We wish people a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and peace during the holiday season.
Drop in during the vacation week to do some crafts as we are going to empty our closets and provide a variety of crafts that you can enjoy.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ... I took a quick nap.
I suddenly got up by a “TERRIBLE” sound. I saw it was dark. I said to my mom and dad, “GET UP!!!” “I need to tell you something! Can I put on my Halloween dress?”
My mom said, “Ummm, well, it's not that dark to be in your Halloween dress, but, it's almost, so, it's O.K.”
I said, “YES, BINGO!!!”
So I put on my Halloween dress and, put all my jewelery to go with it. I am almost a witch! I also put on matching shoes to go with my witch costume. I step down the stairs and went outside. I felt the fresh air blowing when I was outside. I yelled, “ DAD, MOM, NIKITA, KEVIN it's time” Dad and mom (only) came running thinking I got hit by a “BIG, HUGE” truck!!!
They said, quickly, “What happened?”
I said, “What are you talking about? I am totally O.K!! I was just screaming because I wanted you to come outside to go trick-or-treating with me!”
My mom replied, “OH WAIT!!!,” don't forget your flashlight! It's dark I tell you! “VERY”!!! I ran in and got my flashlight, and strolled back outside.
My dad said, “Don't forget to get your Halloween necklace! Remember?”
So I ran and got my Halloween necklace and went back outside. So my dad, my mom, my sister, my brother and me all went trick-or-treating finally! My sister was Harry Potter, my brother was a Transformer, my mom was an Angel, my dad was a Mad Scientist and I was a friendly witch! So we all went trick-or- treating finally. We went to a lot of houses! It was so much fun after all!
When we came back home, we directly went upstairs. We changed and brushed our teeth and we all got to watch a movie. The movie was Madagascar and it was awesome! When the songs came we all sang with it! When the movie finished, we all went upstairs. I turned on the nightlight and tip-toed back to my bed. When I was in my bed, I could hear everybody snoring out loud! It was funny. I tucked myself in and went to sleep, I was sleeping finally. When I sleep the moon grows pale behind the trees. I had the best day ever.
Written by Ami Shalabh
3rd grade
Spring Street
Thank you, Nikita, for sending this seasonal poem.
Christmas
White Snow
Falling slowly
No school
Happy times
Christmas tree
Lighting up
Very bright
Red, Greeen
Blue, White
Warm, Cozy
Plush blanket
In kitchen
Mom's fruitcake
yummy, yummy
Sitting down
Stuffing Face
All done
go to sleep
Christmas night
Santa tiptoes
In the night
slowly, slowly
Tiptoe light
Keep presents
crinkling paper
Crunchy cookies
Drinking milk
next morning
stocking filled
wrapped presents
Bright and smoooth
Christmas Fun
- Nikita Shalabh
Thanks to all of you who came to the Diwali program. It was heart-warming to see all the kids who came to the library and had fun with the rangoli and the diya-making. You can see the picture of the "toran" (decorative piece to adorn the doorway or entrance to a home) that the kids made. I had as much fun organizing the program as you had participating in it.
Come celebrate Diwali at the library on Monday, Oct 27th from 5 to 6 PM. This program is for children in Grades K-4. We will talk about the spirit of Diwali and make a decorative craft.
It was fun cooking in the library setting. The kids and the moms who came with them seemed to enjoy the Indian dishes that I made. We made mango lassi (smoothie), bhel (a snack made with puffed rice, sev, baked potatoes, onions, tomatoes and cilantro) and peda (a dessert prepared with milk powder, condensed milk and butter.) 
Recipe for bhel
Ingredients:
Puffed rice: 4 cups
Sev: 2 cups
Baking potato: 1
Onion: 1
Tomatoes: 2
Cilantro: a bunch
Sweet and tart sauce:
Pitted dates: 10
Tamarind paste: 2 spoons
Brown sugar: 1/4 cup
Salt to taste
In a large bowl, mix puffed rice and sev. Bake the potato in a microwave. Let it cool and cut into small pieces. Chop onion and tomatoes and add to the puffed rice and sev mixture. Mix in the chopped potato.
To prepare sauce, pour 1 1/2 cups of water in a saucepan; add tamarind paste, chopped dates and sugar. Keep stirring till the sauce thickens and reduces to half. Garnish the bhel with cilantro and serve by topping it off with 2 teaspoons of the cooled sauce.
Mango lassi (Smoothie)
Ingredients:
Fresh mangoes: 2 or 3 (If using fresh mangoes, 1/2 cup of honey or 4 tablespoons of sugar has to be added)
or
1 can of sweetened mango pulp
Plain yogurt: 1 quart
Buttermilk: 1 cup
Crushed ice: 1 cup
Blend mango pulp, yogurt, buttermilk and ice in a blender. Pour in glasses and serve chilled.
You can keep it refrigerated for 24 hours.
Peda 
Ingredients:
Powdered milk: 1 3/4 cup
Sweetened condensed milk: 1 can
Butter: 1 stick
Cardamom powder: 1 teaspoon
Raisins: ½ cup
Pour the condensed milk in a bowl and add milk powder, cardamom powder and butter and whisk them together. Spread on a microwaveable plate and microwave for 2 minutes. Take it out, stir and microwave again for a minute. Let it cool for about 30 minutes and then take a spoonful in your hand and shape into round balls. Flatten each ball and decorate with a raisin in the center. You can keep pedas refrigerated for a week.
Try these recipes and also send in some of your own recipes.
An article submitted by Nikita:
The three major issues that the next president should address in the first term of office is Economy, War and Health Insurance.
Starting with economy including high gas rates, high taxes and less jobs we don't have a stable community. I think the next president should lower taxes and lower gas rates too. Also he should think of more jobs so that we will have a better community through out the whole country. Lots of people don't have jobs so we should think about them first. How will you help them? By helping them get jobs so they have enough money to eat one days worth of food and pay for gas. So I think the next president should take care of that.
Another major issue is Health Insurance. About 47 million people don't have Health Insurance.
Even if they have it they aren't covered fully. Due to these reasons people are reluctant to even go to the hospital when they have major medical problems. Reducing the cost of health insurance is one of the things that the next president should address appropriately.
We also have a war going on. So many soldiers are dying when they could be at home with their family. With all this we barely have enough money to help our economy. This war is so costly, one bomb dropped costs so much money no wonder why our economy is going down. It is important to secure our borders more effectively so that illegal immigrants and terrorists can't sneak in.
These are some major issues we have in our country. If we take care of these issues we will be able to live life peacefully. After all life is so short. As they say “ Live and let others live.”
October is Archaeology month, so we have a whole day devoted to some fun activities related to archaeology. Friday, October 10th is a day off from school, so come in any time between 10 and 4 and participate in a scavenger hunt type game called Could you survive as an archaeologist? This fun-filled activity is for kids in Grades K-4.
There will also be a screening of the movie Spiderwick Chronicles at 11 AM.
We have an Indian cooking workshop on Thursday, October 9th from 5-6 PM. Shrewsbury schools are off the next day, so join us and learn some recipes for easy-to-make dishes. Your supper's taken care of too! This workshop is for children in Grades 4-12.
Did you know that the American Library Association has a week (September 27th - October 4th) designated for Banned Books? This is not to celebrate banned books but to make people aware of the danger of banning books. During this week, children are encouraged to read books that have been banned by some schools and taught to value the freedom to read. Some of the books that have been banned in some places in the US are:
Lois Lowry's The Giver
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's Alice series
Judy Blume's Are you there God? It's me Margaret
Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
J K Rowling's Harry Potter books
Lauren Myracle's TTYL
Would you like to be told what books you can read and what you can't?
We were delighted to welcome a group of homeschoolers and give them a tour of the library. From the youngest member of the group, who was 2 years old to the oldest member, aged 12, they were enthusiastic, curious and eager to learn. The 16 children and their parents learned about the Dewey decimal system, services and programs offered at the library and about the electronic resources accessible from the library website. Hope they had as much fun as we did.
Mitali Perkins, the author of the First Girl books, shared with us her story and gave kids valuable tips on how to create a story that would capture the interest of readers. Her writing workshop was very successful as the pieces that the participants wrote will testify. You can read the creative pieces on our YA blog, http://splatatspl.blogspot.com.
Juvenile and Young Adult author Mitali Perkins will be visiting the library on Saturday, September 20th. She will talk about her books from 11 AM to 12 Noon, there will be lunch from 12 to 1PM and then there will be a Writing workshop from 1PM to 2 PM. Please call to register.
39 Clues
Check out http://the39clues.scholastic.com/
Scholastic is publishing a series of 10 books written by famous authors, the first one titled "Maze of Bones" by Rick Riordan (author of the popular Percy Jackson series). There will be cards with each book that have hints to track down the 39 clues. Learn more about this series by coming to the Children's Room on Tuesday, September 9th at 7 PM. We will raffle a pack of cards and a copy of the first book and a backpack. You could be the lucky winner! Open to kids between the ages of 8 and 11. Please call to sign up.
MCBA Kickoff
Come to the library on Thursday, September 11th, from 4-5 PM to get the list of books nominated for the Massachusetts Children's Book Award. Read at least 5 books and vote for your favorite book in January. Last year's winner was Rick Riordan. Kids in Grades 4 to 6 are eligible to participate and vote.
Author Mitali Perkins visits the library
Juvenile and Young Adult author Mitali Perkins, author of Rickshaw Girl, Monsoon Summer, First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover, and First Daughter: White House rules visits the library on Saturday, September 20th. She will talk about her books from 10 AM to 12:30 and, after lunch, (all those who come in the morning can join in the free lunch) will do a Writing workshop. Please call to sign up.
This is the last week of the Summer Reading Program. Hope you've had as much fun as we did. Here are a few pictures from our Talent show. We were delighted to see that the kids in Shrewsbury are so talented. We will draw the raffles for our prizes on august 11th.
On August 15th, you can come in any time between 10 and 4 to make a rakhi - a wrist band that is a symbol of your love for your siblings and collect your certificate.
Here is a beautiful poem written by Nikita and it is in keeping with our theme of Wild Reads! Thank you, Nikita, for sharing this poem with us.
Jungle
Green plants
Brown Trunks
Beautiful Toucans
Cheerful Monkeys
Frightful Cheetahs
Spotted Jaguars
Colorful Parrots
Slow Turtles
Buzzing Bees
Sleepy Sloths
Moist Air
High Canopy
Sweet Papayas
Soft Grass
Sparkling Waters
Amazon Forest
I’m Coming!
Check out the Summer Reading Program in the Children's Room. Sign-up starts on June 16th. Be sure to be here for the Ice cream Kick-off on June 18th from 6-8 PM. You have a chance to win a $50 Amazon.com gift card!
Log in the time you read every week and get a raffle ticket for exciting prizes. Keeping with the theme of Wild Reads, we have weekly crafts on Mondays from June 30th through August 4th at 2:30 PM; Wild Wednesdays for Grades 3 and 4 on Wednesdays from July 2nd through August 6th from 2-3:30PM; Pre-school story times on Thursdays from July 3rd through August 7that 10:30 AM. No registration is required for any of these programs.
Got special talent? Come flaunt it on Talent Night on July 8th or July 29th at 6:30 PM. Call the Children's Room at 508-842-0081x4 to register.
Wildly Exciting Performers:
Toe Jam Puppets on Thursday June 26th at 2:30 PM. Tickets will be available from June 9th.
Jungle Encounters on Tuesday, July 8th at 2:30 PM. Tickets will be available from June 24th.
Museum of Science presents "Night Sky" on Friday, August 15th. Call beginning August 1st for show times and to reserve tickets.
Gulliver on a WILD Safari:
Gulliver will visit different places in Shrewsbury to get ready for his safari. You will be given clues every week to help you locate Gulliver. You will find a picture of Gulliver wearing a different-colored hat and you can come back to the Children's Room to get an extra raffle ticket.
Follow the paws leading to the Children's Room this summer and have fun reading.
Here are some pictures from the fun-filled vacation activities at the library. You can see kids making the punch tin lanterns, kids milking a cow, kids fishing and a young girl wearing a Frontier costume.
I woke up one morning and I saw that it was snowing. School might be closed! I leaped out of bed and dashed down the stairs as fast as my legs could carry me. I ran down the hall and into my living room. On the sofa I saw my mom flipping through channels with the T.V. remote looking for the news. Finally she found it. On the bottom of the T.V. it said
Then she looked up and saw me. Quickly, she ran into the kitchen to make my breakfast. She put a hot, steaming bowl on the table. I sat in front of it. Inside was warm oatmeal. Apples and cinnamon, yummy, I thought, my favorite. On the top were little cut apples dancing on the water. I took a huge spoonful and popped it in my mouth. I could feel the apples melt in my mouth. And I could taste the cinnamon in my mouth too. After I finished my breakfast I went upstairs to brush.
After I brushed I went downstairs to read a book. The book I was reading was Ella Enchanted. It was about a baby who was put under a curse of obedience. In the story all kinds of things happen. That book has been my favorite ever since. When I was writing the name of the book on my reading log I found out today was February 14th. Valentine’s day! I forgot I had presents for my family.
For my dad I got a calculator that’s blue (his favorite color) and it had a built-in stand so it can stand up by itself. For my mom I got a carrot peeler and the handle looked like a carrot. I got a set of matchbox cars for my brother. And last but not least my sister got a coloring book. They were all wrapped in white gift-wrap with red and pink hearts all over it.
I got the presents and put them on their side tables but for my mom I gave it to her in person. After she got it she carefully opened it to find out what it was. She was looking at it like she had never seen anything like it. She looked up at me with happy tears in her eyes and she squeezed me so tight I could barely breathe. When she let go of me we made breakfast for the rest of my family. Sunny-side up eggs for my brother and sister and an omelet for my dad. My siblings and my dad came downstairs eager to start their breakfast.
After we ate my mom, me, and my siblings went outside to go sledding. We put on our heavy snow pants, our toasty warm gloves, our hats and our keep-the-snow-off boots. I got our long, purple sled and my mom got the circular, blue sled. My mom and me went on the long, purple sled and my sister and brother went on the other sled. After we got on, we pushed ourselves for a head start and off we went.
My brother and sister were out of control. They were going too fast. They were going in the direction of the lamppost in front of our house. And they hit the lamppost. My sister was whimpering and my brother was wailing. My dad came running out with two ice packs. I looked at my siblings. After putting on the ice packs for three minutes or so we put our sled back and went inside.
After drinking some hot cocoa, we played funny games that made us laugh so hard our stomachs hurt.
It was close to nighttime so we ate our dinner, changed into our pajamas, brushed, and got into bed in our usual routine. That night, before I went to sleep, I went through the whole day and grinned. Finally, I went to sleep feeling happy. This was the best snow day ever.
http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/projectspartners/Harley_Song_short.mp3 (short version)
http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/projectspartners/Harley_Song_Full.mp3 (long version)
The fun of having a blog is that it is interactive. The Kids' blog of SPL was created so that the Children's librarians and the children who read the blog can have a dialogue. You are welcome to send your original writings - a poem or story, a book or movie review, or tell us about a new video game or a fun website. You can post a comment about any posting that you see on the blog or send an email to spl.kids@gmail.com with your ideas and suggestions.
I am thrilled to see that Nikita Shalabh has sent an article that she has written about Holi. Thank you, Nikita.
You can write about something unique about your culture or any story that your parents or grandparents have told you. The Big Read in April is all about sharing our immigrant experiences and telling each other stories. So, send us your stories. This blog can be a forum for us to connect.
“Holi” also called the festival of colors, is a popular Hindu festival that is celebrated in spring. It is observed in North India and Nepal but not in South India. In West Bengal, it is known as “Dolyatra (Doljatra)”.
My dad was born in North India and my mom was born in South India. My dad’s family celebrates Holi in a big way. They make lots of sweets like “Gunjia”. Holi takes place over a period of two days. On the first day, bonfires are lit at night to show burning of the demoness “Holika”. On the second day, also know as “Dhulendi”, people spend the whole day throwing colored powder and balloons filled with colored water at each other. The colored powder has a medical significance: the colors are made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi, Bilva, and other medical herbs that have medicinal benefits.
A special drink called “thandai” is made, most of the time containing “bhang”. People invite friends and relatives for potlucks and group celebrations later in the evening.
According to the Hindu calendar, Holi can be on any day but it will always be around late February or early March. This year, in 2008, it occurred on March 22nd.
Nowadays, people fill water guns with colored water and shoot the water at other people.
I discovered this website that is really cool! You can read books (yes, whole books) from the computer screen and in different languages. The site is really user-friendly and you can read the books without being a member. Kids, if you wish to become a member, first check with your parents. There is a FAQ page that parents can look at. You can also access the page by clicking on the URL under the Links column. Let us know if you like this website. Post your comments!
March 17th is St.Patrick's day. We will have a story time at 10:30 AM and crafts that you can make any time during the day.
Holi is the Indian festival of colors. It marks the end of winter and the arrival of spring. Come to the Children's Room at 10:30 AM to listen to some stories and make a craft. You can also come any time during the day to make the craft.
Most of you must already be aware of The Big Read that the whole Shrewsbury community is going to participate in. In the Children's room, we are going to highlight our books about immigration, frontier life in the nineteenth century, and stories of immigrants in the twentieth century. Ask your parents about your family's story - when your ancestors came to the US and their experiences in this land of opportunity.
During the April vacation, we are going to have Frontier Games on April 22nd (Register to play games with one of the Children's librarians at 10:00 AM, 1:00 PM, or 3:00PM) . On April 23rd, learn about Levi Pease, a Shrewsbury resident who was the first mailman. Learn about how people communicated before the age of the Internet. Register to attend this program at 1:30 PM. Crafts day is on April 24th. Register to attend this program at 2:30 and learn to make a punch tin lantern. April 25th is devoted to Frontier chores. Come any time between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM to do some chores. You might even get to milk a cow! We are planning to have a lot of fun during this week and we welcome you to join us.
The Newbery and Caldecott awards were announced by the American Library Association. This year's Caldecott award for the Best Picture Book was a surprise - the award went to Brian Selznick's "Invention of Hugo Cabret" - a book that is not the size of a typical picture book and can be read and appreciated by older readers - especially readers who enjoy graphic novels. The Caldecott Honor went to four books - Ellen Levine's "Henry's Freedom Box," Laura Vaccaro Seeger's "First the Egg", Peter Sis's "The Wall: Growing up Behind the Iron Curtain," and Mo Willem's "Knuffle Bunny Too".
The Newbery Award went to Laura Amy Schiltz's "Good Masters, Sweet Ladies: Voices from a Medieval Village". The Newbery Honor was awarded to Christopher Paul Curtis's "Elijah of Buxton", Gary Schmidt's "Wednesday Wars" and Jacqueline Woodson's "Feathers".
February vacation is from Feb 18th to Feb 22nd. The library will be closed on the 18th for President's Day. On the 19th (Tuesday) we have a special speaker from Wild Birds Unlimited who is going to tell us about Wild Bird Feeding. The activity also includes a craft. On the 20th (Wednesday), Mr. Raindrop returns to the library to talk about water conservation. He will explain the water cycle and kids get to make a terrarium. On the 22nd (Friday), we will have a President's Day craft ready for you that you can make any time between 10 AM and 4 PM.
We also have the usual programs in February - Baby and Me on Tuesdays at 10:30 AM (12th, 19th and 26th), Lunch Bunch on Wednesdays at 11:30 AM (13th, 20th and 27th), and Preschool Storytime on Thursdays at 10:30 AM (14th, 21st and 28th). Our very popular Read to a Dog program is on Feb 9th (Saturday at 9:30 AM) and Feb 23rd (Saturday at 9:30 AM). We have a special craft for Chinese New Year Day which is on Feb 7th. Drop in between 10 AM and 4 PM to make your craft.
CHICAGO - The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has selected its Fall 2007 list of Great Interactive Software for Kids (GISK), which recognizes high-quality computer programs and digital media for children 14 years of age and younger.
The selected products are:
1701 AD. Aspyr Media. http://www.aspyr.com. Ages 10 and up.
Anime Studio. E-Frontier. http://www.e-frontier.com. Ages 10 and up.
Big Brain Academy. Nintendo. http://www.nintendo.com. Ages 6 and up.
Collage Machine. ProtoZone Interactive. http://www.protozone.net. All ages.
Crazy Machines 1.5. Viva-Media. http://www.viva-media.com. Ages 6 and up.
KaleidoDraw. ProtoZone Interactive. http://www.protozone.net. All ages.
Kaleidopix. ProtoZone Interactive. http://www.protozone.net. All ages.
Nancy Drew: The Creature of Kapu Cave. Her Interactive. http://www.herinteractive.com. Ages 10 and up.
Sid Meier's Railroads. Firaxis. http://www.firaxis.com. Ages 6 and up.
