Play the Musical Mystery Quiz- 1 week only!

Hurry hurry, the orchestra is warming up. Visit your Marin County Free Library branch this week to play the Musical Mystery Quiz.

Tune up your knowledge of musical instruments. Ask for a copy of the quiz, match the correct instrument to its picture and your triumphant finale shall be one free kid's pass to the 2015 Marin County Fair. On that sweet note I'll see you in the library and then "On With the Show"!


*limit one ticket per child while supplies last. Ticket is good for one child's admission, age 12 and younger on Thursday July 2, 2015.

Ben Franklin's Colonial Printing Shop

I hope you can join us on Saturday May 16th. I think you'll be just as fascinated as I am with this Gutenberg printing press. You even get to do your own printing!

While you are waiting for the presses to run, here are two nice books to give you a little history on this indelible subject. Click on the covers to find them in the catalog.

 Stop by my library and pick up a flyer or give me a jingle at 1-415-473-5058 for more details.

Long Overdue

I am thrilled to share with you the big news that the Marin County Free Library has eliminated overdue fines for the use of children's materials. Read more about it in detail here, but I think our Library Director says it best;

"It has been the Library's experience that the accumulation of fines from overdue materials often leads to youth no longer using the Library. Eliminating these fines will eliminate that barrier....fines and fees create financial barriers for the children and their parents that most need free library resources to promote their life-long learning opportunities." - Sara Jones

Of course we want our wonderful library materials to come back on time and in good condition, so we will still charge for lost and damaged children's materials.

Having your very own library card and using it responsibly IS like winning at Monopoly. You can even wear a silver top hat when you return your materials if you like. Be sure and tip your hat to the Board of Supervisors in my famous building. Their support made this new policy possible.

We'll even replace lost kid's library cards for free!  Come talk to us if you have old fines and are 16 or older and ready for an adult library card. We want to make sure you get that new adult card and learn about all the fantastic resources available to you.

Visit the Civic Center Library on July 28, 2015 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. for another fun family board game and photo booth night! 

Stuntology

No trick! Click here to place a hold on this title.

Well, I would say this is a promise and not a prank but actually it IS kind of a prank....
a whole hour of pranks, tricks, and stunts to amaze and delight all who know you. Although post-program they may not want to.

Please join me on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 from 3:30 to 4:30 to learn from the Master, Sam Bartlett. This program is definitely for older kids, 'tweens, & teens.  Dare I say these skills might come in useful on April 1st?!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Read-Aloud Marathon

Greetings dear readers! I hope my local library families will have a chance to join me on Saturday, February 28, 2105 at the Corte Madera branch of the Marin County Free Library for a marathon read-aloud session of Roald Dahl's classic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I'll be reading sometime around 2:00 but the day begins at 11:00am with a stellar line-up of talented readers.

My heart will surely break if you tell me you've seen this movie and this movie but have not read the book! You must! Perhaps this post from awhile ago will also tempt you. Naturally we will have real chocolate as well if that's what it takes.  Hope to see you there. xoxo Miss Kitty

So much depends on a ® Pantone 200 Radish Red Wagon

Last week I had the luxury of spending most of a day with the other talented MCFL children's librarians to do nothing but talk about children's books and eat lentil soup and persimmon pudding. 

Alas, the notion that we librarians are able to spend our work days reading blissfully in silence at our desks is a lovely fantasy but quite far from reality.  So it's wonderful when we do get a chance to spend time talking about award winning books and reading recommendations and what great reads are not to be missed.

 Here are a few of my very favorite art books that are fantastic choices for all ages and especially artists and teachers looking for inspiration.

© 2012 Abrams Appleseed

This board book, Colors by Pantone, amuses me greatly. I don't know of many toddlers quite ready to delve into the ®Pantone color system, but this is a fantastic tool for any person studying color.  It  is especially wonderful for early learning with the bright illustrations on the right side of the book for your toddler to identify and the lush ®Pantone color spectrum on the left side of the book for you to surreptitiously dream about a serene color palette for your own secret getaway hideout sanctuary. 

©2008 Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

This sweet little red wagon made me think of sublime poet William Carlos Williams.
Melissa Sweet's 2008 picture book biography of him, A River of Words,  is not to be missed.
I've written about Melissa Sweet many times on this blog; I can't help it! I just love her work.

Let us take a look at how she illustrates the same lovely poem in the 2014 poetry book, Firefly July: year of very short poems selected by Paul B. Janeczko.

©2014 Candlewick Press

So much depends on a library card and access to beautiful books. The Usborne Book of Art Projects is one my favorite series for art technique. Here's a beautiful tissue paper collage from it to get you started on your own colorful path which I hope includes a library card but may or may not include white chickens.

©2004 Usborne Publishing

A little storytime with Miss Kitty

Well my friends, the year is winding down for 2014. Here's one last story to read together before the New Year!

Copyright 2003. Peachtree Publishers

Let's read Santa's Last Present by Marie-Aude Murial and her sister, Elvire. Just like Winter and childhood, this blog post won't stay around permanently. But you CAN find this book at your library for quite some time to come and I hope you'll visit soon. I hope you'll also look for more books illustrated by Quentin Blake. 

I hope you keep the joy of reading your whole long lives and Happiest of Holidays to you all! xoxo Miss Kitty.