Friday, September 29, 2006

Library Hatches Monarch Butterfly

Jeanette Mercure and Kathie Merlino hatched a monarch butterfly this fall. Roy Zartarian supplied the tracking tag. Jeanette collected the larva at her home in Harwinton, CT. She nursed many monarchs to life at her home. We all interested in her stories so she said she would bring one in to work. Kathie Merlino tended the chrysalis at her desk. Thursday Sept. 21 they released the new born monarch into the wild. It should be flying south now!

If you are interested in raising monarchs check out these websites.

Sharon's Monarch Butterfly Site

Butterfly Rearing

Education World's article on Monarch Butterflies: Join the Migration!

-vicky

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Jarhead


The Thursday evening book discussion group is reading Jarhead by Anthony Swofford. Stop by Thursday evening October 5 at 7:00 p.m. for a lively discussion of this book.

New York Times Book Review of Jarhead

-vicky

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Indian Cuisine Thursday Sept 21, 1:00 p.m.


Indian cuisine is not all curries. Come to the library next Thursday to learn about all those interesting spices and textures that make up Indian cuisine.
Call the reference desk to register 665-8700.




Get a head start and check out these books.


Great Indian Feasts



Indian Home Cooking






Cuisines of India:The art of regional indian cooking







-vicky

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Museum Info at the Library



The Brown Bag it with Art sounds so interesting. I'll have to go to the next one.

The Hill-Stead is a beautiful museum. I have visited the grounds often to take photos.

If you want to reserve a pass to the Hill-Stead go to our museum passes reservation page.

-vicky

Monday, September 11, 2006

For the Love of the Red Sox

So I hold in my hand a "newer" Boston Red Sox Book, For the Love of the Red Sox: An A-to-Z Primer for Red Sox Fans of All Ages. I say "newer" because Johnny Damon is shown still wearing a Sox uniform when we all know he's wearing Yankee pinstripes now.
Those who work with me are surprised to see me with this book, because they know that I'm a Jersey girl and forever a Yankee fan. Some of them also know however, that my husband is a huge Red Sox fan so I thought I'd rub it in...er....I mean...bring it home for him!
Why do I bring this up here? Just a personal frustration with publishers that take so long to produce timely books about sports teams and players for kids. We sit with books about football teams that aren't even in existence anymore on our shelves and wait for updated series. And, as much as I like him, Derek Jeter isn't the only player on the Yankees. Let's get some more sports figure biographies for those reluctant middle school boys!
For the Love of READING....
Helen

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Playaway Digital Audio Books

The library has a new format of audiobooks called Playaway books. Read a review of Playaway at Gizmodo.com.

Jeanette and I saw this at PLA in April and we said "THIS IS IT!". It's so much better than downloadable books. Much more durable and secure than a CD or a cassette. No more downloading books from the internet and wondering if it will work with your MP3 player. It's in the perfect portable package.

The book is in a small case about the size of a cassette. The title, author and jacket are on one side and the controls are on another. Try this tutorial to learn how to use it. We will give you the first set of earbud headphones or you can use your own standard head phones to listen. Carry the book around in your pocket and off you go!

We are purchasing more and they will be available in the near future.

- vicky

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Family Storytime - Thursdays 6:30 p.m.

Sept. and Oct. family storytimes sound like a lot of fun. Kathy Hoefer just gave me the fall themes.

September
7 Art Smart
14 Gear Up
21 Fall Favorites
28 Special Delivery

October
5 Weather or Not
12 Mice are Nice
19 Hoot, Hoot, Hoot
26 Pumpkin Patch

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Playtivity at school summer reading recognition assemblies!

So another summer reading program is done and once again I'm headed to the Newington elementary schools to hand out certificates of achievement. Next week I'll visit Elizabeth Green and Ruth Chaffee Schools on Wednesday and Anna Reynolds and John Paterson Schools on Thursday. (This is a change from the schedule listed on our calendar of events.) With me will be the duo known as Playtivity (shown left). Craig and Virginia are fantastic storytellers and assured me that a pirate tale or two will be in the mix! Looking forward to a fun week! Helen

Friday, September 01, 2006

We Have LibriVox - Books Recorded by Real People

The net is getting more and more interactive. Now you can read your favorite book published before 1923, post it to LibriVox. Or you can collaborate with another reader and work on a book together. The books are free and you can download them to your mp3 player and listen.

Read more about it at About Literature:contemporary or link directly from our website on the downloadable books webpage.

-vicky