Learning | Reading Comfortably

If you read as much as I do, you have probably found yourself reading in a lot of different places, from noisy airports to coffee shops to different rooms in your own home.  I tend to keep a book near the bed, in my car and one in my den, just in case I have the time and inclination to read.

I also carry two e-readers in my purse. Why two? Because I have different content loaded on both of them, and I like to keep my options open.  E-readers offer a lightweight, compact means of carrying around a big stack of books.  

"A PECULIAR READING CHAIR. illustration explains itself. The seat may be stuffed and upholstered to suit, and the desk can be made to rest at any desired inclination." Image from page 493 of "American engineer and railroad journal" (1893) From Internet Archive Book Images' photostream on Flickr.com. No known copyright restrictions.

I laughed when I discovered this picture of a "peculiar reading chair" on Flickr.com.  It reminds me of reading (usually on a Kindle or a Nook) while I get my 30 minutes of daily exercise on my stationary bike. Well, it's supposed to be daily.

Hmm, I see that picture says the desk part of that chair is adjustable to any inclination. I wonder if my stationary bike could be modified to do that.

That chair looks comfortable enough, for a classroom situation.  But I think if I had one of those in my house, I would probably be gravitating toward cozier reading places, on the sofa, recliner, or bed.

Where do you read? Comment below, and let us know.

For those of you with e-readers, please remember that SSJCPL is always getting more downloadable e-books and e-audiobooks for your reading pleasure.  We even let customers check out Nooks that are pre-loaded with reading content.  Find out more about all of these electronic reading options by clicking on this link.

She's Crafty | Wreaths

For a few years I worked for a Christmas light company as a wreath decorator. From October to the end of November, I fluffed artificial greenery, troubleshooted lighting issues, attached jingles, jangles, ornaments and other sparkly bits, and made more bows than a single person should ever make in their entire lifetime. I even shocked myself for the love of decorating wreaths. Literally shocked myself, like, with electricity.

60" wreath decorated on the job.

Also, I think my love for wreaths might slightly shock my loved ones. Here's the evolution of my passion for wreaths:

The second year I worked for the light company I decided to take advantage of my intermediate decorating skills and bought my own pre-lit 30" wreath.  I followed that purchase up with a pile of frosty, silvery, and bird related decorations. After I found what my mom considered way too much stuff, I found more and even got some mini mirror balls to squeeze in between the boughs.

Each year after that, I've bought a few things to stick into my wreath and mix up the items I already have or I go wild with a new theme. Now I have a fleet of wreaths that I roll out for the holidays and they do different things. One wreath I made into a Countdown to Christmas decoration. One year I decorated a wreath with our greeting cards. Annnd one year I made ten little undecorated wreaths to hang in a large window.

My first wreath to hang at home.

Now, every time my mother and I go craft shopping during the winter months she politely reminds me, "You know you have plenty of wreath stuff to play with already, right?" I ignore her concerns and usually buy a cart full of glittery picks in a new color scheme and take a few days to agonize over the final designs.

Wreaths fascinate me and maybe they fascinate you too? If that is an emphatic YES! then check these books out from your local branch, my fellow wreath enthusiasts:

• Wreaths and Wallflowers
• Easy Wreaths
• Making Classic Wreaths
• Wreathmaking for the First Time
• The Holiday Wreath Book
• Great American Wreaths
• The Ultimate Wreath Book
• Wreath Magic

You can even make some easy origami wreaths if you feel so inclined by visiting these links:

Origami Wreath Tutorial on Domesticali's Typepad.
The Teaching and Learning post on the Mary & Patch blogspot shows you how to make a unique and beautiful origami wreath. Comes with a video tutorial!
 
Happy Crafting!
Malia and Kaye

Just Life| Delicious Christmas Present

Christmas is the time of the year that I go broke trying to buy presents for everyone.

But, Christmas presents don't have to be pricey, they just have to come from the heart. 

Right?

I remember one year, I bought some baskets from The Dollar Tree and filled them with persimmons and lemons from our backyard and gave them to our neighbors. They really liked it and it wasn't costly either.

This year, I am planning to bake a big batch of orange Madeleines for my friends and co-workers. That is the only thing that I can bake with my eyes closed. 

These little French cakes taste really good.

A couple of years ago, I bought these Madeleine baking pans and this simple recipe came with it. So, I am going to share it with you. 

Madeleine anyone?

Orange Madeleine recipe {taken from the Chicago Metallic pan cover}:

• 2/3 Cup flour

• 1/4 Teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

• 2 Eggs

• 1/2 Teaspoon orange extract  

• 1/2 Teaspoon shredded orange peel

• 1 Cup powdered sugar

 ______________________________________________________________

• Preheat oven to 350. Butter your pans.  

• Sift together the flour and the baking powder in a small bowl. Set aside

• In another bowl, beat the eggs, orange extract and orange peel for 5 minutes. 
• Gradually add powdered sugar to this mix until it becomes thick.
• Gently fold in the flour mixture.
• Add the melted butter to this mix.
• Spoon the mixture in the Madeleine molds filling 3/4 of the mold.
• Bake for 8 minutes until the edges are a bit golden brown.

 You can check out these library books for to give you inspiration:

Christmas gifts from the kitchen 

The Christmas cookie book 

The Beekman 1802 heirloom dessert cookbook

Paris sweets : great desserts from the city's best pastry shops 

The pie and pastry bible

Dessert university


Happy Baking!

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha

She's Crafty | Yellow Owl's Little Prints

Looking for something fun to make with or for a munchkin during the long hours of the various school vacations of the winter season? Then you have to check out this book: Yellow Owl's Little Prints by Christine Schmidt.

It's pretty much one of the most adorable craft books in our collection.

The focus of Yellow Owl's Little Prints is using various printmaking and other craft techniques to create decorative and fun pieces for children that can be used over and over, and even saved as heirlooms. Christine Schmidt will show you how to make stamps (and point out which toys will make great stamps), how to make stencils, different image transfer techniques, and more. One of my favorite projects is a perpetual birthday banner made out of felt that you can use every year for every member in your family. You can even change the number of candles that are needed!

Reusable and cute!

Schmidt offers some really helpful tips at the beginning of the book in sections titled, "How to Use This Book" and "How to Teach Art to Kids". One of my favorite features in the "How To" section is a table explaining the skills kids typically possess at certain ages and how to involve them in craft projects depending on their age and grade level. Her table begins with preschoolers at the age of three and I think that is just fantastic. Get those little hands and young minds busy as early as possible!

Yellow Owl's Little Prints is a fun, well designed kid-centric craft book with projects that will give you a basic understanding of creating decorative and useful objects. Schmidt's style is whimsical and cute, but with a classic touch that will allow favorites to be saved and passed down.

The projects range in difficulty from Easy to Challenging, but I think even the Challenging projects will be just fine for beginner crafters since Schmidt's instruction layouts are well designed and her step-by-steps descriptions are easy to follow.

Similar books we currently carry geared towards making cool stuff for kids or keeping kids busy with fun crafts and activities:

• Crafting Fun Stuff With a Crowd of Kids
• Baby Crafts: Over 25 Projects to Make and Give
• Made By Dad: 67 Blueprints For Making Cool Stuff
• Martha Stewart's Favorite Crafts For Kids
• Unbored : The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun
• Knitting For Baby
• Rosie O'Donnell's Crafty U: 100 Easy Projects The Whole Family Can Enjoy All Year Long

Added bonus, if you click on this search term: Crafts, you should be directed down the internet highways to our shiny, new Kids' Catalog where you'll find 429 titles ranging from various holiday craft books to Activity TV DVDs!

So grab a kid, grab a craft book, grab some supplies, and get crafting!

Malia & Kaye

Learning | Nuts to You

Let me be clear about this; I am not trying to insult you, or anybody else.  I'm excited, because I just read an entertaining story about squirrels, and I would like to tell you about it. The name of the book is Nuts to You.

Nuts to You is by Lynne Rae Perkins. You may have read her Newbery Medal-winning book, Criss Cross. The main characters in this book are four squirrels. Not just any four squirrels--squirrels who are brave, loyal to their friends, philosophers and problem solvers.

Squiggy the Squirrel (the star of Explore)
from Kenny P's photostream on Flickr.com.
Some rights reserved.

The story begins with what appears to be the end for Jed, a grey squirrel who is snatched up by a hawk. But he finds a clever way to distract that predatory bird, so that he can escape. 









The new problem is, he does not know where he has landed. Everything is unfamiliar. Even the squirrels look different; they are red, instead of grey. They talk funny, and they just do things differently than Jed and his friends.

Red squirrel,
from Drew McLellan's photostream on Flickr.com.
Some rights reserved.

For instance, red squirrels eat pine cones--something Jed had never seen, because he lived in an area with different trees. 

Squirrel on a Mission, 
from Doug Brown's photostream on Flickr.com.
Some rights reserved.

Jed's friend, TsTs, sees the hawk snatch him, and drop him in a far off place. She enlists another friend, Chai, to accompany her on the dangerous mission to go find Jed and bring him home.












So we have an interesting story here, but it's made even better by the way it is told.  

The main narrative is enhanced by the author's own illustrations; some of these are like comic book panels, with dialogue and commentary.

She also adds notes. These notes tell us additional things about the story, or random facts.  There's plenty of opportunity to learn here, even though this book is fiction. 

For example, when she says Jed "slipped like water* through the distracted hawk's talons," The asterisk on water indicates a note that says,"Thick water. Or perhaps like a non-Newtonian fluid. Look it up on YouTube."

Perkins has a knack for lyrical description, as you can see in the quote below.

Best Squirrel House at the University of Michigan (April 4, 2014)
from Corey Seeman's photostream at Flickr.com.
Some rights reserved.

"Chai watched the object enter a solid bough the way a duck's foot enters water. But while water heals back up and is the same as before, the bough fell heavily to the ground. Thunk."--Nuts to You, p. 115. 









Nuts to You is written for middle graders, roughly from ages 8 to 12.  I also recommend it to anybody who enjoyed Kate DiCamillo's Newbery Medal-winning book, Flora and Ulysses.

Ms. Suzy Reads | And Picks a Winner

Well, maybe I'll pick a winner -- a Newbery Medal Award winner -- to be exact. The Newbery Award is awarded annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year. That last line comes directly from the Newbery Award website, by the way. But anyway, the Newbery Award committee people will select the most distinguished book for children and announce it in January 2015. Oh my goodness, this is more exciting than predicting who will win an Oscar!

Recently I chatted with some of my colleagues about which book they think will win the Newbery Award. Here are a couple of our predictions...and since this weather is perfect for chilling with a great book, why not read one or both and tell us if you think it's the most distinguished American children's book. 

The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage is a worthy contender. It's filled with all the things that make for a great read: a detective agency run by kids, an old inn that may or may not be haunted, and a slick new kid in town. Can Mo and Dale solve the mystery of the haunted old inn? This is the follow-up to Three Times Lucky, a Newbery Honor book, but you don't have to have read that one. You'll very quickly get to know Mo and her Southern quirkiness, and you'll be pulled into all the adventure from the very beginning.

Another book that several of my colleagues really liked is Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin. Now I've not read this one yet, but I'm told it's about a girl who has OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), Asperger's Syndrome, and an obsession with homonyms (words with different meanings but with the same pronunciation). She names her beloved dog Rain, a word which has two homonyms -- reign and rein. Things go south when a big storm hits, Rain goes missing, and Rose must leave her safe little world in order to find her beloved dog. I'm pretty sure this is going to tug at the heart strings, but it still sounds like a great read! 

I'll be back with more possible Newbery Medal Award winners. In the meantime, let us know what book YOU think was the most distinguished American children's book.

Just Life| Library Lion

No, we are not adding a lion to our library staff. Library lion is a children's book written by Michelle Knudsen.

At my last story time, a grandfather suggested this book to me. So, I took his advice and read it.  I loved the book. So, I took it home and read it at dinner time to my daughter. She loved it too.

So, here is a quick summary of the story:

Once upon a time, a lion wondered into a library and no one knew what to do.

So, Mr. McBee ran to the head librarians' office to tell her about the lion roaming in the library.

She tells him immediately that he shouldn't be running in the library.

" But there is a lion in the library."

" Is he breaking any rules?"

" Well, no", he said

" Then leave him be."

I checked our circulation policy and we don't have any policy about lions either.

So, I am assuming, if a lion walks into our library one day, as long as it isn't breaking any rules, it can use the library like the rest of us.

Until then, let's just keep on reading.

Leona is reading at the Troke Library

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha