Kids Music Friday: Happy Mardi Gras!

Celebrate Fat Tuesday with this fun song from Jazzy Ash and Mista Cookie Jar, "Throw Me Something Mista."

--Andrea W., Headquarters

Staff Review: "Senor Pancho Had a Rancho" by Rene Colato Lainez

"Old MacDonald Had a Farm" is a classic song that all preschool children know and love.  This new book tells the story of Old MacDonald and his Spanish speaking counterpart, Senor Pancho.  "Senor Pancho Had a Rancho" has a farm animal on each page and features English and Spanish words.  There is a great pronunciation guide in the front of the book for those of you who (like myself) don't speak Spanish.  Try something new and pick up a bi-lingual book next time you're in the library! You can go to the Holiday House publishers website for a bonus activity sheet to go with the story.


 --Angie RH, Headquarters

"The Boy on the Porch" by Sharon Creech

"The Boy on the Porch" by award-winning author, Sharon Creech tells the story of John and Marta, a young married couple, who live on a farm with a few animals and a lot of space. They are simple people with little education but profound kindness and acceptance. One morning they wake to find a sleeping boy of about 5 or 6 years of age in a chair on their front porch. A note is in a pocket of the boy's shirt asking them to take care of Jacob until they return. Jacob is not the first living thing to just appear on their doorstep but he is the first human. If only they knew who left 'the boy', the term John and Marta use often, where he came from, when are 'they' coming back, but they don't know as Jacob cannot speak. The story unfolds in discovery of Jacob, but more importantly John and Marta and what they discover about themselves along the way. Two people that never really looked too closely at the world find themselves profoundly changed by helping those most in need.

Mary G., Grand Glaize

Kids Music Friday: "Cakenstein" by Gustafer Yellowgold

Get ready to rock out to some cake-filled robot-y weirdness!

For more weird and wonderful goodness, click on the links below to reserve videos from Gustafer Yellowgold.

--Andrea W., Headquarters

Gustafer Yellowgold's Year in the Day

Gustafer Yellowgold's Have You Never Been Yellow?

Thank you for the Etch a Sketch!

There are many beloved toys, but not many are quite as universally loved and enduring as the Etch a Sketch. Take a look at this lovely tribute to Andre Cassagnes, the inventor of the Etch a Sketch, who passed away in 2013. Then go and create your own Etch a Sketch art.

--Andrea W., Headquarters

P.S. To see some incredible Etch A Sketch art, check out "Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Disbelief and Shock! Startling Art."

Dewey Discoveries: "Lifetime" by Lola M. Schaefer

Do you have a kid who loves to count? He or she has probably met their match in the beautifully illustrated, "Lifetime" by Lola M. Schaefer. Each page spread features an animal with a fact about its lifetime, such as, "In one lifetime, this male seahorse will carry and birth 1,000 teeny-weeny, squiggly-wiggly baby seahorses." See if you can count them all (check the picture below)! Adorable and challenging, this book is great for kids from kindergarten to third grade.

Dewey Number 591.56

--Andrea W., H.Q.

New Mark Twain Award Nominees

The Missouri Association of School Librarians has released the nominees for the 2014-2015 Mark Twain Award. Each year, a committee chooses books for 4-6 grade students to read and then vote for their favorite.

"Privateer's Apprentice" by Susan Verrico
"Wonder " by R.J. Palacio
"Freaky Fast Frankie Joe" by Lutricia Clifton
"Capture the Flag" by Kate Messner
"Ordinary Magic" by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway
"Pinch Hit" by Tim Green
"The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook" by Joanne Rocklin
"The Shadow Collector's Apprentice" by Amy Gordon
"Chomp" by Carl Hiaasen
"The Young Healer" by Frank N. McMillan, III
"The Mighty Miss Malone" by Christopher Paul Curtis
"Liar & Spy" by Rebecca Stead

Click the covers for staff reviews of these titles.

 

 --Angie RH, HQ

New Show-Me Reader Award Nominees

Here are the nominees for the Missouri Association of School Librarians 2014-2015 Show Me Reader Award.  These picture books were chosen because they are easy to read aloud and have strong literary value.  Students in grades 1-3 will read these titles and vote for their favorite.

"Helen's Big World" by Doreen Rappaport
"Creepy Carrots" by Peter Brown
"Some Cat!" by Mary Casanova
"I Need My Own Country" by Rick Walton
"One Cool Friend" by Toni Buzzeo
"The Quiet Place" by Sarah Stewart
"Each Kindness" by Jacqueline Woodson
"The House on Dirty-Third Street" by Jo S. Kittinger
"Lost and Found" by Bill Harley
"Jangles: a Big Fish Story" by David Shannon

--Angie RH, Headquarters

Dewey Discoveries: "Pandemic Survival: It's Why You're Alive" by Ann Love and Jane Drake

History is filled with life-threatening diseases that have wiped out entire populations. It's also filled with courageous people who fought those diseases, studied them and developed vaccines and cures for many of these illnesses. In a fusion of history, science, and sociology, Anne Love and Jane Drake have created a book that almost any kid could get into with "Pandemic Survival: It's Why You're Alive." From the bubonic plague to influenza, they cover the causes, symptoms, time and group, and the effects of the leading pandemics through the ages. They also chronicle the development of vaccines and cures, and talk about disease prevention. Heavy on text, this book is most appropriate for middle schoolers.

Dewey Number 614.4

--Andrea W., H.Q.

Spotlight on FLIP: "Here Kitty Kitty!" by Pat Mora

Have you noticed the black bags with blue or green labels at your local St. Louis County Library branch? Those bags are part of an awesome program called FLIP (Family Literacy Involvement Program). FLIP was developed by the Houston Children’s Museum in partnership with the Houston Public Library. SLCL received a grant to create a limited number of kits for six branches in 2011. The kits proved to be so popular we had to create more! Now FLIP kits are in all 20 SLCL branches.

FLIP kits contain everything needed for parent and child to have a great shared literacy experience. Each kit contains a book, activity sheet and supplies.

FLIP KIT: “Here, kitty, kitty! ¡Ven, gatita, ven!” by Pat Mora

Ages: Toddler (18-36 months)

This kit contains the bilingual book “Here Kitty Kitty” by Pat Mora. A child describes the antics of a mischievous kitty.  After reading the book with your child, use the activity sheet to get ideas on how to work with position words like over and under. The kit also contains a stuffed cat and bandana to reinforce what your child will learn with a fun game.

--Desiree S., HQ