Book Buzz Blog

    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!

She’s only four feet tall and 110 pounds, but little “Ardi” is causing a sensation among paleoanthropologists. Earlier this month, after fifteen years of research, scientists reported that they had identified Ardi’s skeleton as the oldest hominid known to modern humans. Ardipithecus ramidus, as she is formally known, lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia. She’s remarkable not just for her age, but for what she tells us about human evolution. Scientists are re-arranging the human family tree in light of this new research.

 The next time you’re in the library, take a look at some of the newest books to grace library shelves.  Readers of all ages will be entranced with Jerry Pinkney’s wordless edition of Aesop’s “The Lion and the Mouse.”  The story of kindness rewarded has a simple plot filled with action, just right for a wordless treatment.

 After more than twenty years of introducing children to great books, PBS’s Reading Rainbow television series has come to an end.   Over the course of 155 programs, host Levar Burton visited museums and pueblos, interviewed entrepreneurs and biologists, showed us how crayons are made and how oil spills are cleaned up, all the while linking the real world to the best in children’s literature.  Here’s a look at a few favorite books Levar introduced over the years.

Shel Silverstein was a unique writer with many artistic talents. While generally best known for his poetry and literature for children, he was also a cartoonist, composer, lyricist, and folksinger. He was born Sheldon Allan Silverstein on September 25, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois. Read more about his life in this month's author profile here.

While our children write their lessons with pencils and computers, Pakistani schoolchildren in the village of Korphe used to write on the ground with sticks.  Then one day a lost climber stumbled into their village, and everything changed.

Adults may recognize this as the story of Greg Mortensen, well-known for the bestselling book, “Three Cups of Tea,” about his work building schools in Pakistan.  Now young children can learn the story in his new picture book, “Listen to the Wind, The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea.”  

   At a recent library storytime, the children, parents, caregivers and I had lots of fun reading new picture books, but I was reminded yet again about the power of old favorites. 
“Yum, Yum, What Fun” by Mara Bergman starts out with two friends and their little dog Harry baking bread, when who should come clomping in through the window but a crocodile! 

    Horse lovers everywhere are looking forward to the annual Pony Penning on Chincoteague Island next week.  Since the 1920s, crowds have gathered to watch the “saltwater cowboys” herd the ponies and lead them across Assateague Channel to the auction site.  Even if your kids don’t bid on a pony, the Firemen’s Carnival that goes on all day offers lots of family fun. 

    Is there time for one more quick vacation getaway before school starts?  Absolutely, if you choose the armchair traveler route.  Begin with Marjorie Priceman’s “How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A.,” a companion to her best-selling “How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World.”

Thanks for visiting our website and for your Book Match request. I’m glad you enjoyed Into the Wild by Erin Hunter (the first in the Warriors series). I have some suggestions for other books in series that you may enjoy.