More stories from Rebecca O'Connell!

It's another great read aloud from Rebecca O'Connell, who also writes as Rebecca Tova Ben-Zvi. This is her nonfiction title that celebrates all the cool things about Hannukah!

And did I mention that she sings for us?

Click here to reserve Four Sides Eight Nights by Rebecca Tova Ben-Zvi.

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

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.

Yes! Babies read books!

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.