Wouldn’t you be interested in a book that claims to contain “everything you need to know to get by in the 21st century?”  Especially if that book was published by an organization as established as National Geographic?  It’s called “The Knowledge Book,” and it’s so much fun to browse through.  The hook comes in the very first sentence of the forward by David Wallechinsky…”I was raised in a home with books in every room.”  What librarian wouldn’t love a book that started that way?  There’s also a fond remembrance of a childhood copy of “The World Book Encyclopedia,” another Reference favorite.  This book is quite readable all the way through, with lots of great photos, time-lines and fun “Insider Knowledge” boxes with info that will definitely come in handy for trivia games, crossword puzzles, and maybe even your next holiday party as great conversation openers. (”Please pass the dip - and did you know that no artist was reproduced more often in the 20th century than Vincent van Gogh?”)  Too bad this book isn’t small enough to fit in your pocket!

Every Tuesday I have the pleasure of “playing” with 32 of our youngest patrons. Nursery Rhyme Time, our storytime for babies under the age of two is in full swing.  The program is a combination of songs, stories, fingerplays, and lots of action.  We offer a pre-walker program, for those who are still not quite walking, and a walker program for those who are real movers and shakers.  These kids may seem too young to come to storytime, but listening to great stories and songs should definately be a weekly highlight. Did you know that children (and babies) who are read to at least 3 times a week do better in later development than those who are read to less than that? Coming to the library, with your baby, will get you one step closer to achieving that reading goal.  As one mom put it,”It’s so great to have a reason to get out of the house, and it’s free!”   You can’t ask for anything better than that.  So come on down and check out our newest program at the Woods library. Di 

There’s only six days left to Veterans Day and I would like to say thank you, thank you, thank you to all of our Veterans as we celebrate you. I got more interested in Veterans Day this year, when I heard a statistic on a radio station I was listening to.  It stated that as of 9/30/2006 there were 3,151,000 living WWII Veterans and that 1,025 passed away each day.  Wow, that seemed pretty staggering to me. My dad was a WWII veteran and passed away recently.  I knew about his basic Air Force service, during World War II, and how he had served in England and was a gunner but I wish I had learned more.  I wish he had shared more stories with me.  As I went through some old photographs, with my mom, I saw pictures of my dad standing in front of a plane with a group of men, all smiling.  Wearing a leather bomber jacket with a fur color, his hat tipped to the side a little looking so handsome, so young.  I would love to have heard about those men standing with my dad, ….were they scared? did they want to be there? and what  did they do on a day to day basis?   Preserving our countries history seems so important to me.  The Library of Congress is working on a Veterans History Project aimed at collecting oral history interviews, memoirs, letters, diaries, etc. from veterans of all our wars.  If you know a Veteran have him or her check it out and contribute their thoughts about their experiences.

I put up a Veterans Day display of books in our Branch and as I was searching for information about the history of Veterans Day I came about a site called Celebrating America’s Freedoms.  It’s a collection of stories about some of America’s customs and national symbols. It includes the history of “Taps”, the Pledge of Allegiance, and Veterans Day. 

 If you get a chance, visit the library and check out a book or two about our Veterans and the wars they served in.  We’ve got some great books about these courageous men and women.   I’ll be thinking about our Vets and our Soldiers at War this Veterans Day….. Thank you just doesn’t seem enough.

Nancy

Did you know that Connecticut is home to what is considered to be “the Most Haunted Town in the United States?”  Don’t worry - it’s not Fairfield!  It’s Dudleytown, located somewhere in Litchfield County (local folks don’t like to divulge it’s exact location to all of the would-be ghost hunters and tourists).  It really did exist, though, founded by Thomas Grifis in 1739.   Unfortunately, over the years the people of Dudleytown were visited by tragedies of all kinds - insanity, murder, lightning strikes, fire, mysterious illnesses - you name it.  Theories as to why this town was so cursed range from residents’ involvement in a plot to kill King Henry VIII back in England (anybody who knows anything about Henry VIII knows that it’s not a good idea to mess with him!), to revenge from angry spirits because the town may have been built over a Native American burial ground.  Regardless of the reason, things were so scary in Dudleytown that by 1899, it had become a ghost town.  People who do visit, even today, report strange phenomena, negative energy and really bad vibes.

There are many other haunted spots in CT, and if you’re in the mood this Halloween to check some of them out, come and check out a new book called “Connecticut Ghosts: Spirits in the State of Steady Habits” by Elaine Kuzmeskus, M.S., a certified Spiritualist Medium and Director of the New England School of Metaphysics.  We do a have a copy of this book in the Reference collection, too, at R 133.1 K.   It’s an interesting and timely read, with Halloween right around the corner.  Just the right amount of scary!

I had the opportunity to sit in on one of our newer programs here at the Branch, today. Nursery Rhyme Time is for our very youngest customers and their mom, or grandparent, or caregiver. It was so totally fun!  As a former children’s librarian I know the importance of reading aloud to children.  Early literacy, getting your child ready to read, is one of the best things a parent can begin to do.  Mem Fox, noted children’s author, who wrote “Reading Magic” says, “spend at least ten wildly happy minutes every single day reading aloud!” I love how she says wildly happy.  Is there anything better than that.  Imagine having your child sitting on your lap as you read aloud a perfect board or picture book you’ve chosen from the library.  Have fun with the book, change your voice to different characters if you can, look at the beautiful illustrations, listen to the way the words sound as you read them aloud. Reading aloud to this youngest group helps to foster their great love of reading and stories.  It builds their imagination and as they begin school, they will already have a remarkable vocabulary and the foundation set in place for reading.  Here are 6 skill areas that will help your child begin that journey towards reading.

1. Print motivation means interest in and enjoyment of books. Tip: Begin reading books early-even when your child is a baby.

2. Vocabulary means knowing the names of things. Tip: Read to your children in your first language.  After reading the story through once, go back and pick out different objects to talk about.

3. Letter knowledge is learning that letters look different, and have different names and sounds. Tip: Name different shapes - the ball is round, the box is square, the line is straight.  Letters are built on shapes.  Read ABC Books or books where Letter Sounds are repeated and clear.

4. Print Awareness means learning that in English we read from left to right, and from top to bottom. Tip: If there are only a few words on the page, point to each word as you say it.  Some books are very helpful at showing print or word awareness.

5. Phonological awareness means the ability to hear and manipulate the smaller sounds in words. Tip: Make up your own silly songs and rhymes.  Check out Rhymes & Mother Goose books.

6. Narrative skills means a child’s ability to understand and tell stories. Tip: Talk to your child about the every day things you are doing.  Stories without Words also help your child tell what is happening in a book.

These are just a few ideas for you to think about as you read aloud to your child.  Remember, Library Cards are free.  So if you don’t have one, now is the time to visit us and get one.  When you come into the children’s area find out where we keep all our great books for babies, and make it a point to meet the Children’s Librarian.  She is here to help you and is the best resource you could possibly ask for.

Happy reading!

Nancy

I was taking a walk during my lunch break today and because the weather has gotten brisker and the leaves were blowing all over the place, I started to think way, way back to my days of trick-or-treating and when my kids did as well.   When I was growing up, a day or two before Halloween, my parents would lay out lots of newspaper on our kitchen table.  My father would then proceed to cut out our jack-o-lanterns, one for each of us.  My brothers and I got the fun part of scooping out all the icky, gooey, insides of the pumpkin.  My mom would clean up the seeds and make the most delicious roasted pumpkin seeds ever.  We would take handfuls of them as we ran in and out of the house, playing, during the next couple of days.  Oh they were good.  My kids never liked them but now that they’re on their own and out of the house I think I’ll make up a batch of them for my husband and me. 

It would take weeks for my brothers and me to come up with great costumes.  My mom would take us to the library to check out books to get ideas on costumes , we didn’t have the luxury of just checking on the Internet for them, but we always seemed to come up with some great homemade ones.   Even my kids loved to make their own instead of buying them.  We also never got to have a haunted house,  a couple of neighbors might do something a little spooky out on their front stoop but nothing compared to today’s standards.  My son would go out to our backyard shed every year and put together something scary to scare all of my daughters friends. It was always so much fun. I of course loved to trick or treat, I even went out when I was in college, but that’s because I LOVED candy so much.  We would get popcorn balls and candy corn and Hersey bars, yum!! I would really fill up my pillowcase and eat and eat candy for weeks.  My kids had a nice trick-or treat tradition as well.  A friend of mine lived about 1/2 mile away from us and every year she used to make the best Halloween fudge you could imagine.  We would trick or treat down to her house where she would have a special area just for friends to enter.  There would be a huge bowl of homemade fudge for us to take a few.  My kids still talk about it.  Of course the best part of this for me was that her husband would then drive us back home where an exhausted mother (me) helped her kids sort through their candy!

Halloween is great fun and the library has lots and lots of great books on costumes, and pumpkin decorating, and haunted houses……and as you can see by my links the Internet also has some fun and interesting places to look.  One more I wanted to mention though, a green site, green is in now so you might want to check this one out as well.

Well, I’ve really gotten myself into that Halloween excitment mode and I hope I’ve peaked a couple of your own favorite, when you were young, Halloween memories.  Happy Halloween everyone.

Nancy

Fairfield Public Library, in cooperation with Borders Books and Music, is pleased to announce that author Scott Westerfeld will be speaking at the Fairfield Public Library, 1080 Old Post Road,  on Thursday, October 25 at 4:00pm.  Westerfeld is the author of the Ugliestrilogy, an 8th grade and Fairfield Ludlowe High School Reading List selection, and the recently released companion book Extras.  His book Peeps was a 2006 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults.  Other books by Westerfeld include the Midnighters trilogy, So Yesterday, The Last Days, and several adult science fiction books.

Registration Required for this program.                                                             

Online: www.fairfieldpubliclibrary.org or by phone: 255-7394

We often see young adult readers crossing over into the adult section of the library, but rarely do adults delve into the treasures the YA section holds (with, of course, the exception of the Harry Potter series).  Well, it’s time we started.  There are some great YA books that everyone can share and enjoy. 

 

My first recommendation is for those of us mourning the end of the Harry Potter Series.  The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan should help fill the need for great fantastical adventure stories.  In the first book, The Lightning Thief, we meet Percy Jackson, a wise-cracking, good-hearted twelve-year old with a knack for landing himself in big trouble.  The kind of trouble that has gotten him kicked out of countless schools.  This year is looking particularly bad for Percy, especially after his pre-algebra teacher turns into a monster and attempts to kill him.  But, Percy’s crazy life finally starts to make some sense when he learns that his is the son of a Greek god.  Percy is sent away to a camp for Half-bloods (half-human, half-Greek god/goddess) and finally finds a place where he belongs.  Unfortunately for Percy, his new life, as well as all of humankind, is threatened and it will take an old-fashioned heroes’ quest to put things right again.

  

This 2008 Nutmeg award nominee is really a book that the entire family can enjoy and talk about together.  What I most love about this series is that young Percy and his mythological friends truly act heroic by protecting the weak, staying loyal to friends and the cause and, perhaps most importantly, trying to do the right thing (while continually delivering humorous quips and insights).       

If you are a Mets fan, you’re probably still feeling a bit nauseous from the roller coaster ride they’ve taken you on this past season.  Ups, downs, all around the town!!  It’s always been a bit risky to put all of your hopes on the Mets, but this year’s been especially tough.  Well, there’s always next year, right? Right!  Speaking of risks and ups and downs makes me think of another volatile “sport” if you will - investing in the stock market.  Things have been a little bumpy there lately, too.  We may not have any control over Willie Randolph and the boys, but we can have some control over risks and gains when it comes to creating and managing a portfolio.  We are very lucky to have Mr. Jonathan Wooten, a former investment banker, as a guest speaker for our Technology Topics series.  The title of the lecture is “Investment Resources Online,” and he’ll be discussing successful and safe ways to gather information from online (and some print) sources that will go a long way in helping to build a sound portfolio.  Come join us on Thursday, October 25th at 7:00  pm in the Platt Walsh Room.   No strikes, just hits - that’s a promise! 

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about one of our favorite movies, “Waitress.” It’s about a waitress named Jenna who dreams up all different type of pies to fit her mood at the moment.  Jenna is a pie maker supreme.  She’s trying to come up with a special pie to enter into a $25,000 pie contest.  If she wins she wants to get away from her husband and begin a new life.  The pies she develops are incredible.  The customers in the diner that she works at are the happy recipients of all her concoctions.  The ingredients at times are odd, but when you see Jenna mixing them all together with such grace, emotion and imagination, well it makes you want to go into your kitchen and make pies.  As I was talking to my friend, she had just made an “I’m so excited about my new job lemon pie.”  I remembered this great pie I had made many, many years ago.  I thought it would be the perfect pie for me to make to celebrate her good news.  It was a pie recipe I had gotten out of the Hartford Courant’s recipe exchange.  I found the recipe using our on-line resources here at the library and I thought this might be an impromptu database searching hunt for you all.  If you follow these directions you will find a pie recipe that you can call “I’m so glad we have a library database” pie.  So here goes, oh, please let me know if you find it.

1. Go to http://www.fairfieldpubliclibrary.org/
2. In search our site click on databases.
3. Click on Periodicals/Magazines.
4. Scroll down to iCONN Newspaper Collection, click on connect from home/office.
5. Once you’ve entered iCONN you will need to input your library card number at the top of the screen, to access the full-text articles at the Courant. Make sure to hit the login button
6. You will have then entered the iCONN database.  Click on Databases selected.
7. On the next page unclick ProQuest Newspapers - click on Hartford Courant, then click on the yellow “Continue” button at the top of the screen.
8. In the basic search string (click on the green “Basic” tab ot the top of the screen) type in apple pie recipe, pull down the Date range tab and click on before this date.  Type in 12/30/1994 and then click on the yellow search button.
9. Click on “Recipe Exchange”/full-text. After the Abstract (summary), scroll down a little and you will have found my “I’m so glad we have a library database”, also known as almond apple pie.  It’s delicious, ENJOY, and take a lesson from the “Waitress”, making pies can be a beautiful and delicious outlet.

You’ve now had a lesson in retrieving from our on-line databases. You can find all kinds of wonderful information here.  Now that you have dabbled in it a little, scroll around - enjoy your wealth.

Nancy