I am starting to, "turn over," our AV collection to include more DVDs and weed out some of those pesky VHS tapes! This issue picks up where the last one left off and highlights some new AV materials in our library. Also, it showcases some new and noteworthy books added to the library within the last few months.
Reading Rainbow DVDs
*How Much is a Million?
*If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
*The Wall
*Perfect the Pig
*Ox-Cart Man
*Little Nino's Pizzeria
*Amazing Grace
*The Purple Coat
*The Paper Crane
*Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport
*Desert Giant: The World of the *Saguaro Cactus
*Bugs
*Berlioz the Bear
*Barn Dance
Other Videos (all DVDs!)
*Swimmy...and More Classics by Leo Lionni
*So You Want to Be President?...and More Stories to Celebrate American History
*Mr. Popper's Penguins
*Follow the Drinking Gourd
*Making the Thirteen Colonies (3 video set: The Middle Colonies, New England Colonies and Southern Colonies)
*Where the Wild Things Are...and More Stories by Maurice Sendak
*King Lear
*All About Health and Hygiene
*All About Magnets
*All About Electricity
Books
Fireflies at Midnight by Marilyn Singer (Grades preK-4)
A robin cheerfully greets the day at dawn.
A horse nibbles grass under the heat of the midday sun.
A rabbit stands still, disappearing into the grass at dusk.
As evening falls, a frog tells the world that he's the king of the pond.
During one summer day, these and other creatures tell their tales, celebrating their ordinary -- but extraordinary -- lives in verse. Young readers will be entranced by the many voices created by renowned poet Marilyn Singer. They will be encouraged to look more closely at the surprising world around them -- morning, noon, and night. ~Amazon
The Sea Chest by Toni Buzzeo (Grades 1-4)
Aunt Maita tells her great-grandniece about her wonderful but lonely young years as the only child of a lighthouse keeper and his wife on a rocky Maine island. Then comes a terrible storm that frightens the family and bodes disaster for any ship at sea. The following day, Maita and her father find a bundled mattress, obviously washed ashore from a sunken ship. Unfolding it, they discover a leather sea chest with a baby inside, accompanied by a note from her despairing parents. The family adopts the child and they raise her as their own. Together Maita and Seaborne spend their days together-first on the island and later on the mainland where they live close by. At the end, readers learn that Aunt Maita, now an old woman, is telling the story to her niece as the child is waiting for her own adopted sister to arrive from overseas. ~Barbara Buckley, School Library Journal
Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea by Tony Johnston (Grades 2-6)
What’s a California miner to do when gold dust sifts right out of his holey pockets? With such a raggedy wardrobe, he may as well be mining in the vanilla (that is, his birthday suit)! Good thing Levi Strauss is out west, ready with his needle and a head full of bright ideas. With some quick thinking, quicker stitching, and handy arithmetic, Levi keeps all the gold rushers clothed—and becomes a modern American hero. A Wild West tall tale, Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea celebrates creativity, innovation, and the ubiquitous item that fills the closets of grateful jeans wearers worldwide.~Amazon
Hound Dog True by Linda Urban (Grades 4-6)
Do not let a mop sit overnight in water. Fix things before they get too big for fixing. Custodial wisdom: Mattie Breen writes it all down. She has just one week to convince Uncle Potluck to take her on as his custodial apprentice at Mitchell P. Anderson Elementary School. One week until school starts and she has to be the new girl again. But if she can be Uncle Potluck’s apprentice, she’ll have important work to do during lunch and recess. Work that will keep her safely away from the other fifth graders. But when her custodial wisdom goes all wrong, Mattie’s plan comes crashing down. And only then does she begin to see how one small, brave act can lead to a friend who is hound dog true. ~Amazon
King of the Mound by Wes Tooke (Grades 4-6)
Nick was going to be a star baseball player, no doubt about it. People for miles around talked about the twelve-year-old boy with the golden arm. And then Nick is diagnosed with polio—a life-threatening disease in the 1930s. Everyone is devastated, especially Nick’s father, who copes by closing off from his son. When Nick finally leaves the hospital he wants nothing more than to get back in the game, but he seems to be the only one who thinks it’s possible. But after he begins working for Mr. Churchill, the owner of a minor league team, Nick meets Satchel Paige, arguably the best player in baseball. Satchel faces obstacles of his own—his skin color prevents him from joining the major leagues—and he encourages Nick to overcome the odds and step out of the dugout. ~Amazon
Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park (Grades 4-6)
Park opens this thoroughly researched novel in Brooklyn with the 1951 baseball season half gone. Nine-year-old Maggie likes to hang out at the fire station, where she listens to Dodgers games with the firemen. The new guy, Jim, teaches Maggie how to score a game, and after Jim is drafted and sent to Korea, Maggie writes him letters. When she learns that he has been traumatized and sent home unresponsive and unable to function on his own, Maggie works on a plan to bring Jim back to himself and his old life. To her credit, Park doesn’t make Maggie’s goal seem easy or even realistic. The involving story spans several years with only a glimmer of hope for Jim’s recovery. Still, readers will find plenty to root for as they get to know determined, persistent Maggie, who feels that the first words she ever learned must have been “Wait till next year.” ~Carolyn Phela, Booklist
Come to the library and check them out today!
