You may enjoy some of these other fantasy and magical tales for kids.
Think Library: Blog
It's perfectly fine and normal for kids to have different reading levels and interests—and it's important for the adults in their life to grow the love of reading by honoring their reading choices.
February 14, 2012
It's perfectly fine and normal for kids to have different reading levels and interests—and it's important for the adults in their life to grow the love of reading by honoring their reading choices.
February 14, 2012
Jane Goodall has had a lovely life. From her childhood love of the outdoors to the chance day she contacted famed scientist Louis Leakey, she always knew what she wanted to do: go to Africa and work to help animals. In her life, Goodall has been many things, including an activist for the environment and a UN Ambassador of Peace; however she is most known for her lengthy career working with chimpanzees. In 2011, two books were created that help us to explore Jane's life from its roots to the present.
February 12, 2012
What a cool idea for a book. Telling the history of the world by looking at museum artifacts. To make it even more interesting, these descriptive reports of jewelry, mummies, pottery, coins, art, textiles, etc. were written by experts for radio. Luckily, for us we get to view the pictures also, hundreds of them.
A History of the World in 100 Objects is no coffee table book but a book to be read end to end. The entries for each of the objects (that range in date from 2,000,000 B.C. to 2010 A.D.) describe not only the artifacts themselves but what they teach us about history and about humanity. For example of silver bowl full of coins from around the year 927--shows that already England was well on its way to becoming a monarchy. Inscribed on one coin is Athelstan Rex totius Britanniae or Athelstan, King of All Britain.
Other items found in this same buried stash were arm bracelets from Ireland, Viking coins, and others from as far away as Afghanistan. A Viking stash of coins showed that they were becoming Christian--engraved on several was St. Peter's name (Petri), but also inscribed was the hammer from Thor, the old Norse god.
February 10, 2012
We are still a few weeks away from the Academy Awards, but the nominations were announced last week. Out of the nine best picture nominees, six are based on books. So while maybe watching the nominated movies is on your February list, it also proves an opportunity to add some new book titles as well. The six books include:
The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings
"With beautiful and blunt prose, Hemmings explores the emotional terrain of grief, promising something far more fulfilling than paradise at its end."--San Francisco Chronicle
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a miracle, a daybreak, a man on the moon. It's so impeccably imagined, so courageously executed, so everlastingly moving and fine." --Baltimore Sun
February 6, 2012
It's 2011, there have been a series of deaths, they don't seem related to the police and this is what Scotland Yard is saying at their press conference. Suddenly there is the sound of cell phone after cell phone notifying each reporter and officer in the room they have received a text. It consists of one word only, "Wrong." No it is not an admission from a super criminal, it's Sherlock Holmes. The case is interesting and the game is afoot. Steven Moffat , the current producer of BBC's Doctor Who, has brought Sherlock into the 21 Century and he fits in very well indeed.
February 2, 2012
February is African American History Month! Celebrate all aspects of African American history in MCPL's Movies and Music area. We currently have a special display of DVDs featuring related titles. These DVDs range from documentaries, like Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and The Jack5ons: A Family Dynasty, detailing the rise of the Jackson family, to feature films including Malcolm X and Amistad. You might also enjoy some films by these African American directors: Spike Lee, John Singleton or Kasi Lemmons. There are many other DVD titles about African American history in our catalog.
Don't forget we also have a huge number of music CDs by African American artists. This wide variety includes artists like Robert Johnson, Nicki Minaj, David Baker, and Billie Holiday. You can also find numerous African American musicians on Freegal. These artists include Usher, Aretha Franklin, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Beyonce, Bessie Smith, Marvin Gaye, and many more. With Freegal you can download their songs for free!
February 1, 2012
It's perfectly fine and normal for kids to have different reading levels and interests—and it's important for the adults in their life to grow the love of reading by honoring their reading choices.
January 31, 2012
Alvin Ho is afraid of many things including, but not limited to elevators, tunnels, bridges, thunder, substitute teachers, scary movies, shots, and school. Most of all...school. Descended from a long line of Chinese farmer-warriors he loves to run around his house as a noisy superhero called Firecracker Man in a costume his gunggung (that's grandfather) made, complete with a spaghetti drainer on his head. School takes too much of his energy so he is only Firecracker Man on weekends and holidays. It takes a lot of energy for Alvin to make it onto the bus and into the school building. Once he is there he can't think, read, smile, sing, or even scream. Worst of all, Alvin can't talk at school. In spite of his mutism, Alvin is determined to make friends with the help of a list of rules suggested by his brother, Calvin.
January 27, 2012
It's perfectly fine and normal for kids to have different reading levels and interests—and it's important for the adults in their life to grow the love of reading by honoring their reading choices.
January 26, 2012
Here are a couple more poetry books that I've been enjoying lately.
Jane Hirshfield's Come, Thief is an inviting and intriguing book by one of our best poets. Her poems are on the small side with lots of white space but they are packed with so much insight and punch, that they more than satisfy. To her poems Hirshfield brings an eye for nature, wisdom for relationships and a Zen philosophy. Here's the beginning of "Fourth World."
January 25, 2012
Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus tells the story of two competing magicians trying to outdo each other in the creation of an enchanted circus. Whether you've read it and want more of the gothic atmosphere, period charm, and dazzling detail, are on the holds list for it, or just enjoy a bit of whimsy and dark Victorianism, these books should be of interest.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, a tale of the resurgence of English magic in the early 19th century, is just as dense and immersive as the equally thick Night Circus, and like that novel features a period writing style and a fully realized magical world-within-a-world.
January 22, 2012
The Winter Sea by Susanne Kearsley.
Is genetic memory just a theory or does it actually occur, or maybe the protagonist in this novel just has a really good imagination?
American historical novelist, Carrie McClelland journeys to Scotland to research her new book concerning an early planned Jacobite invasion in 1708. Her story and her research focus on Slain's Castle, now open to tourists, which was the center of much of the plotting in 1707 and 08. Carrie is soon dreaming of her ancestors who were involved in the intrigue. Is she channeling her long ago many times over great grandmother, is her new romantic interest also a descendant or is it her writer's imagination at work.
January 19, 2012