Oxford English Dictionary

Kevin froze, stunned by the sight of his dog—his fat, lazy dog—running. And preparing to jump though the tire. Again. This time, Cromwell took off just a few inches closer to the tire. He ascended at a steeper angle, eyes wide, slobber trailing behind him. Kevin braced for the inevitable collision.

Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah is returning to his native village in Kenya. He has been away for a long time as a result of winning a scholarship to study in the United States. His people, the Maasai, eagerly await stories of his adventures in America. With a heavy heart, Kimeli tells them he was in New York on September 11, 2001, and witnessed the devastation of the Twin Towers. He describes the terrible destruction, the thousands of lives lost. The Maasai are greatly moved by Kimeli’s tale. An elder asks, “What can we do for these poor people?”

If you were a pig, who would be your best friend? An elephant, of course! Your name would be Piggie. And the elephant? His name would be Gerald. What would you and Gerald do for fun? You would play ball.

In Watch Me Throw the Ball, by Mo Willems, Piggie finds a ball on the ground. It belongs to Gerald. Piggie asks permission to throw the ball. Gerald tries to convince Piggie that this is not an easy task, that it requires skill, practice, and hard work. Not to be discouraged, Piggie immediately winds up and throws the ball as hard as she can—so far she can’t even see it. Piggie does a victory dance as she brags about her ball-throwing skills. But wait. What’s that behind Piggie? Gerald points to the ball behind his friend and says, “Do you know what this means?”

Arrr mateys! Batten down the hatches and set yer deadlights on this ‘ere buccaneer who goes by the name o’ Catfoot Crogan. ‘Es the toughest bucko in the blimey deep. Pillagin’ and raidin’ ain’t ‘is game, though. No siree, this ‘ere seadog ‘as a conscience and likes to talk bilge about ‘doin’ what’s right, even if it means goin’ on the account. Strickly speakin’ I don’t trust the scurvy dog what goes against our Catfoot Crogan. But there’s them that would do that, just to get there ‘ands on a bit o’ swag.

Well shiver me timbers! Sail ho! I’m off me mateys! Godspeed to yer!

Wanted: Children ages 5-12
Visit: Your favorite Greenville County Library System location
Get: Your first library card
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Borrow: Books, DVDs, CDs, magazines, CD-ROMs, and more
Cost: Free

Bubbles in the air and rose petals on the floor – a fancy girl’s dream! Hundreds of girls danced and pranced the day away at our fabulous “Fancy Nancy Soirée”! The mini divas played games like “Feed the Posh Puppy” and our version of the cake walk where they won “posh” silly bands. Of course we read Fancy Nancy and girls could read similar titles in Nancy’s clubhouse. The girls spun around on the dance floor to classic Disney tunes and even ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”. Because fancy girls love getting their nails painted, we even had a mini nail salon. If you missed out on this one, don’t worry! This popular event is sure to be repeated again soon!

Feel like reading something you can really sink your teeth into? Not in the mood for a fluff read? Why not pick up a Newbery award winning book? Since 1922 the American Library Association has chosen a yearly winner for this very prestigious (that means really, really important and impressive) award. Think of it as sort of the Oscars of children’s chapter books. It’s one of the most coveted prizes in the whole world of children’s books (at least in America). You’ll know which books have won a Newbery by looking for the official sticker on the front cover. My goal is to finish reading all 88 books by the end of the year. I’ve only got 27 more to go! Let’s see…hang on, let me just get my calculator out. Here we go! 5.4 books a month! That’s about a book and a half a week! Wow! I’d better get busy! In the meantime, here are a few of my favorites. If you haven’t read them, check them out! If you have read them, read them again! I love reading a book twice, I always find something in it I missed the first time!

Animals can teach us many things, including the importance of true friendship. In this book, deftly illustrated by Jean Cassels, you will meet Bobbie, the dog, and Bob Cat. Despite a mutual lack of tails, they owned the sheer determination to survive following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Abandoned by their owner during the forced evacuation as the storm raged, the two friends roamed the flooded streets of New Orleans from August to January.

Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2009
Unpaged
Ages 4-8 years

Choose one word to describe this glorious Caldecott Honor book.  What would it be? Joy! Illustrator Pamela Zagarenski and author Joyce Sidman engage all five of our senses as they lead us on a breathtaking journey that compels us to experience the four seasons through the colors that define them.

The book jacket material informs us that both Zagarenski and Sidman favor green as their color of choice.  This fondness becomes apparent as we see the “greens” and read: Green is queen in summer. Green trills from trees, clings to Pup’s knees, covers all with leaves, leaves, leaves!  How can Green be so many different Greens?