Happy 100th Birthday Mary Blair!

Disney illustrator Mary Blair is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE artists. October 21st would have been her 100th birthday and I love that Google displayed this great tribute video for her.

We have some terrific books in the library featuring her superb art and style. Check one out and have a little birthday cupcake in honor of lovely Mary Blair.

Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland
Walt Disney's Cinderella
Walt Disney's Peter Pan

Monday begins

http://awalkintheshire.blogspot.com

Chapter 1. An Unexpected Party

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

The Hobbit. J.R.R. Tolkien

For Fran

We'll miss our colleague, our friend. We love you Franny. Golden slumbers fill your eyes.

Get cozy, Cat in the Hat style

yarn photo courtesy of Magnolia Handspun

As cold weather approaches, here's some cool yarn from Magnolia Handspun on ETSY. This color combination is called Cat in the Hat. All the handspun yarns in her shop are so delicious. Pick up a skein or two from Magnolia Handspun, hop on your bike and peddle through the leaves to the library, check out a cool knitting book, peddle home, knit purl knit purl and ta da! - your very own cat hat to wear whilst reciting Cat in the Hat to an adoring crowd.

Halloween at Hogwarts!

photo from Tumblr.com

Wouldn't that be fun!

Happy Fall dear readers

Almost time for the Great Pumpkin!

Regarding the Lexile reading system

photo from weheartit.com

One of my regular library families is reading the fun Regarding series by Kate Klise. When the girls come into the library they laugh and begin their request to me with, "Hello Miss Kitty! Yes, regarding the......<hold I placed yesterday> <the upcoming teen workshop> <the next book in this series>" I always laugh too.

Thusly, regarding the large number of families coming in with  Lexile recommended reading lists handed out at school, I say check with me before you spend too much time hunting down the exact titles.  Often series books are listed and if the exact title is checked out, an equally appropriate title is on the shelf. Many of the suggested titles are fine but some are not a good fit.  Often recommended titles on the same list will vary wildly in age appropriateness and reading complexity.  Lexile is a respected reading-ranking system and a fine place to start,  but I can help you fine-tune the list for books for your child that are a more suitable match, will appeal to your child interests,  and satisfy their teacher's concern for reading level correctness. See my post on September 12, 2011 for more information about Lexile.

Regarding the fountain?  A perfect choice for 4th to 6th grade readers and especially *"reluctant readers."

* a term Miss Kitty really doesn't like. Ask me why.