Nancy Drew, Girl Detective

Happy Birthday Nancy Drew! This week our favorite teen heroine turns 80, but really she doesn't look a day over 16. I remember when I got my first hardcover copies of Nancy Drew books. They were bright and shiny, with colorful yellow on the spine and that familiar flashlight. I felt adult. Nancy Drew was everything I wanted to be. She had two wonderful best friends, Bess and George, boyfriend Ned, and a loving father. And she had a blue convertible! Add to the fact she was clever, resourceful, and could take care of herself in any situation, well, Nancy Drew was IT.

It's great to know that Nancy Drew is a character that has lasted through the years. The Youth Services Department just added a new Nancy Drew series to our Series collection. These Nancy Drew Girl Detective place Nancy in contemporary situations. For example there's the Identity Mystery Trilogy. In each of the three books Nancy investigates a group of cyberbullies, reaching a thrilling conclusion in the third book. Start the trilogy off with Book 1, Secret Identity.

For younger readers there's Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew. Book 1, Sleepover Sleuths is about a doll that disappears at a sleepover. Can Nancy crack her first case? Maybe with a little help from the reader!

For readers looking for something a little different, there are Nancy Drew graphic novels. The Haunted Dollhouse features a dollhouse where the dolls are acting out crimes that soon happen in real life. Nancy sees a doll version of herself being murdered. Will she be able to stop the culprit in time?

YES! For me, that was always one of the best parts of Nancy Drew. No matter how scary the situation got, Nancy always got her man (or woman). So stop by the 2nd floor and pick up some Nancy Drew books for your child (or yourself). And don't worry: we still have classic Nancy Drew. In fact, some of them still have those comforting yellow covers.

Click here to see all books by Carolyn Keene, author of the Nancy Drew stories.

Museum Passes for May

Want to know what is NEW with the Museum Pass Program? We have got your May fun right here!

Brookfield Zoo Events
May 1 and 2, Party for the Planet featuring the ChicaGO Green Expo
May 8, Giant Bear Wilderness Opening

Chicago Botanic Garden
May 15 and 16, A Bloomin' Festival and Malott Japanese Garden Children's Festival

Elgin Public Museum
May 5, Climate Change Lecture and Discussion Series

Graue Mill and Museum
May 2, Book Signing by Glennette Turner, author of The Underground Railroad in Illinois and other titles for children and Darwin Walton, author of What Color Are You?

Look on the blog each month for the upcoming special events at area museums! Stop into the library to pick up your museum pass (limit one per family per week).

Eyjafjallajökull

Eyjafjallajökull.

Who would have thought that word would become an important part of our vocabulary? Perhaps you think it is easier to use her nickname, E-15. Either way, this Icelandic volcano has certainly been in the news.

Many children are interested in volcanoes (and not just the kind you make with baking soda and vinegar).

We have some great new books that you can explore with your children. Volcanoes from the Pebble Plus Earth in Action series is a great introduction for the youngest reader in your family.


For a beginning independent reader, try Volcanoes! from the National Geographic Readers series.

Why Do Volcanoes Erupt? does a great job of answering that question, and it includes instructions for making your own erupting volcano.


Violent Volcanoes includes case studies of the eruptions of several volcanoes around the world.


Volcanoes from the Real World Math: Geography series includes opportunities for older children to make math connections while learning about volcanoes.


Be the first to check out these new books, and let us know what you thought was interesting about them.

New Fish!

Introducing our newest additions to our salt walter fish tank: the Koran Angel and Foxface Butterfly fish!

Come visit us and see these new fish and their other marine animal friends in our beautiful tank.


If you are interested in having a pet fish, read about caring for them in these books:Tropical Fish, Me and My Pet Fish and Fish.

Inspired by the beauty of our fish? Try you hand at drawing them and other sea creatures using the tips from Quick Draw: Under the Sea.

Storytime Sharing: You CAN raise a reader!

We love sharing age appropriate books, songs and rhymes from our storytimes. We strive to teach the six early literacy skills at storytimes and offer suggestions for how you can reinforce these skills at home.

This week in Toddler Storytime we learned about gardens, bugs and butterflies! We read the book, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs by Bob Barner which introduced us to daddy long legs, roly poly bugs and more. This book emphasized the pre-reading skill of vocabulary which is knowing the names of things (also of emotions, concepts, and ideas). Later on this skill will help your child understand what he/she read and to recognize words he/she tries to sound out.

We also read Big Yellow Sunflower by Frances Barry and were in awe with the surprise sunflower that appeared before our eyes as we turned the pages.

Songs can bring wonderful excitement, encourage engagement and memory retention. Try to sing to your child/children every day! Click on the song titles we've danced along to and view instructions and even listen to the song.

With a paper butterfly in our hand, we continued the fun by singing the rhyme,

Do you have a butterfly, a butterly, a butterfly?
Do you have a butterfly, then place it on your [body part]!

Paper butterflies flutered onto elbows, shoulders, foreheads, cheeks, wrists and ears!

We also learned that a seed needs rain and sunshine to grow and reinforced this concept through the rhyme, I'm a Little Seed from Tiny Tunes by Carole Peterson, with each child placing a raindrop on the flannelboard.

I'm a little seed in the dark, dark groud
Curl up on the floor on your knees, tuck arms in
Out comes the sun, yellow and round.
Sit up, outstretch atms above head
Down comes the cool rain, soft and slow,
Wiggle fingers as hands move downward like the rain
And UP! the seed begins to grow!
Sretch up tall or stand, hands reaching for the sky

Next came sining to Shoo Fly! from Dancing Feet vy Carole Peterson. That fly listened and left the storytime room!
We all enjoyed moving our colorful scarfs up and down and all around while listening to Flitter Flutter from The Second Line by Johnette Downing.

Our drop in Toddler Storytime continue on Thursdays at 10:30 and drop in Preschool Storytimes continue on Tuesdays at 10:30 for the month of April.

Dinner!

Dinner doesn't have to be a four-letter word. After all of the rushing around you did today, toting kids back and forth, working hard, etc. dinner shouldn't be the biggest hassle of the day. Try looking at these websites for ideas on kid-friendly (and easy) recipes for success.

Parents magazine Recipe Center

All Recipes - Kid Friendly Recipes

Family Fun Recipes

If those don't strike your fancy, you can always stop into the library for some great recipes to try making alongside your family members.

Cool Lunches for Kids to Make and Take


Cooking With Kids


Yum-o! Cooking with Kids (Rachel Ray)

Books are Golden

Do you remember reading the Little Golden Books as a child? This significant series made illustrated books for children available for the low price of 25 cents. The books were introduced in 1942 during World War II, and are still available today.

Some of my favorites from the library's collection are The Poky Little Puppy, Scuffy the Tugboat, and Tawny Scrawny Lion.

After reading these books you might want to take a trip to visit one of our Museum Adventure Pass partners, the Lake County Discovery Museum to see a special exhibit called Golden Legacy. Sixty pieces of original art from popular stories will be on exhibit through August 22, 2010. After you look at the art, you can step into several classic Golden Book stories with some hands-on activities.

I hope you enjoy learning about the history of children's books. Be sure to stop at the Youth Services Desk for more information about our Museum Adventure Pass program.

Cyber-bullying

It's no secret that kids can be cruel to other kids. Bullying is not a recent problem. However in recent years cyber-bullying has become a new issue for parents to deal with.

What is cyber-bulling? Cyber-bullying utilizes the new forms of technology that kids are familiar with. These technologies include: text messaging, instant messaging, You Tube, social media websites such as Facebook and MySpace, and photos taken from cell phones.

To help parents, the District 62 Foundation will be having a free presentation on Tuesday April 6th from 7-8:30 pm in the Algonquin Middle School Gymnasium, located at 767 E. Algonquin Road in Des Plaines. The presenter will be John Halligan, an expert on the topics of bullying, cyber-bullying, and teen depression. For more information, please call 847-824-8070 or click here to read more about the presentation. To learn more about the presenter, click here to visit his website.

You Have 6 Weeks....

With the growing interest in recycling, reusing, and disciplined family spending, many residents are seeking events and opportunities that are good for the environment and affordable. The Des Plaines Annual Community Garage Sale falls under all of those categories.

Get all of your gently used items together and have a garage sale. The $6 fee for the permit is being waived for that weekend only, so you have nothing to lose (except your junk)! Look here for more information on this great event.

Don't have enough items to have a full sale? Gather a few friends or family members from other communities together and do a joint sale. Or, have a sale to benefit a local charity or organization. Do you know a Girl Scout Troop in the area? Suggest they have a garage sale to supplement their 'Cookie Money'.

To help you in your endeavor, we have a few book suggestions from the Adult Services collection to help:

Garage Sale Magic, by Michael Williams
Once Upon a Garage Sale - from fairy tale to reality, by Lisa Rogovin

Any way you look at it, this will be a great set of weekends, and definitely be sure to drive around looking for bargains!