Finding the Needle in the Early Reader Haystack

Early Reader Books; a thorn in the side of parents and librarians everywhere.

 

You are elated to find that your little one is beginning to read (great job getting them prepared for reading, by the way)... and then you move across the aisle from the picture books to the early reader collection only to be overwhelmed with the sheer volume and variety of books available. How do you pick the right one?

 

One place to start is our 'Great Books for Kindergarten and First Graders' Booklist, which you can find online here and also in the library with the rest of our booklists.  It provides a list of a variety of picture books you can read to your emerging reader, and a few easy early reader books they can start reading on their own such as those in the Fly Guy series. 

 

One way to help your child make the transition to reading on their own is to read a type of book called We Both Read.  Each book has a series of two-page spreads that begin with a paragraph for a parent to read and end with a word or sentence for the child to read aloud.  This can be very encouraging for emerging readers as they feel comforted that their parent will be reading the bulk of the text.

 

One way that we help you find books that will be easy for your emerging reader to read is with a sticker placed on the spine of the book.  This 'Easy Reading' sticker can be found on several books within the collection and looks like this:

 

Once your child begins reading, the amount of time he or she will spend reading books in the early reader collection on the 2nd floor is small.  They very quickly jump in reading ability and will move on to harder and harder books until they are reading full chapter books.  Even as they become more independent in their reading, don't forget that they still might want to be read to.  There are plenty of chapter books that can be read aloud.  You can try trading off chapters or paragraphs with your child.  It will build their confidence as a reader if they can finish a longer book and encourage their love of reading.

 

If you have any questions or would like any recommendations, don't hesitate to stop in the library and ask.  We are always happy to help!

Eating and Exercising for Your Health

Concerned about your family's health? You should be! I just read an article on the Chicago Tribune's website titled "Fat and Getting Fatter: U.S. Obesity Rates to Soar by 2030." That's a scary headline to read. Earlier this year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released stats about the United States at the moment: that 16.9% of kids age 2-19 are obese. What's the percent for adults? 35.7%. The report projects that by 2030 half of U.S. adults will be be obese (if we don't change our ways). That means children who are 3 now who will be 21 in the year 2030 could be part of that 1/2 percent. Scary!

So what steps can you take? First don't panic. The library has plenty of books about healthy eating, fruits, and vegetables. While it's too late this year, why not plant a vegetable patch in your backyard next spring? Kids have fun watching things grow and the satisfaction of making a meal from what they grew. Pick up a cookbook that will show you how to make delicious, nutritious food.

You can also spend more time being active outside. As I previous wrote in Kidding Around, the CDC recommends 60 minutes of physical activity a day. You can spend that 60 minutes in so many different ways!We have lots of books about outdoor games you can play together, games like tag, hopscotch, and jump rope. My favorite thing is to go for a family walk after dinner.

One of the hardest things to do might be to set the positive example for your children. Let's face it, kids follow adult behavior. And while you might tell them to eat their veggies, if you're not eating them they might wonder why they should. Besides, eating healthy and being active is in all of our best interests right? We all want to be strong, healthy role models for our kids.

Find it at the library! Click on the link to go to our catalog.

Exercise DVDs for Kids

Healthy Eating Books

My Plate and You 

Nutrition Books for Kids

Physical Fitness Books for Kids

Helpful Websites

CDC Childhood Obesity Facts

Fall Free Days at the Chicago Museums!

Are you looking for something fun (and educational) to do with your family on a fall weekend?  Take advantage of free days at the museums in Chicago!  A number of museums are offering free days throughout the fall for Illinois residents. Visit Sue the dinosaur at the Field Museum, journey through space at the Adler Planetarium, find Nemo (or his friends) at the Shedd Aquarium, climb aboard the Pioneer Zephyr at the Museum of Science and Industry, or travel wherever your imagination takes you at the Chicago Children's Museum.  Click on the links above to view the free days at the Chicago museums this fall.

If the hustle and bustle of the city is too much for you, you can always check out a free Museum Adventure Pass for suburban museums at the library. View the list of museums available and then visit the 2nd floor information desk to check out your free museum pass.

Heading into Hispanic Heritage Month

National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated September 15-October 15 each year, a time frame that is historically significant for the claiming of independence of many Latin American countries. This year's theme is "Many Backgrounds, Many Stories...One American Spirit." You can read more about the nationwide celebration from the Library of Congress web site. Here in the Youth Services Department, we will commemorate the occasion by offering a display of books, music, and other materials that celebrate language, culture, people, places, and history.

My favorite way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month is to cook (and eat). I have a great recipe for empanadas (stuffed pastry) with a filling ground beef, onions, red peppers, green olives, raisins, hard-boiled egg, and seasoning. I buy my dough in packages of what are called discos (pre-cut circles of dough) and I tuck the beef filling inside, bake, and...tan bueno! Empanadas with different fillings are traditional in many countries around the world.

I will be traveling to Mexico at the beginning of October, and I look forward to sharing stories in both English and Spanish with my young niece, now almost two years old. It gives me an opportunity to brush up on my Spanish language skills, something I find extremely useful as I prepare to perform our Drop-in Dual-Language Storytime in Spanish and English this fall. One of my favorite stories in English that we also happen to have in Spanish is Knuffle Bunny, by Mo Willems. It's Spanish counterpart is El Conejito Knuffle, which I like to pronouce El Conejito "Ke-new-flay" because I think Mo would find it funny.

I will be celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by sampling a variety of foods from different backgrounds, traveling to new places, and sharing many stories.

How will you be celebrating?

The School Bus is Coming!

What happened to make the little broom miss the school bus?

She overswept.

You may (or may not) think that was a funny joke, but riding the school bus is actually serious business. Many students rely on the bus as a safe mode of transportation to school. Your child's school has rules for school bus safety, and Illinois law requires that students practice school bus evacuation each year. The drills happen on school property with the bus driver and school staff.

As your child's first teacher, you may want to talk to your child about bus safety. Staying Safe on the School Bus by Lucia Raatma could help with that conversation.

As a driver, it is also important to make sure you understand the rules of the road to keep children safe. The complete 2012 Illinois Rules of the Road publication is available at the Illinois Secretary of State's website, but here are a few reminders.

When approaching a marked school zone between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., on days when school is in operation and children are present, a driver must discontinue wireless/cell phone use, reduce speed to 20 mph, and stop and yield the right-of-way to any children or adults in the crosswalk area.

You must stop before meeting or overtaking a school bus loading or unloading passengers on a two-lane roadway. The bus driver will flash amber and red lights, then extend stop signal arm. You must then come to a complete stop. You must remain stopped until the stop signal arm is no longer extended and the flashing lights are turned off or the driver signals you to pass. Your driver’s license or vehicle registration will be suspended for three months and you will pay a minimum $150 fine if you are convicted of illegally passing a stopped school bus.

Adam's Parting Gift:Great Children's Stories for Adults

As Adam prepares to leave us to move on to the next phase of his professional life, I thought it would be nice to post his list of great picture books for adults.  We hope you enjoy!

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes is the classic tale of a little girl whose pride and joy is her unique name: Chrysanthemum. In a situation anyone can relate to, Chrysanthemum's elation is quickly shattered by relentless teasing from her classmates during the first days of school. As it is an uplifting tale, Chyrsanthemum eventually overcomes the taunts of her peers and learns to celebrate the things that make her most special.

 

I Can Hear the Sun is a lovely tale by celebrated children's author Patricia Polacco. Lake Merritt is a place for many unwanted souls, including Fondo, a young orphan boy who lives at a nearby state home. During his days wandering the lakefront, Fondo befriends the park's lonely keeper, Stephanie Michele. While caring for the lake's flock of geese, the pair explain how it takes a very special person to be able to hear the sun.

Have you ever had a bad day? A really really bad day? Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a tale nearly four decades old, yet just as relatable today as when it was originally published in 1972. Bad days can make us so sad that we wish we could go to a place where terrible things never ever happen. But all bad days eventually come to an end. Help ease your own troubles by following Alexander through the misery, atrocity, and comedy of his very, very bad day.

I chose Duck for President because watching the news media these days can sometimes be a little disheartening. Duck for President is a hilarious tale by Doreen Cronin of a lowly blue collar duck who becomes tired of a hard life of manual labor on the farm, and decides to make a change. Pick up this story for a bit of innocent political humor, and vote duck for a kinder, gentler farm.

 

Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? is one of the lesser read Dr. Seuss titles. In classic Seussical style, take a moment to realize that when you think things are bad, when you start to get mad, you're really quite lucky! Some people are much more...oh ever so much more...oh, muchly much-much more unluckier than you!

Summer Volunteer Wrap Up

Now that Summer Reading Club is over we can take a huge deep breath--aaahh! Summer Reading Club is the most exciting time for our department, but it can also be the most tiring. However we have a huge help to us--our amazing teen volunteers!

We had 59 absolutely amazing, dedicated volunteers this summer. They range from 7th grade to high school seniors. They went through training to learn how to sign up kids using our new computer system. They had 2 hour shifts that they came to each week, ready to get kids excited about reading. They helped out at programs, refilled the book cart, and brought tons of enthusiasm and energy to our floor.

We celebrated our volunteers at our end of the summer party on Wednesday. Domino's donated delicious pizza and Potbelly's gave us fantastic sandwiches to feed our hungry volunteers. The teens got a chance to celebrate themselves as we congratulated them on a job well done. All our teens did an incredible job but we did pass out some awards to a few teens who went above and beyond, were extra enthusiastic, or were our super smiley volunteers. We honestly can't thank them enough!!

If you think your teen might be interested in helping out next year for Summer Reading, applications will go out in April and you can always check on the Kidding Around blog for a post announcing our call for volunteers.

If your teen is looking for service credit hours for school this year, they can still be a volunteer in the Youth Services department! Applications will go out on September 1st. Teens have to be in grades 6th-12th and have to be able to commit to doing 8 hours total (not in one day of course!). There's different jobs to be done depending on the needs of the department, but they can range from: folding brochures, making craft samples, assisting at programs, and general cleaning.

Want to know more about the volunteer program? You can (or better yet, have your teen) call us at the library. Our number is 847.376.2839 and we'd love to answer your questions.

Thanks again to our terrific teens! We hope that you guys decide to share your talents with us again next summer!