Story Pockets!

Best of 2008

2009-01-11T15:55:00.024-05:00

Storypockets has a new home. Click here to find Storypockets' new home on Wordpress.

Storypockets' 2008 was a year of amazing artwork, beautiful books, and creative costumes.

We're taking a fond, nostalgic look back at 2008. Click here to join us on a walk down memory lane.

2008 brought some children's books superstars to the Children's Department via the Black, White and Read All Over program.

The Kinderprep program was so much fun in 2008!

We made handmade books and magnificent masks,

traveled all over the world,

and made up marvelous stories.

We remembered our neighbors,

and made some new friends.

We took in a show! (Several shows.)

Thanks for visiting us in person or online in 2008.

We're looking forward to your visits in 2009!

Local Illustarator Nora Thompson

2008-12-08T14:24:00.005-05:00

We're so proud of our local authors and illustrators!

Pittsburgh illustrator Nora Thompson has a new book out.

Yikes! Wow! Yuck! offers dozens of science fair ideas, accompanied by detailed, energetic, and engaging iluustratons.

Sodapop explodes from a two-liter bottle. Pieces of fruit hang mysteriously suspended in green Jello. Multi-colored candy spills temptingly from a bag. These pictures do more than show us what the science experiments are about. They depict the action and excitement of scientific discovery.

Some of the illustratios reflect the title. Check out the rotting jack-o-lantern on the back cover. Yiles!

Click here to visit Nora Thompson's webstie.
Click here to request your copy of Yikes! Wow! Yuck!

Local Author Rebecca O'Connell

2008-12-03T10:10:00.000-05:00

We're proud of our local authors!

Pittsburgher Rebecca O'Connell is Storypockets' Miss Rebecca -- me!

And I'm proud to tell you about my new book.

In Penina Levine Is a Potato Pancake, sixth-grader Penina is having the worst Hanukkah ever. Her beloved teacher is abandoning her. Her best friend is deserting her, and her little sister is hogging all the Hanukkah candles. Can Penina turn this holiday around? She's going to try, with a zillion zillion hand-cut snowflakes, a game of chance, and a plate of delicious potato pancakes.

You're invited to the Launch Party for Penina Levine Is a Potato Pancake on Saturday, December 6, 1:00-3:00 at the Lawrenceville Branch Library. Enjoy some cookies and cider and get your own signed copy of the book. I'd love to see you there!

Click here to request Penina Levine Is a Potato Pancake.

Click here to visit my website.

Dancing With Our Stars!

2008-12-02T11:17:00.016-05:00

Oh, you hop a little on your little left shoe,

You hop a little on your right one, too.

You kick a button like the Scots kids do,

It's the Hop-

Scotch

Polka!

Music at KinderPrep can help tell the story,

or it can help us to learn together --

or to learn alone --

or to just jam with a friend.

You can sing way up high,

or beat way down low.

However you move --

it's the KinderPrep Boogie!

Carnegie Museums $1.00 Admission with ACCESS Card

2008-12-01T09:00:00.002-05:00

ACCESS/EBT Card participants, come visit the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. If you show your card and a photo ID, museum admission is $1.00 per person. This includes Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Science Center, and The Warhol.

Carnegie Museum of Art and Carnegie Museum of Natural History are right next door to the library, so please make sure to stop by and say hi before or after your museum adventure.

Local Author Sydelle Pearl

2008-11-28T12:36:00.005-05:00

We're proud of our local authors.

Pittsbugher Sydelle Pearl wrote Books for the World, The Story of Jella Lepman.

After World War Two, the children of Germany were cold, and homeless, and starving, but they were also hungry for books.

Sydelle Pearl's book tells the true story of how Jella Lepman, a German Jew who escaped the Nazis, brought books to the children who needed them.

"If one is to believe in peaceful coexistence, the first messangers of that peace will be these children's books," Jella explains.

Books for Children of the World brings Jella's words--and her work--to life.

Click here for your copy of Books for Children of the World.

Clilck here to visit Sydelle Pearl's webiste.

Snacktivity

2008-11-10T15:22:00.012-05:00

What can you do with food in the library?

You can read about it, or --

You can talk about it, or --

you can paint with it, or --

you can build with it, or --

you can arrange it, or --

you can create with it, or --

you can conserve it very carefully, or --

you can share it with friends, or --

you can savor every morsel!

What began as a simple snack to energize active children has become a highlighted activity at KinderPrep. Hence, the term, "snacktivity" (as coined by Miss Constance), is another way to engage pre-kindergartners with Pennsylvania Learning Standards. Whether they are organizing their fruit alphabetically, or identifying the food groups in this thing called a "pyramid", these children are involved in the preparation and presentation, as well as in the eating, of a simple snack.

She Touched the World

2008-11-09T14:38:00.005-05:00

She Touched The World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer by local authors Sally Alexander and Robert Alexander has been selected for the New York Public Library's list: Children's Books 2008--100 Titles for Reading and Sharing.

Congratulations, Sally and Robert. Our Pittsburgh authors make us proud!

Bad hair days might require...

2008-11-05T14:36:00.007-05:00

... a new color,

a new hat,

or just a thorough cover-up!

This past week, KinderPrep-ers tried on some different hats and wigs, did their self-portraits, and then started their autobiographies. All of these things help to develop their personal and social skills.

Terrific Trick-or-Treaters!

2008-10-30T17:54:00.002-04:00

The dress up fun begins early at the library! And marching to the music in the costume parade uses our gross motor skills, taps into the musical, kinesthetic part of our learning. Plus... it's fun!

Run, run, fast as you can to Jan Brett's 2008 Gingerbread Tour

2008-10-29T09:25:00.004-04:00

Jan Brett’s 2008 Gingerbread Tour Bus is headed to our neighborhood. On Saturday morning, November 1st, at 10:30, Jan will be in the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Lecture Hall sharing her stories and intricately detailed, culturally diverse illustrations. When her talk is over she’ll sign copies of her books in the Children’s Department. As usual, cookies and punch will be served. Visit Jan’s website for a taste of what’s in store for you on Saturday morning: http://www.janbrett.com/ For tickets or for more information contact Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures: www.pittsburghlectures.org or 412-622-8866.
Thank you to our friends at Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures for bringing our favorite children’s book authors and illustrators to town for Black White & Read All Over. Next to visit will be Mark Teague on November 22nd.
Which authors or illustrators would you like to have pay us a visit?

KinderPrep

2008-10-28T15:14:00.005-04:00

Getting the pig over the stile is a team effort! The children are using their narrative skills and dramatic talents to demonstrate the domino effect in the folktale of The Old Woman and Her Pig.

Friendly Bats

2008-10-23T16:39:00.008-04:00

Bat, Bat, come under my hat

and I'll give you a piece of bacon.

And when I bake, I'll give you a cake

if I am not mistaken.

At this time of the year, Halloween vampires and horror movies reinforce our cultural dislike for bats. This is sad and ironic, as these small flying mammals are extremely beneficial to us. I was fortunate to watch the awesome exodus of a colony of Mexican free-tail bats out of Carlsbad Caverns (New Mexico) at dusk last summer. About 300,000 bats spiral out of the mouth of the cave then head off to spend the night eating insects. It can take up to half an hour for them to exit the cave! Insect-eating bats can eat up to half their body weight in mosquitoes and other pests. Other bats play an essential role in pollination or seed dispersal.

Come on into the library and find out more about friendly bats!

Terrific Toddlers do some cracking good counting!

2008-10-21T16:32:00.005-04:00

I love to do this counting rhyme every week at T4! Here you go Mimi!

Potato Counting Rhyme

One potato, two potato, three potato, four! (count with your fingers)
Well, I made a batch of hot potatoes (bend forward and stir as in a big pot)
Dropped 'em on the floor!! (look shocked, and put hands on face in surprise)

Five potato, six potato, seven potato, eight! (count with your fingers)
So I stomped 'em into mashed potatoes (stomp the potatoes!)
And plopped 'em on a plate (hands out like plopping potatoes on a plate!)

Nine potato, ten potato, (count with your fingers)
Can't believe my eyes! (cover and uncover eyes in surprise)
The children ate 'em up and now they want some french fries!!!
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10
French fries! (jump up and reach over head to sky on 10)

Miss Heather made a video of it for us, just in case you wish to see it in action!

Local Author Jonah Winter

2008-10-19T14:00:00.002-04:00

We're proud of our local authors!

Pittsburgher Jonah Winter has a new book out.

"In Steel Town, it's always dark

and the street-lamps are always lit."

Does that sound like anyplace you know? It's the Pittsburgh of our grandparents or great-grandparents, lovingly and lyrically re-created in Steel Town.

Steel Town takes us into iron mill and the steel mill, where we're on the job with the Hot Blast Operator, the Monkey Boss, the Crane Man.

We see the imposing Hot Blast Furnace, and watch a river of hot pig iron gush down a gutter in the floor. Terry Widener's illustrations show us the power of molten metal flowing into the Open Hearth Furnace and the peace of a whispered prayer in an onion-domed church.

Click here to request a copy of Steel Town.

" Oddly oddly onker my first conker"

2008-10-16T18:39:00.009-04:00

Have you ever found one of these intriguing little nuts on the ground in Autumn?

They are known as buckeyes, horse-chestnuts, or conkers. While these nuts are not suitable for humans to eat, they do have a use that is much more entertaining: the game of Conkers. The game originated in Britain but has spread throughout Europe, as well as other parts of the world.

To play the game, you first need two players and two conkers that are symmetrical with no apparent cracks. Make a hole through the middle of each conker. Take a piece of string that is about ten inches in length and thread it through the hole. Tie a knot at the end of the string to make sure that it won’t pull through. Once your conkers are ready, the fun begins. The rules of the game are simple: take turns hitting each other’s conker until one breaks.

To learn more about Conkers, take a look at the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conkers

FALL FESTIVAL COMES TO TOWN

2008-10-15T08:16:00.006-04:00

Lovers of children's literature: A triple treat is headed your way. The 2008 Fall Festival of Children's Books will be held at the Pittsburgh Children's Museum this Friday, October 17.

Featured speakers are author and illustrator Pat Cummings, children's and young adult author T.A. Barron and writer and children's literature historian Leonard S. Marcus. In addition to the author talks there will be workshops, a panel discussion and book sales and signings.

For more information contact the Pittsburgh Children's Museum or visit their website:
www.pittsburghkids.org

I'm currently reading Leonard S. Marcus's Minders of Make-Believe: idealists, entrepreneurs, and the shaping of America's children's literature.

Do you have a favorites book or books penned or illustrated by one of these talented folks? If so, tell us about it.

Fun free show from Squonk Opera!

2008-10-14T16:34:00.002-04:00

I've had the pleasure of seeing Squonk Opera perform, and they are great! Not too mention unique. They will be performing right outside the library in a free performance October 15-18. I thought you should know!

Squonk Opera's "Astro-rama"
October 15-18, 8 pm

The Pittsburgh debut of the new work from local performance masters Squonk Opera will take place over four nights in Oakland. All performances are FREE and fun for the whole family!

It's our Terrific Sculptors!

2008-10-14T13:35:00.013-04:00

Today we had stories and rhymes about dogs, and we had a sculpture of a dog, too!

It's a guy holding a balloon!

It's a cable car! Way to go!

Mmmm, ice cream. "Good job," Joshua told himself!

Today we had fun with the letter D.

One of our young artists wished to be the photographer, not the photographee. Good job, Tellie!

Play Dough at the library

2008-10-13T17:30:00.003-04:00

Play dough is a lot of fun! Not only is it fun to play with, it is lots of fun to make, too. You can make a really great toy at home with your kids and secretly teach them! Smaller children can dump in the ingredients and mix with their hands, using their gross motor skills. Older children can practice measuring skills. They can use their fine motor skills to manipulate and shape the dough. Maybe you will bring out the cookie cutters and can talk about shapes. Maybe you will use food coloring to tint the dough. Maybe you will use more than one color so that they can mix the colored doughs to see what color they end up with! I bet you’ll come up with even more ideas!

Here’s how you can make some at home.

Play Dough Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1.5 cups salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water

Optional stuff to color it:
Kool-Aid or other drink mix
food coloring

If you have a standing mixer with a dough hook, I recommend using it for this project. Otherwise, make sure someone is standing by with an emergency arm massage. The dough is very stiff!

Put the flour and salt into the bowl and turn the mixer on low. If you will be using Kool-Aid drink mix, add it with the dry ingredients. With the mixer running, add the vegetable oil, then the water in a stream. Let it run for about a minute. You want the dough to come together in one ball. If it looks dry - kinda clumpy or sandy and won't smooth out- add more water and a tiny splash of oil. If you overdo it on the wet stuff, add more flour a spoonful at a time until it looks right.

The salt adds structure but doesn't seem to melt. I would have thought that it would, but you can still feel the edges of the salt inside the dough. When you knead the dough with your hands, you can feel how plasticy and moldable it is. I was expecting that I would have to do lots of experimenting and overbought on the flour. I was expecting it to feel like bread dough. But it was way more like commercial play dough than I would have thought. Play-Doh probably has more stabilisers in it and all, but this is pretty awesome.

The advantage to commercial Play-Doh are the colors. They are much brighter, and they even sell "Sprinkle," "Sparkle," and "Sand" cans. You can color the play dough you make at home with unsweetened drink mix, aka "Kool-Aid" or drops of food coloring. I mixed a packet of Cherry flavored off brand drink mix (really, it was less than half the price). Well, it is barely pink. Barely. The cool thing is that now it smells like Cherry flavor.

The Grape drink mix made a terrible grey color, not like purple at all. I ended up opening up the drink mix packets and wetting the powder a tiny bit to see what color it would turn. Once I found the red ones, I dumped them all in! You can see from the picture how it turned out.

For Mystery Dough:
Make a batch of plain colored dough. Divide the dough and hide the drops of food coloring in the middle and pinch everything closed. Give it to the children in a plastic bag and let them knead it to mix the colors. For this type of coloring, drops work better than the drink mix powder.

I hope that you get to make this at home! If you have any questions, leave a comment! If you have done this before with your kids, leave a comment!

Passport to the World: Morocco!

2008-10-05T18:42:00.003-04:00

This Saturday our friend Miss Noufissa from the First Floor's New and Featured Department will share with us the culture of her native Morocco! She'll teach us some Arabic, share stories, show us what a real souk looks like, let us play dress up in some beautiful Moroccan garments, and share some couscous!

Please call us at the Children's Department at 412-622-3122 to register, or send us email at children@carnegielibrary.org.

Pittsburgh Authors and Illustrators for Halloween

2008-10-05T13:09:00.021-04:00

We're so proud of our local authors and illustrators.

Two Pittsburghers have new books out, just in time for Halloween.

Where's My Mummy? --written by Carolyn Crimi and illustrated by Pittsburgher John Manders-- is a spooky (and funny!) bedtime story. Little Baby Mummy meets many mysterious neighbors in a late-night game of hide and seek. John Manders' illustrations show us the silly side of the creepy creatures Little Baby Mummy meets. Manders makes Little Baby Mummy's wrapped-up face sweetly expressive, and Big Mama Mummy has got to be the prettiest mommy in all the graveyard.

Halloween Night--written by Pittsburgher Marjorie Dennis Murray and illustrated by Brandon Dorman--is a rollicking rhyme just perfect for a spooky read-aloud. Little listeners will squeal with delight as they hear how the witch and some zombies, a ghost and several green creepies prepare for the most surprising Halloween party ever.

Click here to request your copy of Where's My Mummy?

Cllick here to request your copy of Halloween Night.

Local Author Rita M. Bergstein

2008-09-29T12:00:00.001-04:00

We're so proud of our local authors!

Local author Rita M. Bergstein has a new book out.

Your Own Big Bed shows how a little boy grows from a tiny baby into a big kid--big enough for his own big bed.

Bergstein's gentle, encouraging words compare the growing boy to other growing babies in the natural world. Onomatopoetic words make this book a joy to read aloud, and the exquisite illustrations by Susan Kathleen Hartung invite us to pour over the pictures again and again. This is a perfect sleeptime book for little ones in the crib, in the bed, or making the transition in between.

Click here to request a copy of Your Own Big Bed.

Time for some Terrific Tales!

2008-09-20T12:05:00.011-04:00

Whoo hoo! T4 is back!

Besides telling Terrific Tales to our Twos and Threes, we like to slide in some early literacy skills. So we like to have name tags for the kids that we keep at the library and that the children find before every storytime.

Which brings me to one more thing that they didn't cover in library school: What exactly makes a great toddler name tag? And let me tell you, I totally sweated this one. I could not find any ideas, not even one! Come on now, Internet! Isn't this what you are for? Anyway, we came up with an idea which I present to you, our dear reader.

Step 1) With one 8.5x11 piece of lightweight cardstock, fold lengthwise.

Step 2) Cut this sheet horizontally into 4 equal pieces (see photo below).

Step 3) Let the toddlers use the glue stick to glue the folded paper together. They can look at the texture. They can feel that it is sticky. They can experience how a glue stick works and use their fine motor skills.

Step 4) Let the toddlers decorate the glued-together piece of cardstock with stickers and markers. We happened to get a big donation of color coding dots from someone's office cleanout. They are great! We also use tons of those fun foam alphabet stickers (thank you, Inventor of Fun Foam, whoever you may be!) and I admit to pulling out the inside cutaway pieces and putting them in the sticker tray.

Here's another tip: We put the art materials in desk trays that we bought from the office store. All the bits and bobs fit so nicely in the compartments!

Step 5) After the toddlers have decorated the glued-together cardstock as they wish, it's time for their name. Adults, now you write their name on a sticker label. Talk to them as you are writing about how their name is spelled. Write the letters. Say the name of the letters. When you're done, give them the sticker to place on the name tag.

Step 6) Use your hole punch to make a wide enough opening to fit the clip. We bought these clips at the office supply store and they are not expensive. You don't have to worry about having something around the children's necks.

Before each storytime, we clip the name tags to our easel (which we've equipped with our pretend clothesline) and the children go and find their name tags. Below is one of our friends making her name tag :)

Local Author and Illustrator Carol Baicker-McKee

2008-09-15T11:00:00.001-04:00

We're so proud of our local authors!

Pittsburgher Carol Baicker-McKee has a new book out.

Mimi is an exhuberant little-girl-piggy with a curly pink tail, a tiaria, and a pet roly-poly bug named Frank. Every morning, Mimi gives Frank his breakfast--a smige of banana. But one morning, Frank isn't there. Mimi nevertheless carries on. She even visits the library!

It's not just Mimi's personality that makes this piggy pop off the page. Carol Baker-McKee's 3-D illustrations make Mimi (and everything around her) bright and playful and irresistable. Carol explains here how she created Mimi.

Click here to request your copy of Mimi.

2008-09-10T16:18:00.004-04:00

Pittsburgh Kids: Children’s Historical Fiction Set in Southwestern PA
Celebrate Pittsburgh’s 250th year by reading about what it would be like to have live here long ago. Here are a few children’s historical fiction titles to get you started:

Ayres, Katherine. Macaroni Boy. Dell Yearling, 2003. Sixth-grader Mike Costa (nick-named Macaroni Boy by a neighborhood bully) lives and works in Pittsburgh’s Strip District during the Great Depression. (ages 10 and up)

Cogancherry, Helen. The Floating House. MacMillan, 1995. Jonathan and Mary had never set foot outside of Pennsylvania. Now, in the spring of 1815, they’re on a flatboat in Pittsburgh, headed off down the Ohio to a new home in Indiana. (ages 5 to 10)

Fenton, Edward. Duffy’s Rocks. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1999. Timothy Brennan’s relatives refuse to speak about his long absent father, but Timothy is determined to find him. The story is set mostly in 1934 McKees Rocks with excursions to other neighborhoods. (ages 9 to 12).

Finlayson, Ann. Greenhorn on the Frontier. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2000. In the 1700s Harry and Sukey come to the frontier town of Pittsburgh to settle on their own plot of land. Can two former city dwellers stand up to rugged frontiersmen and hostile Indians? (ages 9 to 12)

Fritz, Jean. The Cabin Faced West. Puffin Books, 1991. Ten year old Ann yearns to leave the wilderness of western Pennsylvania and return to Gettysburg. A distinguished stranger convinces her to take another look at Hamilton Hill and consider her role in the making of the Western Country. (ages 6 to 12)

Price, Olive. Three Golden Rivers. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1999. In 1850 the four orphaned Bayard children set out for Pittsburgh, in hopes that the two older children can find work and support them all. There’s a brief appearance by a young Scots messenger boy. Guess who! Hint: he made a fortune and built libraries. (ages 9 to 12)

What are your favorite children’s books with a Pittsburgh connection? Historical fiction, nonfiction, biographies of Pittsburghers....

Local Author Many Ly

2008-08-30T10:00:00.001-04:00

We're so proud of our local authors!

Pittsburgher Many Ly has a new book out.

Roots and Wings is the story of fourteen-year-old Grace. Grace has always longed to visit the Cambodian community in St. Petersburg, FL where her mother grew up. Now she is flying in an airplane with her grandmother's ashes in her lap. Grace and her mom are traveling from Pennsylvania to Florida so that they can give Grace's grandmother a proper Cambodian funeral.

This trip gives Grace the chance to get to know the people who meant so much to her mother and grandmother--friends who were so close they were more like family. But even as Grace is welcomed into the community, she learns some harsh truths about her own family history. Along with Grace, we grieve for her grandmother and feel hopeful for the possibility of renewing family ties. Loving descriptions of Camboidan food and ceremonies add to the appeal of this moving and meaningful book.

Click here to request a copy of Roots and Wings.

Click here to visit Many Ly's website.

Terrific Tales for Twos 'n Threes is coming soon!

2008-08-29T09:43:00.002-04:00

Meet Local Authors and Illustrators at the Fred Rogers Center

2008-08-26T09:59:00.011-04:00

We're proud of our local authors and illustrators, and in a couple of weeks, there will be dozens of them, all together.

The "Good Books In Your Neighborhood" event at the Fred M. Rogers Center at Saint Vincent College features local authors and illustrators, and it is a chance to see the new center honoring our beloved neighbor, Mister Rogers.

It's on Saturday, Septeber 6, 10:00-2:00. Click here for the brochure.

And click here and here for more books by and about Mister Rogers.

Tips on creating flannel board stories

2008-08-21T14:07:00.005-04:00

I find that the flannel board is an effective alternate form of storytelling, especially for my young storytime audiences. This method allows me to make eye contact with the children as I tell the story, while the brightly colored felt pieces are attention grabbers. But, you may say, doesn't it take alot of time to cut, glue and assemble all those squiggly little pieces of felt? I won't try and mislead you - making a flannel board story is a labor of love. But here are some tips to make the process less time consuming.

If you haven't discovered Presto Felt, run right out to your local Joann Fabrics and pick up a 9" x 12" sheet, each individually packaged, in a variety of colors! Each piece of felt has a strong adhesive under the peel-away slick paper backing. With Presto Felt you can turn any paper image into an instant felt board piece. Take a simple color image of a duck, perhaps from a clipart collection, cut around the picture leaving a half-inch or so margin, position the picture on the sticky Presto Felt and then cover the duck with laminate. Once you have your 3 layer sandwich (i.e. Presto Felt on the bottom, the picture in the middle and the laminate on top), cut through all layers with good, sharp scissors. I like to use stainless steel nail scissors for the curves and good sewing scissors (like Gingher) for the straight away. Quick, easy and you won't mind having the little ones handle the pieces or put them in their mouths when they help you retell the story! You can easily make replacements.

If you look at the two video clips posted on Story Pockets (The Enormous Turnip and the jataka tale of the Monkey and the Crocodile) you will see more elaborate story pieces, some with embroidered features or beads for eyes. The Presto Felt covers any knots or loose threads on the back and also gives each piece a nice solid feel. If you look carefully at the crocodile, you'll see that he has a wonderful, bumpy reptilian skin. Presto Felt makes embossed felt that was perfect for this project.

I'd be happy to answer any questions and would love to hear about your favorite felt board techniques.

Heard a Good Book Lately?

2008-08-20T11:35:00.003-04:00

In September I’ll be hitting the road, headed to a library conference, and am reviewing potential audio books to entertain me on the journey. Listening to a polished narrator read aloud is my favorite way to pass the time while driving. (Bedtime stories excluded: no falling asleep at the wheel for me!) I listen for pleasure as well as to keep up with the many new children’s books that arrive regularly in our Children’s Department. And here’s a housekeeping tip: dishwashing and other chores are less tedious if accompanied by a good story.

The audio book format is popular here at Main Children’s, especially during summer vacation and holiday time. I often recommend audio books to parents who have children who are reluctant or struggling readers. Listening to a fluent reader helps the child develop his or her own fluency and vocabulary. Listening assists in pronunciation, too. I’m a fan of Alexander McCall Smith’s Number One Ladies Detective Agency series and had read quite a few of the books before listening to an audio version. The narrator, a native South African, set me straight on the pronunciation of personal and place names.

The narrator can make a huge difference in how well the story translates to this format. They’re not all Jim Dale, the gifted narrator of the Harry Potter audio books, but so far there have only been one or two narrators who turned me off to the audio version.

Currently I’m listening to Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon (adult title) and have the second in the Bartimaeus Trilogy: The Golem’s Eye by Jonathan Stroud (children’s book) lined up to listen to next.

Now it’s your turn. What audio books (children’s or adult titles) do you recommend I listen to while driving across the Great Plains?

They never did tell us who the Reading Bug was!

2008-08-18T14:48:00.000-04:00

Wow, did we have a busy summer. So busy that I am behind on posting photos of our SRC prize winners! We've had a lot of fun with our theme of "Catch the Reading Bug" and children are still coming in and asking for books on bugs!

Everyone did a great job over the summer, and now it looks like kids are bringing in their required reading lists to get ready for school. We're really proud of everyone for all their great reading! I hope that your kids had a fun time. I only heard one complaint: "They never did tell us who the Reading Bug was!"

Awesome job, Isaac!

Way to go Paul!

Congratulations Gabby!

Local authors Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed

2008-08-18T12:00:00.001-04:00

We're proud of our local authors!

Pittsburghers Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed have a new book out.

In Four Feet, Two Sandals, ten-year-old Lina has not worn shoes in two years. Clothing and shoes are in short supply at the refugee camp where she lives. When relief workers bring a truck of clothing, Lina finds a sandal that fits her just right. Then she finds the other sandal, and it is on the foot of Feroza, whose feet are cracked and swollen from her long trek to the refugee camp. "What good is one sandal for two feet?" asks Feroza in the story. Read this book to find out.

Click here to request your copy of Four Feet, Two Sandals.

Oprah teams up with the American Library Association!

2008-08-14T13:03:00.003-04:00

Our friend Carrie from Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures Black, White, and Read All Over author series forwarded this to me:

"I was checking out Oprah’s new kids reading list, developed with the help of ALA, and Katherine Ayres’ picture book Up, Down and Around is the featured book for Ages 3-5. "

Katherine Ayres' book was the 2008 selection for Pennsylvania's One Book, Every Young Child program. And she's from Pittsburgh!

Click here to check out the Kid's Reading List on Oprah's Book Club.

Guess what we saw at the library today!

2008-08-13T14:08:00.006-04:00

So, the first thing that I should tell you is that I (almost) always have my camera with me. Something interesting is always happening and I love to take photos. Well, I wasn't disappointed this afternoon!

The fire alarm went off earlier, on this most wonderful not-too-hot-not-too-cold sunshiny day. Everyone was in a good mood, strangers made friends, and someone remembered to bring a football during the evacuation. A couple of the teen librarians started up a game of catch and pretty soon several people joined in and that football was flying around. But when the football flew up into a tree with a pigeon in its talons, I had to take a second look.

It was a raptor! Some sort of a hawk? It was way up in that sycamore tree, firm grip on its lunch while about 50 people stood down on the ground looking up at it with their hands shading their eyes. It was such a surprising sight to see in the middle of our busy Oakland that several of us stayed to observe it.

Do you know what kind of bird this urban hunter is? Please leave a comment - we'd all love to know!

Local Author Arlene Morris-Lipsman

2008-08-04T12:00:00.002-04:00

We're proud of our local authors!

Pittsburgher Arlene Morris-Lipsman has a new book out.

Presidential Races: The Battle for Power in the United States brings history to life. In the early days of the United States, active campaigning by a presidential candidate was thought to be undignified. Candidates' friends and supporters gave speeches and wrote testimonials, but the candidates themselves did not campaign. How things have changed! Arlene Morris-Lipsman takes us through the ups and downs of historical presidential races. She lets us get to know the candidates and their running mates. She shows us what was behind political slogans and campaign strategies. Perfect reading for this election year.

Click here to request a copy of Presidential Races: The Battle for Power in the United States.

Another winner!

2008-07-23T15:52:00.003-04:00

Congratulations Rosa!

Summer Reading makes a difference!

2008-07-22T00:00:00.001-04:00

The president of the International Reading Association has written an article in Reading Today for teachers on how to help close the summer reading gap. In addition to the reasons why Summer reading is so important, she suggests some simple tactics for sharing books, especially when you may be short on time.

Local Authors Sally and Robert Alexander

2008-07-21T00:00:00.000-04:00

We're so proud of our local authors!

Pittsburghers Sally Hobart Alexander and Robert Alexander have a new book out.

She Touched The World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer is the compelling biography of teacher, writer, and innovator Laura Bridgman. As a young child, Bridgeman lost her hearing, sight, and most of her sense of smell. She learned to speak and to read. She became a beloved celebrity and an inspirational educator.

The Alexanders' book lets us get to know Laura Bridgman. We see Laura as a child, a student, a teacher, and as a creative and caring individual. We also see what her life and accomplishments have meant for generations of students.

Click here to reserve a copy of She Touched the World.

Click here to visit Sally Hobart Alexander's website.

Dogs in the Library!

2008-07-10T14:16:00.004-04:00

Who let the dogs in? (woof, woof, woof)

We did! We had a visit from three friendly certified therapy dogs from the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society. Marsha Robbins and Amy Coglio shared their dogs so that we could practice dog safety rules provided by the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society. They shared a list of 10 safety rules to use with children:

1. Always ask before you touch a dog.
2. Let the dog sniff the back of your hand before you touch him.
3. Touch the dog gently on his back with the palm of your hand.
4. Never touch a dog when he is eating food or chewing a bone.
5. If you give a dog a treat, hold your hand flat like a plate. Let him take the treat from your palm.
6. If you see a dog without his owner, leave him alone.
7. Never run and scream when you are playing with a dog.
8. If a dog comes up to you - be a tree.
9. If you fall down - be a log.
10. Don't put your face in a dog's face.

Hooray for Summer Reading!

2008-06-23T15:40:00.003-04:00

Here are two of our prize winners from our Summer Reading Club weekly raffle! Congratulations to you both! Keep reading!

It's a Cool New Book! Creative Costumes

2008-06-20T00:00:00.002-04:00

We love to recycle and we love costumes! I've heard from lots of camp counselors, daycare educators, and other teachers that they are really concentrating on reusing and recycling this summer. This book has lots of ideas for reusing common items (some of which you could practically pop right into the recycling bin when you are done) into costumes to become knights, dragons, princesses, and more!

Click here to reserve Creative Costumes by Dawn Brend

Save the date for the Beginning with Books Early Literacy Conference

2008-06-19T00:00:00.001-04:00

Our friends at Beginning with Books are hosting an Early Literacy Conference on September 26, 2008. Below is the information they want you to have!

Featured Speaker
Mary Renck Jalongo, Ph. D.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Featured Author/Illustrator
Candace Fleming
Award Winning Children’s Author

September 26, 2008

at Community College of Allegheny County North Campus

Experience a full day of learning about the latest research and best practices in early literacy.

Please contact Barbara Stolarz at Beginning with Books at 412-361-8560
or stolarzb@mybwb.org
You may also visit our Web site at www.beginningwithbooks.org

Act 48 and State Professional Development Hours Available

Looking for a good prank?

2008-06-18T10:09:00.002-04:00

Apparently someone who frequents the Children's Department has learned how to make the computer display upside down! I went over to log in the computer for the day and had to stand on my head to make it work! Luckily my friend Larry and Mark from the Help Desk had the answer - to fix it, you press Ctrl+Alt+Up. Just that easy!

Ctrl+Alt+Down arrrow will display your whole monitor upside down. Have fun!

Spread Your Wings: A family program with curriculum-related concepts

2008-06-18T00:00:00.002-04:00

Spread Your Wings is a series of programs which will encourage the family flight along the learning curve. Each program will feature stories, activities and exploration into curriculum-related concepts.

These will be held on selected Thursdays at 6:30-7:30 pm.

June 19th: In the Garden
(science)

June 26th: Comparatively Speaking
(mathematics)

July 10th: We're having a Field Day!
(Physical and health concerns)

July 17th: Over the Hills and Far Away
(Social Studies)

July 24th: Express yourself!
(Creative Arts)

Next Monday morning Baby Lapsit is June 23!

2008-06-17T00:00:00.002-04:00

Day: Monday
Date: June 23
Time: 10:30AM
Come bounce with us!

Children's Librarians & Children's Authors: Megan McDonald

2008-06-14T13:35:00.016-04:00

Megan McDonald was a children's librarian in the Children's Department of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh from 1986 to 1990. Her first book, Is this a House for Hermit Crab, grew from a tale she created for her storytime audiences.

Pittsburgh history is a theme of several of Megan's books, including The Bridge to Nowhere, and The Potato Man.

Megan's books have won numerous awards, including Carolyn W. Field Award, 1993, for The Great Pumpkin Switch.

Flat Stanley is all grown up.

2008-06-13T12:50:00.002-04:00

Today I got to meet Flat Stanley and his young gentleman. I know it's not the same, but I did get to hear the story and thought that you should, too! Here's the story as dictated to me:

"He started off as a little boy. Then he got older as he was gone. and became Jones. And then he got a photo. There. That's it."

The Jones that Flat Stanley became? Indiana! I still haven't seen the latest movie! :)

Next Monday morning Baby Lapsit is June 16!

2008-06-10T00:00:00.003-04:00

Day: Monday

Date: June 16

Time: 10:30AM

Come bounce with us!

Whoa! We got nominated for a Parent's Pick Award!

2008-06-09T10:58:00.004-04:00

That's so cool!

Until June 30, parents can vote in all sorts of categories at Parent's Picks 2008. Our Children's Department has been nominated for Best Library for Little Kids, Best Library for Big Kids, and our Teen Department has been nominated for Best Library for Teens!

A great big Thank You to whomever nominated us!

Now go and vote for us!

Welcome our new interns Kelly and Amy!

2008-06-09T00:00:00.002-04:00

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has the distinction of being the first training center for Children's Librarians in the US. The program later moved to the University of Pittsburgh (just up the street!) but I like to think that we continue the tradition today. Our department participates in mentoring library school students and helping them develop their skills in librarianship. There's nothing like on the job training from experienced professionals! (a personal thank you from me to Miss Kathy and Miss Laurel who mentored me when I was an intern here!)

Welcome Kelly and Amy!

Children's Librarians and Children's Authors: Elizabeth Sechrist

2008-06-07T12:46:00.005-04:00

Storypockets looks at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s rich tradition of author-librarians. Our previous installments featured Sorche Nic Leodhas, Laura Cathon, Margaret Hodges, and Elva S. Smith. This week, we focus on Elizabeth Sechrist.

Elizabeth Sechrist (1903-1991) was assistant children’s librarian at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in the mid-1920s. She wrote fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. She was also an editor, compiling collections of poems and folktales.

Next week, Storypockets features author-librarian Megan McDonald.

Welcome to another Miss Debbie!

2008-06-06T00:00:00.002-04:00

Hey everybody! I want to introduce you to Miss Debbie! Yes, another Miss Debbie (and they're both great)! You'll see her here at the library, helping you with reference questions and even offering some programs.

Come on in and say hello!

We got the summer Citiparks Magazine!!

2008-06-05T16:33:00.002-04:00

It's here, people!

Come and get it!

Children's Librarians & Children's Authors: Margaret Hodges

2008-06-01T13:16:00.000-04:00

Storypockets looks at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s rich tradition of author-librarians. Our previous installments featured Sorche Nic Leodhas, Laura Cathon and Elva S. Smith. This week, we focus on Margaret Hodges.

Margaret Hodges (1911-2005) was a children’s librarian at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh 1953-1964. She was an expert storyteller and respected scholar. Her books won numerous awards, including the Carolyn Field Award for Saint George and the Dragon.

Illustrator Trina Schart Hyman worked an image of Margaret Hodges and her husband Fletcher into the illustrations for The Kitchen Knight. See them on the final page, talking with Sir Gareth’s companion.

Next week, Storypockets features author-librarian Elizabeth Sechrist.

Fall Festival of Children's Books: Save the Date!

2008-05-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

We recently got word about the upcoming Fall Festival of Children' Books. This event is for adults and usually comes with Act 48 continuing education credits. Put it on your calendar!

Hello, All The Fall Festival of Children's Books Friday October 17 2008 will feature T.A. Barron, author of the Heroes series, and Pat Cummings, illustrator and Coretta Scott King Awardee. Possible 3rd presenter will be Leonard Marcus who writes about children's authors. The event will take place at the Children's Museum including the lectures (the Hazlett will not be used in 2008).

October 16 2009 is the tentative date for the following FF.

Book Review: We Are The Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball

2008-05-29T06:00:00.003-04:00

by Kadir Nelson

Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, 2008

Here in Pittsburgh, there are fewer signs of spring that are welcomed with more pleasure and excitement than the beginning of baseball season. If you aren't able to make it out to PNC park for a game, then we have the book for you -- We Are The Ship is a evocative, fascinating homage to a too-often overlooked part of baseball history that'll make anyone wanna break out the bats and gloves.

Kadir Nelson made an interesting choice for this book -- rather than using the standard "disembodied voice" found in most non-fiction, he chose to write it from the perspective of an "Everyplayer," in order to capture the essence of the independent spirit of the Leagues. "When there was no way, they made a way," Nelson writes in an author's note.

This decision gives the book a folksy, intimate feel, as if you're sitting on the back porch with an old ballplayer, listening to his best stories about the Good Old Days. Here's a sample

When Satchel [Paige] pitched, he raised his big foot up high, let it come
down, and then whipped the ball by you. Satchel was nothing but
fastball. Even his slow stuff was fast. We knew what was coming, but
we still couldn't hit it. The ball would be moving so fast it looked like
a little white pill by the time it got to the plate. And it would jump
just a little bit before it got to you, just enough to make you miss it.

Nelson -- who spent eight years researching the Leagues for this book -- has an intuitive sense for details about history that fully flesh out the time period (roughly the 20s through the 40s) for young readers. The life of the ballplayers is vividly rendered -- from the sweet success of playing for a packed stadium in the East-West classic, to the gritty reality of being bussed nonstop from one game to another. Nelson also doesn't flinch at describing the challenges and indignities these players had to endure, or the sometimes seedy connections that owners and managers kept (many teams were covers for a "numbers racket") but the overall focus is on the positive. Best of all, the personalities and physical prowess of the League's most famous players (Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Jackie Robinson) are cunningly described. There's something for any kind of baseball fan here, whether an occasional observer or bonafide ballpark nut.

And the paintings! Let's not forget about the other half of what makes this book significant -- Nelson has created a plethora of lavish oil paintings that grant this book near-masterpiece status. Nelson renders the players (and a few managers and umpires) powerfully, with large, expressive hands and stern, serious faces. Bold, bright primary colors wrap around the figures -- they inhabit a baseball fantasy-land, where the skies are always blue, the sun always shining.

As a bonus for Pittsburghers, I'll have you know that there are full portraits of both the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords -- although, I will say that my personal favorite is a picture of Willie Foster surrounded by a group of kids in the Hill District, circa 1932.

With its large, coffee-table-sized printing and excellent book design, We Are The Ship is a perfect read not just for baseball fans, but for anyone interested in Pittsburgh history or perhaps looking for a great Father's Day gift. This one's a hit out of the park!

Click here to reserve this book at the library.

My Storymaker

2008-05-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

If you and your child haven't tried out the my StoryMaker yet, come to the library! This is a fun piece of software that guides your child through the writing and illustration of his or her very own story. Creating stories is a powerful way to build literacy and school readiness. Not only that, but children get a great big boost of confidence and self-esteem when they see that they are a "published author!"

Here at Main Library we also have a cute little purple kiosk where children can walk up, touch the screen, and read the stories that other children have written. We even have some stories in Spanish!

From the CLP Kids' webpage:

Can a lion share a cupcake with an astronaut?
What happens when a pirate meets a fox in the woods? If you are visiting Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, you have the power to decide -- meeting new characters, going on great adventures and creating your very own story along the way.

my StoryMaker lets you control characters and objects - and creates sentences for you! Once you are done with your story, save it online or print it out in the Library.

my StoryMaker is available only on Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh computers.

Click here to find a library location near you!

We'll miss you Ms. Brooke!

2008-05-27T00:00:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow is Ms. Brooke's last day at the library! We'll miss you, Ms. Brooke!

We still don't have the Summer Citiparks Magazine!

2008-05-24T11:46:00.003-04:00

Every Summer, Pittsburgh Parks and Recreation puts out a magazine filled with information about all of the Cinema in the Park showings, activities like summer day camps and lawn bowling, community services, farmers markets, events, competitions, and more.

The Library usually gets copies of the magazine to give to customers, and we have gotten many requests for it! Unfortunately, it hasn't shown up yet!

When we get it, I'll post about it here on the blog. In the meantime, you can click on the magazine cover to get a pdf of the magazine, or click on the link above to get to the right website.

How to draw "The" Pigeon!

2008-05-23T00:00:00.003-04:00

When Mo Willems came to speak in Pittsburgh last November he taught us all how to draw his pigeon. Well, Miss Julie took some really good notes and I thought it would be a great idea to post them. If you click on the photo, you can enlarge it and read what she's written.

He taught us how to do this the same day he told us about the new book he had coming out. He didn't tell us the name, because he had a contest going on to see who could guess it and win a school visit from him along with a collection of his books! Well, the book is out now! The title has been announced and you can....

... click here to reserve The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!

Seriously people, put this on hold because all of our copies are checked out, plus there are holds on the book and it will be quite a while before you will be able to walk into the library and just pull it off the shelf!

Have fun drawing your own pigeons!

Book Review: Waiting for Normal

2008-05-21T17:38:00.007-04:00

by Leslie Connor

Katherine Tegen Books, 2008

A sweet story of enduring hardships and crazy family with endless optimism. Little Addie has apparently hit bottom: her flake's-flake of a mother lost everything in the divorce except Addie. They now live in a junky trailer underneath a train overpass in Schnectady. Mommers surfs the Web all day, relies on Addie for cooking and cleaning, and takes off whenever she feels like it. Addie misses her responsible, loving ex-stepfather and his two daughters. Will Addie be able to find "normal" again? Connors' portrait of a quiet, resilient girl who manages to endure a parent's neglect is bleak, but it manages to be funny and heartwarming as well.

This book has a lot going for it: Addie is the quintessential cock-eyed optimist, but she never comes off as cloying or goody-goody. She's just sweet and loveable; the quietish kid you liked sitting next to in the lunchroom. It's refreshing to see a book with good fathering -- Dwight the ex-step is rock-solid, but believable. You can see he's a good guy, but he's also flawed just enough to make it plausible that he ever hooked up with Mommers in the first place.

If there are any complaints to be had, it's with the plot. This thing is darn predictable. What's that? Mommers says she's definitely going to be at Addie's Christmas concert? And then she ruins the whole thing? No surprises there. Soula the eccentric minimart owner belts out a cough in an early chapter, and it is later revealed that she has terminal cancer. Not that shocking. But I'm betting that most kids picking up this book won't be nearly as jaded as I am, so just ignore my patter and fire up this puppy for one tear-jerker of a read.

Click here to reserve this book at the library.

Potato!

2008-05-21T00:00:00.003-04:00

Miss Heather found this great chant about potatoes on Gayle's Preschool Rainbow website. To get the words click on the link above. It's called "Counting Fingerplay." Want to know how to sing it? Watch the video! Miss Heather made this especially for us!

Library closed May 25 & 26

2008-05-20T00:00:00.002-04:00

In observance of Memorial Day the library will be closed Sunday, May 25 and Monday, May 26.

Children's Librarians & Children's Authors -- Elva Smith

2008-05-19T00:00:00.008-04:00

Storypockets looks at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s rich tradition of author-librarians . Our previous installments featured Sorche Nic Leodhas and Laura Cathon. This week, we focus on Elva Smith.

Elva Smith (1871-1965) “was a prolific writer of stories, poems, history, and legends for children, articles for journals, and guides for librarians.” (Contemporary Authors.) She was a children’s librarian, cataloger, and Professor of Children’s Services at Carnegie Library School.

Next week, Storypockets features author-librarian Margaret Hodges.

Baby Lapsit Summer Dates are here!

2008-05-18T00:00:00.000-04:00

The ever-popular Baby Lapsit will continue through summer! Join us Monday mornings at 10:30 June 16 to July 28 for Baby Lapsit!

Lllamas!

2008-05-16T00:00:00.004-04:00

This little llama was just the softest guy! And he should be back on Saturday, just in time for you to read "llama llama mad at mama" by Anna Dewdney. The little llama does not want to do any Saturday shopping with Mama, but she knows just how to make things fun!

Click here to reserve "llama llama mad at mama" by Anna Dewdney.

Join us for our Puppet Shows!

2008-05-15T13:02:00.009-04:00

Now showing at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Main (Oakland) it's....

Anansi the Spider! Come see that tricky spider Anansi star in two of his most fabulous tales Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock and Anansi Goes Fishing.

All shows are at 10:30 am unless otherwise indicated. Please call 412-622-3122 to register or email children@carnegielibrary.org

Show dates:
Friday May 16
Saturday May 17
Sunday May 18, 12:30
Tuesday May 20
Wednesday May 21
Thursday May 22
Friday May 23
Tuesday May 27
Wednesday May 28
Thursday May 29

Special showing for the Summer Reading Extravaganza!
June 8 at 1:30pm and 3pm

Sheep!

2008-05-14T16:15:00.002-04:00

The International Children's Festival 2008 is being held in Oakland this year. They've got all kinds of activities, crafts and performances.

Best of all, they also have... baby animals! Here's one little lamb really trying to Catch the Reading Bug while chewing on Miss Julie's id badge!

More Sheep!

2008-05-14T16:00:00.000-04:00

And for those of you who are towards the end of your hardworking day and who could use a little lift, I give you, our readers, the following. Enjoy!

Children's Librarians & Children's Authors: Laura Cathon

2008-05-12T00:00:00.005-04:00

Storypockets looks at the rich tradition of author-librarians at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Our previous installment featured LeClaire Alger, AKA Sorche Nic Leodhas. This week, we focus on Laura Cathon.

Laura Cathon (1908-1991) Wasn’t just a children’s librarian. She was head of the Children’s Department in the Main Library. She taught classes in reference service at Carnegie Library School and was active in the American Library Association.

In addition to writing book reviews and professional articles, Laura Cathon edited folklore collections wrote the animal adventure story Tot Botot and his Little Flute.

Next week, Storypockets features author-librarian Elva Smith.

Children's Librarians & Children's Authors: Leclaire Alger

2008-05-05T00:00:00.009-04:00

What do Avi, Beverly Cleary , and Megan McDonald all have in common?

Well, besides being the authors of beloved and award-winning children’s books, they have all three been librarians. Authors Among Us has an impressive list of author-librarians.

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh also has an impressive list of author-librarians. Over the years, many of our children's librarians have also been children’s authors.

Today, Storypockets begins a weekly series of profling Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s author-librarians.

Leclaire Alger (1898-1969) had a library career spanning several decades and various library positions, including page and branch librarian. She is best known for her research and retelling of Scottish folktales. She wrote under the name Sorche Nic Leodhas, Gaelic for “Claire, daughter of Louis.” As Sorche Nic Leodhas, she received a Newbery Honor for Thistle and Thyme: Tales and Legends from Scotland.

Next week, Storypockets features author-librarian Laura Cathon.

Nature Detectives: Bugs, Birds, Bats, and Plants Up Close

2008-05-04T00:00:00.002-04:00

Come join Nature Detectives as we look at pollination! Miss Debbie has a wonderful special guest botanist to join us. We'll have lots of specimens, a demonstration of how flowers bring bees to the right spot for nectar, and show how pollination works to help plants grow.

She'll lead us all in making our own journals to press specimens which everyone will be able to make and enjoy at home!

Day: Saturday
Date: May 10
Time: 2pm

Today is Free Comic Book Day!

2008-05-03T10:17:00.004-04:00

Look at this cool thing that I just found out about!

It's Free Comic Book Day!

What is it?

"Free Comic Book Day is a single day when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free* to anyone who comes into their stores. "

* Each retailer will decide the guidelines for receiving comics.

Awesome!

UPDATE: When I went down the street to check things out at Phantom of the Attic, the proprietor made me a great big bag of comics to bring back for the children. They're on the kiosk! You can't check them out, but you can certainly read them while you're here!

It's a Star Wars kind of evening.

2008-04-22T17:46:00.004-04:00

I was sitting at the reference desk when I heard "dum de dum dum, da da da dum dum, da da da dum dum, da da da dum" (try that one on the Song Tapper, people!) My ears led me to this nice guy who drew such a beautiful picture! This is why we love plain paper instead of coloring pages! He drew his picture and then told me the whole story of Star Wars!

And we have lots of cool Star Wars books.

Click here to reserve Star wars : incredible cross-sections.

Click here to reserve The Star wars cook book : Wookiee cookies, and other galactic recipes.

Nandanik Classical Indian Dance Troupe to perform this coming Saturday

2008-04-14T13:48:00.009-04:00

Miss Julie found a wonderful community event for us to attend! Thank you Nandanik Dance Troupe for performing at the library!
-Miss Constance

If you missed the marvelous Indian dancers from the Nandanik Dance Troupe at last Saturday's Passport to the World: India, here's another chance to see them. They'll be performing a dance ballet of Rabindranath Tagore's Raja: King of the Dark Chamber on Saturday, April 19 at 6:00 PM, at the Richard E. Rauh Theater, Shady Side Academy, 423 Fox Chapel Rd., Pittsburgh, PA.

For ticketing and other information go to http://www.nandanikdancetroupe.org/.

Nature Detectives: A look at the wetlands

2008-04-13T18:31:00.009-04:00

Come join Nature Detectives as we look at wetlands! Miss Debbie has lots of specimens, a hands-on demonstration of how a wetland works to keep our planet clean, stories, and more.

She'll lead us all in making our own terrariums which everyone will be able to make and enjoy at home!

Day: Saturday

Date: April 19

Time: 2pm

Book Review: Eleven

2008-04-10T18:10:00.002-04:00

It's another "Brooke Review!" One more book for you to enjoy!
-Miss Constance

By Patricia Reilly Giff

Wendy Lamb Books, 2008

What do you do when the person you trusted the most turns out to have a hidden past? Sam has always lived with his loving Grandpa Mack for as long as he can remember. On the eve of his eleventh birthday, Sam sneaks into the attic to hunt for presents, but instead finds a newspaper clipping with a photo of a missing child. Sam recognizes the kid in the photo -- it's of himself as a toddler. Is Mack really Sam's grandpa? Sam is troubled by strange dreams that feature the number eleven -- could they be fragments of a forgotten past?

Grandpa Mack and Sam are very close -- they share a love of woodworking and similar personality traits, and Sam just can't believe that his whole life might be a lie. Sam would like to know more, but there's one big obstacle in his way -- he has a learning disability, and cannot read very well. Enter the smart new girl at school, spunky redheaded Caroline, who agrees to help Sam research his past, under one condition: her family moves a lot, so he must promise not to become her friend. As the date of Caroline's departure looms, she and Sam come closer to solving the puzzle of Sam's past, and closer to each other as well. The answers come at the end, but it reveals not so much the what of Sam's early childhood as much as the why of the way things are now.

Giff (author of the Newbery Honor-winning Pictures of Hollis Woods) is a master at showing the way kids internalize their struggles, and how clueless the adults around them can sometimes be. Sam and Caroline's journey into friendship and family is a quiet study of an ordinary kid facing some pretty extraordinary questions about his past, and the strength that can result afterwards.

Click here to reserve this book at the library

Also see:

Patricia Reilly Giff's website

It's almost time for Passport to the World: India

2008-04-10T16:09:00.001-04:00

Come listen to traditional stories from India! We’ll learn how Rama rescues his wife, Sita from an evil ten-headed demon and how a clever monkey outwits a hungry crocodile. Special guests will present classical Indian dances. Delicious samples of Indian food from Whole Foods will end the program! You will receive a passport with your photo. We'll stamp your passport on each visit to a new country with us! Age 5 and up.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED.

Sponsor: Asian Studies Center, University of Pittsburgh Center for International Studies

Day: Saturday

Date:April 12
Time: 2-3:15pm

One Book, and only one Dr. Kimmel!

2008-04-10T14:33:00.003-04:00

Look who came to visit us! Dr. Kimmel taught many of us who went through Pitt's MLIS program and it was great to see her! Here she is holding a copy of this year's Pennsylvania One Book, Up, Down, and Around by Katherine Ayres.

Click here to reserve Up, Down, and Around by Katherine Ayres.

Author Rebecca O'Connell reads "Penina Levine is a Potato Pancake"

2008-04-09T15:17:00.001-04:00

It's a very special preview and it is almost as good as being at the library! I can't believe how lucky we are to have Rebecca O'Connell working here at our library. She's not just a great librarian, but she's an author, too! A published author writing for babies and school age kids and teens and we have every single one of her books! Well, almost! We don't have Penina Levine is a Potato Pancake. Nobody does! It will be published this Fall.

But what we do have (and just us! Nobody else has it!) is video of Rebecca reading from her new-not-even-published-yet book. I love to hear and see authors reading their own works! You get even more of a feeling for the characters and the situations and I find it captivating.

You'll notice that she does have a book in her hand, and it looks quite different from the first Penina Levine book. That's because it is an Advance Reader's Copy, or ARC. It's also known as a galley and it's how publishers get copies to reviewers before they're available in bookstores and libraries. It's almost like a dress rehearsal in book form - the ARCs make sure that everything is ready for the audience!

Rebecca will also be one of the featured speakers at the 12th Annual Children's Literature Conference at the University of Pittsburgh, Greensburg on Friday, May 2, 2008.

The Secret of the Mysterious Green Frog

2008-04-08T10:13:00.006-04:00

This morning when we came in to the library we found Kermit relaxing at the reference desk and the Gecko looking for some breakfast on the study tables. (Ladies, I told you to clean up after your snacks! Now you're attracting reptiles!)

My super sleuthing skills, honed by years of reading Nancy Drew Mysteries, have led me to uncover the following details:

1) Kermit was NOT at the reference desk when the librarians left at 8pm last night.
2) Kermit was found by Gregory at 5:15am when he came in to turn on the lights.

So, sometime between 8pm last night and 5:15am this morning, Kermit climbed down from his spot to put his feet up for a spell. (Kermit, get your feet off of those TPS reports!)

People, I swear it wasn't me! Which leads me to ask....

Who done it????

Click here to reserve a copy of The Secret of the Mysterious Green Frog.

Have you seen this Story Tubes thing yet?

2008-04-04T14:00:00.002-04:00

Our friends at the Eleventh Stack (the Adult Services Blog) found this and forwarded it on. It looks very cool! It's a video contest sponsored by several public libaries and publishers. Kids make a 2 minute or less video about their favorite books!

This would be a fun thing to try! Here's a tip that one of my friends passed on to me: If you have a digital camera, it probably has a "video" setting. The camera may have an in-built time limit or it may let you record until the camera runs out of memory. Funny enough, on every camera I've ever seen the icon for the camera looks like an old fashioned reel camera...

Here's what the contest people want you to know:

StoryTubes 2008 National ContestTell, Tube, Vote for Fun and Prizes
Entry Deadline: April 20, 2008

StoryTubes is here! From New York to California, kids in Grades 1-6 are talking up their favorite books. You can too!

Along with your parent or guardian, follow these simple steps:

Make a 2-minute video about your favorite book;

Upload the video to YouTube; and

Come to this StoryTubes website and send in the link to your uploaded YouTube video using the online Contest Entry Form.

Beginning April 1, your video becomes part of a national contest!

Voting mania will then begin and happen each week in May! At the end of each week, one lucky contestant will win $500 in books. Their sponsoring organization (school, library or designated organization for home-schooled youth) will receive $1,000 in books.

Four Video Categories:
Hair-Raising Tales

From or For the Heart

Of Heroes and Heroines

Facts, Fads and Phenoms

Tell the story about your favorite book today. When entering, please don’t use your last name in the video. Entries will be evaluated on creativity, content and performance.

Everybody wins when kids get excited about stories. Help get the word out! Posters and flyers are downloadable here.

Thank you to the sponsoring publishers, Simon & Schuster, Scholastic, Eaglemont Press, DK Publishing, Charlesbridge Publishing and Shenanigan Books.

The StoryTubes partner libraries are: Northeast: Middle Country Public Library of Centereach; NY; Southeast: The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County/ImaginOn, Charlotte, NC; Midwest: Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL; Northwest: King County Library System, Issaquah, WA; and Southwest: Pasadena Public Library, Pasadena, CA.

Book Review: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow

2008-04-03T19:10:00.008-04:00

by Jessica Day George

Published by Bloomsbury USA, 2008

You think your mom's hard on you? This girl's mother didn't even want to give her a name. The ninth child of a poor woodcutter, the girl grows up only to be known as pika, the Norse term for "the lass," but she's destined for greater things. At the age of nine, she frees a magical white reindeer from a trap, and in thanks, it grants her the ability to talk to animals. When she turns seventeen, a large white bear, or isbjørn, appears at her family's door. He promises that her family will soon grow wealthy and live in comfort, but only under one condition -- she must promise to live with him in a palace made of ice for one year.

The lass agrees to go, but she is soon surrounded by mysteries. What do the mysterious carvings on the palace walls mean? Is the isbjørn under the spell of an evil troll? Who is the silent person who enters her room every night? There are many magical creatures who are servants in the palace -- a faun, a gargoyle, and a selkie -- but they won't, or can't, answer her questions. Can the lass find out the secret behind the enchanted palace, or will her curiosity get her into even more trouble?

George's novel is a sweet retelling of the Scandinavian folktale East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Her language is spare and streamlined, making this a good fantasy for elementary-aged kids, and a good read-aloud for even younger kids (don't worry, there's a pronunciation guide for the Norse words in the back). George (who wrote last year's Dragon Slippers, a comic fantasy novel) has studied Old Norse, and she loads her story with enough details of traditional Scandinavian culture to satisfy even the most die-hard Jan Brett fan. If you're a folklore purist, you can rest assured -- her story stays remarkably close to the original tale (I was especially happy to see the inclusion of the Four Winds, something that has been frequently left out of other versions of this story.)

Although I was a bit frustrated at times by how long it took the lass to figure out what was going on (oh, you'll figure out where those palace wall carvings came from a good twenty pages before she does), most kids will find the pacing just right. A fun pick for animal lovers, fairy tales, happy endings, and anyone who is ready for spring after a way-too-long winter.

Click here to reserve this book at the library

Also see:
Jessica Day George's website

Book Review: Those Shoes

2008-04-02T17:47:00.008-04:00

by Maribeth Boelts, illustrated by Noah Z. Jones

Published by Candlewick Press, 2007

Expensive black high tops, sleek with two white stripes -- oh, how Jeremy wants those shoes! But "there's no room for 'want' around here -- just need," says his grandmother. "And what you need are new boots for winter."

Author Maribeth Boelts manages to capture the heavy pressures kids face when dealing with trends and fads among their peers in a sensitive way. She uses language that perfectly captures kid-speak: when Jeremy's shoes wear out on the playground, the school guidance counselor gives him some new ones that he finds embarassing. "They have an animal on them from a cartoon I don't think any kid ever watched," Jeremy moans.

Jeremy doesn't give up hoping though, and when -- by sheer luck -- he finds a pair of "Those Shoes" at the thrift store, he couldn't be happier, until he finds that the shoes are too tight. "Sometimes shoes stretch," he says optimistically, and limps around in them at home. It isn't until he sees his classmate Antonio wearing taped-up shoes at school that Jeremy thinks of a better use for Those Shoes, and makes a difficult choice.

Noah Z. Jones' illustrations use clean, flat earth-tones to cheerfully depict Jeremy's multiracial inner-city neighborhood. While the book certainly has a "message" about the value of friendship over possessions, it isn't overly preachy or sentimental. It's -- dare I say it? -- a shoe-in with a lot of sole.

Click here to reserve this book at the library

Also see:

Maribeth Boelts' website

Noah Z. Jones' website

The Family Playshop

2008-04-02T16:33:00.007-04:00

The Family Playshop, also called the Parent/Child Workshop, is a unique program that focuses on a parent and child being together. A parent is a child’s first teacher and the Family Playshop’s emphasis is on parent involvement in a child’s earliest learning experiences. It also encourages parents to make use of the vast amount of library resources available for borrowing. Parents and children ages 1-3 play together in a safe environment at the library.

Each week the Family Playshop focuses on a different theme. A resource professional from various community agencies is on hand to answer parent’s questions about their child. The resource professionals may include specialists in child development, speech, health, nutrition, play, dental hygiene, art, and literacy. The Family Playshops are held at 4 different Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh locations: East Liberty, Hill District, Homewood, and Woods Run.

Contact these libraries for more information.

Miss Caralee is a Senior Librarian at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's East Liberty branch. She has fun programs and reaches lots of neighborhood kids through her visits to schools, daycares, and headstarts! -- Miss Constance

We've got free tickets for Emily Arnold McCully!

2008-04-01T13:13:00.008-04:00

Emily Arnold McCully is coming to Pittsburgh courtesy of Black, White, and Read All Over. It's the last lecture in the series for this season.

Well, I say lecture, and technically it is, but that word has a bad rap! Words like "stern" often preceed it and in the case of these presentations it is completely the wrong word to express what really goes on. The authors are engaging speakers who share their work and their processes with their audience in ways that are funny, inspiring, friendly, entertaining, encouraging, and so much more. It's a great memory for everyone and some of the best family entertainment in the city.

Plus, we have cookies.

Day: Saturday
Date: April 5, 2008
Time: 10:30am
Location: Carnegie Lecture Hall
Cost: free, if you call us at 412-622-3122 and get some of the free tickets we have available! Otherwise, contact Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures to order tickets.

What color nose does a green mouse have?

2008-03-31T20:12:00.009-04:00

It's these deep philosophical questions that make it so great to be a children's librarian. Well, that and the fact that we got to answer reference questions while "testing" out the masks! (They work!)

We use many different materials in our storytelling. Here we are preparing animal masks for the audience to use in our April 10 "One Book, Every Young Child" program, a statewide initiative to highlight the importance of early literacy development in preschoolers. This year the One Book committee has chosen Up, Down, and Around by Katherine Ayres.

You can come and help us have fun! The program starts at 11am. Registration is important (and required), so please give us at a call at 412-622-3122 or send email to children@carnegielibrary.org

Day: Thursday

Date: April 10

Time: 11am

Cost: Totally free!

It's another Community Event: Biggest Bedtime Story

2008-03-27T15:54:00.002-04:00

Here's another one to put on your family's calendar! And it's free!

BIGGEST BEDTIME STORY EVENT

The Petersen Events Center - University of Pittsburgh
Saturday, April 5, 2008
5:30 - 7:00 pm

Join READ! 365 as we kick off the Month of the Young Child.

Listen to Mr. McFeely (Mister Rogers' Neighborhood) and Michelle Wright (WTAE-TV) read bedtime stories about how to get from "here to there." And Kiya Tomlin (mother of three and wife of Steeler Coach T) will delight the audience with her kids' favorite I Saw an Ant on the Railroad Track. Sonji, a Pittsburgh favorite, will lead a rousing sing-a-long featuring the best songs about trains, boats and planes from the collection of Woody Guthrie and Burl Ives. Other surprises (Sesame Street's very own Grover is coming - but don't tell), gift books (Borders), and of course, milk and cookies. Free and open to the public

Hey kids! Wear your PJs!

For more information please call 412-361-8560.

Click here for directions to the Petersen Events Center and parking information. Free parking is available at the "OC" lot (upper left corner of map).

I wrote a children's book. Now what do I do?

2008-03-26T12:13:00.005-04:00

We are super lucky to have Rebecca O'Connell on our staff! She's one of our librarians and she's also a published author! Who better to answer our question "I wrote a children's book. Now what do I do?" In this video, she tells you about three books that helped her through the process of having her work published.

It’s a Bunny-eat-bunny World by Olga Litowinsky

Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books by Harold Underdown

You Can Write Children’s Books by Tracey Dils

Rebecca will also be one of the featured speakers at the 12th Annual Children's Literature Conference at the University of Pittsburgh, Greensburg on Friday, May 2, 2008.

Hot off the Presses! New Preschool Bingo dates!

2008-03-26T11:45:00.007-04:00

Hey everyone! We've got more dates for you to come to Preschool Bingo.

April 2: 2pm
April 22: 7pm

May 4: 2pm
May 20: 7pm

June 1: 2pm
June 17: 7pm

July 6: 2pm
July 15: 7pm

Come and play with us!

Do you love children's literature? Put this on your calendar!

2008-03-24T16:41:00.013-04:00

It's the 12th Annual University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg Children's Literature Conference!

Three great children's authors will be presenting:

Jack Gantos, Megan McDonald (who used to work here at our library!) and Rebecca O'Connell (who works here at our library right now!!)

Here's what the conference organizers thought you might like to know:

Save the Date! Friday, May 2nd, 2008

You are cordially invited to attend the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg's 12th Annual Children's Literature Conference. This year's event will be held on Friday, May 2nd, 2008. The one day event runs from 8:15am-3:30pm and includes a hot buffet lunch and a free book signing with all of the authors in attendance.

This year we will hear from Newbery Honor Award winning author Jack Gantos (“Joey Pigza” “Rotten Ralph,” “Hole in My Life”), multiple award winning author Megan McDonald ("Judy Moody,” “Stick,” “American Girl”), and author and librarian Rebecca O’Connell (“The Baby Goes Beep,” “Myrtle of Willendorf,” “Penina Levine is a Hard-Boiled Egg”). We are also pleased that all of our featured speakers have local ties: Jack Gantos (ex-Mt. Pleasant), Megan McDonald (ex-Pittsburgh), and Rebecca O’Connell (Pittsburgh).

As always, we have a bunch of wonderful breakout sessions. From creating story writing contests, to classroom fun with field guides, to discovering the current trends in children's book publishing, this year's Children's Literature Conference has something both entertaining and valuable for everyone. To learn more about this year's upcoming conference and our speakers, please visit our NEW website: http://www.library.pitt.edu/green/webclc.html

Registration is now open and if you register for the conference by Saturday, March 31st, you will get $10.00 off the regular registration price of $70.00. So, don't delay!!

The Children's Literature Conference is both Act 48 and Act 37 approved.

If you have any questions, please contact us: upgclc@pitt.edu or call 724-836-7159

Mmmm! Library Soup!

2008-03-20T14:02:00.008-04:00

We made some delicious chicken soup at the library! Who says too many cooks spoil the soup? We had 15 chefs helping with ingredients and stirring and eating because our soup was so good!

How did we make soup with 15 kids? The children sat in chairs in a semi-circle around the cooking area. They each got to choose a letter that corresponded with the first letter in the name of one of the ingredients. (That bright green sign is the ingredients list). All of the ingredients sat on a book truck. When it came time for an item, I would say (for example) "I need some oil!" and Laurel would say "Does anyone have an O?" The children checked their letters and raised their hands if they had the letter. Hmm... it's sort of like Soup Bingo! I wonder what you could spell out with the letters? We definitely need more vowels!

Here's the basic recipe:

1-2 T oil
1/2 cup of onion, diced (we used frozen, pre-chopped)
1 cup of potatoes, diced (we diced them fresh in the morning. You can sometimes find this frozen)
1/2 cup of carrots (we used bagged, pre-shredded from the produce aisle)
salt
1 cup of diced chicken (we used frozen pre-grilled strips)
1 cup of peas (frozen)
1 cup of corn (frozen)
1 bay leaf
pepper
2 boxes of chicken broth

As for the method, all you really have to do is sautee the raw onion, potatoes, and carrots in the oil. After that, it's a matter of adding the other ingredients and simmering until the potatoes get cooked through. The longer you sautee them and the smaller you dice them, the faster it will go for you. We started this around 11am and ate around 12noon. So, after you get things going you can tell or read a couple of stories.

After the stories, we did something similar with setting the table. The children sat in the semi circle again, chose letters again, and set the table. T was for tablecloth, S was for spoon, etc.

Tips for doing this in your library or daycare:

1) We used an electric skillet. That makes it easy to put it on a cooking surface of your choice and the children can see it easily.

2) When it comes to ingredients, there are lots of pre-prepped items to be found in the freezer section. For example, the onions. No dicing! No crying! We also used pre-grilled chicken strips for the meat.

3) Before you put in any of the vegetables to sautee, have the children return to their seats. The moisture in the vegetables may cause the oil to spatter.

4) After sauteeing the onions, I turned down the heat to reduce the oil from spattering out. Then the children could come up by twos or threes to have a look.

5) adding the salt to the onions, potatoes, and carrots helps draw out the moisture early on in the sauteeing process.

6) If you need or want more ingredients, you could consider canned cannelini beans, green beans, canned diced tomatoes, cooked rice, cooked noodles, just about anything.

7) If you need or want a vegetarian soup, you can use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and leave out the chicken strips.

No matter what, they'll love it!

Yes! Babies read books!

2008-03-19T17:53:00.004-04:00

Well, technically you read the books to the babies... but that is how they learn! There are many wonderful books for babies, and Rebecca O'Connell, one of our librarians (and a published author of a particularly great book for babies!) has four to tell you about in her video. Her book and some of the other she talks about are on the Beginning with Books Center for Early Literacy's list of Best Books for Babies.

Below are the books that Rebecca talks about. Come to the library and check them out!

Jiggle Joggle Jee by Laura Richards

I Kissed the Baby! by Mary Murphy

Only You by Robin Cruise

The Baby Goes Beep by Rebecca O'Connell

Rebecca will also be one of the featured speakers at the 12th Annual Children's Literature Conference at the University of Pittsburgh, Greensburg on Friday, May 2, 2008.

Tell a story at home! It's the Enormous Turnip!

2008-03-17T11:51:00.011-04:00

Miss Julie has created beautiful felt figures for telling the story "The Enormous Turnip" I took photos of them, in story sequence, and we made a slideshow so that it is like a stop motion animation. It's on the right hand sidebar, where it will stay, and you can click on it any time! If you click on it more than once, you'll get to a larger version of it where you can run the slideshow and control the page turning interval yourself.

She found the basic pattern for the figures in The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra.

Grown ups, you can watch it with the children, who can tell the story along with the animation. Narrative skills are an Early Childhood Key Learning Area as defined by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

I think that storytelling with a slideshow is a neat idea :) Not only is it fun to watch at home, but we were thinking that if you had a great big group of children to tell a story to, you could use a projector and tell the story that way!

When I was taking the photographs of the felt figures, there were two little girls who were very interested in what I was doing. We talked about it, and as I was at the beginning of the story they helped me to tell it! When it came time to pull the turnip, I would focus the camera and we would all count "1! 2! 3!" and I would snap the picture.

Me: Did he get the turnip?
Them: no!
Me: Who comes next?
Them: The grandma!

and so on. We had fun!

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a Puppet Show!

2008-03-14T16:47:00.000-04:00

It's a special shadow puppet show!

Join us on Monday, March 17th at 6:30pm for a shadow puppet show! We'll have folk and fairy tales from a very special country... can you guess which one?

Passport to the World: Israel is this Saturday!

2008-03-13T16:37:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone! Join us this Saturday at 2pm for another Passport to the World program!

This Saturday we will visit Israel along with a special guest! Come join us and bring along your library passport. If you haven't been to a PTW program yet, you'll get your passport on Saturday and you can start collecting your stamps!

UPDATE: Miss Julie asked me to mention that the craft will include building a city, and if you can, bring some lightweight recyclable material such as cereal boxes, muffin mix boxes, etc. She said that 2-3 inch sized boxes are especially good. We've already got some materials that practically everybody in the library collected for us. Thanks, everybody!

I can still hear the trolley! I miss you Mr. Rogers!

2008-03-12T09:48:00.001-04:00

It's been a long time since I listened to Mr. Rogers singing "Won't you be my neighbor?" But wow! I listened to it this morning and I had to look around me to see where the trolley was! Not only can you read the words on the PBS website, but they also have the recording of the song AND the sheet music! I couldn't believe it! The sheet music!

I have a strong personal fondness for Mr. Rogers. In fact, he's my hero. Many years ago when I used to be a checker at the Food Gallery (it's gone now) he came through my line! I saw him waiting his turn and caught his eye and he gave me a smile. I think that my eyes got really big! I don't quite remember, since from that moment on I was a bit starstruck! Not to mention in a hurry to get everyone else checked through. I was the speediest checker I ever was that day. But just for the people ahead of Mr. Rogers. Because when I got to his order I checked his groceries very, very slowly. He wasn't in a hurry! He stood and listened and smiled and radiated a peaceful friendliness that I can still remember and enjoy. I wish I would have stepped out from behind the conveyor belt and given him a hug. Even though I didn't, I've decided that his smile and his words were warm and huglike, and we can all have that anytime we see his picture, or read his books, or watch his show. I suspect that he was the kind of person who didn't have to meet you first in order to consider you his friend.

I can't speak for him, but I always got the idea that Mr. Rogers loved all his neighbors and felt that everyone he met was a neighbor. But I feel a little extra proud that the library is literally and physically right here in his neighborhood! We are just down the street from where he used to record Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and just down the street from where he used to live!

Mr. Rogers would have been 80 years old this March 20th. To celebrate his life we're participating in offering family activities that are part of "Won't You be my Neighbor?" Days. We're not the only ones with something to offer! The Visit Pittsburgh website has a complete list.

Come to the library on March 18 for our Won't You Be My Neighbor Family Storytime at 6:30. Right here in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood!

Story Pockets!

Best of 2008

Local Illustarator Nora Thompson

Local Author Rebecca O'Connell

Dancing With Our Stars!

Carnegie Museums $1.00 Admission with ACCESS Card

Local Author Sydelle Pearl

Snacktivity

She Touched the World

Bad hair days might require...

Terrific Trick-or-Treaters!

Run, run, fast as you can to Jan Brett's 2008 Gingerbread Tour

KinderPrep

Friendly Bats

Terrific Toddlers do some cracking good counting!

Local Author Jonah Winter

" Oddly oddly onker my first conker"

FALL FESTIVAL COMES TO TOWN

Fun free show from Squonk Opera!

It's our Terrific Sculptors!

Play Dough at the library

Passport to the World: Morocco!

Pittsburgh Authors and Illustrators for Halloween

Local Author Rita M. Bergstein

Time for some Terrific Tales!

Local Author and Illustrator Carol Baicker-McKee

Local Author Many Ly

Terrific Tales for Twos 'n Threes is coming soon!

Meet Local Authors and Illustrators at the Fred Rogers Center

Tips on creating flannel board stories

Heard a Good Book Lately?

They never did tell us who the Reading Bug was!

Local authors Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed

Oprah teams up with the American Library Association!

Guess what we saw at the library today!

Local Author Arlene Morris-Lipsman

Another winner!

Summer Reading makes a difference!

Local Authors Sally and Robert Alexander

Dogs in the Library!

More Summer Reading Club winners!

Hooray for Summer Reading!

It's a Cool New Book! Creative Costumes

Save the date for the Beginning with Books Early Literacy Conference

Looking for a good prank?

Spread Your Wings: A family program with curriculum-related concepts

Next Monday morning Baby Lapsit is June 23!

Children's Librarians & Children's Authors: Megan McDonald

Flat Stanley is all grown up.

Next Monday morning Baby Lapsit is June 16!

Whoa! We got nominated for a Parent's Pick Award!

Welcome our new interns Kelly and Amy!

Children's Librarians and Children's Authors: Elizabeth Sechrist

Welcome to another Miss Debbie!

We got the summer Citiparks Magazine!!

Children's Librarians & Children's Authors: Margaret Hodges

Fall Festival of Children's Books: Save the Date!

Book Review: We Are The Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball

My Storymaker

More stories from Rebecca O'Connell!

We'll miss you Ms. Brooke!

We still don't have the Summer Citiparks Magazine!

How to draw "The" Pigeon!

Book Review: Waiting for Normal

Potato!

Library closed May 25 & 26

Children's Librarians & Children's Authors -- Elva Smith

Baby Lapsit Summer Dates are here!

Lllamas!

Join us for our Puppet Shows!

Sheep!

More Sheep!

Children's Librarians & Children's Authors: Laura Cathon

Children's Librarians & Children's Authors: Leclaire Alger

Nature Detectives: Bugs, Birds, Bats, and Plants Up Close

Today is Free Comic Book Day!

It's a Star Wars kind of evening.

Nandanik Classical Indian Dance Troupe to perform this coming Saturday

Nature Detectives: A look at the wetlands

Book Review: Eleven