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The entire staff of the Rockville Centre Public Library shared their favorite children's books with me and now they are on display in the children's room. There are dozens of choices from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams to Zen Shorts by Jon J Muth, and everything in between. It got us all talking about books and remembering a lot of the books we read as children or read to our children. In the future we hope to have a display of your favorites!
The 80th Annual Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 24, 2008. Last week, the Oscar nominees were announced and many of the nominated films for best picture are based on best selling novels. Among the titles we suggest you read before the winners are announced next month are:
Atonement by Ian McEwan - a profound and moving exploration of shame, forgiveness and the difficulty of absolution.
Oil by Upton Sinclair (There will be Blood) - follows the relationship of a man from a wealthy California family and his son as they pursue oil and deal with the manipulations of magnates and speculators, socialists, Hollywood tycoons, politicians, etc.
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy - a bleak chronicle of murder, revenge and implacable fate set in 1980 in southern Texas.
Keep your fingers crossed that the writer's strike is settled so we can watch the ceremonies on TV!!
Now is the time to circle the date and make plans to attend the Annual Luncheon of the Friends of the Library on Saturday, February 2 @ 12:30 at the Coral House. This year's guest lecturer, Jane K. Cleland, writes a delighful mystery series entitled The Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries. Ms. Cleland promises an inside look at the antiques appraisal process and explains how she uses her insider info to craft her mysteries!
Tickets are available through Lynn Wright at 678-2469 or through the Friends link on the Library website.
I know I'll be out to lunch on February 2nd! How about you?
While getting ready for work Tuesday morning, I had the radio on, as usual, and heard something that really piqued my interest. Nancy Pearl, a librarian from Seattle and a hero to librarians everywhere, was talking about her list of 'Under-the-Radar' books. Check out this site if you are looking for alternatives to the best sellers. Nancy always has interesting and off-beat suggestions.
Nancy Pearl, our hero ;-)
Everyone knows about the Caldecott and the Newbery Awards, but there are a lot of book awards out there that recognize wonderful children's books every year. If you're looking for something good to read check out the winners of these awards:
Boston Globe – Horn Book Awards
Night and Day...I Get a Kick Out of You...Every Time You Say Goodbye...The music of jazz great Cole Porter will be featured as the the Library proudly presents Cole Porter JAZZ! with The Paul Joseph Quartet on Sunday, January 27 at 2 pm. Mark the date and join us for an afternoon of inspiring jazz by Mr. Joseph on piano, guitarist Frank Barbera, Bassist Arthur Sommerville, and drummer Mike Corn.
Long Island Reads is a program in which people in Nassau and Suffolk come together to read the same book, participate in discussions of the selection and enjoy related events in public libraries. The program takes place every year in April during National Library Week.
The 2008 LI Reads selection is Aloft, Chang-rae Lee's story of a retired Long Island widower/businessman reflecting on the time he has spent in his small plane to avoid engaging with those around him down here on earth. The author will talk about his book at the Farmingdale Library on April 12th. Free tickets will be available - please contact the RVC library in March for information on how to obtain tickets. Our discussion will be held on Monday, April 14th at 12:00 p.m. at the library. Please stop in to pick up your copy of the book and join our discussion during National Library Week. Hope to see you there.
The tv show looks pretty good considering it is not a big budget film. The new girl terminator is an actress from serenity/firefly series.
Today the American Library Association announced the winners of the Newbery Award and the Caldecott award.
The Newbery Award went to:
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
There were also three Newbery Honor Books:
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
The Caldecott Award went to:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Four Caldecott honor books were named:
Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Ellen Levine
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems
Several other book awards were also announced today, including the Michael L. Printz Award for young adult literature, which was won by The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean. The Coretta Scott King Book Award recognizes an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults. Christopher Paul Curtis won for Elijah of Buxton. The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished book for beginning readers went to There Is a Bird on Your Head! by Mo Willems, with four honor books including: First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. For a full list of all the awards and winners check the ALA website. Congratulations to Rockville Centre resident Laura Vaccaro Seeger on her honors!
The holidays are past and a Long Island winter looms! Come out and enjoy the program schedule at the Library and beat the wintertime blahs! Next week's schedule includes a new lunch time knitting group called Knit 1, Purl 2 with instructor Paul Picow. Paula will help you begin a new project or provide advice on a current one if you prefer. beginners are welcome; just bring along a pair of #13 needles and some "chunky" yarn. Paula will be available from 12-1 on January 14th & 28th and again on February 11th & 25th. Feel free to bring a bag lunch!
On Tuesday, January 15th at 7pm, Receiver of Taxes Donald Clavin will be available to answer questions regarding property taxes in Nassau County. If you would like to grieve your assessment this informative session will prove a valuable tool.
We round out the wek on Thursday, January 17th with a presentation by Merilee Kaufman and Jerome Coopersmith entitled Great Women in History(or should it be herstory?). Come and join this dynamic duo for an engaging afternoon. The show begins at 1pm in the Large Community Room.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Ever wonder where this line is from? Check out the 100 Best First Lines of Novels as chosen by the editors of American Book Review. You'll enjoy seeing if you can match the opening line with the novel. The first two are pretty easy but it gets tougher as you down the list.
BTW, the answer is Anna Karenina!
This past Monday librarians from around Nassau County gathered to discuss some of the best picture books of 2007 and then we voted for our favorites in a Mock Caldecott election. The "winner" was The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.
There were also three "honor" books: Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems, Old Penn Station by William Low and Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson. The Caldecott Award is given to a book for exceptional illustrations. The real Caldecott and Newbery Award winners and Honor Books will be announced Monday, January 14.
The Mother/Daughter Book Discussion group will be reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret for its January 29 meeting.
There's a new monster movie coming out!!!! The movie is Cloverfield. More info to come!!!
MASTERPIECE THEATRE has great news for Jane Austen fans: PBS’ British drama series will broadcast adaptations of all of Austen’s six novels, plus a new drama based on her life. It’s the first time in television history that her books have been broadcast as a complete collection. The broadcast schedule is:
January 13 - Persuasion
January 20 - Northanger Abbey
January 27 - Mansfield Park
February 3 - Miss Austen Regrets - a new drama based
on Austen's own bittersweet love life.
February 10, 17 & 24 - Pride and Prejudice
March 23 - Emma
March 30 & April 6 - Sense and Sensibility
Our Mother~Daughter Book Club (for girls in grade 7 and up and their Moms) is reading 'Pride and Prejudice' on January 14th at 7:30 p.m. here at the library. Join the book club and enjoy a lively discussion and light snacks.
We strongly encourage everyone to read Miss Austen's wonderful novels and watch the shows to see how they compare and contrast. Pick up a complimentary Masterpiece Theatre bookmark with the dates of the shows here at the library.