Ginger Finds a Home by Charlotte Voake (0-7636-1999-X)
This is a wonderful book featuring a little orange cat who doesn’t have a home except for a patch of weeds at the end of a garden. But he is found by a little girl who returns day after day to earn his trust and befriend him.
The book is great for storytimes featuring cat stories as a contrast to more fictionalized cats. Ginger is entirely realistic and completely heartwarming.
Month: September 2003
Roller Coaster
Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee (0-15-204554-6)
Almost as much fun as riding a coaster, this book is filled with swerves, laughter and loops. The pictures are ones that you will want to study at length, since they are rich with tiny details showing characters’ reactions to the ride. Keep an eye on the elderly couple and contrast them with the brawny men.
Best for small groups or laps where you can talk about the illustrations.
Toys R Us Grants
Toys”R”Us Reading Ready is an early education program that helps children, birth to age 5, with pre-literacy skills. Libraries that serve at risk children certainly qualify.
Arthur Slade
Arthur Slade
Homepage for the author of Dust, a young adult novel.
Mind Games
Mind Games by Jeanne Marie Grunwell (0-618-17672-1)
This book is a read that sneaks up and hooks you before you realize what is happening. In the format of a seventh grade group science project on ESP, this book gives a glimpse into the personality of the kids involved in the project as well as their experiment. Right at the beginning of the book, you learn that the group won the lottery through their research, but was it science or ESP that gave them the winning number?
Boys and girls will like this book with its engaging characters from a range of backgrounds. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy and also kids interested in science. Since it is also a book very based in school-life, kids who enjoy school settings in their books will enjoy this as well.
Full Frontal Snogging
Georgia Nicolson
The homepage for the author of the Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging series.
Yahooligans!
Yahooligans!
Yahoo’s version of its site directory specifically for kids. It has great sites that will keep kids happily looking at pictures of animals, playing online games, reading jokes, or finding out about their favorite subject for hours.
KidsClick
KidsClick
A directory of websites for children, selected by librarians. The sites are consistently high quality and of interest to children, parents, teachers and librarians who work with children.
Kids Who WANT to Read
Charlotte Observer — Start the reading habit early
A short but sweet article not on teaching kids to read but on getting kids to WANT to read. I like that one of the tips is to go to the library often!
Waking Brain Cells 