Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Check out a Museum Adventure Pass!

Need a fun way to beat the summer heat? Check out a suburban museum!

Thanks to a grant from Macy's, we are excited to offer a limited number of free or reduced-price museum admission passes to our adult New Lenox Public Library cardholders! Passes must be checked out on a New Lenox Library card, and families are limited to one pass per seven days. Passes are available on a first-come, first-serve basis and must be obtained in person.

Just a few of the participating Museum Adventure Pass locations include: Air Classics Museum of Air and Space (Sugar Grove), Brookfield Zoo (Brookfield), Chicago Botanic Gardens (Glencoe), Grau Mill and Museum (Oak Brook), KidsWork Children's Museum (Frankfort), Lake County Discovery Museum (Wauconda), and the Morton Arboretum (Lisle)! Think of all the fun you can have this summer!

For a complete listing of participating museums, websites and hours, visit the program's website at www.museumadventure.org

Interested in checking out a museum pass? Stop in or call the library for more information!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Where is Where?

We’re looking for our wherewolf…have you seen her?

Where has been busy exploring New Lenox – and we need your help to find her! Every week during the summer reading program, we will display a new picture of Where in a display case in the Youth Services department. Come in, take a look at the picture and fill out an entry form with your guess on where she’s at. You might win a cool prize! The picture changes every Monday, so be sure to come in once a week to enter!

Where will be exploring town for two more weeks! So far this summer, Where has been really busy reading a book by the Reading Tree in the library, eating pizza at Chicago Dough Company, playing in the water at Hibernia Park’s Splash Pad and visiting with Abraham Lincoln himself at the New Lenox Village Hall.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Check out some scary (or not-so-scary) books this summer!

To go along with this year’s summer reading theme, we’re displaying some scary fiction and nonfiction books on our front bookcase in the Youth Services department. We’ve got lots of books on movie monsters, aliens, vampires, skeletons, ghosts and haunted places. We also have fiction novels, such as The Graveyard Book, Coraline, Deep and Dark and Dangerous: A Ghost Story, Cirque du Freak, Dangerous Alphabet, Vampire Island, Night of the Living Gerbil, and A Field Guide to Monsters: Googly-Eyed Wart Floppers, Shadow-Casters, Toe-Eaters and Other Creatures. Come in and check one out today!

Not into scary books? That’s ok! We’ve got themed lists for other kinds of books that might interest you: adventure, comedy, science fiction, award winners, princesses and more! Or ask a librarian to help you find a good book.

Would you like to read the newest Monarch, Bluestem and Caudill nominees? We’ve got a section reserved just for these great books! You’ll find them behind the new book section near our Youth Services Internet computers.

Monarch titles are geared toward readers in grades K-3. In Bad Kitty Gets a Bath, you’ll read the hilarious things that might happen if you try to give a cat a bath. Or you can read some guinea pig poems and learn about this cool little pet in Oh, Theodore! There’s the funny story of three rhyming dust bunnies and their friend who tries to warn them of danger in Rhyming Dust Bunnies. And who doesn’t love a little Mo Willems – Leonardo the Terrible Monster tells the silly tale of a young monster who just can’t seem to frighten anyone…or can he?

Bluestem titles are geared toward readers in grades 3-5. There are lots of fun and exciting books on the Bluestem list! Read about a mouse who befriends a dragon and saves his village in Kenny and the Dragon and a girl who makes friends with a gentle giant and travels to Giantland in the BFG. Learn about the men who built the Empire State Building in New York City in Sky Boys, and discover the history of the two teenagers who created the Superman comic strip in Boys of Steel.

Caudill titles are geared toward readers in grades 4-8. In 11 Birthdays, read about Amanda and Leo, former best friends who haven’t spoken to each other for a year – when things start getting weird and they each keep waking up and having to repeat their 11th birthdays, will they learn to make the changes necessary to patch up their differences? In Found, you’ll read about two adopted 13-year-old boys who try to uncover their past after learning that they were once on a mysterious plane full of other babies and no adults – will they be able to find out their personal histories and discover where they actually came from? In The Alchemyst, travel along with Sophie and Josh on their adventurous and mysterious modern-day journey as these 15-year-old twins try to save their kidnapped boss, the legendary Nicholas Flemel, who cheated death in 1418 with his fantastic elixir of eternal life – will the twins be able to save their boss, his elixir recipe…and the world?

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

100th Blog Post = 100 Favorite Books

Wow! We've reached our 100th blog post!

To celebrate this milestone, the Youth Services staff wants to share with you a list of our 100 favorite books! From picture books, to chapter books, from series to non-fiction, there’s something on this list for every reader! These books are old, new, funny, serious and everything in between. But even though they’re all different, one thing is certain – we love these books, and we hope you do, too!

Picture Books

Dr. Ted by Andrea Beatty
The Mitten by Jan Brett

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
Duck for President by Doreen Cronin
Penguin by Polly Dunbar
If I Were a Jungle Animal by Amanda Ellery

Olivia books by Ian Falconer
Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
Muncha, Muncha, Muncha by Candace Fleming
Lunch by Denise Fleming
Time for Bed by Mem Fox

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
Lily's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians by Jackie Hopkins
Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock by Eric Kimmel
Walter the Farting Dog by William Kotzwinkle
Kitty's New Doll by Dorothy Meserve Kunhardt
How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long

Cock-a-doodle Moo by Bernard Most
Stephanie's Ponytail by Robert Munsch
Fancy Nancy books by Jane O'Connor
Once Upon a Cool Motocycle Dude by Kevin O'Malley
Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson
I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak
Skippyjon Jones books by Judith Schachner

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
Russell the Sheep by Rob Scotton
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
No, David! by David Shannon
Pouch! by David Ezra Stein

And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon by Janet Stevens
The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone
Duck at the Door by Janet Urbanovic
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
Pigeon books by Mo Willems
Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson

Easy Readers
Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman

Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman
Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel
Amelia Bedelia books by Peggy Parish
Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems

Chapter Books

The Underneath by Kathy Appelt

The Seer of Shadows by Avi
Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Wild Things by Clay Carmichael

The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery by James Howe
Toys Go Out by Emily Jenkins

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

The Giver by Lois Lowry
Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin

The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli
Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

A Drowned Maiden's Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Loser by Jerry Spinelli
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
So B. It by Sarah Weeks

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles


Series Books
The 39 Clues series by various authors
American Girl series by various authors

Gregor the Overlander books by Suzanne Collins
The Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Babymouse graphic novels by Jennifer Holm

Diary of a Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney
The Baby-Sitters Club books by Ann M. Martin
Junie B. Jones books by Barbara Park
Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Scary Stories collection by Alvin Schwartz

Non-Fiction
Nic Bishop Frogs by Nic Bishop

The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming
Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
Great Fire by Jim Murphy
We are the Ship: The Story of the Negro Baseball League by Kadir Nelson
The Day the Earth Exploded: The Earth-Shaking Catastrophe at Krakatoa by Simon Winchester

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Scare Up A Good Book!

The fun of the July 4th holiday might be over, but our "Scare Up A Good Book" Summer Reading Program is still going strong at the library!

So far we’ve had over 100 babies & toddlers and over 1400 kids sign up for our summer reading program! Be sure to read read read this summer to earn some cool prizes! We’re giving away FREE baseball tickets, FREE skating passes, FREE food coupons, FREE books and much, much more! And don't forget the finale party for kids who complete their reading logs! Just turn in a completed reading log to earn an invitation to our Not-So-Scary Costume Party in August (parents, please submit your child's attendance form by July 31st)!


If you haven’t had a chance to attend any of our awesome summer programs, have no fear! Summer programming runs through July. Check out our Monster Mash program for kids ages 3-6 on Monday mornings at 10:30. Bring your baby or toddler to Creepy Crawlers on Tuesday mornings at 10:30. And the whole family is invited to get comfy for our Creature Feature Movie Matinees on Tuesday afternoons at 12:30. Don’t forget BoOoOo BINGO for the whole family every Wednesday evening at 6:30!

Parents, don't forget to sign up for the adult summer reading program, and get your teens in on the action, too! Registration and more information for the adult & teen summer reading programs can be found at the Adult Services Desk on the 2nd floor. There's still time to read before the programs end on July 24th!

All kinds of fun awaits you at the New Lenox Public Library this summer. Come on in and check us out!