Watch Summer Reading Program promo!
For more information, read the blog below.
Our summer reading program, Be Creative @ Your Library, is fast approaching. You can register online now! Gamecards will be available on June 1 — the first day of the program. There will be a new Baby gamecard this year! Babies and toddlers, newborns on up to 36 months, will have their own smaller gamecard and will listen to stories and do activities with mom or dad or other caregiver.
As always, we will have tons of free programs through June and July. We end with a cool party that will feature a play: Robinson Crusoe! In fact, if you want to be in the play, you can register for an audition now! Just call 531-6333, x1212. So how cool is that?
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.
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Every year one chapter book (fiction or non-fiction) published in the previous year wins the Newbery Award and one picture book wins the Caldecott Award. The Newbery goes to the book with “the most distinguished contribution to children’s literature” and the Caldecott goes “to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children” published in 2008. The winners were announced yesterday: the Newbery went to The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (who wrote Coraline too which will be out in the theatres on Feb. 6 and is a 3-D adventure.) The Caldecott was awarded to The House in the Night, illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson. These awards are very important and the winners are highly regarded, like, forever. |
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Check out these websites of the past winners. Have
you read any of these books?
Newbery winners
Caldecott winners
Did you see the inauguration on Tuesday? Incredibly great history was happening before our eyes! Did you see it? Wasn’t it cool that Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was just the day before? This made the timing of the inauguration very poignant (or profoundly moving). Congratulations to the Obamas and to us all. Check out these great current event websites for kids:
Time for Kids and The New York Time Learning Network.
So, did you see the movie? The City of Ember? I haven’t gotten to just yet but I know people who have seen it and the reviews are mixed. Did you like it? What’s better, the book or the movie? I just read the newest and last book in the Ember series called The Diamond of Darkhold. I thought The People of Sparks was okay but I really didn’t like The Prophet of Yonwood at all. I decided to give the series one more chance anyway. Happily, I can say that I really enjoyed The Diamond of Darkhold. It had more of the original excitment of The City of Ember. We get to see Ember again but it’s very different.
If you were old enough to vote for president, who would you vote for? Would you vote for the Democratic Party candidate, the Republican Party candidate, or the Green Party or the Constitution Party or the Libertarian Party candidate? Did you know that there are many parties and candidates? We hear about Barack Obama (Democratic Party) and John McCain (Republican Party) but many others are running for president also. At Project Vote Smart you can see all the candidates that are in the race. Anyway, if you’ve gotten election fever (who hasn’t?), here’s a few books that may be fun to read:
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Easy books: Cronin, Duck for President : When Duck gets tired of working for Farmer Brown, his political ambition eventually leads to his being elected President. DiPucchio, Grace for President : “Where are the girls”? When Grace’s teacher notes that the United States has never had a female president, Grace decides to be the first, starting her career in the upcoming school election. Krosoczka, Max for President : Max thinks he would like to be class president. But so does Kelly. Who will win? Pass, Vote for SpongeBob! : Well, of course.
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Chapter books: Roy, Capital Mysteries :Some pretty strange things happen in our capital. The first book in this series is called, Who Cloned the President? and the newest is called The Election-Day Disaster. Need I say more? Dowell, Phineas L. MacGuire–gets slimed! : When his new best friend decides to run for class president, science whiz Phineas MacGuire reluctantly agrees to be his campaign manager in exchange for help with his latest experiment–cultivating exhibits for a mold museum. Edwards, Mom for Mayor : Eric’s favorite playground is about to be destroyed by developers. He is convinced his mom would make a great mayor and starts on her campaign. Trouble is, he forgot to tell his mother about her campaign. McDonald, Changes for Julie : Julie decides to run for student body president so she can make changes to the very unfair detention system in her school. |
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Non-fiction: (324s) Goodman, See How They Run: campaign dreams, election schemes, and race to the White House : Using funny anecdotes and clear explanations, the author starts at the birth of democracy and covers other topics like third parties, the campaign trail, the electoral college and a lot more. Gorman, Why are Elections Important? : Voting gives Americans a voice in how the government is run. This book explains why voting is such an important right and answers questions such as “Who can vote?” and “What leaders do we elect?” Thomas, How Do We Elect our Leaders? : This book covers elections from the president of the United States on down to the mayor of small town USA. |
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Other great election web sites:
Scholastic News Online
Weekly Reader
The Democracy Project
Time for Kids
Have you seen Kit Kittredge: An American Girl? It’s the first “American Girl” to hit theatres. I haven’t seen it but I hear it’s a good movie, even if I’ve never owned an American Girl doll. Kit is a girl living in the 1930s (who would love to be a reporter) that is suddenly thrown into the very real situation of seeing her Dad lose his business and paycheck. Dad goes to another city to find a job, Mom takes in boarders to help with the rent. Katie, who’s 11, saw the Kit movie and said that it was “really good and a mystery that’s fun, funny and touching.” Katie is hoping there wil be a movie about Addy next, or maybe Julie. Which American Girl character would you like to see made into a movie?
“ebooks for ekids”, that’s Tumblebooks. Tumblebooks lives on our Kids Web and is a fun way to read a book, whether it’s a picture book, chapter book or even a classic. You can read books in Spanish or French too. Today I played a game on Tumblebooks. It was called Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! and I was doing pretty well on the 10th level before I had to get back to work (ok, so it was a game of Concentration not Super Smash Bros. Brawl). Anyway, next time you can’t get a book at the library because it’s checked out, go to Tumblebooks and maybe you’ll find a book to read or listen to there: Anne of Green Gables, Black Beauty, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Little Women are a few of the titles you can find in the Tumble Readables section and there’s even more titles in the Audio Books section. Check it out! (without really, you know, checking anything out.)