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CHILDREN'S & TEENS NEWS
May 2012
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| Frederick County Public Libraries |
Greetings!
The Summer Reading Program kicks off in May, and you're not going to want to miss a sensational celebration all season long. Between the fun activities, special events, and reading opportunities, kids won't notice they are staying engaged with learning. In a few months, parents and teachers will notice, however, since visiting the library during the summer helps prevent "summer learning loss" when students return to school. In the event that this newsletter was forwarded to you by a friend and you would like to continue to receive information about library programs, services, and events, we invite you to sign up here for our email newsletter. Our library programs are always free and always welcoming. Please stop by and see us soon! Darrell Batson, Director Frederick County Public Libraries |
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Celebrate Our Mothers
(ages 2-5, with an adult)
Stories, music, and more.
Monday, May 7, 10:30 am
Thurmont Regional Library
Registration not required
Create a Mother's Day Surprise
(all ages, with an adult)
Saturday, May 12, 10:30 am
Urbana Regional Library
Register here.
To Mom with Love
(teens)
Tuesday, May 8, 3 pm Middletown Branch Library | |
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SUMMER READING 2012 AT FCPL
May 1- August 11
Kids of all ages, from babies to high schoolers, are invited to be a part of Frederick County Public Libraries' Summer Reading 2012. Sign up for Summer Reading at your library  and get your game board packet and Summer Reading webpage login. Everyone who signs up by July 31 is entered into our Grand prize drawing. This year's prize is a $300 gift card to Great Wolf Lodge, $300 spending money, and Sky Box tickets to the Keys August 7 game. There are other great prizes children and teens can win thanks to the generosity of our sponsors PNC Bank and Friends of FCPL. Check out the Summer Reading page online for information and to register.
Once Babies through 5th graders (as of September 2012) get their game boards, they earn prizes by completing the rows of fun summer reading activities on their game boards. Finish a row, come to your library to get a prize. Complete rows 1 through 3, get a Treasure Box prize. Complete all 4 rows, select a paperback book! Children can earn an extra Treasure Box prize by logging on the Summer Reading webpage 600 minutes or more of reading, printing the certificate, and bringing it to your library. The last day to pick up all Summer Reading prizes is August 31.
When teens in grades 6 through 12 (as of September 2012) sign up, they will get a game board that includes 12 summer reading activities. Log completed activities on your Summer Reading webpage for entry into drawings for gift cards. Reading for 1 hour or attending a teen library program can replace any teen game board activity. When you finish and log 12 activities, come to your library to choose a paperback book. After completing their game board teens can keep entering hours read or teen library programs attended for more chances to win. August 11 is the last day teens can log activities, reading, or program attendance.
All Summer Reading game boards will have a Passport to Reading on the back. Visit all 8 FCPL branches, get your Passport stamped at each, and turn in your completed Passport entry form at the last branch you visit or your home branch for entry into the Passport to Reading prize drawing. Each branch will give a backpack, a baseball signed by Frederick Keys players, and a 20 Question handheld game.
Summer Reading 2012 will kickoff at all Frederick County Public Libraries June 9 with special programs and Rita's Italian Ice. Everyone is invited! Look for other great programs all summer, like concerts with Juno award winner Charlie Hope in July, shows from Blue Sky Puppet Theater, Astronomy with Skip Bird, Henna for Teens, Intro to DJing for teens, and so much more. Check out the FCPL events calendar for all programs.
We look forward to seeing you this summer!
Robin Goetz, Children's and Teen Services
Brunswick Public Library |
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100 OF THE BEST BOOKS FOR YOUR CHILD
Are you looking for a good book to read this summer? Don't know where to begin? Check out our Summer Reading booklists!
Each year, FCPS media specialists and FCPL librarians work together to choose five hundred of the best books for the children of Frederick County. There are 5 booklists of one hundred titles, each designed for different grade levels: preschool, K-2nd grade, 3rd-5th grades, 6th- 8th grades, and high school.
Whether you're looking for a silly picture book, an out-of-this world adventure tale, a collection of spooky stories, or something beyond your wildest dreams, we have just the book for you!
The Summer Reading booklists will be available starting May 1st at fcpl.org/summer. Happy reading!
Submitted by Carly Schilling
Children's Services, C. Burr Artz Public Library |
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BOOKMARK ART WINNERS
We received hundreds of wonderful entries for the 2012 Summer Reading Program bookmark art contest. This was the first year we gave contestants the opportunity to submit artwork in color, the results were amazing and it was very difficult to select the winners. However, decisions had to be made and finalists were selected. We offer our congratulations to:
PreK: Clark James, age 5
K-Grade 2: Jessica An, age 7
Grades 3-5: Rabia Lee, age 9
Middle School: Zoe Maliszewskyj, age 13
High School: Rebecca Compton, age 15
The bookmarks with age-related selections from the Collaborative Summer Reading Booklists will be available at all FCPL branches on May 1st. We hope you enjoy the colorful new format |
FREEGAL MUSIC
FCPL recently added a new service for downloading music free! Through Freegal Music, patrons can download songs from the hundreds of thousands of items available Sony Music. Among the numerous offered genres are Children's, Classical, and World Music. The site also has downloadable audiobooks and comedy including some items for children. Examples include Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, Fairy Tales and Bible Stories.
To access Freegal from FCPL's home page (fcpl.org), look under 'iLibrary' and click on 'Music'. After selecting 'Freegal', you will be prompted to enter your library card number. Music can be searched by artist, album, song, or composer. Other options include browsing an alphabetized list of artists and viewing by genre. Under the genre 'Children's' artists include The Wiggles, the Laurie Berkner Band, Joanie Bartels, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Dan Zane and Friends, Kidz Bop Kids, Dora the Explorer and many others.
Each library account is limited to 3 downloads a week. Each time you click 'Download Now' counts toward this number--whether or not you complete the download. While making your selections, choose to listen to the song sound clip (by clicking the arrow displayed before the song) instead of downloading to listen to the song.
Before using the site, you may benefit from visiting the 'FAQ' section of Freegal. Here you can find answers to technical questions concerning downloading items and further informa tion about using the Freegal site.
Happy listening!
Caroline O'Connell
Children's Services, Brunswick Public Library |
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BLUE CRAB BOOKS 2012
The Blue Crab Award is Maryland's awardhonoring the best in beginning and transitional fiction and non-fiction for children. Since 2004 the Blue Crab Award has been a valuable resource for parents, caregivers and educators looking for quality books that support and promote independent reading.
And the winners are ...
Beginning Fiction
Max Spaniel: Best in Show, by David Catrow. Orchard Books, 2011.
That zany and loveable dog Max Spaniel is back again, this time for the funniest dog show ever. Max shows his zany antics and star qualities as he fiercely competes against the other dogs. The silly humor that shines through Max's character is reflected in the expressive pictures that will have readers giggling to the end.
Beginning Nonfiction
Capybara (A Day in the Life: Rain Forest Animals) by Anita Ganeri. Heinemann Library, 2011.
A delightful look into the life of rain forest dweller, Capybara. Fun facts and wonderful photos make this a great book for beginning readers to learn about this interesting little mammal.
Transition Fiction
Labracadabra by Jessie Nelson & Karen Leigh Hopkins; Illustrated by Deborah Melmon.
Viking Juvenile, 2011.
Zach has always wanted a dog, but when he finally gets one he is disappointed. Larry is a goofy-looking mixed breed with a ridiculous name. Soon enough, however, Zach starts noticing that magical things happen each time Larry wags his tail. Maybe there's something special about Larry, after all!
Transition Nonfiction:
Dolphins (Amazing Animals) by Kate Riggs. Creative Paperbacks, 2011.
Dolphins is sure to please young readers with its clean layout, interesting facts and beautiful photographs. Each page presents simple facts about types of dolphins, their size, calves, pods, communication, and where one might go to see them. Some words are highlighted and defined on the bottom of the page providing smooth reading without flipping to a glossary. Travel into the world of dolphins and get an up-close view of them through the pages of this amazing book.
Check out past winners, honor titles and Best of the Rest here.
Submitted by Adrienne Barbee
Children's Services, Walkersville Branch |
MAKE LITERACY FUN AT HOME
Parents and children alike continue to enjoy our skills-based literacy area at the Thurmont Regional Library. Many parents and caregivers have been interested in where we find the ideas for our activities so we'd like to share some of our tips and resources.
Each month we focus on a letter of the alphabet and we try to include counting, color identification and rhyming activities in addition to presenting letter recognition and ABC games. Felt pieces on a flannel board may also be included with rhymes or songs that the children can act out.
Creating a portable flannel board at home is easy. An inexpensive jellyroll pan or cookie sheet may be used. Purchase enough sheets of the adhesive-backed felt from a craft store to cover the pan bottom and you have an instant flannel board! Felt pieces can be made by tracing shapes or using coloring pages as patterns. Using felt pieces to build a picture, act out a rhyme or tell a story helps your child develop narrative skills which is an important early literacy skill.
Many skill activities found in our literacy area can be easily printed from the internet and used with your child. Some websites would like you to subscribe to their page for a fee but you can search and find many free printable activities. Be sure to use the word free in your search field to help locate the truly free activities. We target items that are suitable for preschoolers so we often include the word preschool in our search as well.
Here are some of the websites we have used and found helpful:
enchantedlearing.com
dltk-kids.com (crafts)
stepbystepcc.com (songs and rhymes)
kidsparkz.com (assortment of activities)
preschoolactivitybox.com/(coloring, scissors,
pre-writing skills)
From the library: check out The Mailbox magazine for preschool
Remember that you are your child's first best teacher and it takes your interest and participation to make these activities fun and valuable learning experiences for your child. The best feature of our literacy area has been witnessing the numerous positive parent-child interactions!
Submitted by Shelba Bollinger
Children's Services, Thurmont Regional Library |
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