Bookletters

Something new is coming! This will be the final entry in the current PACL Kids blog. Today, February 13, we’re going to a new format. If you already subscribe to our blog, you will still receive it, only in its new form. If you’re not a subscriber, please take a look at the new PACL Kids here

The blog is part of BookLetters, a new enewsletter service from the Library. In addition to replacing the Library’s blogs, BookLetters has everything from lists of bestsellers to new children's chapter books, from "What's on the Air this Weekend" to teen reads, from award winners to staff suggestions. Be sure to take a look at the lists especially about children’s books.

The Library staff has also added lists specifically for Palo Alto customers. You can sign up for a number of these lists. We hope you love BookLetters – it’s our Valentine’s Day gift to you!

Groovy Graphic Novels

We are receiving more requests for graphic novels. Here are some graphic novels that you may not have seen.

Magic Pickle by Scott Morse
Meet the world's greenest, bumpiest, briniest superhero, the Magic Pickle. With his feisty sidekick Jo Jo Wigman, the Magic Pickle faces his worst nightmare, the Brotherhood of Evil Produce. Will he save the world from those foul fiends, or will the world be conquered by vegetables gone wild?

Power Struggle by Sean McKeever
Peter Parker dons his Spider-man outfit to protect the city of New York from the villany of Electro, the Sandman, the Vulture, Kraven the Hunter, Sandman, and the Scorpion.

Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka
Presents several comic-strip tales featuring the jet-powered robotic boy hero Astro Boy, including the story of his birth.

Billions of Bats by Scott Nickel
Sarah Bellum, the new star pupil at school, mistakenly creates hundreds of copies of her pet bat, Bobo, with her cosmic copy machine, until Buzz Beaker comes up with an ingenious way to solve the problem.

Otto's Orange Day by Frank Cammuso & Jay Lynch
After a genie fulfills Otto the cat's wish by turning the whole world orange, Otto realizes that his favorite color is not the best color for everything.

Program Friday (Upcoming Programs for Feb. 7 - 13)

Two wonderful programs tomorrow, Sat. Feb. 7, both sponsored by the Friends of the Palo Alto Library:

Saturday Showcase: Reading Becomes Storytelling
With traditional Japanese picture-card dramas called kamishibai (paper theater). Come hear Hazuki Katoaka share stories from around the world using this unique method.

Date and Time: Saturday, February 7 at 2:3 p.m. Location: Mitchell Park Library, 3700 Middlefield Rd. Ages: For all ages

The Black History Show African American dance, singing, and spoken word. Fun for the entire family!

Date and Time: Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7 pm Location: Mitchell Park Community Center, 3700 Middlefield Rd.

Game Day!

School's out! If you're looking for something to pass the time, stop by the Children's Library to play games with other kids. Bring your own or we'll have a supply of cards and board games on hand for you to use.

Date and Time: Friday, Feb. 13 at 2 pm

Location: Children's Library, 1276 Harriet St.

Ages: 5 and up

The President Goes to School

Did you see that President Obama and his wife visited a school and read to a 2nd grade class? Well, being a librarian, when I saw that, I immediately wondered, "What book did they read?"

According to the White House blog, the book in question was The Moon Over Star by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Jerry Pinkey. Here's the story: On her family's farm in the town of Star, eight-year-old Mae eagerly follows the progress of the 1969 Apollo 11 flight and moon landing and dreams that she might one day be an astronaut, too.

The Library has this new picture book on order. I can't wait to read it! You can reserve it, too, by clicking here.

Black History Month

It's February, so celebrate Black History Month!

Come on in to Children's Library and check out some of the wonderful books we have on display. There are so many to choose from, but here's one of my favorites, a book of African-American folklore by Virginia Hamilton: The People Could Fly.

Here's something else you might want to look at - a blog called The Brown Bookshelf is having a month-long series of interviews with 28 of the best African-American creators of children's literature.

And don't forget our Silicon Valley Reads program. This week's special program for a the whole family should be fantastic!

The Black History Show
Saturday, February 7 at 7 pm
Mitchell Park Community Center,
3700 Middlefield Rd.
African American dance, singing, and
spoken word. Fun for the entire family!

Program Friday (Upcoming Programs for February 1-7)

Hi Everyone- Happy Friday!

We've got some great programs in the next week, coming to a Palo Alto library branch near you!

On Sunday, February 1st we'll have Yoga with Shyamoli at the Children's Library. This program is for kids ages 3-6 with an adult chaperone. The program is 2-2:45pm. Come have fun while you learn some new yoga positions!

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On Saturday, February 7th at 2:30pm our monthly Saturday Showcase will take place at Mitchell Park Library. Come watch as Hazuki Katoaka practices the kamishibai (paper theater), using picture cards to illustrate her stories. This program is for all ages- bring the whole family!

In addition, we've got our weekly storytimes at the various library branches:

- Monday, 2/2- Toddler Storytime at Children's Library- 10 OR 11am

- Tuesday, 2/3- Preschool Storytime at Children's Library- 10am

- Tuesday, 2/3- Baby Storytime at College Terrace Library (the last day of this eight week session is February 27th)

- Friday, 2/6- Toddler (10am) & Preschool (11am) Storytimes at Mitchell Park Library

We hope to see you at one or more of these great events!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Grab some great readalongs!

Did you know that we feature book & CD sets in our children's collection? These sets are great for helping kids learn how to read, since they can see the words in the book as they listen to the audio track on the CD. We also have several sets to help your child learn another language, such as Spanish, French, or Italian. We just received a bunch of great new readalongs, so come on in to Children's Library or Mitchell Park and check them out. Below I have highlighted a few of my favorites:

The Saggy Baggy Elephant, by Byron Jackson

When I was in preschool, I listened to this readalong non-stop in the car. Of course, my childhood version was a cassette, not a CD! But even all these years later, the story of the little elephant Sooki and his saggy, baggy grey skin still resonates as a wonderful tale of self-acceptance.

This readalong version of the Little Golden Book classic features clear, pleasant narration and Gustaf Tenggren's whimsical illustrations.

Martina, the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale, by Carmen Agra Deedy

The lovely, lush illustrations of this book are what initially drew me to it. It's evident that lots of care was put into crafting this retelling of the Cuban folktale. Apparently, the Odyssey award panel thought the same thing, because Martina was just named an Odyssey Honor Book for 2009. The Odyssey awards are given each year to audiobooks that show exemplary production values.

A Visit to Grandma, by Berlitz Kids

We have several titles in the Berlitz Kids "Adventures with Nicholas" collection. One of these titles is A Visit to Grandma, which we have available in three languages: Spanish, French and Italian. These books feature colorful illustrations and bilingual text (English and another language). If your child is interested in learning another language you might want to consider this series. They're a nice introduction to other languages, and the audio track helps to reinforce the language learning aspect.