Winter Break Story Times

We're trying something new this year. Usually we take our winter break with the schools, but we thought we would offer story times over that break and take our break Thanksgiving week instead.

So for all you teachers out there who are usually working when we offer story time, bring your kids in!

And for all you parents with kids in preschool during the times we offer story time, bring 'em on in. We'll be here with bells on!

Pet Food Supply Drive

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, the City of Tigard is teaming up with the Sunshine Pantry to help animals in need.  Durining financial hardships, families are often forced to give up a beloved family pet.  Spread the cheer with donations of pet food (open & unopened food bags are acceptable), leashes, flea collars, treats, and toys.  Donation bins will be located in City Hall, the Permit Center, and Public Works from November 7 to December 19.  A bin will also be located at the Library from November 21 to December 16.  If you would like a flier, visit: http://www.tigard-or.gov/news/docs/pet_drive.pdf

The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman

Duncan is new at school, and very soon acquires the undesirable nickname "Lunch Meat." He hates not fitting in, so he reveals that he has a special power. This catches the attention of a kid from the Scrabble club, and he finally sees his "in" with the rest of the kids. The problem is, his "in" requires using his special power to cheat at a national Scrabble tournament. But if he wins, it will all be worth it.

April Blunt is the only non-jock in a family of jocks. All she wants to do is win the national Scrabble tournament to prove to the rest of her family that Scrabble is actually a sport, too. Oh, and she also wants to find this kid that she met at a motel pool 3 years ago to whom she introduced the game of Scrabble. The problem is, she doesn't know his name or where he's from or really anything about him at all.

All Nate Saviano wants to do is hang out and skate, and go to public school. In fact, his rich dad even built a skate park for him in their apartment. The problem is, his rich dad has also decided he wants to home school Nate; and by home school, he really means prepare him to win the national Scrabble tournament to make up for his own loss at the tournament when he was Nate's age. Nate thinks that just maybe if he wins, his dad will let him go back to public school.

Who, if any of them, will win the tournament? Will Duncan use his power to fit in with the rest of the kids? Is there a chance that April could meet the boy from oh-so-long-ago at the tournament? Will Nate ever get to go back to public school? Your kid will need to read The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman, by Meg Wolitzer, to find out.

This is a great book about difficult choices, friendship, and family. I recommend it for about 3rd or 4th grade and up.

TINKERTOYS are a Winner!

In 2010 Eastern Connecticut State University’s Center for Early Childhood Education launched an annual study “that looks at how young children in natural settings play with a variety of toys. Each year, nominated toys are placed in preschool classrooms and videotaped using remote cameras. Researchers use a scientific instrument to determine which toys best promote children's development in three areas: thinking and learning, social interaction and cooperation, and self-expression and imaginative play.” The study is called Toys That Inspire Mindful Play and Nurture Imagination, but for short it is called: The TIMPANI Toy Study.  This year's winner is the classic Tinkertoys construction set.  To learn more visit: http://nutmeg.easternct.edu/mt-static/early_childhood_education/2011/11/tinkertoys-determined-to-be-timpani-toy-of-2011.html

Meet the Collection Mondays: Puppets

The Library maintains a circulating collection of puppets for the purpose of encouraging creative play and enhancing the home storytelling experience. Juvenile Puppets circulate for three weeks and are kept in open bins next to the Board Book collection in the Children’s Room.

Puppet play and child development tips
A child's natural approach to learning is through play and the development of imagination plays a critical role in life long problem solving and learning. When children act out stories or life events through dramatic play a variety of senses are used. Through play, your child is learning to identify and internalize a story or an event in an immediate way. Something as simple as playing with puppets helps build your child's vocabulary, self expression, relationships with others and an understanding of their world.

Stop by the Children's Reference desk for some fun book suggestions to go along with your child's puppet playing experience!

Our Next Super Tuesday!

Our next Super Tuesday is coming up on November 15th.  Tears of Joy Puppet Theater will be joining us as they present "Raven Steals the Sun". Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with this Tlingit tale from British Columbia, where Raven disguises himself as a baby to steal the sun and bring light to the world. Bring the whole family to enjoy the show from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the Community Room.

Come play BINGO!

National Gaming Day is this coming Saturday November 12th.  Bring the whole family to the library to play a few rounds of our "All Ages BINGO".  Anyone can partcipate and play as many rounds as they wish.  There will also be prizes!!!  We'll be playing in the Puett Room 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm.  So come on down and spend an afaternoon with us!

Meet the Collection Monday: Juvenile Spanish

I also get to take care of the Juvenile Spanish collection. There are 6 sub-collections within Juvenile Spanish: Board Books, Picture Books, Early Readers, Non-Fiction, Fiction, and Graphic Novels. The Juvenile Spanish collection is housed between the Picture Books and Early Readers in the Children's Room. All of our Spanish books have orange labels on them.

The collection is used by native Spanish speakers as well as native English speakers who want to learn Spanish. We have some books written entirely in Spanish, and some in both English and Spanish. The bilingual books are good for Spanish speakers trying to improve their English, and English speakers trying to improve their Spanish.

Board Books are specifically for babies and toddlers learning how books work. The Picture Books have a broad range of levels, anywhere from just a few words per page to several paragraphs per page. There are even a few Picture Books that include CDs along with them. Early Readers are great for native Spanish and native English speakers to learn how to read Spanish. The Non-Fiction section has a broad range of topics that can support kids in homework and is particularly good for parents whose primary language is Spanish who want to help their kids with their homework. Non-Fiction also has some high interest topics (vehicles, animals, biographies, fairy tales, etc). Fiction is made up of chapter books anywhere between 1st grade and 5th grade reading levels. Almost all of the chapter books are written in Spanish only. We have a very small, but hopefully growing section of graphic novels, or comics, shelved with the Fiction.

Many of the Spanish books are translations of popular books originally written in English (Harry Potter, Mo Willems, Dr. Seuss), but I also work hard on finding books that were originally written in Spanish. It is often hard to get Spanish translations, and they are often published way after the originals in English. Once in awhile, though, I can actually get a book in Spanish before it is published in English, like the Tunnels series, by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams.

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!

The Picture Book Proclamation

Several picture book authors and illustrators got together recently and signed this proclamation, penned by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Carson Ellis. It's a refreshing take on what writers and illustrators need to do to produce interesting, beautiful and relevant books for children in a time when publishing is changing fast. This is a good reminder that "Children's books merit grown-up conversation," and "Grown-up conversation does not mean asking kids to leave the room." "Every day we make new children-- Let us also make new children's books."

Click through for a more legible version, and check out the fresh and lovely books of some of the authors listed at the bottom of the page. Thank you to Carson Ellis for bringing attention to the Proclamation through her blog.