“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” — Dr. Seuss
February is Black History Month and we are reading novels, biographies and other books centered on this theme. We started early this year, with books about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in honor of his birthday and the National Holiday, and with biographies about President Barack Obama.
Some of our favorite novels by African-American authors include “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” and other books by Mildred D. Taylor; “Double Dutch” and many other selections from Sharon Draper; the books of Walter Dean Myers and lots more. For biographies, we are reading about Booker T. Washington, Harriet Tubman, Ruby Bridges, Maya Angelou, Marian Anderson, Malcolm X and Frederick Douglass… the list of outstanding African-Americans goes on and on.
There are a number of events going on around town — check the calendar listings of the newspaper for information or search online. While you are online, search “Black History Month” and you will find a number of educational sites with printables and lessons to do at home. One of my favorite sites is About.com: Classic Literature.
Private note to the second-grade boys: Fairy tales are not just for girls. Sometimes they’re gory, or creepy, or have really, really bad endings. You’ll like them. Just sayin’.
Library Motto of the Week: Don’t judge a book by its cover.
Private note to the eighth-grade students: You’ll be in high school soon enough. Let’s not rush things. PS — fairy tales and folk tales are not just for the little kids.
Private note to everyone: If it has “DISCARD” stamped in it, it means you can KEEP IT.
Please mark your calendars for Sunday, February 7th, the date of a literacy celebration perfect for the whole family: The African American Read-In.
Local celebrities, community leaders and students read from works by their favorite African American writers. Fiction and nonfiction for children and adults will be featured in an afternoon of great words from great works. Refreshments follow the presentation.
Sunday, February 7, 2:30–4 p.m.
North Portland Library
512 N. Killingsworth St.
Porltand OR 97217 503.988.5394
This event is cosponsored by North Portland Library and the Portland Council -International Reading Association.
“Today’s news is this:
the amphibians are vanishing.
Rice paddie and stomach brooding frogs, gone.
Glass frog, rain frog, golden toad,
Corroboree, toadlet, gone. Yosemite toad.
Tiger salamander, spade foot. Bufo bufo, so called ‘common toad.’
Cascades, Tara humare, Goliath, Medusa excellus.
It is as if we woke up one morning
and found our mouths missing,
the small wet we relied upon
with inattention.
It is a dream of a world without lily pads
no tadpoles absorbing tails
no eyes afloat on placid ponds.
No witnesses.
But this is for real:
a world without the single strand
of tapioca eggs
chaining from the underside
of a rare green leaf:
this precarious
this brilliant
this so perfect
as to seem inevitable.”
– Gerry Gomez Pearlberg
(I found this poem in the novel, “From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun,” by Jacqueline Woodson. It’s very good, too. — Ms. Nancy)
Kid book reviewers are coming out of the woodwork to review books online for the library. Recent reviews include the books “Parties & Potions” and “Spells & Sleeping Bags,” both by Sara Mlynowski; “Down the Rabbit Hole: an Echo Falls Mystery,” by Peter Abrahams; and “11 Birthdays,” by Wendy Mass. There are many good titles on there, some of which are new to me. It’s always fun to “discover” a new book or a new author.
I would love to start this feature on our own library blog. If anyone is interested, just drop me a line.
Did you know you can also download e-books and audiobooks from our county library? Very cool.
Over winter break, why not take a trip to your local branch of the library? I’m sure the staff will be glad to see you. (For you grown-ups out there, the library has also announced its Everybody Reads book for 2010.)
“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”
– Thich Nhat Hahn
Hope everyone is enjoying their week. I am. I’m midway through “Breaking Dawn,” the fourth in the Stephenie Meyer “Twilight” series. My own kids are reading Bailey School Kids and “Scepter of the Ancients,” by Derek Landy.
My students seem to be enjoying holiday books, books by Avi, Haddix and Colfer, and yes, books about horses and guinea pigs.
I always read through the Top 10 book lists, and this one jumped off the page at me (updated 11/27/09). Read through the descriptions. What does it say about today’s society — and our world — that these are the top picks?
Food for thought.
Best,
Ms. Nancy
1 CATCHING FIRE, by Suzanne Collins. (Scholastic, $17.99.) The protagonist of “The Hunger Games” returns. (Ages 12 and up) (12 weeks on list)
2 THE HUNGER GAMES, by Suzanne Collins. (Scholastic, $17.99.) In a dystopian future, a girl fights for survival on live TV. (Ages 12 and up) (63 weeks on list)
3 MILLION-DOLLAR THROW, by Mike Lupica. (Philomel/Penguin Young Readers, $17.99.) In tough economic times, the pressure is on for a young quarterback with an unusual opportunity. (Ages 9 to 12) (3 weeks on list)
4 THE MAGICIAN’S ELEPHANT, by Kate DiCamillo and Yoko Tanaka. (Candlewick, $16.99.) An orphan in search of his sister follows a fortuneteller’s mysterious instructions. (Ages 7 and up) (11 weeks on list)
5 TRICKS, by Ellen Hopkins. (McElderry/Simon & Schuster, $18.99.) A novel in verse about five teenagers who become prostitutes. (Ages 14 and up) (12 weeks on list)
6 THIRTEEN REASONS WHY, by Jay Asher. (Razorbill, $16.99.) Before she commits suicide a girl sends explanatory audiotapes to 13 people. (Ages 14 and up) (55 weeks on list)
7 THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, by Neil Gaiman. Illustrated by Dave McKean. (HarperCollins, $17.99.) To avoid a killer a boy takes up residence in a cemetery. Excerpt (Ages 10 and up) (59 weeks on list)
8 SENT, by Margaret Peterson Haddix. (Simon & Schuster, $15.99.) Kids travel to the 15th century, when they were members of the British royal family. (Ages 8 to 12) (7 weeks on list)
9 THE GREATEST MOMENTS IN SPORTS, by Len Berman. (Jabberwocky/Sourcebooks, $16.99.) Highs and and some lows, spanning the globe, with CD. (Ages 9 to 12) (1 week on list)
10 SHIVER, by Maggie Stiefvater. (Scholastic Press/Scholastic, $17.99.) Love among the lupine. (Ages 12 and up) (17 weeks on list)
