Building Your Child's Home Library

The American Library Association (ALA)-Children’s Book Council (CBC) Joint Committee, with cooperation from the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)’s Quicklists Consulting Committee, have updated  and published four Building a Home Library bibliographies.  These provide guidance to parents, grandparents, and others interested in assembling a high-quality library for their children at home.  These lists include tried and true classics; under the radar gems; multicultural books; and new, yet notable, reads for all ages.  Visit this link to access these booklists. Not sure about purchasing some of these books for your home library yet?  That's OK.  Come to the library to check them out before you buy!

Run Wild with Puppets!

                     

Let your imagination RUN WILD with a puppet from the Library!
 

Come on in and see our new and exciting assortment of puppets available for check-out! 

What research says about puppet play:

• Loving interactions with people and exploring objects are as necessary to a child's brain development as food is.
• Sensory experiences and social interactions build brain connections for future learning.
• Multi-sensory, playful, and interactive experiences linked with language and books create profound memory connections in the brain.
• Playing is just plain fun!

Our puppet collection is quite durable and will last through many exciting imaginary adventures. If your puppet does get messy, please bring it back to the library with a 

note.  We’ll take it from there.  Please do not put your puppet in the washing machine or dryer. They Can’t swim.  Thanks!

The puppet collection is generously sponsored by Friends ofthe Tigard Public Library. 

Vroom Your Child's Brain Building!

Science tells us that the more we engage with our children, especially ages 0-5, the better they'll do later on in school and in life.  That's why SINGING, TALKING, READING, WRITING, and PLAYING with your child is so important to build early literacy skills.  Needing some extra suggestions to go along with these five early literacy practices?  Vroom is a mobile app you can download onto your phone that provides you with daily activities that you can do with your child to help build their brain!  You are the number one teacher in your child's life...and Vroom will help give you easy ideas and suggestions that you can incorporate into your daily schedule.  Go to http://www.joinvroom.org/ to sign-up for the FREE app today! 

4th Annual Star Wars Reads Day

TODAY, Saturday October 10th marks the 4th annual Star Wars Reads Day!!!  This year the library is playing it low-key for this annual world event with a special display and take-home activity sheets.  Celebrate all things Star Wars by checking out some Star Wars books from the library collection, reading the books, and coloring your color sheets!  May the Force be with you!

HAPPY BATMAN DAY!

DC Comics recognizes today, Saturday September 26, 2015 as Batman Day!  Stop by the children's room on the first floor of the library to pick up some Batman goodies like bags, buttons, masks, and bookmarks.  Plus we've got coloring and activity sheets available to take home along with books available to check out too!  Giveaways are available while they last.  Happy Batman Day!

STEAM SATURDAY

The E in STEAM stands for engineering. He's an E activity you can do with your kids: Make paper airplanes! Until my kindergartner and I checked out paper airplane books, I had no idea that paper airplanes could look so different and do such different things based on the design! Try these:

Best Ever Paper Airplanes, by Norman Schmidt
Paper Airplanes series, by Christopher Harbo
Super Simple Paper Airplanes, by Nick Robinson

Supporting Math at Home

Did you know that you can support your child in learning math with everyday materials found in your home, such as shoelaces, canned food, cotton balls, and muffin pans?  Recent research shows that children who are ready to learn math are likely to do better in school.  Here's a listing of six math activities you can do with your child from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

 

Choose Kind!

October is Bully Prevention Month.  Just one act of kindness can make an impact.  Join the national movement to Choose Kind, inspired by the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  This is the inspiring fictional story of the incredible ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive.  He goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan.  Here he endures the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.

Random House, the publisher of the book has launched a campaign for readers across the globe to Choose Kind.  Here you can sign a pledge to be kind, find book resources, and learn more about the author, R.J. Palacio. 

Back to School With Seuss!

What time is it?  It's Seuss Time! (And back to school time too!) Join in the back to school fun by inspiring your child’s curiosity. Help your kids continue to be enthusiastic about learning with some Seuss-inspired activities from Seussville.  How about making some pinwheel sandwiches for your child's school lunch?  Or some Big Chrunch-err-oo's for an after school snack?  Check out the Seussville Back to School with Dr. Seuss! page for some more school related activities.  It will be Seuss-tastic!

Got a grad in your life?

Do you have a recent graduate in your life?  If so, Seussville Parents has posted lots of creative ways to celebrate that special grad with lots of fun activities, crafts, and recipes all based upon the book, Oh, The Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss.  You'll find lots of printable activity sheets, plus picture frame and scrapbooking ideas, to name a few.  There's activities posted on all different skill levels.  So hats off to the new grad!

Screen-Free Week April 29-May 5

From April 29 to May 5, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood celebrates its annual Screen-Free Week, when kids, families, and communities are encouraged to turn off the TV, video and mobile games, and other electronic entertainment, and “turn on life.” Reading, exploring nature, and enjoying family and friends are some of the activities the CCFC recommends in lieu of watching a screen. 

To support this initiative, Random House Children’s Books has launched Random House Unplugs, a promotional campaign and national tour that will bring four picture-book authors (in various combinations) to stores, schools, and museums in 14 cities.  Random House Children's Books has also created a video featuring interviews with the four artists, with footage from their visit to the Brooklyn school. The video can also be viewed on the campaign’s Web site, where additional information about Screen-Free Week, links to a blog tour,  a parent guide, and downloadable activities are available.

Click here to learn more about Screen-Free Week. So take the pledge to go screen free, turn off those screens, and read with your child this week!!!

Happy D.E.A.R. Day!

Happy D.E.A.R. Day!  --That is Drop Everything and READ Day!  This special day is celebrated every April 12th, to honor beloved local author Beverly Cleary's birthday!  Want to celebrate?  All you have to do is read a book!  Or you can even read a book to a child.  It doesn't matter, as long as you read!  Need some reading ideas?  Check out this list of books from the D.E.A.R. webiste!  And happy reading!!!

Pacific Northwest Exhibit

Looking for special local history outing for the family?  The Oregon State Library is opened a new exhibit called “The Early Exploration of the Pacific Northwest, 1778 – 1843.” Using books from the State Library’s Special Collections this exhibit highlights many early expeditions in the Pacific Northwest, starting with the 1778 Oregon Coast explorations by James Cook of England to the United States Exploring Expedition led by Charles Wilkes in 1843. The exhibit will display many other key materials from persons and places such as Robert Gray, George Vancouver, Lewis and Clark, and Astoria.

Oregon State Library’s Special Collections houses manuscripts, photographs, older Oregon documents, Oregon maps, and books and periodicals on numerous Oregon-related topics. Many items in the collection require special handling or protection because they are rare or fragile. Apart from Special Collections, the State Library has an extensive collection of materials on Oregon-related topics including public documents from Oregon government agencies. The Oregon Documents Depository Program ensures continuing access to public documents, as state agencies are required by statute to provide the State Library with copies of their public documents for distribution.

The exhibit is located in the 2nd floor lobby of the State Library, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Oregon State Library is located at 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301-3950

January is Snowy Day Month

January 2012 marked the 50th anniersary of the publication of childhood favorite The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.  This book not only won the Caldecott Award, it also achieved great critical success, and sold millions of copies.  Need some stay at home activitiy ideas during the wintery months?  Why not read The Snowy Day and have some of your own festivities? Here's some info and ideas from the publisher, and from the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.  How will you celebrate? 

Playing with your food

Well, actually, I'm not going to talk about playing with food, but the thing that holds your food. I just couldn't think of a very clever, catch-your-eye title for paper plate crafts. Believe it or not, I can make almost anything out of a paper plate. A snake, a rainbow, a frog, a chicken, the list goes on. All you need is a paper plate and a few other staple craft supplies, and your possibilities are endless. My staples include pipe cleaners, tissue paper, popsicle sticks, feathers, googly eyes, and card stock. You can get most of that stuff at the dollar store. Just google "paper plate crafts" and you can find a ton of ideas online. Or come in and see me and ask me for some patterns. I'm very proud of my creations!

WWI Fiction

Until the last two books I have read, I realized I don't think I had ever read any fiction books on World War I. Now it just happened that I read two in a row. One adult book and one children's book. It was interesting to read about this difficult subject with two different audiences in mind. I highly recommend both books.

If you haven't read Ken Follett's historical fiction for adults, you should. It is quite an undertaking to read one of them, but it's worth it. His latest novel about WWI is called Fall of Giants.

I usually try to read the Newbery Award winners, and this year it was Moon Over Manifest, by Clare Vanderpool. Sometimes I read the Newbery books, and I don't actually think they're that great. This one I read and I absolutely loved.

You should try reading the adult book, have your child read the kids' book, and then compare notes. It might bring up some interesting discussion about an important time in history.

Boxes are the best

Boxes are pretty fabulous. I remember as a kid when my little brother held a box sale in the front yard. It's amazing that something so simple can hold so much imagination. It's only natural that authors have captured this feeling in picture books. Here are my favorites on the subject. Maybe your little one will be inspired to find adventure in a box!

Birthday Box by Leslie Patricelli. It's baby's birthday and the best present is the box things were packed in.

Not a Box by Antoinette Portis. Older kids will giggle along as bunny insists that he is not playing with a box, but much more exciting things instead.

Thank You Bear by Greg Foley. Bear thinks he has found the best gift for his friend Mouse, except everyone else criticizes his choice.

Cooking with Your Kids

Now that fall has come, you may be looking for more indoor activities to do with your kids. How about cooking? I bet you didn't know that we have quite a collection of cookbooks for kids. The Dewey Decimal Number for cooking is 641.5. Check out all our cooking stuff in Juvenile Non-Fiction and get ready for some fun with your kids!

Suzanne's Around Town

Getting bored of doing the same ol' thing around the house with the kids? Check out Suzanne's Around Town to get some ideas of fun things to do around the Portland Metro Area.

Book Spine Poetry

There are many ways to celebrate National Poetry Month in April. Check out our poetry selection (J 811s). Write your own poetry (I'm a fan of the haiku challenge.). What better library-way to celebrate poetry than be creating book spine poetry? Simply arrange the spines of books to read like fantastic poetry. Here are some of my humble attempts.  Give it a try and share your poetry with us!

Thanks to 100 Scope Notes for the idea!