LibraryPoint Blog

 The mysterious powers-that-be have shipped over a few more boxes of that remarkable new book Wealthy in Heart: [An] Oral History of Life Before Fort. A. P. Hill. Those books will be distributed FREE, on a first come-first-served basis, until the boxes are emptied.

    Oliver Olson’s problem is over-protective parents.  When his third grade teacher opens a space unit by asking, “How many of you would like to walk on the moon?”, Oliver doesn’t raise his hand.  “Oliver’s parents would never let him walk on the moon.  The moon was too far away.  It was too cold.  It didn’t have enough gravity. The rocket might explode.”  And when his teacher announces that the whole class is invited to a space sleepover at school, he knows he won’t be allowed to go.  Ever since Oliver was a sickly preschooler, his parents have worried about him too much.

Today, Sesame Street turns 40 years old. As a child of the '70's, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, and Grover became my very close pals. The music–from the uplifting "Sunny Days" intro theme to the swinging "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-tweeeelve" pinball disco song–became personal anthems. I learned phonics from the letter of the day and counting from...who else?...The Count.

    If your children watched the “Baby Einstein” videos, but failed to turn into geniuses, you can get your money back.  A recently settled suit against Disney, the owner of the popular series, asserts that the claim that the videos are educational is unfair and deceptive.  Parents can get a refund of $15.99 for up to four of the videos.  

    Fortunately, at least one way to help your child to grow intellectually is free and widely available.  You guessed it – reading to your child from books you can borrow from your local public library.  Not only is it free, but numerous studies show the benefits of early read-aloud sessions.  Just pick up one of our “Every Child Ready to Read” brochures, and plunge in!