Summer Reading Week 2 and What You Need to Know This Week

Summer Reading
* The second week of 2012 Summer Reading is already over! Can you believe it? Since we last posted, 209 more kids have joined our Summer Reading program, and 466 more online reviews have been written. 
* Our charity this year is the Moraine Township Food Pantry. Kids have donated $15.50 worth of their earnings (tokens) so far. After donating tokens (or teen credit) donors can decorate a paper can for our donor's food pantry.  You can bring in non-perishable food items to donate as well.  We've already have a box of food waiting to be taken to the Food Pantry.
* Thanks to a group of voracious baby Summer Readers, the Very Hungry Caterpillar in the Inger Boye Room now has 13 segments, which means that they have shared 195 books, songs or fingerplays. You can see photos of the Caterpillar (and other Summer Reading events) in our Summer Reading 2012 Facebook album.

Summer Reader of the Week
Each week during Summer Reading the Youth Department runs a random drawing from summer reader participants who have written at least 3 online book reviews.  This year, we're featuring two readers - one from the ages 3-5 program and one from the K-5 program!

Congratulations to 4 year-old Henry F., who enjoyed  Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose by Dr. Seuss, Ten Little Dinosaurs by Pattie Schnetzler, and A Dog is a Dog by Stephen Shaskan this week!

Congratulations to fourth grader Jackson T., who enjoyed Horrible Harry in Room 2B by Suzy Kline, Mr. Sunny is Funny by Dan Gutman, and The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl this week!

As winners, Henry and Jackson's names, and the books they enjoyed this week will be displayed on our Electronic Bulletin Board for the summer. Check back here next Monday or look up on our electronic bulletin board when you come in to see reads from future Summer Reader of the Week winners!

Events at the Library This Week
* The second session of Stories Under the Stars begins tonight (Monday, June 18) at 7:30pm in the Rose Garden. Stories will be told by Anne Shimojima.
* Chef Gale Gand will be here teaching two dessert-making classes for entering 2nd through 5th graders on Wednesday, June 20.  This class was so popular we had to add a second session at 5:30!  There are still a few openings left if you missed getting into the 7:00 one.
* Outdoor drop-in chess is in full swing! Come again this Saturday, the 23rd!

Stuff From Last Week
* Last week's Stories Under the Stars program was preceded by a visit by Sherwood School students and their librarian, Mrs. Weiss. Kids got tours of the library, signed up for library cards and/or Summer Reading, checked out books, and went down to the clearing next to the Rose Garden for stories! It was a wonderful evening. Pictures are up on our Facebook.
* We gerbils had a harrowing Wednesday evening this past week, as we knew there were SEVERAL LARGE CARNIVOROUS GERBIL-EATING BIRDS in the library and WE DID NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE with that fact. However, we never actually saw the birds, which was good because apparently during their visit one of them demonstrated how quickly it can swallow an ENTIRE mouse. (If you didn't already know... mice and gerbils are distant cousins. We do NOT want to watch the video, but you may find it fascinating,  so click the previous two links for video documentation of the rodent horror.) If this dinner display was not terrifying enough for you gerbil fans, the raptor handlers actually LET LOOSE said dining bird to fly across the meeting room. We gerbils are SO glad we were upstairs during this program (but we did think the video of the flight was pretty cool. Sometimes we like horror films.)  Also in attendance was a majestic bald eagle, a red-tailed hawk, and a turkey vulture. Our librarians put up many photos on Facebook if you are interested in looking at photos of things that would happily eat us gerbils right up.

Around the Web

Books & Book News
* From teach.com, a flowchart of potential books to read this summer.
* Preview a page from The Graveyard Book graphic novel!
* The unpublished prologue from Shannon Hale's Palace of Stone is up on her blog (the prologue does not appear in the book)!
* A Monster Calls has won the Carnegie Medal and the Greenaway Medal (the UK versions of the Newbery and Caldecott Medals). Congratulations to Patrick Ness and Jim Kay.
* Can you guess the titles of these books from drawings of them?

Movies & Stuff
* Read this fascinating letter from Gene Wilder (who played Willy Wonka) to his director. It was the actor's own suggestion to make Willy the perfectly quirky guy he was in the film.
* Philip Seymour Hoffman has been offered the role of the Head Gamemaker (Plutarch Heavensbee) in Catching Fire.