It will give you the details for all the summer reading programs in the county, as well as contact information for each library.
Keep those kiddos reading this summer!
Photo submitted by Decatur Public Library
The Decatur Public Library kicked off its new bilingual story time with a party Saturday. Librarian Cecilia Barham said children and parents enjoyed stories, songs and games in Spanish and English. The library received an Amo Leer/I Love to Read grant to expand the Spanish language children’s collection and bilingual programming. Money received from the grant covered the expense of the new program and allowed the library to purchase 770 bilingual and Spanish children’s books.
The regular story time will be at 10:30 a.m. the first Saturday of every month, beginning in February.
My 6-year-old asked me tonight what I write about for the paper. I said, “well, it depends. I write about whatever they ask me to, so it varies from week to week.”
“Oh,” she said. “So like Curious George.”
Ummm … okay, sure. I’m assuming she’s comparing me to Curious George because he’s always getting into something, and his adventures vary in every story. I’ll take that as a compliment.
Anyway, it reminded me of an Associated Press story that was posted Dec. 26 about George’s wartime escape. According to the story, while the famous monkey is known for mischief, he helped his creators escape the Nazi invasion, and there is now an exhibit about the escape in New Hampshire.
From the article:
“Margret and H.A. Rey are the husband-and-wife team behind the famous children’s books. They fled Paris in June 1940, two days before German troops marched into the city. Both German Jews, they rode bikes for several days and then traveled by train through Spain and Portugal before boarding a boat to the United States.
The Reys later built a summer cottage in Waterville Valley, N.H., where an exhibit about their escape is on display at a center dedicated to the couple’s legacy. Based on a 2005 book, it describes how they were allowed to continue their journey after showing their Curious George manuscript to suspicious officials.”
The 2005 book mentioned above is “The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H. A. Rey” (Houghton Mifflin). It’s written for readers age 9 to 12, but I’m considering checking it out because I’m always interested to learn the back story of a favorite character or book.
Book events for this week:
TEA PARTY — The Decatur Public Library will host a Fancy Nancy Tea Party with books, crafts and a snack at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. This event is designed for children ages 3 to 10 years old. Dress fancy! For information, call the library at (940) 627-5512 or visit www.decaturpubliclibrary.com.
BOOK FAIR — The Wise Regional Health Care Auxiliary will have a book fair 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday at the main lobby of Wise Regional Health System in Decatur.
BOOK FAIR — The Wise Regional Health Care Auxiliary will have a book fair 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 19, and 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20, at the main lobby of Wise Regional Health System.
The new school year is set to start in less than two weeks. This year all three Decatur elementary schools are using the same list for Battle of the Books, with the winners from each school competing against each other in a final showdown.
Here is the reading list for 1st and 2nd graders if you want to give your little ones a head start.
1. A Mighty Fine Time Machine, by Suzanne Bloom
2. Charlie Anderson, by Barbara Abercrombie
In case you haven’t already heard, the Cat in the Hat is coming to PBS. I just realized I won’t have anyone at home this year to watch Dr. Seuss’ beloved character, but this is exciting news for the preschool set.
The series is based on Random House’s best selling Beginner Book collection, “The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library.” The show, ”The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!,” premieres Sept. 6, and it will feature the Cat in the Hat, along with Sally, Nick, the Fish, Thing 1 and Thing 2 as they make natural-science discoveries.
It is voiced by Martin Short and its subject-matter will prepare children for science curriculum in kindergarten and first grade.
Check it out on channel 13 this fall!
Growing up, I loved Beverly Cleary books. Oh, who am I kidding. I still love them, and for good reason. They’re delightful and make me laugh out loud, so you can imagine my excitement/disdain when I first heard about the movie “Ramona and Beezus.”
I’m always excited to see that one of my favorite books will be made into a movie, but inevitably, I’m always disappointed because (say it all together now) “the book is always better.”
A couple of weeks ago I caught part of Selena Gomez’s media blitz promoting the movie before it came out on July 23, and I have to say, she piqued my interest. She said that previously Beverly Cleary wouldn’t allow this movie to be made, but finally conceded a few years ago because she decided if a movie was going to be made (I guess she thought it inevitable), she wanted to be around to see it. Cleary is 94.
For this reason, and their love of the book, Gomez said great care was taken when making the movie to make it live up to the book. She said Cleary even has a small cameo in the film, and that the author reportedly loved it when she screened the movie with the cast and crew.
I’m looking forward to taking my kiddos. Anyone else out there seen it and wish to chime in?
My sister and brother-in-law sent this adorable postcard to my 7- and 5-year-old. They always think of the kids when they’re traveling, and often bring them back fun souvenirs. We got this in the mail last week while Aunt J and Uncle K were in Boston.
“Make Way for Ducklings,” by Robert McCloskey, published in 1941, tells the story of a family of ducks who decide to make their home on an island in the lagoon at Boston Public Garden. The statue is a tribute to the ducklings featured in the book, as is aptly described on the back of the postcard.
But there’s one glaring problem …
What is a dukling? It’s not that hard to catch a typo, especially in the title.
Dr. Seuss was born March 2, 1904, and local libraries are planning festivities for young fans.
The Rhome Public Library will have a birthday party for Dr. Seuss at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. The party is for preschool age children and will include reading Dr. Seuss books and a birthday cake. Children may wear costumes or pajamas.
The Decatur Public Library invites preschool age children to a party at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Festivities include books, songs, games and a snack.
Although I was disappointed to see that the menus did not include green eggs and ham, the parties are sure to be fun and a wonderful way to get your little ones excited about books.
In all my reading this week, there wasn’t one sentence that seemed worthy of being named “quote of the week.” So I thought it would be fun to do another game. This one is similar to a quote game we played earlier in the month.
These are the rules: Grab the book nearest you right now. Post the first sentence of the story, along with the book’s title and author, as a comment. Remember to use the closest book.
My husband and I used to play this game at Barnes and Noble. We would randomly pull books from the shelves and see who could find the best first line, which is, of course, a true indicator of a book’s worth. 
Here’s my submission:
“Keith, the boy in the rumpled shorts and shirt, did not know he was being watched as he entered Room 215 of the Mountain View Inn.” ~ “The Mouse and the Motorcycle,” by Beverly Cleary