KTB = Kids Talk Books

We're into our second week of KTB and already the recommendations are pouring in! Our panel today consisted of: Hari (entering grade 7); Arshad, Sai, Yerin (entering grade 6); Mayaank (entering grade 5); Jeevan, Neha, Shiva, Uday (entering grade 4).

Today's discussion topic was, "What makes a good series?" Readers of all ages love the comfort, ease, and predictability of series fiction. Once we discover an author we like, it's exciting to find out that he or she has written more books about our favorite characters.

Here are the series our panelists recommend, along with the genres they fall into, how our panelists discovered the series and/or why they like it, and suggested reading levels.

The 39 Clues series by various authors
mystery
grades 3-5
"I like that the same characters appear in all of them, but they're all a little bit different." ~ Jeevan

The Cabin Creek Mysteries by Kristiana Gregory
mystery, suspense
grades 3-5
"My teacher read the first one aloud to my class and I got hooked." ~ Uday

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
family & friends, humor, school stories
grades 3-6
"I just found the book on the shelf at the library. The cover and the title looked good, so I checked it out." ~ Hari

The Dragon Slayers' Academy by Kate McMullen
fantasy, school stories
grades 2-4
"The author came to my school and got me interested in the books." ~ Uday

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
adventure, fantasy, school stories
grades 4+ (later titles in the series grades 7+)
"I like all of the action and how the characters sometimes break the rules." ~ Shiva

The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan
adventure, fantasy, mythology
grades 4-7
"I really liked the Percy Jackson books, and this series is by the same author. It's also about mythology, but this time it's Egypt instead of Greece." ~ Arshad

The Lost Hero series by Rick Riordan
adventure, family & friends, fantasy, mythology
grades 4-7
"It's a Percy Jackson spinoff, and I had read and liked the first series." ~ Sai

The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne
fantasy, mystery
grades 1-3
"This series was a reading challenge in second grade. Our teacher challenged us to read books 1-18, but we liked it so much we kept going!" ~ Uday

The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
adventure, family & friends, fantasy, mythology
grades 4-7
"A friend of mine read it and recommended it to me." ~ Arshad

The Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch
humor, mystery, suspense
grades 4-7
"I liked A Series of Unfortunate Events and this one is a lot like it." ~ Shiva

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
adventure, humor, mystery, suspense
grades 4-6
"My school librarian thought I might like it, and I did!" ~ Mayaank

The TinTin series by Herge
adventure, graphics, humor
grades 5+
"We liked that they were exotic and had lots of travel and adventure." ~ Arshad, Hari, Sai

The Wayside School series by Louis Sachar
family & friends, humor, school stories
grades 3-5
"My teacher read the first one to our class and I really liked it." ~ Neha

Other series mentioned in brief:
A-Z Mysteries and Capital Mysteries, both by Ron Roy (mystery; grades 1-3)
The Boxcar Children Mysteries by Gertrude Chandler Warner (mystery; grades 3-5)
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson (graphics, humor; grades 4-7)
Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey (humor; grades 1-3)
My Weird School by Dan Gutman (family & friends, humor; grades 1-3)
The Warriors series by Erin Hunter (adventure, animals, fantasy, graphics; grades 4-7)

Harry and the Potters

There is something I want you to know.

There is a band called Harry and the Potters. Some of their songs include, "I'm a Wizard," "Save Ginny Weasley," and of course, "Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock."

Yes, this is a band that writes songs about the stuff that happens in the Harry Potter books.

Why am I telling you about them?

Weren't you listening? THIS IS A BAND THAT WRITES SONGS ABOUT STUFF THAT HAPPENS IN THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS! If that's not cool enough for me to give you a heads-up about it, I don't know what is.

But the reason I am telling you about them TODAY is so that you can have enough time to make a plan to go see them in Philadelphia where they will be performing live on July 30! (Yes, that's right, the day before Harry Potter's birthday!)

If you've spent any time at all in the children's department this spring, you might have heard us playing their first album behind the desk. (It is a particular favorite of a few of our staff members, myself included.)

If you haven't heard their music at our library, you might want to give them a shot.

You're welcome.

The Luck of the Buttons

There are two things I wanted to do after completing my Week 2 Summer Reading book, The Luck of the Buttons. First, I wanted to bob my hair, and second, I wanted to watch The Music Man, another story about a fast-talkin' salesman coming to a small Iowa town and shaking things up a bit.

(But, really, I've wanted to cut my hair into a bob for about a month now. I can't really lay all of that at author Anne Ylvisaker's door.)

I think what I liked best about this story is how the main character, Tugs Button, decides that she isn't defined by her family. They're not bad people, but she wants something different for herself.

But a very close runner-up to what I liked best was the way the Buttons eat pie when life throws them some bad luck. (Which is often.) Speaking quite personally here, that's my kind of family.

More next week, when I tackle my Week 3 book: Dear Anjali.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

Angleberger, Tom. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. Amulet Books. 2010. ISBN: 978-0810984257

Like Dwight, the weird kid who created Origami Yoda, my Yoda impression is not very good. However, I can muster up enough inner Yoda to tell you, "Funny this book is. Liked it I did."

The plot, super-brief: Weird kid Dwight makes an Origami Yoda, which starts giving out advice to everyone in school. Some of the advice is good, some of the advice is bad, and some is just plain weird. (For example, "The Twist you must learn.") But all of it makes the kids wonder: Is Origami Yoda real or not?

Of course, there are other more serious issues in the story, including bravery, kindness, academic honesty and Cheeto hogging, but they're all part of the larger question.

I liked the whole story, but I especially liked how the author keeps the characters real. They have problems and they're not always on their best behavior, just like all of us. I mean, haven't we all wanted to cry after striking out or struggled with the question of how to cover an embarrassing water stain? No? Just me?

Tiny details I loved:
1. The X-wing and Tie-fighters at the bottom of every page
2. Harvey's reference to Robert E. Lee's horse
3. Soapy the monkey

And of course, the author includes directions on how to make your very own Origami Yoda. That's pretty cool.

I'd recommend this book to kids ages 9 and up, to adults who still remember what middle school was like, and to Star Wars fans everywhere.

Lots of Talent On Display at Our Summer Kickoff!

Our Summer Reading Club Kickoff, One Library, Many Voices, brought lots of home-grown talent to the library on Friday, June 10. We had dances, songs, and jokes from all over the globe, performed by library staff members and several of our younger patrons. Thanks to everyone who made the event so much fun!

Want to sign up for the Reading Club, Read-To-Me Club, performance series, story times, craft programs, or book discussions? Please visit the Children's Department and we'll be happy to get you started. All of the summer information can be found on our web site.

Staff Picks - Stellaluna

Reviewed by Laurie Doan

Janell Cannon Stellaluna; illus. by the author
46 pp. Harcourt Brace & Company, 1993 ISBN 0-15-280217-7 $16.00
(Preschool, Primary)

Fragile like crepe paper velvet, faun colored Stellaluna, a fruit bat, clings to her mother as they sweep through the air steered by the scent of ripe fruit. A silent owl sweeps in attacking the pair and as her mother tries to fend him off, Stellaluna tumbles out of her grasp. “Her baby wings were as limp and useless as wet paper. Down, down she went, faster and faster, into the forest below.” And so Stellaluna finds herself thrust into a world that is foreign to fruit bats. Finding herself in a nest of baby birds, she adopts their ways and forms a special bond with them. But something is missing and Stellaluna strays further and further from the nest until one day she is reunited with her mother.

Author Janell Cannon has worked for the public library system developing programs that incorporate her love for animals especially, “those not popularly thought of as cute and cuddly.” In this book she has taken a highly misunderstood creature and created a character that children will love and remember. The illustrations, done with glistening acrylics and Prismacolor pencils capture the sweet tropical days and gossamer nights in the life of this curious and loving bat. This dreamlike tale confirms the long-standing saying of making new friends and keeping the old for one is silver and the other’s gold. If children are as captivated by this story as I am convinced they will be, Stellaluna will undoubtedly become an old friend to them too.

Laurie Doan is the YA librarian at Tredyffrin Library. Her pastimes
include writing stories and watching ice skating, and her favorite
mammal is the fruit bat.

Summer Dates for PAWS!

As we head into summer, don't forget to sign up for our Saturday morning sessions of PAWS for Reading! Here are the dates:

June 11
June 25
July 9
July 23
August 6
August 20
September 10
September 24

For those of you unfamiliar with the program, PAWS for Reading allows emerging or struggling readers to gain confidence in their skills by reading aloud to well-trained, gentle therapy pets in a one-on-one setting. The program is aimed at children ages 5-12, but all independent readers are welcome.

Call 610-688-7092, ext. 210 or stop by the children's desk to make your appointment today!