bring characters to life in audiobooks, but a few know how to get just the right tone to tell their stories. Bray's reading of her own book is hilarious. In this Lord of the Flies/pop-culture parody, a plane caring contestants for the Miss Teen Dream pageant crashes on the way to the final competition. The survivors learn to work together as they build structures, hunt for food, accessorize jungle-style, and uncover a corporate conspiracy.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian is, in my humble opinion, the best book ever, and the author's reading of it is divinity. Sherman Alexie's pitch-perfect reading will carry you laughing, weeping and hooting triumphantly through the hilarity, tragedy, irony and injustice that is Junior's life.

If Chuck Norris challenged Neil Gaiman to a fight, he would be so stunned by the author's rapier wit that his beard hairs would start to fall out. Then he would beg Neil to let him join one of his dinner parties and Neil would graciously agree, stunning Chuck yet again with his gentility. Then Neil would knock him out with a perfectly executed roundhouse kick to the face. In other words, Gaiman's a genius and his reading of The Graveyard Book is further proof of his brilliance. OK, Neil, we get it.

You may also love Terry Pratchett's magically hilarious Wee Free Men, read by Stephen Briggs, Patrick Ness' terrifying Knife of Never Letting Go, read by Nick Podehl, and Holly Black's fantastical White Cat read by Jesse Eisenberg. Yes, that Jesse Eisenberg.

And, as you'll notice from the pictures above, all the cutest author's write teen books. Look at them; they're so adorable!

Meet the Collection Mondays: Juvenile Audiobooks

As a huge fan of audiobooks, I love telling our patrons about all the wonderful titles we have at the library.  I am pleased to tell you about our Juvenile Audiobook collection which consists of Fiction Books on CD, Non-Fiction Books on CD, Fiction Book Kits with CD's and Non-Fiction Book Kits with CD's. The book with CD's kits are also referred to as "kits". We no longer carry cassettes as CD's have become more popular.

Kits: Our kits are mainly geared towards Preschool children through second grade.  The collection is mainly comprised of picture book and early reader read-alongs. The collection also includes non-fiction titles, such as books that help children learn a foreign language. It also contains publications such as Wee Sing that includes a CD with an accompanying music booklet.  A majority of all these titles have a track or separate CD with page-turn signals, making it easy for children to listen to the book on their own and to know when to turn the page without adult assistance.  Children who listen to a read-along kit are receiving the same benefit as though they are listening to a parent or another adult read them a book, as they are still picking up and learning new vocabulary and other early literacy skills.  Kits are a valuable resource for pre-readers because it helps them develop early literacy skills such as print awareness. We have numerous kits that contain wonderful sound effects.  I highly recommend Hondo and Fabian, The Librarian from the Black Lagoon, and Dooby Dooby Moo.  For elementary school ages, try The Composer is Dead, and Jazz.

Books on CD: For all of the books on CD, every effort is made to

make sure there is a print edition of that title located somewhere in the overall children’s collection. This is helpful when a child would like to read along with the print book.  This option is especially important to children who struggle with reading as it will  help aid and assist them in their reading comprehension and is an excellent way to extend the story beyond their imagination as many audiobook narrators use a wide range of expressions and characterizations to make the plot more realistic than what's just printed in the book.  A good narrator can really bring a book to life.  As I've listened to probably 80% of the titles in our audiobook collection and have served three years on a national audiobook award committee (going on four), I can assure you that a good match between the narrator and the text makes all the difference in the world for a phenomenal audiobook experience.  To the novice listener, this may be hard to justify, so here are some great fiction examples to try: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and The Alvin Ho Collection: Books 1 & 2.  And for an exceptional non-fiction audiobook experience, try We are the Ship, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! (with a full cast) and Marley: A Dog Like No Other.

Why should children listen to audiobooks?
Some may think that listening to a book on CD is a way to cheat on reading the print book. However, this is not the case, as they provide many benefits for children such as:

• Improving listening and comprehension skills
• Increasing vocabulary
• Learning the proper pronunciation of words
• Learning to "see" a story by using imagination instead of illustrations
• Getting motivated to read more by an author they've been introduced to through an audiobook
• Engaging a child's interest in a way that a parent reading aloud may not
• Supplements print book reading
• Another way to experience literature besides through printed books
• Providing an enjoyable family activity to share literature together

For more detailed information on the benefits of listening to audiobooks, read this article from Reading Rockets: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/64/. 

I also encourage you to come to the library and check out an audiobook today!

Kits for Kids!

Have you ever our explored our collection of juvenile kits? The J Kit collection shelves are packed with fun. Most kits are picture books with an accompanying CD or DVD. They're great way for kids to peruse books while listening to artfully produced readings of the stories, and they can keep the whole family entertained during road trips! Stop by the library to browse the collection and check out my personal favorite: Dog Train by Sandra Boynton.

On the Road Again

Hitting the road this summer? Keep the kids entertained with an audiobook. We've got everything from shorter stories (Seuss, Junie B. Jones, etc.) to the longest of chapter books (Harry Potter, anyone!) to help you pass the hours in the car. Some of my favorite listens include any of the Hank the Cowdog stories and Skulduggery Pleasant.

Trip Time!

The good weather is upon us and with it time to take trips. Whether you're heading out for the day or longer, don't forget to stop by your library before you go. Audio books are a great way to make your car or train ride a bit smoother.

My Recommendation: Rabbit Ears Collection There are several volumes in the exceptional series, with famous voices (think Angelica Houston and Nicholas Cage) telling classic children's tales, like Paul Bunyan and Peter Rabbit. I first heard these on public radio a few years ago and fell in love.

Also, for grownups, there is a great honor book collection of paperbacks upstairs. Just pick out a couple and write down how many you take on the clipboard next to the books. These are donated copies that you don't need to use your library card to check out (great for taking to the beach or on an airplane).

New Read-Along Kits!

We just got a whole bunch of new kits here at the library. If you are unfamiliar with a kit, it is a book that contains a read-along CD. These books are perfect for children who are learning to read and for non-reader's alike since they expose children to new vocabulary and provide for an entertaining literary experience. These experiences can include: listening to multiple readers, sound effects, and background music, which all provide a fun and entertaining story. Some great new kits include:

Crazy Hair Day by Barney Saltzberg. Actor Zach Braff narrates as Stanley, who is so excited about crazy hair day at school, discovers he got the date wrong.

Duck on a Bike by David Shannon. Narrator Walter Mayes provides readers with a wealth of different barnyard animals as duck rides a bike all over the farm.

March On!: The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World by Christine King Farris. Listeners will be transported back in time to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s historic march on Washington during the Civil Rights movement.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems. Playful and perfectly timed music interacts with a determined pigeon who wants to drive a bus, narrated by well loved authors, Mo Willems and Jon Scieszka. A 2004 Caldecott Honor Book and a 2010 Notable Children's Recording.

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems. Performed by Mo, his daughter Trixie, and wife Cheryl, who all make a great family team showing warmth and love. A 2008 Caldecott Honor Book and a 2010 Notable Children's Recording.

Creepy Coraline

One of my favorite scary stories is Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Usually known for his graphic novels and comic books, Gaiman's storytelling creates vivid imagery and veiled horror.

Coraline moves with her family into a new apartment, part of a large old house that has been divided. She immediately sets off exploring her surroundings, only to discover a locked door in her apartment. With the turn of a key she finds an apartment that looks exactly like her apartment, except for the strange woman in the kitchen. She calls herself Coraline's mother, except this woman has long fingernails, eats beetles, and has buttons for eyes. Coraline must find a way to escape before this "other" mother makes Coraline her "other" daughter.

While definitely creepy, there is nothing explicitly gruesome about this story, just unsettling. Fans of the movie Monster House and The Nightmare Before Christmas will find this an engaging book companion.

Coraline, which is being made into a movie, has its own website and a trailer for the film. The audio book version, which is read by the author, has an accompanying musical score pitch perfect with the story. A fun family read or listen.

Check Out from Home

If you're an audio book fan, you should definitely check out Library2Go, a downloadable service of your library. With titles for children, teens and adults, this service is too great to pass up. Want something to listen to while you go for walks? How about stories for your kids to listen to while you get dinner ready or they're enjoying free time? Or you teen announces that they need a book for school and all copies are checked out? Download it! You can even transfer it to a MP3 player.

And new...they've added downloadable video. Check out everything from biographies to instructional guitar lessons, right to your computer.

How does it work? You check it out like a book. The libraries of Washington County have purchased so many "copies" or licences. If the title you want is out, put in on hold and get email notification when it's ready to be checked out. To check it out, download a simple piece of software, the audio/video file and a license.

As always, if you need help let your friendly librarians know!

Beethoven's Basketball!

Ten-year-old Zoe believes she will be a concert pianist...if only she knew how to play the piano. Her overworked mom and socially anxious dad decide to help her in this pursuit, except Dad gets nervous and buys a mini-organ instead! Zoe, already on the edge of not-coolness, finds a bit of pep from her weekly lessons and a new friendship.

Linda Urban's A Crooked Kind of Perfect is spunky, heartwarming, with just the right words. I, for one, will continue to use "Chopin's Toaster!" when I am shocked and amazed.

Recommended for ages 8 and up. Also a great family read or listen.