Month: February 2015

Philip Stead can always be counted on to create an enjoyable juvenile picture book.  The newest by this Caldecott winning author is “Special Delivery.”   The main character, Sadie, wants to send her lonely Great-Aunt Josephine a gift–an elephant.  Dismayed by high postage rates, she decides to deliver the elephant herself.  Using a variety of transportation means–airplane, train, and an ice cream truck, Sadie accomplishes her mission.  This is an outlandish story filled with adventure and determination.  This story will definitely appeal to the four and up crowd.

Another outlandish tale is Elise Primavera’s “Ms. Rapscott’s Girls.”  With magical abilities, similar to Mary Poppins, Ms. Rapscott is the Headmistress of the Great Rapscott School for Girls of Busy Parents.  Included in the admissions materials is a self-addressed box in order to safely mail girls to the campus because parents are very busy.

Five girls are admitted to the school and are transported magically through the air to the lighthouse that houses Ms. Rapscott’s school.  The trip transporting the girls is only the beginning of a series of adventures.  Geared to readers ages eight to twelve, this may or may not be a hit with this age group. 

March 2, 2015, will mark the 101st birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel, Dr. Seuss.  Children, including those in the South Orangetown School District, will commemorate his birth by joining in the “Read Across America” event.  There is a display of some of his books that we have in our collection in the Children’s Room.  As soon as I finished putting out some of the books, a dad checked out three of them.  Nothing like a display to pique interest.

In addition, there are three other new displays in the children’s room.  Books about women for Women’s History Month, books on spring, I got tired of the winter books, and books about libraries and librarians.

The Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader have announced the finalists for this year’s awards in seven categories.  The finalists were chosen by kids through the Children’s Choices Program.  This is a joint venture sponsored by the International Literacy Association and the Children’s Book Council.  Over 36,000 children read newly published children’s and YA books and voted for the one they liked best.  YA book nominees were voted for online by more than 4,000 teens.

These are some of the nominees:

—-K-2nd grade-“Duck, Duck, Moose,” “Eva and Sadie and the Worst Haircut EVER!,” ” A Pet for Fly Guy.”

—-5-6th grade-“Ice Dogs,” “Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods,” “Temple Run,” “The Return of Zita the Spacegirl.”

After the vote has been completed, the winners will be announced during the 96th annual Children’s Book Week, May 4-10.