Summer, Spring, Fall, Winter... The Four Seasons!

Yep, it's that time again.  Summer programming may be over, but all the fall fun is just getting started!  Join us at the library for ten weeks of toddler/preschool story time.  This year's theme is The Four Seasons, and each week, we'll explore a different season through stories, songs, games, interactive activities, science experiments, and crafts.  This year, highlights include painting with colored ice cubes and making gumdrop sculptures!

Check out the complete schedule of events at http://ozarkregionallibrary.lib.mo.us/ under the "Programs and Events" tab, or stop by your local library to request a brochure. 

Keep reading!

Shaen

Quotability #1

"Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are" is true enough, but I'd know you better if you told me what you reread.  ~François Mauriac

So, here's a quote for the day for you to mull over.  It got me thinking about those books I consider literary comfort food and come back to on rainy days: Anne of the Island, Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quartet, the Oz books, among others.  These novels delighted me as a kid for the fresh, new worlds they created in my mind, and today, I find myself enjoying them just as much for their great writing and universal themes. 

What books do you find yourself coming back to again and again?  What do you love (or just find fascinating) about these stories?  Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Keep reading!

Shaen

The Search for WondLa

Book cover image from Amazon.


I recently read an amazing book that I've been recommending to practically every patron who walks in the door.  The Search for WondLa by Toni DiTerlizzi is the first in a projected trilogy, which reads like a sci-fi Wizard of Oz. 

The story introduces us to twelve-year-old Eva Nine, with her futuristic braids and cell-phone-like Omnipod, who is forced to flee her underground sanctuary and robot Muthr after an intruder attacks.  All she takes with her are meager supplies and a question: What is the meaning of "WondLa", and how did the letters find their way into her sanctuary's secret tunnel?

Eva lives in a world strangely distorted from our own, with oddly exotic plants, talking animals, and mechanical marvels, and her unintended journey onto the surface of her planet leads her to meet new friends, including the tender-hearted Rovender Kitt and the elephantine flying beast, Otto, as well as discover the dark origins of her home and perhaps, her true purpose. 

DiTerlizzi's tale feels wonderfully nostalgic, and like classic kids' novels of yesteryear, is sprinkled liberally with pages of olive-tinted illustrations drawn by the author.  You can check out DiTerlizzi's website for some behind-the-scenes info on WondLa (and some neat glimpses of forthcoming book illustrations).  If you have a chance to stop by the library and pick up one last book for vacation reading, I highly recommend this one.  The only thing you'll be disappointed in?  That you have to wait for the sequel. 

Keep reading!

Shaen