Pikes Peak Library District is offering a wide variety of free children’s programming during Spring Break, March 22 – 31. Highlights include performances by Dave Elder the Horn Guy, Beth Epley, the Scarlet Sisters, and Jesse Wilson. And be sure to catch a performance by Funky Fairy Tales, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary of bringing children’s books to the stage.
For a complete list of PPLD’s Spring Break programming, click here.
Pikes Peak Library District will team up with the Air Force Academy Athletic Department through the end of April to invite kids in kindergarten through 7th grade to take part in the spring 2010 Blue & Silver Book Club.
Participants who read a book of their choice each month will earn free tickets, ticket discounts, and invitations to special events with Air Force Falcons Sporting teams. Spring sports include baseball, lacrosse, and men’s and women’s tennis. Children or Parents can pick up a reading log for the month and have it stamped at any Pikes Peak Library District library. This stamped log will serve as an all access pass to all book club events happening at the Academy in the upcoming month.
Find out about the Blue & Silver Book Club events on your reading log or through direct e-newsletters from the Air Force Academy.
To pick up a Blue & Silver reading log or learn more about the program visit any Pikes Peak Library District location and speak with a librarian.
The 2010 Newbery medal was awarded to When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. This tween read is about a girl named Miranda who lives in New York City in 1979. She knows the city well, but is confused when she starts receiving notes that make life very unsettling.
The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney won the Caldecott medal for it’s illustrations.
Needless to say, the library will be getting more copies of both winners.
Pikes Peak Library District again presents the Jean Ciavonne Poetry Contest for Children. This year’s theme is Poetry Ignition: Select the Key to a Fantastic Poem.
Invent a poem using one of these innovative beginnings:
We’ve started the poem for you! Now it’s up to you to create a dynamic finish!
Prizes: Six winners will each receive $25, a book, and an Imagination Celebration poster.
Eligibility: Open to all fourth and fifth graders in the Pikes Peak region.
Meets Colorado Model Content Standards 1, 2, and 4 for Reading and Writing.
Contest rules:
Submission of a poem constitutes full permission to exhibit, use, and publish the poem for any purpose – printed or electronic media – and to publish the name, school, and photographs of the student without compensation.
Mail entries to: The Jean Ciavonne Poetry Contest
c/o Nancy Maday
Pikes Peak Library District
P.O. Box 1579
Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1579
Or fax to: 632-6043
Questions? Call Nancy Maday at 531-6333, x2405 .
Awards will be announced in mid-April as part of the Imagination Celebration and Young People’s Poetry Week.
Kids ages 6 – 12: Write a book between 250 and 500 words in the style of Dr. Seuss. Include a sample illustration based on any part of your story. Turn it in at any PPLD branch by 9 p.m. on Tuesday, February 16. Be sure to include your name and phone number on the title page so we can contact the winner. The winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble. For more information, email akussman@ppld.org.
Are you homeschooled? Are you a kid? Then you are invited to submit one piece of art for our 3rd Annual Homeschool Art Show, Jan. 15 – Feb. 21, 2010 in the Children’s Dept. at the East Library. Please bring your artwork as soon as possible. Your art can be an unframed drawing, painting, photograph or sculpture. We’ll have an art reception for you and your family and friends on Feb. 21, 2 – 3 p.m. For more information contact Mary Grant at 531-6333, x1407 or mgrant@ppld.org.
Art: “Chicago” by Cuyler McDonald, age 8
This program for tweens was presented by the Space Foundation as part of All Pikes Peak Reads 2009. 10 kids ages 9 – 12, and parents as well, had loads of fun designing and building a lander similar to NASA’s Altair lander that would absorb enough shock to protect its three astronauts (in this case, three mini-marshmallows). Altair is the proposed Lunar lander that will land astronauts on the moon. It is being built by NASA as part of the Constellation program.
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It’s here, yay! There’s nothing like a new Harry Potter movie! Ok, well, maybe a new Harry Potter book would be better. I heard the final movie will be split into two parts. Ouch. But at least it makes the joy last longer. See the “Harry Potter Questions & Answers” blog entry. The questions are really good and I enjoy finding the answers! Enjoy the movie! (I did.) Plus, here’s a great website about everything Harry Potter.
Yucky Food ( A poem)
by Nathan Ramirez, 5th grade, Fremont Elementary
Pepperoni pizza, with anchovies on top
My parents love to make it, though I wish that they would stop
Chocolate covered pickles, butter smeared with salt
My friends will not come over, though I know it’s not my fault
Apples with salami, peppermint in pie
Crayfish from Miami, in our potluck that’s been fried
Applesauce n’ wishbones, cheerios with peas
Cheesecake and rat tails, slimy spinach leaves
My sister’s face is pale, my brother’s turning faint
Now their faces are the color of a purple can of paint
They are dizzy turning circles, and falling on the ground
When my mother gets some vile food and starts serving it around
Pancakes and tomatoes, cornbread with some slush
Broccoli and bacon, some moldy meatloaf mush
None of these are good for me, of that I’m really sure
So the next time mom serves food again, I will beg hard to differ.
How I Make Cookies
by Luka Kimlocko, 4th grade, Taylor Elementary
Hey you! Can you get a big bowl?
Now get the bag of sugar. Oh no! The bag has a huge hole!
Well, get the butter then, my friend, and we’ll see what we can do,
to replace the sugar if we can. Oh my! We’re out of butter too!
For the sugar, we’ll replace that with some dirt.
And for butter go get my yellow shirt!
Okay buddy, can you get the egg beater?
Oh, yeah! I forgot it was destroyed by our heater!
Now get the eggs (Is there a reason that you look scared?)
We have eggs??!!! We’re spared!
Wow! The eggs are rotten! That’s too bad, we’ll have to use them.
Now I think I’ll add a little of my phlegm.
Please now, get another bowl, but this time don’t take hours.
And please get some flour too. Or was it flowers?
Well, get the flowers anyway.
Because I just remembered we’re out of flour. So please do as I say!
Now I need some salt and some baking soda.
Oh no! They’re both made in the state I hate: South Dakota!
Now go get the vanilla and the water please.
(And stop slapping my knees!)
Make the batter into balls and put them in the oven to bake.
Chomp! Ouch! Grumble. I feel like my stomach is going to break!
The Food Fight
by Aspen L. Heidekrueger, 4th grade, homeschool
Fred crept downstairs for his midnight snack.
He heard a scary sound.
He opened the refrigerator door.
There was nothing to be found.
The fridge was almost empty.
The food had disappeared!
All that was left was ice in a box
And jelly that was smeared.
Fred looked around the kitchen
A movement caught his eye.
And to his great astonishment,
It was a blackberry pie!
It was throwing globs of jelly
At the doughnuts from the deli.
The cheese was throwing pickles
At the ham, that was quite smelly.
From every which direction
Food was being thrown.
“Stop!” Fred yelled at all the food.
“You, too, small ice cream cone!”
The food all turned and glared at Fred,
And aimed a pie at him.
Fred realized something wasn’t right,
Then everything grew dim.
“Get up!” Fred heard his father say.
He looked around and sighed.
The dream had seemed so very real…
Fred opened his eyes wide.
He jumped out of bed and ran to the mirror.
He couldn’t believe his eyes.
Most of his face and half of his hair
Was covered with blackberry pie!
The Spooky Thanksgiving Meal
by Ashley Heidekrueger, 5th grade, homeschool
I woke up one Thanksgiving morning
And smelled something divine.
I wondered if I, Alexander,
Should investigate the crime.
I slowly tiptoed down the stairs
To see what there was to eat.
But I saw nothing much except
A pot of chicken feet.
“Mom, what’s going on?” I cried.
Hoping for an answer.
But all I got was one small squeak
From my sweet, beloved hamster.
I turned around so quickly
And to my great surprise,
My mom had completely vanished
Right before my eyes.
In her place there was a witch,
Who looked hideous and mad.
I ran screaming down the hall
And ran into my dad.
“Go to the table!” he shouted.
It’s time to eat right now.
But when I saw the table,
I rubbed my eyes and scowled.
I saw no turkey, no potatoes,
No pies and no sweet rolls.
Instead, a roasted zebra head
Lay steaming in a bowl.
Beside the zebra was a dish
Of slimy, eye-ball stew.
Along with that was fishing bait
And crunchy spiders, too.
I’m a great detective.
I knew something wasn’t right.
I thought it was Thanksgiving,
But instead I’m filled with fright.
I ran to check my calendar
To explain what I had seen.
When I looked at it, I realized,
The day was Halloween!
Pizza and Me
by Dylan Brown, 5th grade, TCA-North
Pizza this is my love sonnet to you.
Oh how I truly love you precious food.
Some people call you a big lump of goo,
But not me pizza, you lighten my mood!
The mushy cheese is surely the best part.
When you take a bite your mouth becomes sticky!
Cheese, you have always been there from the start.
You taste so good but you look so icky.
Next is my eternal delight for meat.
Meat adds the flavor to my pizza slice.
There is no topping that’s a better treat.
It does not matter if you chop or dice.
But for my dear love I become withdrawn,
And that is pizza when you are all gone!
Mr. A
by Talia Ogren, 5th grade, homeschool
Mama says my very best friend (whose name is Mr. A.)
Stays inside my mouth year round
and prods me to eat all day.
His real name’s Mr. Appetite (he’s sometimes rude and impolite),
he sits on my tooth, and to his right,
pass all the foods I’ve had that night.
Pickled peppers, green snow peas.
meat and pepper that makes me sneeze,
Mango, pear an old, dry grape (I didn’t eat the rest on my plate),
lemon pie, some broccoli,
(I started dessert too early, see),
carrots dipped in ranch half way,
The brand of Root beer drunk by Claude Monet,
spaghetti squash, a slice of meat,
an old red beet.
Some blue berries that I had chosen
(which we found quite thoroughly frozen),
some cherry pie and chocolate cake,
but now I fear that I must wait,
for the cookies that mom baked,
for I now have a stomach ache,
and I know that mom was right,
I really do have an appetite.
Are you between the ages of 9 and 12?…..Then you are a “tween,” which I guess means you live between childhood and teenager-hood. The Pikes Peak Library District will have special programs just for you this summer! We’ll launch rockets, write songs, create superheros, tye-dye T-shirts, and we’ll welcome author David Lubar. Plus, get ready for Tween Gaming! Look for our Tween Twist flyers coming in May.
