Book Buzz: June 2009 Selections

Lucky Breaks by Susan Patron
Newbery-winner Patron brings us back to Hard Pan in this sequel to “The Higher Power of Lucky.” Knot-tier, Lincoln, and the young genius, Miles, are fine, but Lucky needs a girl her own age to befriend. When Paloma shows up, Lucky couldn’t be more thrilled! But will Lucky be able to juggle all of the important people in her life?
-Meghan (J fiction)

The Snow Spider and Emlyn’s Moon by Jenny Nimmo from The Magician’s Trilogy, Books 1 & 2

In the first book, on his 9th birthday, Gwyn Griffiths learns he may be a magician. His grandmother tells him about his ancestors and gives him gifts to help him learn about his powers. He learns about his powers in this book and helps to find his missing sister. The second book focuses on his best friend’s sister, Nia, who always believed he had magical powers when no one else did. When Nia moves into town and meets a new boy, Emlyn, she doesn’t understand why she isn’t allowed to speak to him. Nia and Gwyn help discover why.
-Kristin (J fiction, audio)

Always Lots of Heinies at the Zoo by Ayun Halliday

Elephants have trunks and zebras have stripes. Monkeys have tails and tortoises have shells. But there’s one thing all of the animals at the zoo have: heinies! This book is a hilarious ode to animal bottoms of all shapes and sizes. Kids will laugh at the illustrated rear views of all the animals in the zoo.

-Alia (Picture book)

You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! by Jonah Winter

This picture book biography is about one of the greatest professional baseball pitchers of all time. Koufax is Jewish and a left-hander. This is a simple story of his brief and turbulent pitching career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The book also includes a glossary of baseball terms, which could be very useful for a rookie to the sport. The author writes a great introductory story to a piece of baseball history.

-Kristin (J biography)

Raising a Reader: Part I

One of the missions of Cherry Hill Public Library is to promote early literacy. Early literacy is what children know about reading before they can actually read. Early literacy can start from the time a child is born. Chanting nursery rhymes, singing songs, and reading stories can help develop language skills as well as comfort and entertain even the youngest child. Big brothers and big sisters can help too. They can act as reading buddies, sharing books with younger children. Here are a few of our favorite board books for sharing with very young children. This is just the beginning of our list. Check back, there's more to come!

P AHL

Each Peach Pear Plum: An “I Spy” Story
by Janet Ahlberg

P BAK

Big Fat Hen
by Keith Baker

P BAN

Ten, Nine, Eight
by Molly Bang

P BAR

My Car
by Byron Barton

P BOY

Moo, Baa, La La La
by Sandra Boynton

P BRO

Goodnight Moon
by Margaret Wise Brown

P CAM

Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book
by Rod Campbell

P COU

Maisy Drives
by Lucy Cousins

P FRA

Hush Little Baby: A Folk Song with Pictures
by Marla Frazee

P FOX

Ten Little Fingers and ten Little Toes
by Mem Fox

Website Wednesday: Young Writers

As May rolls to an end and June begins, the CHPL children's staff starts to plan for summer reading and we want to give our blog readers a sneak peek at the theme. This summer will be all about how to "Be Creative" at the library. So this Website Wednesday we present links for young creative writers. Get writing...be creative...and have fun!

Story Starters
Need an idea to get yourself started? Download these story starters written by great authors like Mary Pope Osborne and Lemony Snicket.

Kids-Space
A great site for young writers of all ages. Even the youngest authors can create stories, by using a mix of graphics and words.

KidPub
The largest collection on the internet of books and stories by kids, for kids.

Wacky Web Tales
Fill in the blanks to create a wacky take of your own. These Wacky Web Tales are geared for grades 3 and above.

Pictures from Cherry Picks

Cherry Picks 2009: And The Winners Are...

And the winners are:

Best Picture Book: “The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!” by: Mo Willems

Best Easy Reader: “Hooray for Fly Guy” by: Tedd Arnold

Best Juvenile Fiction: “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules” by: Jeff Kinney

Director’s Pick: “The Lincolns” by: Candace Fleming

Thank you to everyone who voted and check back soon for more pictures from the celebration.

Fancy Nancy Soiree

Ooh La La! Here are the picture from our Fancy Nancy Soiree. We had so much fun listening to Fancy Nancy stories and getting all dolled up. Don't we look fancy?



Looking for more Fancy Nancy? Click here to explore, play, and party with Nancy at the Harper Collins Fancy Nancy site.

Website Wednesdays: Volcanoes!

Interested in Volcanoes? Maybe you've read The Magic Tree House: Vacation Under the Volcano and want to learn more or maybe you just found out that there are 169 active volcanoes in the United States. If you want to know more about these lava spewing mountains check out these websites:

Volcano Information from the USGS

Find frequently asked questions about volcanoes, online movies and volcano cams.

PBS Savage Earth

Learn about volcanoes on Earth and on other planets and watch video of a volcanic eruption.

National Geographic on Volcanoes

Learn about the science behind volcanoes, watch video of the Mount St. Helens eruption, and virtually fly through Mount St. Helens using 3-D animation compiled from satellite data. This site is very informative but may be a little intense for very young volcano explorers!

Virtual Volcano Field Trips from Oregon Sate University

Join the Oregon State's VW team along with volcanologists and adventurers from around the world as they explore and photograph the worlds volcanic centers.

Discovery Kids: Volcano Explorer

Find out what's going on inside of a volcano and then build your own virtual volcano!

The Magic Treehouse: Night of the Ninjas

For May's Magic Tree House program we traveled back to ancient Japan and made some delicious candy sushi. Check out our amazing creations!

Meet Our Guest Podcasters

Check out our guest podcasters at work! Here's some pictures of our Create A Podcast program. We sure had fun and we want to thank all the participants for the wonderful job they did.

Audio Book Buzz: The Pigeon Wants a Puppy

A Book Buzz podcast by CHPL kids!

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Audio Book Buzz: Dinah's Dream

A Book Buzz podcast by guest contributer Rachel.

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Audio Book Buzz: Animorphs

A Book Buzz podcast by guest contributer David.

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Audio Book Buzz: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

A Book Buzz podcast by guest contributer Samantha.

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Cherry Picks 2009: Meet the Nominees (Part 3)

Meet our Cherry Picks nominees for Best Juvenile Fiction and don't forget to vote for your favorite in the library or online!

The Seer of Shadows by Avi
In nineteenth century New York, 14 year old Horace is an apprentice to a photographer who creates fake pictures of his clients' deceased loved ones. But when a real ghost begins appearing in photographs, things get really creepy. If you're looking for a good ghost story, look no further!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney
Jeff Heffley has not had a good summer vacation. There's one event in particular he'd like to forget all about. Can he stop his older brother from telling everyone his most humiliating secret? You'll have to read to the second book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series to find out!

Savvy by Ingrid Law
Mibs Beaumont’s 13th birthday is bound to be extraordinary; it is the day when her “savvy” will make itself known. Her older brothers can create electricity and cause hurricanes. What special talent will Mibs be graced with? Hopefully her savvy will help save Poppa, who is in the hospital following a terrible accident. Mibs is determined to make it to the hospital in time to find out. Join Mibs and a great cast of characters on a fantastic adventure. I hope you don’t mind riding on a big pink bus!
Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park
Maggie lives in New York City and loves baseball! Her world revolves around it. It is the early 1950’s and she spends her time between the firehouse, where her Dad used to work, school, and her house listening to Brooklyn Dodger games. A ‘new guy’ starts at the firehouse, Jim, and he is a Giants fan—the Dodgers’ biggest rival. Their friendship grows when he teaches her how to properly score a baseball game. If you like baseball, you will love this book. See how their friendship evolves even when he is sent overseas to fight in Korea.

Clementine's Letter by Sara Pennypacker

Just as soon as Clementine was getting the hang of third grade she learns that her teacher, Mr. D'Matz, is a finalist in a contest for a trip to Egypt. Clementine can't let that happen, so she devises a plan to keep Mr. D'Matz from leaving. But will her idea work? And is it worth ruing her beloved teacher's once-in-a-lifetime chance?

Now that you've met all our nominees, leave us a comment and tell us who you think will win.

Cherry Picks 2009: Meet the Nominees (Part 2)

Meet our Cherry Picks nominees for Best Easy Reader and don't forget to vote for your favorite in the library or online!

Bones and the Math Test by David Adler

Detective Jeffery Bones hates taking math tests and he REALLY hates taking math tests he has forgotten to study for. So when his test paper goes missing he must decide what to do. Will Bones solve this mystery and does he even want to?

Hooray for Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold
Fly Guy is back and this time he's joining Buzz's football team. With simple text and hilarious pictures, Tedd Arnold scores a touchdown with this Easy Reader.

Snow Trucking by Jon Scieszka
What do the trucks of Trucktown do on a snow day? Go out an play of course! This is sure to be a hit with every kid who likes things with wheels.

I Love My New Toy! by Mo Willems
Piggie can't wait to show Elephant his new toy. But trouble arises when Elephant accidentally breaks it. New readers are sure to enjoy this funny book about the importance of friends.

Cherry Picks 2009: Meet The Nominees

Meet our Cherry Picks nominees for Best Picture Book and don't forget to vote for your favorite!

A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker
Poor Bear, he really doesn't like visitors. He even made a sign to keep them away. But one day a little mouse taps on his door and demands to come in. Bear tells him to go away but he just can't seem to get rid of the little guy. Mouse knows that maybe a friend is just what Bear needs. This book is fun to read aloud together and is sure to make you laugh.


The Cow That Laid an Egg by Andy Cutbill
Marjorie the cow is sad because she doesn't have a special talent. The other cows can ride bicycles and do handstands. Then one morning Marjorie does something amazing: she lays an egg! But is the egg really hers? And what do the sympathetic chickens have to to with it all? With humor and warmth this book addresses the meaning of family.

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox
If you're looking for a sweet and gentle book, this is the one for you. Mem Fox's simple rhyming text matches perfectly with Helen Oxenbury's expressive roly-poly babies to create a book that really is a joy to read.

I'm Bad! by Kate McMullan
The Creators of I Stink and I'm Dirty are back with a story about T-Rex with plenty of attitude. But it's going to take more than attitude to catch a good meal. Will this bad boy stay hungry? You'll have to read it to find out!

The Pigeon wants a Puppy! by Mo Willems
Pigeon is back and guess what he wants...a puppy! He really, really, REALLY wants one. Old fans will love the newest addition to the series and readers meeting Pigeon for the first time will make a new friend.

Cherry Picks 2009: Online Voting

Now you can take part in the Cherry Hill Library's Children's Book Awards from home. Just follow the link for Cherry Picks 2009 Online Ballot and choose your favorite Picture Book, Easy Reader, and Juvenile Fiction book from the list. Then join us as we reveal the winners on Wednesday, May 20th at 7 p.m. at the Cherry Hill Public Library. All are invited for music, prizes and light refreshments.

Audio Book Buzz: The City of Ember

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Cherry Picks 2009

Don't miss the chance to vote for the Cherry Hill Library's Children's Book Awards! Ballots will be available May 11-17 at the Youth Services Desk. Stop by and vote for your favorite books. Participants will be entered into a drawing for a prize to be revealed at the Cherry Picks Reception. Hope to see you there!

Cherry Pick Reception

May 20th at 7 p.m.

Join us as we reveal the 2009 winners.

Light refreshments served. No RSVP required.

Conference Center, Lower Level

Book Buzz: Madame Pamplemousse

Madame Pamplemousse and Her Incredible Edibles
by Rupert Kingfisher
Madeleine works in the kitchen of the Squealing Pig, owned by her uncle, Monsieur Lard. Soon Madeleine stumbles upon Madame Pamplemousse’s “Edibles” shop and returns with a pâté that raises expectations for the Squealing Pig. When Monsieur Lard finds out about Madame Pamplemousse’s incredible edibles, he sends Madeleine as a spy to steal the recipe. Fortunately, for Madeleine and Madame Pamplemousse, a recipe is not all that is needed to create delicious food.

Reviewed by: Meghan (J fiction)

May is National Bike Month

Now that the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming, it's the perfect time for a bike ride. While you're out stop by the library and check out some of these bike books. Just remember, don't try to read and ride at the same time!

Duck on a Bike

by David Shannon

When duck decides to try riding a bike all sorts of barnyard fun ensues.

Curious George Rides a Bike

by H.A. Rey

Curious George is at it again, this time helping out with a paper route. Unfortunately, wherever George goes, trouble isn't far behind!

The Bike Lesson

by Stan Berenstain

Papa Bear tries to teach Brother Bear how to ride a bike in this classic Easy Reader.

Gus and Grandpa and the Two-Wheeled Bike

by Claudia Mills

Gus is not sure he's ready to give up training wheels until Grandpa helps him change his mind.