Cybils time again! Hip-Hip-Hooray!

I'm very excited to announce that the Cybils are underway once more! Applications for judging panels are now open - please follow the directions! http://www.cybils.com/2012/08/2012-cybils-call-for-judges.html

I am all kinds of excited to announce, if you haven't noticed, that I will be the organizer for Non-Fiction Picture Books this year! Apply for my panel! Whee!

Maya makes a mess by Rutu Modan

It's August so you know what time it is...time for new Toon Books! I'm not an uncritical admirer of Toon; I think some of their titles are a little too arty and a little too "look at me, I'm illustrated by a famous artist" for my small community, but when they hit it right, they hit it right.

This year, they're offering a debut children's book from an experienced graphic novelist, Rutu Modan. She addresses a common childhood complaint; parents who think their children are messy eaters! Maya is certainly a messy eater, but nobody expects what happens next: An invitation to dine with the queen! Of course, food messiness ensues and all ends well, with Maya triumphant.

Modan's art is intensely detailed. Every facial expression and fancy dish is sharply delineated. The characters and focal points of the scenes stand out in sharp color against the faded, almost dream-like backgrounds. Closer inspection shows sometimes detailed, sometimes vague interiors but the eye is immediately drawn to the forefront of the art by the color and lines.

If you like messy eating and want to try for your own copy of Maya Makes a Mess, enter a picture for the Messy Eater Contest!

Verdict: This is a level two comic and the language is suited to emergent readers, although the busy art may be a little distracting from the simple speech bubbles. While this isn't a particular favorite of mine, children who like the absurd will find this one hilarious.


ISBN: 9781935179177; Published August 14 by Candlewick/Toon; Review copy provided by publisher; Purchased for the library

Nonfiction Monday: Ocean Sunlight, How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas by Molly Bang and Penny Chisolm

I was actually looking for something else by Molly Bang when I ran across this title, but I am so glad I requested it.

It's more than just a beautifully illustrated nonfiction read-aloud. The illustrations and text are so skillfully intertwined, that the authors are able to integrate much more information than an easy nonfiction book would usually include without losing the attention of young children.

The book explains the process of photosynthesis as it works in the ocean so that even young children can understand it. Unlike the land, where energy is taken into plants then eaten by humans and animals, the ocean only has plants in very shallow areas. Instead, the ocean has phytoplankton. These tiny plants are eaten by tiny animals, zooplankton, which are then eaten by progressively larger creatures. Deep in the ocean where phytoplankton cannot reach, there is Marine snow, tiny bits of organisms that floats to the bottom of the ocean where it becomes food for bacteria and other creatures, generating a process similar to photosynthesis. Phytoplankton need the nutrients generated by this process and they get them as the ocean is stirred by currents.

The book finishes with a detailed section giving further information about each step of the processes described in the book and including some further resources to explore.

Molly Bang's stunning illustrations blaze with light and color. The text is blended into the illustrations and formatted to hold the reader's attention as it moves in and around the art. Blues, greens, and yellows flow through the book, showing the light from the sun, the green growth of plants, and the massive blues of the sea.

Verdict: This is an awesome nonfiction read-aloud. If needed, it can be adapted a little to shorten it, but the glowing illustrations and carefully laid out text should hold the attention of a large number of children with a really good reader. I don't know how I missed this one, but I am remedying the error immediatey!

ISBN: 9780545273220; Published May 2012 by Blue Sky Press; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library

This week at the library; or, The endless days of summer

Monday

• Left around 11 to pick up marshmallows and a couple other things I needed for programs.
• Staff meeting
• Insane evening on the desk, flickering lights, finally left around 8:15
• Realized I forgot to write up the staff meeting minutes, but I got most of the teen summer reading slideshow finished. We have 27 teens participating this year, up from 19 last year, and their reading is varied! Confirms my suspicion that it's mostly adults reading/requesting Hunger Games read-alikes and bestsellers. Although I admit these 27 are probably not totally representative of the teen reader population.

Tuesday

• Was not supposed to be an endless day, but turned out to be one after all. 
• I came in leisurely at 9, got the first part of our 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program done and planned out displays with my aides for the fall, but the afternoon was a blur...
• let's just say I had to get my director to give me a scream break in the back and leave it at that. By the time I finished up all the last-minute things and chatted myself out of scream-mode, I ended up getting home about six
• then walked over to pick up a local book we couldn't buy elsewhere and Sara the Librarian and I went to dinner to vent and discuss PW's spring 2013 publishing notes.

Wednesday: Official endless day 1

• In at 9, last Preschool Interactive (including frantic call to Miss Pattie - where are my eye-droppers? Answer - her volunteer accidentally packed them in her tote. Fortunately, her office is in the school down the street and she ran them back over)
• the Scholastic Book Fair arrived in the morning (I had expected it yesterday and one of my two volunteers was now showing a steer and couldn't come). 
• Happily, I got three volunteers to come help set up and it only took about 2 hours
• Realized there was no starter money for the register, took a break to go grocery shopping and to the bank
• Stayed until 7pm for the committee meeting for the Craft Fair in the fall. Looks like I'm doing publicity. Got home around 7:15.

Thursday: Official endless day 2

• Came in around 8:45 to set up the register for the fair
• 9-12 on the information desk
• Fair opening volunteer did not appear and could not be contacted, so I worked the information desk AND the fair until 11:30, when my next volunteer came.
• Annoying computer problems
• Endless patron questions (remember through all this that we are BUSY.
• Started getting read for Lego Club. Realized I had scheduled a gap between my aides and had no one to set up Lego Club and no one to run the fair until my next volunteer came.
• Convinced one aide to stay late and snaffled a teen that was wandering through. Yay Kellee! She helped us move all the tables, set up all the chairs, and even stayed and sorted legos for a whole hour and a half. Yay Amanda! She showed up early to run the fair and stayed until 6.
• I closed out the fair and left around 6:15. I think. It might have been 6:30.

Friday: Official endless day 3

• Got an email at 7:40am "The IT guy is coming, who's going to be there at 8am to let him in?" Groan. Fortunately, I got hold of someone else who told me someone else had planned for someone else to let him in.
• Got to work around 8:45, set up the cash register, opened the library
• 9:30 - morning volunteer did not show up. Ran fair & desk again until our adult svs librarian came in at 10, when she took over the desk and I took over the fair until my next set of volunteers came in at 11:30.
• Then I grabbed lunch and went on the desk from 12-3. All the local adult group homes picked yesterday and today to visit the library, btw. Busy.
• Helped aides set up room for tomorrow. Did misc. stuff.
• Yay! Super Amanda showed up to help out with the fair again. I went back on the desk so our adult svs. librarian could go get her kids - who have probably forgotten what she looks like by now.
• Another volunteer actually came! Thank you Debbie! She brought her kids, who were unbelievably well-behaved. We were all in awe.
• Lugged boxes, sorting through summer reading prize books.
• Closed out the book fair when we closed at 6pm and got home eventually.
• For those of you who are wondering why we seem to have so much trouble covering desk shifts, I will tell you that we have three desks - upstairs adult reference/teen, which we gave up even trying to cover several years ago, downstairs children's desk, covered by yours truly when possible, and entrance information desk, manned by everyone else. That everyone else would be the adult services librarian, director, cataloger, myself, and the reference assistant. Did I mention the reference assistant and cataloger are part-time? And asides from us, all the other staff are circulation clerks? Meaning we do all the programming, technology, publicity, collection development, etc.
• Also, the director, reference assistant, and cataloger were gone. This may be the last time I do a Scholastic Book Fair.

Saturday - the LAST DAY

• Came in about 9:30 to finish setting things up.
• The community room was already set up for painting - the tables were all covered. I just had to put out the paint and fetch all the things I had forgotten.
• Set up and lit the fire for roasting marshmallows
• Aide and book fair volunteer came at 10. Book fair volunteer was not comfortable running the fair alone, so my aide joined her.
• Which was ok, because only about 30 people showed up. Our adult svs librarian supervised the fire, marshmallows, and sidewalk chalk and I kept an eye on the paint and the book fair.
• I would not have been surprised if 200 people had shown up, but I was very happy with 30. I think one more giant program would have given everyone concerned a heart attack. The weather was gorgeous, people dropped by the sale and did a little painting, roasted a few marshmallows, all very casual.
• The party ended around 11:30 and I did misc. stuff, spent some time talking to my 12-2 volunteer, who is one of the elementary school librarians and always helps us out.
• End of semester stats - 500 kids participated in summer reading and turned in around 1600 bookmarks. Or a little more, I haven't finished those stats.
• At 2pm, my four volunteers (kids who live nearby) helped me pack up the fair, move back the tables (this was very labor-intensive, as they're not intended to be moved and are heavy). We had lots of cookie breaks (I had a tub of homemade cookies) and at 3:15 we were done! They grabbed the rest of the cookies and left on their bikes, except the girl who lives a couple miles away and had walked so I drove her home.
• Came back to the library, did the money stuff that needed to be done (I'll finish the rest later next week. We earned about $600, which I'm not sure is really worth all the work), called the teen prize winner, cleaned up the summer reading from the desk and left around 3:45

DONE!

Olympig! The triumphant story of an underdog by Victoria Jamieson

Boomer is determined to be the first pig to enter the Animal Olympics. He doesn't care about the discouraging remarks of his family, the nastiness of reporter Mr. Hamstring, or all the people who say he can't win. He's got his mom's support and he's practiced hard and will do his best. He's positive that it will all pay off.

Wrong. He loses at everything and has a temper tantrum. But...then he has one last chance to wow the judges. He gives it his all and...comes out with the lowest score ever. But that doesn't stop him from planning his next Olympic adventure.

Funny and a nice antidote to all the "do your best and you can't fail" pap that's out there. The pictures are amusing with small inset comic panels, comments from the various other animals, and various jokes hidden in the pictures.

Verdict: I read this several times, trying to figure out why I wasn't more impressed. Then I realized that without the message, this is just another average funny animal picture book. Add it if you want more books about winning/losing, but otherwise it's an additional purchase.

ISBN: 9780803735361; Published 2012 by Dial; Borrowed from the library

Last Laughs by Jane Yolen and J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Jeffrey Stewart Timmins

I did a double-take when I first pulled this out of the envelope. I couldn't believe it could actually be...

Oh yeah, it is.

"Double-Crossed Newt
Little newt,
so small,
so fine,
so squashed
beneath
the crossing
sign."

This charming poem is accompanied by a bloodily distorted lizard carcass, smeared across the road.
"Eww" I thought. I took it over to show my friend, Sara the Librarian. As we read the poems, we found ourselves laughing despite the gruesome, gross, and just plain weird content. Because they're, well, funny.

From "R.I.P. (Really Inattentive Piranha)" to "An Infirm Worm" these poems make the reader glance over her shoulder and then snicker. They're irreverent, ghoulish, and hilarious.

Jeffrey Timmins' illustrations are the perfect fit. Misty in hues of gray, brown, and splattered blood red, he adds even more naughty detail. A cremation urn next to milk bottles, the truck that meanders through the book collecting corpses along the way, the misty tombstones on the hill, they all fit the poems perfectly.

Now, will I actually put this on my library shelves? Well...I was thinking probably not. Middle schoolers would find it hilarious, but I have no section for nonfiction for that age group. While a few younger children might find it funny, especially fans of Adam Rex, the chances of someone picking it up and being horrified or really upset (I'm thinking of that illustration in the horse cartoon where the sheep is pooping into the river and the horse is drinking it) are pretty high. It's funny, but I have plenty of funny books. If I want something a little weird and pushing the envelope there's always Adam Rex, who isn't such a complete gross fest.

However, after I showed it to most of the librarians and saw how much fun they had with it I thought..why not put it in the teen nonfiction section! So, Last Laughs in all it's gruesome glory will be present in our library.

Verdict: If you have a larger population with more diverse tastes it would probably work in the 4-6 grade age range recommended by SLJ. I don't know that I would purchase it, but since I have a review copy I will put it out for the teens to snicker over.

ISBN: 9781580892605; Published July 2012 by Charlesbridge, Review copy provided by publisher through Raab Associates

Nonfiction Monday: Plant a little seed by Bonnie Christensen

Simple, poetic language takes the reader through the seasons in a garden, from watering and weeding to final harvest.

This book leans more towards the fictional than, say, Galbraith's Planting the Wild Garden, but it's still a great read-aloud title for garden storytimes.

In addition to the general cycle - water, weed, wait, harvest, cook, preserve there are several pages showing how plants bud and produce fruit. The story also shows how different plants take varying amounts of time to be ready for harvest. The final page includes some additional facts about seeds and plants.

The language is beautiful and makes a great read-aloud, but what I really love about this story are the vibrant illustrations. Thick, black lines and lush color show the life and vigor of the garden as it grows from seed to harvest. Normally, I'd look for photographic illustrations so children can identify the plants shown, but the art in this book is so beautiful I'll gladly waive that requirement. I'd pair this with a painting project, maybe even letting the kids experiment with making outlines in permanent marker and filling them in to simulate the art style.

Verdict: A great read-aloud for storytime and the art and text are lovely. Highly recommended. Pair this with Aston's A Seed is Sleepy or Galbraith's Planting the Wild Garden to show how seeds are planted and germinate.

ISBN: 9781596435506; Published 2012 by Roaring Brook; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library

This week at the library; or, Only Two Weeks Left!

Only two weeks left, only two weeks left...the last week is going to be particularly insane, what with the Scholastic Book Fair on top of regular programming and several staff being out (including our director). But I have chocolate! Purchased for me by said awesome director. Also, our just as awesome adult services librarian is going to supervise the marshmallow roasting on the final Saturday. I will reciprocate with pies after everything is done...I have also determined to finish my tr list - the ones on my shelf - before the end of August. There's only 139 titles on there so it's totally do-able. Not like I'm trying to finish the entire to read list with an additional 296 titles...

But meanwhile, there is still this week to get through.

Tuesday was our last big afternoon program. Our Friends paid to have Nature's Niche bring their Remnants of the Rainforest program again this year. Worth every penny, huge turnout, Dino is a great presenter and the kids and parents loved it. Some parents complained last year that it was "too long" and some staff suggested asking that we shorten it, but I just kept repeating, over and over, "Not all programs are suitable for toddlers and preschoolers. This programs is open to families and they are welcome to bring little ones, but it is aimed at elementary and older kids and adults." I really emphasized that this year, bringing in David Stokes for the little ones, telling people they might want to hang out in the children's area and just come back over at the end to see and touch after all the talking was over. We fit more people more easily in the room as well, since I did a better set-up than I had before.

A note on my monthly report - I have started tracking the children's circulation and, after four years, it is now equal with the adult circulation! When I came it was a quarter of the adult circulation - and the adult stats have not stood still either, they have been growing constantly as well. All hail my awesome collection development and reader's advisory powers!

Wednesday - Preschool Interactive, various stuff, mildly busy.

Thursday - Tried out my quilt program at Messy Art Club. More on that later.

Friday - Eh. Friday. Still working on fall stuff, I want to have the calendar at least ready by next week.

Lucy the Good by Marianne Musgrove, illustrated by Cheryl Orsini

Lucy is not having a good day. She's had a fight with mean girl Jacinta and nobody understands, least of all her teacher Ms. Denny. So she threw a tantrum and ended up in the time out chair yet again. Then she gets into even more trouble when they go to pick up her great-aunt from Holland. Lucy was looking forward to sharing her room with Tante Bep, but her aunt thinks she's bad and tells her scary stories of Black Piet, who comes to carry off naughty children in his sack.

Things go from bad to worse as Lucy gets into more and more trouble until finally she decides she has to test herself to see if she's really bad or good. Of course, her test goes wrong, but everything turns out ok; her parents reassure her, Tante Bep admits she was wrong, and even Ms. Denny turns out to be much nicer than Lucy had thought.

This is a little longer than the beginning chapter books I'm looking for, but Lucy's frustration and endless troubles are well-written and will draw readers in from one scenario to the next. While I never really bought Tante Bep - it's hard to believe Lucy's parents wouldn't tell her about their son's serious food allergies  or that Lucy would believe the old Black Piet story - she makes a good catalyst character to set off Lucy's troubles and finally get everyone to resolve the problems. Musgrove does a very good job of showing the other adults as real people; one of the things Lucy realizes at the end is that there are other perspectives. She realizes that Ms. Denny sometimes get distracted and flustered, that her dad has trouble relating to Tante Bep, and that Tante Bep isn't quite as mean as she seems either.

The book concludes with a recipe, translation of Dutch words and phrases, and an activity.

Verdict: This isn't quite what I was looking for and I thought the Tante Bep character was a bit unrealistic (would she really be old enough to find Lucy's dad being a "home manager" strange?), but it's a good intermediate chapter book and kids will enjoy reading about Lucy's endless problems and their satisfying resolution. An additional purchase.

ISBN: 9780805090512; Published 2010 by Henry Holt; Borrowed from the library

The No-Dogs-Allowed Rule by Sheth Kashmira, illustrated by Charles Pearce

Ishan is desperate for a dog, but his perfect older brother Sunil doesn't think it will ever happen - and the more trouble Ishan gets into trying to convince his parents to get a dog, the more it looks like Sunil will be right.

I'm always looking for new beginning chapter books and this one has lots of good points, even if it's not perfect. The writing can be a little choppy, often a problem for easy readers and beginning chapter books, due to the limitations of their formats. I found the ending, with Ishan's one smart move wiping out all his endless mischief and trouble a little unrealistic - and the trouble itself was a bit over the top. Some of Ishan's mentions of Indian culture are a bit info-dumpish as well.

However, that's from an adult perspective. Kids will love this story. They'll completely understand Ishan's desperate desire for a dog. Giggle endlessly over his hapless mistakes and the things that just go wrong without him even trying, feel the frustration of his perfect older brother, and cheer when Ishan finally gets his dog.

Ishan's explanations of Indian culture - his parents are desis, Indian-Americans, sound awkward if you've never actually listened in to a conversation involving second-generation immigrant children. I have, and this is actually really realistic for this younger age group. They'll drop a phrase or mention something, other kids will ask "what's that?" and they'll tell them, usually adding on an important "because my family comes from X country". Information exchanged, and the play goes on. Older kids get a big more angsty about this, but I've noticed that younger kids generally ask from a spirit of pure inquiry and then get on with whatever they're doing when they find out.

Verdict: A nice length, interesting tidbits of information, and a plot that most kids will relate to, plus lots of funny moments - I think this one will be a great addition to our beginning chapter book collection. I wasn't able to fully review the art, since only some was included in the galley I saw and that was incomplete, but it looks attractive and the cover is certainly eye-catching. Recommended.

One note - the publisher gives the publication date as September 1, but my vendor gives it as August 1 and I've ordered the title in my July list, so...order now I guess?

ISBN: 9780807556948; Published September 1 (or August 1) by Albert Whitman; Reviewed from egalley provided by publisher through Netgalley; Purchased for the library