Easy Reader Picks (Especially for Reluctant Readers)

Spring Story Time starts up the week of February 24, but until then, we'll be updating the blog with some recommended reading lists.  Be sure to keep your eyes peeled: if you see a blue asterisk next to a suggested book, that means that that title is a patron favorite! Would you like to suggest a book for our recommended reading lists?  Just shoot us an email in the Youth Department!  We'd love to hear from you!

Check out these recommended easy reader books for reluctant readers, now on the shelves at Ozark Regional Library!

Cover images and summaries from Goodreads.

Attack of the Clones by Elizabeth Dowsett- Young readers will learn all about the rise of the enormous Clone Army and the first battle of the Clone Wars in this action-packed Level 2 reader, featuring kids' favorite Jedi minifigures in their battle against the deadly droid army. This book is a perfect introduction to "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones."

This is Wolverine by Disney- The Marvel titles in Disney's WORLD OF READING line of early readers are designed to offer emergent readers, specifically boys, books that they will want to read by featuring characters they love. The Marvel titles in the series are broken into three levels that invoke the rigorous training courses their favorite Marvel heroes must engage in to perfect their super powers. In reading this series, boys will prefect their own power to read. This is Wolverine introduces readers ages 4-6 to the world of Marvel's most popular X-Man, Wolverine!

Arachnid Attack! by Teresa Domnauer- The Arachnid Attack! Extreme Reader features some of nature’s most feared eight-legged predators, from the black widow spider to the giant tarantula.
  

Keep reading!

Shaen

Picture Book Picks

Spring Story Time starts up the week of February 24, but until then, we'll be updating the blog with some recommended reading lists.  Be sure to keep your eyes peeled: if you see a blue asterisk next to a suggested book, that means that that title is a patron favorite! Would you like to suggest a book for our recommended reading lists?  Just shoot us an email in the Youth Department!  We'd love to hear from you!

And without further ado, check out these recommended picture books, now on the shelves at Ozark Regional Library!

All cover images and summaries from Goodreads.

Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees- Gerald the giraffe longs to dance, but his legs are too skinny and his neck is too long. At the Jungle Dance, the warthogs waltz, the chimps cha-cha, and the lions tango. "Giraffes can't dance," they all jeer when it's Gerald's turn to prance. But with some sound advice from a wise cricket, Gerald starts swaying to his own sweet tune.* (recommended by Aidan)

Jazz on a Saturday Night by Leo and Diane Dillon- If you have ever been lucky enough to hear great jazz, then you will understand the pure magic of this book. Leo and Diane Dillon use bright colors and musical patterns that make music skip off the page in this toe-tapping homage to many jazz greats. From Miles Davis and Charlie Parker to Ella Fitzgerald, here is a dream team sure to knock your socks off. Learn about this popular music form and read a biography of each player pictured-and then hear each instrument play on a specially produced CD. What's the featured song? "Jazz on a Saturday Night," written and recorded to accompany this book.

Lost Cat by C. Roger Mader- When Slipper is accidentally left behind, her journey begins. Luckily, everyone wants to be with her. But Slipper won't settle for just any home—she's determined to find the family that fits! In shimmering pastels that bring each texture into brilliant focus, Roger Mader creates a story for all who believe in happily ever after.
  

Keep reading!

Shaen

Spring Story Time 2014: Get Creative!

Calling all families, daycares, and teachers!  Do you have a toddler or preschool-aged child?  Would you love to instill the joy of reading in them in an educational, fun environment?  Then let your imagination take flight with Ozark Regional Library's spring story time theme: Get Creative!

 

Beginning the week of February 24, Pat (see our welcome post for Pat here) and I will be visiting Ozark Regional's eight library branches with a box full of supplies- hello to ten weeks of stories, music, games, activity tables, and craft projects!  Some things to look forward to: making crazy hair bookmarks in week one, having a cotton ball “cloud” race in week five, painting with magnets in week six, and reading If I Had a Robot in week ten!

You can find a complete story time schedule in the left-hand column of this blog or at the library's website under the "Programs and Events" tab.  If you're more of a paper person, you can also stop by your local library in person to pick up a colorful, printed calendar of events.

Keep reading!

Shaen

Afterschool Programs Week #5: Dangerous and Daring Club

Check out the pictures from the winter's last afterschool program, the Dangerous and Daring Club!

For every challenge completed from the Dangerous or Daring books, kids earned a badge, which they traded in for cool prizes.

Participants fueled up with popcorn!

This week's challenges included learning the game of Chinese jump rope, playing paper football, playing pen-and-paper games (like Hangman and Othello!), and weaving friendship bracelets!

Playing paper games.

Finishing up a round of paper football.

And for all the challenges missed last week due to weather, kids grabbed craft kits to take home with them.  Packets included instruction sheets regarding how to play checkers, four square, and handclap games, as well as how to make paper airplanes!

Keep reading!

Shaen

Cancellation for Dangerous and Daring Club at Annapolis Library!

We're hopeful this is the last cancellation of the season, but the roads are still a bit hazardous in spots- slush on top of ice doesn't make for good driving!  Please pass along the word to all your friends who might have been interested in attending the Annapolis Library's Dangerous and Daring Club this afternoon at 3:30 pm that the program is cancelled.  Fingers crossed that all the afterschool programs will pick up again at the scheduled times next week!

Keep reading!

Shaen

Picture Book Picks

The wintry weather may have placed our current series of afterschool programs on hold recently, but in the meantime, check out these great recommended picture books, now on the shelves at Ozark Regional Library.

Cover images and summaries from Goodreads.

Mr. Wuffles by David Weisner-  Mr. Wuffles ignores all the toys people buy for him. He's not lazy; he's just very picky. Now Mr Wuffles has the perfect toy and he's ready to play. But it's not really a toy at all. It's something much more interesting . . .

Big Snow by Jonathan Bean- An excited and frustrated boy watches hopefully as wintry weather develops slowly into a "big snow".

The Blessing Cup by Patricia Polacco- A single china cup from a tea set left behind when Jews were forced to leave Russia helps hold a family together through generations of living in America, reminding them of the most important things in life.

Keep reading!

Shaen

Cancellation for Dangerous and Daring Club at Fredericktown Library

The roads are still slick out there!  Please pass along the word to all your friends who might have been interested in attending the Fredericktown Library's Dangerous and Daring Club this afternoon at 3:30 pm that the program is cancelled.

Keep reading!

Shaen

Cancellation for Dangerous and Daring Club at Ironton Library

Please pass along the word to all your friends who might have been interested in attending the Ironton Library's Dangerous and Daring Club tomorrow... due to the winter weather outside and hazardous road conditions, the program will be cancelled, and all Ozark Regional Library locations will be closed.  We'll keep you updated on any other cancellations that might be happening this week for the D&D Club's Fredericktown and Annapolis locations.  Everyone be safe if you have to get out on the roads!

Keep reading!

Shaen

Getting Ready for the Dangerous and Daring Club!

Barring crazy winter weather this next week, we're gearing up for another set of Winter Afterschool programs!  This week marks the first week of our Dangerous and Daring Club, where kids complete various scouting-style activities (like making paper airplanes or weaving friendship bracelets) to earn prizes.  A complete schedule of Afterschool programs can be found in the left-hand column of this blog, or you can call or visit the front desk of your local library to register and get more details.  All afterschool programs are recommended for grade schoolers, grades 1 through 5, although you can check with a library staff member if you have a younger or older child who might like to attend.

At the Dangerous and Daring Club, we'll be exploring activities from Hal Iggulden's The Dangerous Book for Boys and Andrea Buchanan's The Daring Book for Girls.

Keep reading!

Shaen