Pick of the Week: Seasons by Blexbolex

Seasons by Blexbolex (Enchanted Lion Books)

This is a sophisticated, distinctive picture book that will invite readers to visit the pages again and again. Each page in this longer picture book has a poster-like retro quality with creamy matte pages and block prints with one word denoting the feeling or scene depicted. We see a man pointing to a window looking out on snowflakes falling for the word "shout" and a snow-covered house or lodge depicting the word "snow." A diversity of great vocabulary words are featured including fragrance, drought, blaze, barbeque, debris, discovery, hay bales, shooting stars, reserves, fruit pickers, seedling, twilight and many more. This is a stunning, breathtaking, and contemplative book that both children and adults may enjoy.

Exploring & Learning Outdoors

Here's a quote for the day from Reading Rockets:

"Fun outdoor activities...nurture a young child's interest in science — and develop skills like observing and predicting." Reading Rockets suggests a variety of fun ways to create fun outdoors with your child - all the while helping boost their early and pre-reading skills!
Read more here...

Our community has such wonderful places to explore outside, like the trails at Peavy Arboretum, the Jackson-Frazier Wetland, Willamette Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Park, Avery Park, and many more places throughout the county.

Find inspiration at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, too:

Outdoor Parents, Outdoor Kids: a Guide to Getting Your Kids Active in the Great Outdoors by Eugene Buchanan

Corvallis Trails: Exploring the Heart of the Valley by Margie C. Powell

Hug a Tree: and Other Things to Outdoors with Young Children by Robert E. Rockwell, Elizabeth A. Sherwood & Robert A. Williams

The Green Hour: Activities, Games, Crafts, Science Lessons, and Fun Facts the Whole Family Will Enjoy by Todd Christopher

Janice VanCleave's Play and Find Out about Nature: Easy Experiments for Young Children

Let's Go Outside: Outdoor Activities and Projects to Get You and Your Kids Closer to Nature by Jennifer Ward

Pond Year by Kathryn Lasky

Too Many Rabbits and Other Fingerplays about Animals, Nature, Weather, and the Universe by Kay Cooper

Raccoon on His Own by Jim Arnosky (see others by Jim Arnosky as well)

Nature Walk by Douglas Florian (good for the youngest listeners)

Baby Sign Workshop January 26th

Don't miss this great, free Growing Families Together Parenting Workshop on signing with your baby! 

Sign With Your Baby: Birth to 16 months

Learn to communicate with your baby before he/she can talk! Come learn a new way to have fun with your baby. Class led by Alyssa White.

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

10:00 - 11:30 a.m.

Corvallis-Benton County Public Library

645 NW Monroe Ave., Corvallis, OR 97330

For more information, call 541-766-6794.

Child Care & Refreshments Provided. Come with or without your child!

*Note that this parenting workshop will take place in lieu of Infant Storytime that day.

The program will be repeated in Albany on Saturday, January 29th, 2011 from 10:30 a.m. - Noon at the Albany Public Library, 2450 14th Avenue SE, Albany, OR. For more information about the Albany program, call 541-917-7591.

Growing Families Together, a multi-organizational community partnership, offers free quarterly programs on parenting in Corvallis and Albany. Support provided by Albany Parks & Recreation, Albany Public Library, Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, Corvallis Parks & Recreation, Friends of Albany Public Library, Linn-Benton Community College - Parenting Education Department, Oregon State University Extension Services, and Samaritan Health Services.

LBCC Family Fun Day!

LBCC's 34th Annual Family Fun Day

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Linn-Benton Community College

Activities Center, Gym

6500 Pacific Blvd. SW, Albany, OR

For more information, call 541-917-4897.

• Activities for children ages 1-6. Activity tickets are 25 cents each.
• Food & Drink 
• Used Toys & Book Sale

Come join the activities and fun while helping build the Parent Education Grant Fund. This fund provides partial tuition for parents to attend Parent Education classes.

Pick of the Week: A Number of Dinosaurs

A Number of Dinosaurs: a Pop-Up Counting Book by Paul & Henrietta Stickland

Paul Stickland has written and illustrated several great dinosaur books that toddlers just love. Stickland's new pop-up book with Henrietta Stickland features his usual large, brightly colored dinosaurs. This simple concept book counts from 1 to 10, with each page showing a larger number and dinosaur on each consecutive page. By the end, the number and dinosaurs spill off the page! Check out this fun dinosaur pop-up book (while it lasts!). Many children love pop-up books, but the delicate design of one means it often doesn't hold up as well as other hardback books with multiple check-outs. But we certainly try our best at the library to mend these books and keep them on the shelves for everyone to enjoy and check out as long as possible!

ALSC 2011 Media Award Winners Announced Today

The big winners in the world of children's publishing were announced today!

The winner of the 2011 Newberry Award Medal for excellence in children's literature goes to "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool, published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc. 

Newberry Honor Books are:

"Turtle in Paradise" written by Jennifer L. Holm, published by Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

"Heart of a Samurai" written by Margi Preus, published by Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams

"Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night" written by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen, published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

"One Crazy Summer" written by Rita Williams-Garcia, published by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

The 2011 Caldecott Medal for excellence in illustration of a children's book goes to "A Sick Day for Amos McGee" illustrated by Erin E. Stead, written by Philip C. Stead, a Neal Porter Book, published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing.

Caldecott Honor Books are: 

"Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave" illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Laban Carrick Hill, published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

"Interrupting Chicken" illustrated and written by David Ezra Stein, published by Candlewick Press

The 2011 Coretta Scott King (Author) Award ( given to an African American author and illustrator for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions) goes to "One Crazy Summer", by Rita Williams-Garcia, published by HarperCollins.

The 2011 Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Award goes to "Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave", illustrated by Bryan Collier and written by Laban Carrick Hill, published by Little, Brown.

The 2011 Batcheldor Award for children's literature first published in another language goes to "A Time of Miracles" written by Anne-Laure Bondoux, translated by Y. Maudet, published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

Batcheldor Honor Books are:

"Departure Time" written by Truus Matti, translated by Nancy Forest-Flier, published by Namelos

"Nothing" written by Janne Teller, translated by Martin Aitken, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

The 2011 Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award (presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth) goes to "Grandma's Gift" illustrated  and written by Eric Velasquez, published by Walker Publishing Company, Inc., a division of Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc.

Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Honor Books are:

Fiesta Babies" illustrated by Amy Córdova, written by Carmen Tafolla, published by Tricycle Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.

"Me, Frida" illustrated by David Diaz, written by Amy Novesky, published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Abrams

"Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin" illustrated  and written by Duncan Tonatiuh, published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Abrams

Pura Belpré (Author) Award Winner is:

"The Dreamer" written by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Peter Sis, published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.

Pura Belpré (Author) Honor Books are:

"Ole! Flamenco" written by George Ancona, photographs by George Ancona, published by Lee & Low Books Inc.

"The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba" written by Margarita Engle, published by Henry Holt and Company, LLC

"90 Miles to Havana" written by Enrique Flores-Galbis, published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing

The Andrew Carnegie Medal honors the most outstanding video productions for children released during the previous year. This year's award goes to "The Curious Garden" produced by Paul R. Gagne and Melissa Reilly Ellard, Weston Woods Studios.

The Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year. The 2011 Geisel Award goes to "Bink and Gollie" written by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illustrated by Tony Fucile, published by Candlewick Press.

Geisel Honor Books are:

"Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same!" written and illustrated by Grace Lin, published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

"We Are in a Book!" written and illustrated by Mo Willems, published by Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Book Group

The Odyssey Award is given to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States. The 2011 Odyssey Award goes to "The True Meaning of Smekday" produced by Listening Library, an imprint of Random House Audio Publishing Group.

Odyssey Award Honor Audio Books:

"Alchemy and Meggy Swann" produced by Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

"The Knife of Never Letting Go" produced by Candlewick on Brilliance Audio, an imprint of Brilliance Audio

"Revolution" produced by Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

"Will Grayson, Will Grayson" produced by Brilliance Audio

The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in English during the preceding year.  The 2011 Sibert Medal goes to "Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot" written by Sy Montgomery, photographs by Nic Bishop, published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Sibert Honor Books:

"Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring" written by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, illustrated by Brian Floca. A Neal Porter Book., published by Flash Point, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing

"Lafayette and the American Revolution, written by Russell Freedman, published by Holiday House

The Wilder Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children. The 2011 Wilder Award was given to Tomie dePaola.

Time for Play

The Power of Play by David Elkind

A recent New York Times article discussed the effort by parents and professionals to "restore play" to childhood. It's an interesting read: "Effort to Restore Children's Play Gains Momentum" by Hilary Stout (NY Times: 1.05.2011).

What do you think? In your experience, is play taking a back seat to academics or screen-time in lives of children today? Do your children spend a lot of time playing and using their imaginations? What ways have you encouraged play in your family?