Picks of the Week - Jan. 29 - Feb. 2

The Golden Goose by Barbara Reid

There is a girl named Gwendolyn who never smiles, even though her father tries very hard to make her smile. There is also a young woodman who daydreams and who finds a golden goose in the forest one day. What happens when he picks up the goose and heads to town?

This twist on the classic Grimm fairy tale puts it in the modern day and is beautifully illustrated by Reid's plasticine creations.



Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Winnie Foster is a lonely girl who lives on the edge of the forest. One day a stranger comes to visit, which sets a series of events in motion - including Winnie's kidnapping and her introduction to the Tuck family. The secret the Tucks are keeping is exactly why the stranger is in town and up to no good. Will Winnie ever see her family again, and when the Tucks give her a choice what will she choose?

This book has been a favourite of mine for years. The lush atmosphere combined with the mystery and excitement of the story has made this book a classic.

Children's literature awards announced

The Caldecott Medal and the Giesel Award recipients were announced recently at the American Library Association (ALA) mid-winter conference in Seattle.

The Caldecott Medal

The Caldecott, according to the ALA, "was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children." It has been awarded since 1938.

Previous winners include Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg (1982), Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say (1994), and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1964).

2007 Caldecott Medal recipient:

Flotsam by David Wiesner

2007 Caldecott Honor recipients:

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Gone Wild: an Endangered Animal Alphabet by David McLimans

The Geisel Award

The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award was established in 2004 to acknowledge the "author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished contribution to the body of American children’s literature known as beginning reader books published in the United States during the preceding year." It is named for the man known as Dr. Seuss and is awarded annually.

2007 Geisel Award recipient:

Zelda and Ivy: the Runaways by Laura McGee Kvasnosky

2007 Geisel Honor recipients:

Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride by Kate DiCamillo (author) and Chris Van Dusen (illustrator)

Move Over, Rover! by Karen Beaumont (author) and Jane Dyer (illustrator)

Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

View the list of all Association for Library Service for Children (ALSC) award winners, including the Newbery.

Ms. Bartlett's Picks of the Week - Jan. 22-26

You can't tell with the picture at this size, but Bob has sunglasses on.

Dinosaur Bob and his adventures with the family Lazardo by William Joyce

Young Scotty Lazardo finds a dinosaur in Africa, who is promptly named Bob. Bob returns to California with the Lazardos but manages to get into some trouble with the police who want to send him back. What trick does Bob have up his sleeve that might save him?

The pictures in this book (which I recently discovered) are clean, bright, and absolutely charming. The story is clever and subtle and Bob's facial expressions are fantastic. Besides all that, who wouldn't want a dinosaur as a pet?

Pinky & Stinky by James Kochalka

Pinky and Stinky are two piglets sent into space on a mission to Pluto. Stinky isn't treating things as seriously as Pinky would like, and disaster soon strikes when the piglets' spacecraft hits and asteroid and hurtles out of control towards the moon.

The piglets find themselves in a bit of a pickle when they land and it is up to Stinky to develop a plan to save them. During the course of their adventures the two piglets encounter Moon-Men, human astronauts, a talking rocket, and a princess who thinks they're "cuties."

Ms. Bartlett's Picks of the Week - January 8-12

Piggie Pie! by Margie Palatini, illustrated by Howard Fine

Gritch the Witch is hungry and has a hankering for a piggie pie. She checks her cupboards and has all the ingredients except...piggies! She hops on her broom and heads to Old MacDonald's farm to find some piggies for her pie, but where have they all gone?



The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

It's Omri's birthday and his friend Patrick gives him a plastic toy Indian. Omri is not very thrilled about that until he locks the toy in his new cupboard and wakes up to the sound of...what? Someone moving around in the cupboard? What Omri finds when he unlocks the cupboard door will change his life and the adventures will begin.

This was one of my favourite stories growing up. I remember my mother reading it aloud to me and my little brother and just being on the edge of my seat with excitement the entire time. If you've ever dreamed of your toys coming to life, this is a book for you.

A Wonder of the Web - KidsHealth

Want to know what to do if you get stung by a bee? Wish you could do something about your nightmares? Curious about puke? Kidshealth.com is the place for you!

KidsHealth is a website of the Nemours Foundation, which "is dedicated to improving the health and spirit of children," and is the most visited children's health site on the Internet. The site is easy to navigate and every article is reviewed by a medical expert in the field.

The site has lots of cool features. The Kids' Talk section answers questions like "Why do I yawn?" and "What happens to swallowed gum?" The site also has information about People, Places and Things that Help Me, such as physical therapists and dialysis, has sections on the health problems of both children and adults, and the Watch Out section tells children how to play safe in a variety of scenarios.

One of the best features is the Recipes section, which provides recipes for children with diabetes, celiac disease, cystic fibrosis, and lactose intolerance.

KidsHealth is a wonderful and really interesting site, and I encourage you to check it out!

More new books!

I was very happy to discover a box of new books when I arrived in the PRES library this morning - here they are!

(And yes, the books are almost exclusively either sports or Remembrance Day books.)


One on One by Cathy Beveridge

On Juno Beach: Canada's D-Day Heroes by Hugh Brewster

True stories of the Blitz by Henry Brook

Body Check
Cool as Ice
Ice Magic all by Matt Christopher

Artemis Fowl: the Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer

In Flander's Fields: the story of the poem by John McCrae and
Where Poppies Grow: a World War I companion both by Linda Granfield

The Girls they Left Behind by Bernice Thurman Hunter

Daniel's Story by Carol Matas

A Poppy is to Remember by Heather Patterson

Fantastic donated collection now in library

The Mary Norah Sophia Kernohan collection is now available in the library. It is a wonderful collection of beautiful books - make sure to take a look at them!

To Be a Kid by Sophia Ajmera

Holiday! Celebration Days around the World by Deborah Chancellor

Robots by Clive Gifford

Into the Sky
Robots Slither
Cross a Bridge
Dig a Tunnel
Take Off! all by Ryan Ann Hunter

A Second is a Hiccup by Hazel Hutchins

A Life like Mine: How Children Live around the World published by Dorling Kindersley

100 Things you should know about the Human Body by Steve Parker

Staying Healthy by Angela Royston

If the World were a Village: a book about the world's people by David Smith

My Body by S. R. Turnbull