Library Summer Programs

Looking for ways to keep you kids engaged reading this summer?  Check out your local public library for some inspiring programs.  Here are a few more suggestions from some great librarians!

Encourage a Love of Reading Throughout the Summer

Summer Reading has arrived!

It is so hard to believe that the school year is nearly over.  Thank you so much for another great year in the library.  It has been a pleasure to work with your children and to see their growth over the last 9 months.  Enjoy the time with your family this summer, and the extra time for reading!  On the right of this page you will find my reading lists for the summer.  Keep in mind that the age suggestions are general and your child can read books from any of the lists that you feel are appropriate for them.  I have also provided a list for young adults, which contain subject matter that might not be suitable for kids under 14.  You might be looking for something to read as well, so I have assembled a list of the top 10 adult books to read this summer.  If you need more then 10, I came across this great list from NPR this morning with some less known books that should be on everyone's lists too.  I have only read The Revolutions from that list, and it was an interesting steampunk/sci-fi work.

http://www.npr.org/2015/05/22/408523960/beyond-the-bestsellers-nancy-pearl-recommends-under-the-radar-reads?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150522

Have a great summer and happy reading!
-MKM

Reading really is good for you!

We all know that reading to young children is a good thing, and a new study shows us an interesting insight into a child's brain while being read to.

MRI shows association between reading to young children and brain activity

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150425215617.htm

Angel of Losses

This is a book for those whole love fairy tales, family dynamics, history, and a good love story.  I did enjoy this book, but it took me longer to read it then I thought it would, hence the posting for April in May.  I sometimes found the organization of the book a little odd, and confusing (perhaps an editing issue?) but overall an interesting tale.  Enjoy the book, and I will post my summer reading lists next week!

From the Back Cover

The Tiger's Wife meets The History of Love in this inventive, lushly imagined debut novel that explores the intersections of family secrets, Jewish myths, the legacy of war and history, and the bonds between sisters.
When Eli Burke dies, he leaves behind a mysterious notebook full of stories about a miracle worker named the White Rebbe and the enigmatic Angel of Losses, both protectors of things gone astray and guardians of the lost letter of the alphabet, which completes the secret name of God.
Years later, when Eli's granddaughter Marjorie stumbles upon his notebook, everything she thought she knew about her grandfather—and her family—comes undone. To learn the truth about Eli's origins and unlock the secrets he kept, Marjorie embarks on an odyssey that takes her deep into the past, from the medieval Holy Land to eighteenth-century Venice and Nazi-occupied Lithuania. What she finds leads her back to present-day New York City and her estranged sister, Holly, whom she must save from the consequences of Eli's past.
Interweaving history, theology, and both real and imagined Jewish folktales, The Angel of Losses is a family story of what lasts, and of what we can—and cannot—escape.

Brightly

I wanted to take a moment to share with all of you a great new website from Penguin Random House Publishers.  "Brightly" was introduced by the company as a resource for parents to help raise readers. The site contains some great articles on encouraging reluctant readers, guided reading by age/stage, audiobook resources, and even books for "grown up readers" too!  Take a moment to check it out!

http://www.readbrightly.com/

The Museum of Extraordinary Things

Wow, February and March were months of crazy weather and Spring Break, but I am happy to be back into the school routine.  Over the Spring Break I had the opportunity to read The Museum of Extraordinary Things.  This book was recommended to me by a Peck parent, and I loved it.  In my conversations with others, that feeling does not seem to apply to everyone.  It is safe to say that it is a book that will not appeal to everyone.  Alice Hoffman (The Dovekeepers) is an imaginative story teller, and the story is filled with interesting characters.  This book feels like a fairy tale to me, and that may be the issue that some folks had with it.  I will leave the decision up to you.  Happy Reading!

From the Publisher: 

Mesmerizing and illuminating, Alice Hoffman's The Museum of Extraordinary Things is the story of an electric and impassioned love between two vastly different souls in New York during the volatile first decades of the twentieth century.

Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk freak show that thrills the masses. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father's "museum," alongside performers like the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a one-hundred-year-old turtle. One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River.

The dashing photographer is Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father's Lower East Side Orthodox community and his job as a tailor's apprentice. When Eddie photographs the devastation on the streets of New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman's disappearance and ignites the heart of Coralie.

With its colorful crowds of bootleggers, heiresses, thugs, and idealists, New York itself becomes a riveting character as Hoffman weaves her trademark magic, romance, and masterful storytelling to unite Coralie and Eddie in a sizzling, tender, and moving story of young love in tumultuous times. The Museum of Extraordinary Things is Alice Hoffman at her most spellbinding.

Mac Barnett TEDx Talk

My book review for the month will be published next week, but first I wanted to share a TEDx Talk with all of you from one of my very favorite authors of children's books, Mac Barnett.  If you haven't had a chance to read one of his books, please take the time.  They are full of incredible imagination, and are a great example of excellence in writing for children.  In this talk, he shares his thoughts on the nature of fiction, art, and reality, and why children are the greatest readers of fiction.  Enjoy.