Giving the Gift of a Book

Obviously, as a children's librarian, I'm a huge fan of giving books to children for gifts - holiday gifts, birthday gifts, and just-because gifts. Relatives and friends often know to expect a book when it comes to gift-giving from me. For inspiration on book giving ideas, check out this post on the Mother Reader blog. I love how she pairs a book and a gift that goes so perfectly with it! I've also found similar ideas in Esme Raji Codell's book How to Get Your Child to Love Reading. Enjoy!

Pick of the Week: Three Little Kittens

Normally, I've chosen to highlight a new picture book for the Pick of the Week book. But this week I wanted to draw attention to one of my favorite authors/illustrators for toddlers and younger preschoolers, Lorianne Siomades. Introducing nursery rhymes and Mother Goose books are a fantastic way to help build a child's phonological awareness - or the ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words. Not only that, sharing nursery rhymes develops a child's connection to his or her cultural history, language and oral tradition. (The library's collection contains books with traditional rhymes in a variety of languages and traditions.) In Lorianne Siomades' Three Little Kittens, children are introduced to the traditional story with large, bright, and colorful illustrations. It's also a great introduction to beginning narrative skills. It's not-too-long of a story - and has a short plot with just the right amount of tension for little ones. This is a good choice for sharing either one-on-one or in a group setting. Additionally, Lorianne Siomades' The Itsy-Bitsy Spider is my favorite book to introduce the popular children's rhyme with babies, toddlers and the younger preschool set. Again, Lorianne Siomades' large, simple and colorful illustrations work well with this younger audience and the rhyme is always a childhood favorite!

Notable Site: Greater Good Parenting

I recently discovered the Greater Good Parenting site - part of the Greater Good Science Center at University of California Berkeley. "The Greater Good Science Center is an interdisciplinary research center devoted to the scientific understanding of happy and compassionate individuals, strong social bonds, and altruistic behavior," according to their website. The Parents section offers research, discussion, podcasts, videos and and the Half Full blog by sociologist Christine Carter.

For a preview of what you'll find, take a look at this video on Emotional Literacy and Children:

Train Stories - New & Old

Many young children find trains a fascinating subject. Just ask a children's librarian - "where are books about trains?" is a question we regularly hear from the youngest children on up. Often the "favorites" are checked out regularly and read over and over again. Perhaps you've already found and read all of the train books. But there just might be a hidden gem still waiting for you at the library. Using the kids' catalog, you can search by the subject heading "trains" to find fiction and nonfiction books about trains. You can also search the classic catalog, setting your limits to the "J Easy Book" collection, and then searching by the subjects containing "trains" to limit your results to only picture books about trains.

Here are a few of my favorite train picture books:

The Train by David McPhail
A young boy is busy playing train when his parents announce that it is bedtime. When he can't fall asleep, he takes an imaginative ride on his toy train and gets busy helping the train run.

A Train Goes Clickety-Clack by Jonathan London, illustrated by Denis Roche
This simple, colorful book is great for sharing with toddlers and preschoolers who love trains. Easy, rhyming text describe the various uses of different kinds of trains.

Railroad John and the Red Rock Run by Tony Crunk, illustrations by Michael Austin
Lonesome Bob and Granny Apple Fritter are in a hurry! They must get to Red Rock by 2:00 or he'll miss his wedding! Railroad John is running late - really late - andLonesome Bob fears he'll never make it. Will they get there in time? The sepia-toned artwork is beautiful and the end depics a boy playing with an antique train in an attic filled with items found throughout the story. Older preschoolers and early elementary-aged children will enjoy this one.

Jiggle Joggle Jee! by Laura E. Richards, illustrated by Sam Williams
Join a baby and his stuffed animal friends on a rollicking, rhyming train ride. This one is great for babies, wobblers and toddlers who will love the repetitive refrain and alliteration of "jiggle joggle jee!"

Down by the Station by Will Hillenbrand
The childhood song "Down by the Station" is beautifully depicted in this fun, colorful book by Will Hillenbrand. Sing along and pay close attention to the pictures as the train picks up new animal passengers on its way to the children's zoo. There's just the right amount of drama as the end passengers' car breaks lose and plummets into a small pond. They are quickly rescued and hurry to rejoin the head of the train as it rolls along the track.

Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo by Kevin Lewis, illustrated by Daniel Kirk
This is a fantastic book that toddlers and preschoolers just love! There's just the right amount of text for a younger audience and rhythmic refrain of "Chugga-chugga Choo-choo/ Whistle blowing/ Whoooooooo! Whooooooooo!!" begs for repeated reading-aloud. This story follows a toy train's busy day and Daniel Kirk's color-saturated, dramatic computer-aided illustrations are full of shine and life.

And the Train Goes...by William Bee
The train rolls down the track going, "Click clack, clickerty clack." Along the journey each of the train cars inhabitants add their own sounds to the symphony of the train. The highlight is at the end when a parrot who had been carefully listening the whole time repeats all of the wonderful sounds heard.

All Aboard! by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Amiko Hirao
A girl goes on an overnight train ride with Mr. Barnes, her stuffed rabbit, to visit her grandparents. The story joggles between real and imaginary scenes. Young children who've had the experience of riding on a train - and those who anticipate such an event - are sure to enjoy.

Winter Early Literacy Newsletter

photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gapito/433603032/

The Winter edition of the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library's Early Literacy Newsletter is here! Check out this quarterly publication for seasonal rhymes, children's book and music recommendations, early literacy tips and more.

Topics inside include:
*clothing
*nutrition
*writing - mail & letters
*exploring art

To download a pdf copy of the winter newsletter, click here. You will need Adobe Reader to view it.

Best Books 2008

The Corvallis-Benton County Public Library created a list of highly recommended books published in 2008 for all ages of children and teens. If you're looking for a good book to recommend or purchase for young person, take a look here: Books for Giving.

School Library Journal's book review editors have also recently published their list of the best books of 2008. Check out this list here: School Library Journal's Best Books 2008.

Pick of the Week: Too Many Toys

Too Many Toys by David Shannon (Blue Sky Press, 2008)

This is the kind of book that many parents will appreciate and relate to - especially right after any holiday gift-giving frenzy. Spencer is a boy with - as the title implies - too many toys. He gets toys on birthdays, holidays, at friends' birthday parties, from kids meals, for being brave at the dentist and doctor, and even for the 4th of July! When Spencer's mother demands that he fill a box with toys to give away, David Shannon's color-saturated illustrations aptly depict the panic Spencer feels at this proposition. With every suggested toy to donate, Spencer can easily come up with a reason to keep it. After much debate, mom and son come to an agreement and Spencer finds toys he can live without...that is, all except one - the best toy of all. And what do you think this must-have toy is???