New Programs and New Book Lists
We've got great programs coming up: this afternoon we'll experiment with building with stir sticks, Legos, and Magna-tiles; next week we'll watch How to Train Your Dragon; and for April's Art Studio we'll make sunprints.
Now that the YA books are on the main level, I spend a lot of time talking with middle schoolers about YA books. I've made a list of realistic YA fiction that will be appealing to middle schoolers. I'll make similar lists of science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction in future weeks.
I'm also sharing one of my pet lists: Wait?! THAT Person Wrote a Children's Book?!
Please let me know if you have any suggestions, requests, or anything else you would like to share.
Best,
Erin
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BUILDING CLUB: Stir Sticks, Legos, Magna-Tiles, and More
Wednesday, March 20, Edgewater Room
3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
We've got a lot of stir sticks! What can you make? We'll also bring our huge collection of LEGOs and Magna-Tiles. There are Duplos in the Children’s Room for kids under 3. Children and their caretakers are welcome.
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Afternoon Movie: How to Train Your Dragon
Wednesday, March 27, Edgewater Room
Starting at 3:00 p.m.
In How to Train Your Dragon (2010, 98 min, PG, ©Dream Works Animation), a misfit Viking teen befriends a dragon, despite his tribe's beliefs and history of dragon slaying. Children and their caretakers are invited to this free movie screening. We'll have lots of popcorn to share!
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Art Studio: Sunprints and Shadow Play
Wednesday, April 3, Edgewater Room
3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Sunprints are made using special photo-sensitive paper (or fabric), objects to create shadows, and the sun. Join us to experiment! Perfect for kids 4+, but all children and their caretakers are welcome.
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Story Time with Molly
Mondays, Edgewater Room
10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
Join us for stories, finger plays, and songs. For children 3 and under and their caregivers.
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Story Time with Eliya
Wednesdays, Edgewater Room
9:40 a.m. and 10:40 a.m.
Join us for stories, finger plays, and songs! For children 3 and under and their caregivers.
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Stay and Play
Wednesdays, Edgewater Room
10:00 - 10:40 a.m.
Toddlers and their caregivers are invited to 'stay and play' after the Sausalito Library's 9:40 a.m. story time. Preschool teacher Eliya will be there with blocks, stuffed animals, shaky eggs, and more. Join us!
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Middle School Book Club
** The Middle School Book Club is currently full except for kids who are already members. If you have questions or would like to be added to the wait list, please contact Erin.**
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Dungeons & Dragons
The game has begun! Contact Tula, tbiederman@sausalito.gov, for more information.
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Realistic YA Fiction for Middle Schoolers
I find it tricky to recommend realistic YA fiction to middle schoolers. I believe strongly that kids should read whatever they're interested in, whether or not it's 'appropriate,' but as a librarian, I try to avoid recommending books to middle schoolers that have explicit sex, drug use, or self-harm.
I've made a list of realistic YA fiction that I feel comfortable recommending to middle schoolers. There is a range of topics, main characters, tone, and writing style. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and Will Grayson, Will Grayson are relatively light-hearted stories about first love. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is wrenching and funny. We are Okay and We Were Liars have shocking twists that made me cry.
I'll make lists for YA fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction in the next few newsletters.
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Wait! THAT Person Wrote a Children's Book?!
This is one of the lists that I made initially to amuse myself. Three of my heroes, James Baldwin, John Cage and Gertrude Stein, all wrote children's books. But also ee cummings, Eugene Ionsecu, Patrick Modiano, and, of course, T.S.Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
James Baldwins' book, Little Man, Little Man, is told from the perspective of TJ, an African American four-year-old. It is a free form, slice of life story, with realistic perspective on TJ's world. It was originally published in 1976 and republished with a foreward by Baldwin's nephew, who inspired the story, and an afterward by his niece. There is a trailer for the book, including footage of Baldwin discussing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1e6FoTCBPo.
Gertrude Stein's book, The World is Round, illustrated by Clement Hurd, was originally published as a round book! We have the 75th anniversary reprint, which is in the more traditional rectangle form, but it does still have the original pink paper and blue ink. Our edition also has an essay by Edith Hurd.
John Cage's Mud Book: How to Make Pies and Cake was originally published in 1965. A collaboration with the artist Lois Long, the book is playful. The publisher describes it as "part artist's book, part cookbook, and part children's book ... a spirited, if not satirical, take on almost every child's first attempt at cooking and making."
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