Newbery and Caldecott awards 2008

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 Programs

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.

Best interactive software

Great interactive software for kids announced

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.

Snapshot Adventures: Secret of Bird Island. Large Animal Games. http://www.largeanimal.com. All ages.

http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/december2007/interactive07.htm