Oxford English Dictionary

Excitement was high at Fluor Field on the evening of Wednesday, August 26. You could almost slice it with a bat. Accompanying the aroma of chicken nuggets and hot dogs with everything was the sweet smell of success. The success to be celebrated was the partnership between the Greenville County Library System, the Greenville Drive baseball team and Michelin North America. It was an example of teamwork at its finest. This year each child who joined the library’s Summer Reading program and read 45 books (achieving Level Three) received a ticket voucher, good for one free Drive game ticket. Each teen that joined the program and read for a total of 20 hours received a ticket voucher as well as a voucher for a sturdy and stylish Michelin book bag.

Library audiences were enthralled by Eric Litwin when he came to town for a week long series of Summer Reading performances. Mr. Eric picked his guitar, strummed his banjo and coaxed melodies from his harmonica. Children and adults clapped, jumped and sang along. A special feature of the program was the rendition of Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, written by Eric Litwin and illustrated by James Dean. Be sure to check out Pete the Cat next time you visit your nearest GCLS location.

There were no squares here but lots of dancin’ at the Hughes Main Library. Yipee! We started off singin’ an old favorite: She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain. Yahoo! Then it was time to swing your partner, do-si-do and circle to the right. Next were western games. Cowboys and cowgirls lassoed a steer, corralled cattle, barrel raced and went fishin’ in the local pond.

As the children watched, mouths hanging open, the vine reached the boat and began to coil itself around the mast as if it were the trunk of a tree. Other vines, seeming to move of their own volition, were coming down out of the jungle, and the air began to thicken with green cords. …For a moment, Maya feared that the vines would snap the mast in two or cause the whole boat to capsize. The children gazed in stunned silence as the vines drew the Pamela Jane slowly through the water toward the shore, where she came to rest. Then, wrapped snuggly around the vessel, they stopped moving.

Around 5:00 a.m. on a warm Sunday morning in October 1953, my Aunt Belle Left her bed and vanished from the face of the earth.

Ooh, sounds really mysterious and spooky doesn’t it? Well, it is mysterious, and maybe a little bit spooky. Because Belle Prater lived high on a mountain with her less-than-mannerly husband and her poor little boy and even though they didn’t have much to speak of, they always had each other. Until, of course, that mysterious morning in October when something turned inside Belle Prater, and she vanished for good. It was then that her poor little boy Woodrow was sent down the mountain to live with his grandparents. And it was there that he became fast and best friends with his cousin Gypsy. Woodrow’s quick wit, determination, heartwarming sincerity and especially his outrageous stories quickly endear him to his family and to the town.

This book is so filled with interesting and funny characters that it was hard at times not to laugh out loud and make a public spectacle of myself. Actually, I probably did do that once or twice! But it was well worth it. Belle Prater’s Boy is heartwarming and life-affirming and funny and smart and, well, you get the picture. There’s also a sequel to this book called, The Search for Belle Prater. You can find them both at your library! Happy reading!

In a city called Stone Town, near a port called Stone Town Harbor, a boy named Reynie Muldoon was preparing to take an important test. It was the second test of the day—the first had been in an office across town. After that one he was told to come here, to the Monk building on Third Street, and to bring nothing but a single pencil and a single rubber eraser, and to arrive no later than one o’clock.

Ever have one of those days when it seems like everything is going well, in fact, it’s going exactly where you wanted it to go, but as it turns out, you’ve wound up as a secret agent in a mysterious and highly dangerous plot to overtake a villainous, and very bad, man who wants to brainwash everyone in order to rule the world?

That’s what happens to Reynie, Sticky, Constance, and Kate when they show up to take a test that is supposed to get them into a wonderful new school for gifted students. They pass the test, of course, each in their own unique way, and find themselves working for a wonderful, if somewhat sleepy, man named Mr. Benedict who has taken it upon himself to save the world from the treacherous influences of the villainous, and very bad man, Ledroptha Curtain. After thorough training from Mr. Benedict and his helpers, Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance enroll in the isolated school run by Mr. Curtain with the intention of destroying “The Whisperer.” That’s Mr. Curtain’s secret machine that uses innocent children to send out secret messages over the television airwaves and brainwash anyone listening. It’s a complicated piece of machinery that absolutely must be destroyed or horrible, terrible and extremely bad things will happen!

You’ll find this book at your library! Happy reading!

Adam is absolutely the strangest person I have ever met, but he is grinning, and he is making Mom and Dad and me grin too. My heart has stopped pounding and I feel a little giddy. Christmas morning giddy.

Notes: A John Newbery Medal Honor Book
Hattie Owens lives a relatively normal life with her parents and several boarders at her parents’ boarding house. But when a mysterious uncle shows up one day with little or no explanation from anyone in her family, Hattie’s life changes in ways she would never have thought possible. Adam, her newly found uncle, had been away at a special school for Hattie’s whole life, and she never even knew he existed! He’s exciting and eccentric and honest and enthusiastic and generally so happy it’s contagious, but he’s also, well, a little weird. The two of them quickly form a tight bond and, through Adam’s example, Hattie learns not only how to be happy and more confident with herself, but gains a better understanding of both the good and bad of human nature.

I actually listened to the audio version of this book, read by Judith Ivey. She did a wonderful job of giving a voice and a life to each character, especially the flamboyant Adam. You can find both the audio book, on CD and on cassette, and the book format at your library.

“Dad,” says Henry.  “Tell me about when I was small.”

So begins this soothing story about a young boy’s nightly conversations with his father.  With gentle, rhythmic text and simple, soft illustrations, Sara O’Leary and Julie Morstad transport their readers to the days when Henry was small—so small that he was bathed in a teapot, used a teabag as a pillow, and wore a thimble as a hat.  Join Henry as he conjures images of himself walking his pet ant on a leash and sleeping in one of his Dad’s slippers…“the left one.”

Small but mighty! Lauren Thompson and John Butler’s new book about the smallest chick in the barnyard is a cheerful read to share with our smallest human companions. In this winsome tale, the spunky Wee Little Chick hatches and wastes no time before beginning to explore his new world. On his barnyard adventure, Wee Little Chick meets many curious, new animals that remark about his small size. Undaunted, Wee Little Chick confidently accomplishes the tasks of all little chicks – peeping loudly, finding fat seeds, and running here and there while he literally and figuratively spreads his tiny wings.