Sara Grajek
Rowan Public Library
Library Notes

Every year, I take a look back at the list of books I’ve read in the past 12 months. I also review my “to-be-read” list. It seems that list grows a little longer every year, yet the list of books I’ve read never grows quite as much. Recently I read Howard’s End is on the Landing by Susan Hill, where the author looks around her house one day and realizes how many books she has collected and hasn’t read. Although Hill has a different taste in reading materials than I do, she reads classics and literature while I choose young adult fiction, a wide-variety of non-fiction, and current fiction, I found it interesting to read about her year of “reading from home.” During that year, she chose to only read books that were already in the house, the exceptions to this rule being academic books from the library and books sent to her from publishers to review. While I have no intentions to stop checking out books from the library, I think this year may involve reading from my very long “to-be-read list.” What books are on your reading list this year? Chances are, Rowan Public Library has some of them. I know they have many of mine.

The London Eye Mystery by the late Siobhan Dowd has been on my reading list since it was first published in 2008. Dowd received much critical acclaim for the few young adult books written in her short career. A human rights activist, her books are poignant and leave you thinking about them long after you have finished them. In The London Eye Mystery, Ted and Kat take their cousin Salim to the London Eye and watch as he circles high into the sky and back down – and doesn’t emerge from the ride. Where could he have possibly gone when Kat and Ted were watching the exit the whole time? When the police and other adults can’t solve the mystery, Kat and Ted (who has Asperger’s) take on the challenge.

Explorers David Livingstone and Ernest Shackleton are well-known, but Colonel Percy Fawcett? David Graham tells us in the Lost City of Z, during his era, Fawcett was just as well known. After hearing Fawcett speak at the Royal Geographical Society, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used his experiences as inspiration for writing The Lost World. A few colleagues believed he was “immune to death.” His last adventure proved them wrong however when he departed for the Amazon with his 21 year old son, searching for El Dorado, or the City of Z, as Fawcett called it. The entire group vanished, leaving behind few clues and a group of adventurers determined to find him.

Oliver Sacks, the neurologist/author who is perhaps best known for his book Awakenings, writes about the complexities of the human brain. Musicophelia: Tales of Music and the Brain, examines the science of music. Readers will learn about the man who was struck by lightning, then experienced an overwhelming desire to listen and learn to play music. You’ll read how music can help senile patients regain lost memories and help bring movement to immobile patients. Sacks believes music can be beneficial to neurology because it works in many areas of the brain. Even if one area of the brain were to become damaged, another part may still recognize or remember music.

With these books, and the 116 others that are still on my list, I should be able to find something to read this year. Reading from home, as Susan Hill did, but mostly, reading from the library.

Library Notes
January 23, 2011
Dara L. Cain


2011 Newbery and Caldecott Winners

The Newbery Award is the first children's book award in the world established in 1922. It is named in honor of eighteenth-century English bookseller John Newbery and is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. The purpose of the award is "to encourage original creative work in the field of books for children.” This year’s Newbery winner is Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool. Set in 1936, 12-year-old Abilene Tucker feels deserted in Manifest, Kansas where she has been sent by her father to live for the summer with an old friend while he works a railroad job. Abilene is saddened to learn that her father’s hometown is desolate and boring until she discovers a box containing some old letters that refer to a spy known as the Rattler. These letters send Abilene and her new friends Lettie and Ruthanne on an exciting spy hunt to uncover Manifest’s long-held secrets. Also worthy of attention are this year’s honor books which are Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman, Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus, One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia, and Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm.

After the Newbery Award was created it became apparent to many people that the artists designing picture books for children were equally deserving of recognition and encouragement. As a result, a second annual medal known as the Caldecott Medal was established in 1938. “This medal is to be given to the artist who had created the most distinguished picture book of the year and named in honor of the nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph J. Caldecott.” This year’s Caldecott winner is A Sick Day for Amos McGee illustrated by Erin E. Stead and written by her husband Philip C. Stead. In this kindhearted story zookeeper Amos McGee spends quality time each day with his animal friends at the zoo from playing chess with elephant to conducting races with tortoise. Everything is status quo until Amos gets sick with a cold and must stay home in bed. To Amos’s surprise his animal friends make a surprise visit to his home and reciprocate kindness by taking care of him. Penguin helps by keeping Amos’s feet warm and when Amos sneezes rhinoceros is there to provide a handkerchief. Erin Stead’s use of woodblock-printing techniques and soft flat colors portray a gentle story about friendship and love. This year’s honor books are Interrupting Chicken, written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein and Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave illustrated by Bryan Collier and written by Laban Carrick Hill.

Children’s Biographies have interesting Character
January 7, 2011
Erika Kosin

Children’s biographies are usually seen as a source of facts and dates on historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln for reports or informational tidbits on popular musicians and sports heroes that children are interested in. What sometimes gets overlooked are the biographies that tell interesting stories about people’s lives that took place throughout history. Many of these interesting stories about people can not only be found with biographies, but also with the picture books, especially if the story is simply told with many illustrations. Some of these books may not be about someone famous, but rather about a person who knew someone famous or just had an interesting life. While basic or in-depth, these stories may peak a child’s interest causing them to research a topic previously unknown to them. Some of the interesting stories about real people that can be found at the Rowan Public Library include:
Mary Smith by A. U’Ren – Ever wonder what people did before alarm clocks? How did they get to work or school on time? This story about Mary Smith tells of how the townspeople in one England village made sure they got up on time using a pea shooter.

The Magical Garden of Claude Monet, Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail, and Camille and the Sunflowers: A Story about Vincent Van Gogh by Laurence Anholt – This series of three books contain stories about young people and their encounters with famous artists. All inspired by real people, these are a great story books for a child’s first look at some famous artists.
The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton – Have you ever seen a traffic cone with that bright orange color? This fun biography tells the story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s who invented fluorescent colors and how these colors changed the way we live today.

Stone Girl, Bone Girl: The Story of Mary Anning by Laurence Anholt – Ever find a fossil hidden in the earth? Mary Anning discovered one of the most important fossils, the great ichthyosaur, when she was twelve years old in Lyme Regis in Dorset, England. Learn about her path to discovery starting with her surviving a lightning strike at fifteen months old.