Good books for antsy school children

The Friends of the Library monthly book sale will be this Saturday, May 18th from 10am – noon.  All sales by donation with proceeds benefiting the Friends support of library programming. Come find some great beach or camping reads.  Teachers, we have lots of great children’s books.

Are your kids antsy for the school year to be over?  Distract them with a good book.  Here are a few to share together.  The Daring Escape of the Misfit Menagerie by Jacqueline Resnick is a delightful novel of a sun bear, a rabbit, a wombat and a Komondor dog, the misfits of Mr. Mumford’s farm where they do tricks for the neighborhood children, until they are purchased by the cruel Claude Magnificence for his circus. Their life is now despicable, until Smalls the sun bear befriends Bertie, the nephew of Claude and together they set in motion a heroic plan to save them all.

Another beautiful story of animal and human kindness can be found in the Dogs of Winter by Bobbie Pyron which is based on true accounts of a young boy who spent two years living on the streets of Moscow with a dog pack for a family following the fall of communism.  The story may just help you appreciate your own pets a bit more.

Sometimes you and your kids don’t want a long story to have to follow and remember details from night to night.  A book of short stories can be just the ticket.  Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron is edited by Jonathan Strahan and contains eighteen stories about witches by some of the best children’s authors writing today. These stories are just about the perfect length for a bedtime read.

Bullying has been in the news a lot even in our town and sometimes kids have a hard time talking about what is happening to them.  This book might be a good way to open dialogue with your kids to stay in touch with what is happening in their lives.  The Bully Book by Eric Kahn Gale is the author’s first novel and is based loosely on his experiences in sixth grade.

Summer is just around the corner and the library is busy planning what we hope will be a fun summer for everyone.  Stay tuned for more details or if you want to know now find a kid and ask them what they know about summer reading.  I have begun visiting classes and many of the kids you know should have a summer reading booklet with lots of details.  See how many details they can provide you.

The library’s last open Saturday until after Labor Day will be this Saturday, May 18th.  After that, summer hours will be in effect.  From the Saturday before Memorial Day until Labor Day the library is open Monday – Tuesday 10am – 8pm, Wednesday noon – 8pm and Thursday – Friday 10am – 6pm.  The junior room is open Monday, Thursday and Friday 10am – 6pm, Tuesday 10am – 8pm and Wednesday noon – 6pm.

See our calendar and subscribe to reminders.