Children’s Chatter

The Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Award has put together its 2010 master list.  The 20 books on the list are read and voted on by children in grades 4-8.  Here, at the WPL, the Rebecca Caudill list is divided between the Children’s and Young Adult Collection.  The 14 titles in the Children’s Department are pulled out on a Caudill list rack near the reference desk and 3 of the titles are also on the Battle of the Books rack.  Some of the titles are available on audio book.  For more information on the Rebecca Caudill Award, visit www.rebeccacaudill.org.  Lists of the 2010 master list are available at the Children’s Department desk and on the Rebecca Caudill rack.

I just finished one of the Caudill nominees, A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban, and really enjoyed it.  Narrated by 10 year old Zoe, the reader is allowed to share in the experiences of mastering the organ and performing at Perform-O-Rama, dealing with a father who is afraid to venture far from the house and a mom who works all of the time, and getting to know a boy she never thought she would be friends with.  Urban’s characters are fun to get to know and those who read Zoe’s story may be able to relate to her feelings, friendships, and family life.  The interest level for A Crooked Kind of Perfect is put at 4-7 grades.  I’m currently in the middle of Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George and I’ll let you know how I liked it! 

Here is the 2010 list:

The Naked Mole Rat Letters  

Home of the Brave 

Shark Girl

Shooting the Moon

Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Dragon Slippers

The Thing About Georgie

All the Lovely Bad Ones

Crossing the Wire

Kimchi and Calamari

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

The Mozart Question

A Small White Scar

The Wednesday Wars

Elephant Run

The White Elephant

First Light

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree

A Crooked Kind of Perfect

Someone Named Eva

Happy Reading!

Need an afternoon out of the hot sun of summer?  Well, pull up a theater  seat and join us for a movie!  The Children’s Department will be showing movies on Friday afternoons in June and July.  These afternoon movies have been a lot of fun in the past and are the perfect opportunity to see a movie you haven’t seen before or re-watch a favorite.  Free tickets are available at the Children’s Department desk three weeks in advance of the show date.  The movies are suitable for grades 1 and up.  Guardians must stay with children under 8 years old.  For the movie line-up and to find out when tickets are available, check out the Children’s Department newsletter and the Kids’ Room programs & events page.  Hope to see you there!

The Summer 2009 edition of Checking It Out!, the Children’s Department newsletter, is  now available at the Children’s Department desk.  Checking It Out! details children’s programming for June, July, and August.  Find out which programs you  need to register for and which ones have free tickets available.  All dates and times are listed here.  Tickets are available three weeks in advance of those programs requiring them and you do not need to have a Wheaton Public Library card to get tickets.  Checking It Out! is a great reference to hold onto over the summer; in addition to all program information, the newsletter has the library’s address, telephone number, website, and new hours.  The information found in Checking It Out! can also be found in the kids’ room on the library’s website.

In addition to Checking It Out!, we have another great resource for families over the summer.  The Oaklee’s Guide Summer 2009 is available.  This guide has great suggestions for fun activities and trips that families can participate in.  Coupons are provided in Oaklee’s Guide to help save some money this summer.  The Oaklee’s Guide is available at the Children’s Department desk to pick up.

It’s summer storytime again!  Registration for the summer session of storytime begins Wednesday, June 3.  Those registering must have a valid Wheaton Public Library card.  There are a couple of different ways to sign up for a spot.  You can stop by the Children’s Department and register at the desk (just be sure to have your library card with you).  Another option is to call and register over the phone.  The Children’s Department Programming phone number is (630) 868-7545.  If you are registering for a friend or neighbor, be sure to have their library card and know the child’s birthday, address, and phone number.  Schedules for Summer Storytime 2009 are available at the Children’s Department desk and through our website, on the kid’s calendar.  The session runs for six weeks, June 15- July 24, and there will be no storytime on Friday, July 3.  During the summer, classes begin at six months of age and run through eight years old.

In addition to the storytime session, June 3 marks the start of another great program: Reading with Rover!  The Reading with Rover program allows children, grades 2-5, to have a one-on-one reading experience with a trained therapy dog and its handler.  These 15 minute sessions meet on Saturdays for six weeks, June 13- July 25, with no class on Saturday,  July 4.  Registration is available in person at the Children’s Department desk or over the phone at (630) 868-7545.  Schedules for the program are available at the Children’s Department desk and through our website, on the kid’s calendar.  For more information about the organization that trains the therapy dogs, visit Rainbow Animal-Assisted Therapy at www.rainbowaat.org.

Here, in the Children’s Department, we get a lot of questions about the appropriateness of material for children.  In order to get the best sense of what is in the material that children are checking out and using, there is a great resource that we recommend.  The “kids’ room” site of wheatonlibrary.org offers a page of “for grownups” resources.  One of the sites listed is Common Sense Media.  Common Sense Media takes a look at movies, games, websites, TV, books, and music.  Each type of media is age rated and the reasons for the ratings are provided.  Ratings are based on violence, sex, language, consumerism, drinking, drugs & smoking, and message & role modeling.  Members of the site, both parents & educators and children, have a chance to have their ratings posted for users to view.  Reviews are also available.  When pulling up an individual title, additional recommendation lists are provided for other titles the user may be interested in.  Common Sense Media rates and reviews thousands of these types of media to help parents and educators make the best choices and decisions for children and allows parents to be aware of what their children are experiencing.  You do not need to be a member to access the information that this site provides.  If a page pops up and asks you to enter information for their newsletter, there is an option of saying no and continuing on to the site.  This website is very user friendly and houses great information about the media that surrounds kids every day.  Access Common Sense Media directly through the library’s website in the kids’ room.

“Dear Mr. Potter, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry”

Calling all Harry Potter fans!  Whether you are a fan of the books or the movies, there is an exciting new exhibit to check out in downtown Chicago.  The Museum of Science and Industry, April 30-September 27, welcomes artifacts, costumes, characters, and much more from the Harry Potter movies.  Children and adults have the opportunity to wander through the halls of Hogwarts, check out the Gryffindor boys’ dormitory, and visit for an afternoon in Hagrid’s home.  Visitors can experience parts of the exhibit hands-on where kids can get an up close look at the world created by the movies.  Further information about the exhibition, including hours, ticket prices, and photographs of the show, can be found at Harrypotterexhibition.com.

Has it been a while since you read the Harry Potter series?  Never read the books but want to find out what they’re all about?  Want a chance to review the movies before seeing the sets in person and the next movie comes out?  If so, come by the Wheaton Public Library and check out our Harry Potter collection of books, audio books, multimedia, music, and movies!  These materials can be found in both the children’s and adult departments as well as in French, Russian, Spanish, and Polish.  The Harry Potter audio books, read by award-winning narrator Jim Dale and available on CD and cassette, make for great travel companions.  In addition to the materials found in the library, the Wheaton Public Library website has some great interactive Harry Potter resources.  Through the kids’ room link at wheatonlibrary.org, children can take online quizzes and visit The Harry Potter Lexicon.