Google Me This, Google Me That!

By Jan Pease

If you look something up on the Internet, which search engine do you use?  Over the years I’ve had several favorites.  Do you remember “fetching” things with “Dog Pile?”  It is still in use, as a metasearch engine.  It searches major search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and other popular search engines, as well as results from audio and video content providers.  I used AltaVista, which was once the dominant search engine, because it gave excellent, specific answers to searches.  It was the Google of its day.  It was purchased by Yahoo! in 2003 and eventually closed July 8, 2013.  What does this have to do with anything?

Well, Google and Harry Potter are now 20 years old.  Think about how much our world has changed since we met an 11-year-old boy who eventually became one of the most powerful wizards of his day. The Harry Potter books shook up the publishing world by introducing us to long, long novels for children.

And Google. What can I say about Google?  For 20 years it has transformed itself into one of the most-often used search engines of our day.  Read Anna Crowley Redding’s new book, “Google It,” for a very entertaining and informative book about the history of Google.  Also, on Google’s home page, dig around until you find their excellent article, “Searching for Tuva, before the Internet and Now,” written by Ralph Leighton.  Or google the title, “Searching for Tuva.”

“A Festival of Ghosts,” by William Alexander, is the sequel to “An Utterly Unhaunted Place.”   These books feature the daughter of a “ghost appeaser” rather than a “ghost hunter.”   The town renaissance festival is in jeopardy,and interesting characters, human and ghostly, make this a slightly creepy but fun read.

25 years ago, Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker chewed up the scenery in “Hocus Pocus,” Disney’s homage to Salem, Massachusetts.  They played the Sanderson Sisters, witches from 1693.  Rumors still circulate about a potential sequel to the original movie.   A.W. Jantha has written a book that follows the original story , set in 1993, and adds a sequel set in the present day.  Fans of the movie will love this book, but it will stand alone if you haven’t seen the Disney movie. 

Many writers have offered   alternate historical fiction, usually centered around some war or other.  For example, what if the Allied Forces lost WWII?  Sometimes zombies and werewolves are mixed in with the usual characters.  Daniel José Older, author of the “Shadowshaper Cypher” series, treats alternative history in an entirely new way in “Dactyl Hill Squad.”  This book is set during the American Civil War, but has an interesting twist. The Southern forces ride raptors!  Dinosaurs roam Manhattan!   Historical places and events are sprinkled into the plot, like the New York Draft Riots and the Colored Orphan Asylum, which burned down during the draft riots.  Dactyl Hill is based on “Crow Hill,” an area now known as “Crown Heights.” 

These new books, and more, are waiting for you at Litchfield Library.

Celebrate 20 years of Harry Potter!

Rhetorical Questions and Happy Dances

By Jan Pease

I looked around the children’s department this morning and saw so many bright new picture books that I almost did a happy dance.  Speaking of happy, a little boy came to his first story time today.  He said, in surprising clear 2-year-old speech that he would come next time and we would be happy!  Loved it! 

One silly new book is the sixth Chicken Squad book by Doreen Cronin, “Bear Country.”  The chickens quickly solve their first case of the day, a missing hamster named Ziggy.  But more dangers loom.  A headless bear has been seen running around the neighborhood!  They haven’t had breakfast because their caretaker is missing!  Doreen Cronin asks, “Will this case be too much to bear?”

Grace Lin has just published “A Big Mooncake for Little Star,” a lovely story that explains the phases of the moon.    Her story sounds like a fable, but it’s original, and the illustrations are stunning.  Will this be the best picture book of 2018?  It is the #1 new release at Amazon.com.

“Can a Cat do That?” is a new book by Eric Carle, who is writing and illustrating books for children who are just beginning to read.   Mr. Carle uses repetition and rhyme, as well as a few sight words, to help children decipher the mysteries of reading.  Don’t let the one-star review at amazon.com put you off this book.  The reviewer completely missed the point.  She asked, “Are you too old to write more words?” 

I may have to add my own comment to this negative review, since Eric Carle seems to me to be forever young.  

 

Elli Woollard is a British author who is new on the picture book scene.  Her funny book, “The Dragon and the Nibblesome Knight,” tells a story of mistaken identity.  A kind young knight takes his armor off to help a large injured bird.  The bird, really a dragon, doesn’t recognize that his helper is his enemy, a knight.  All of this is told in rhyme.  Did I mention that this is a funny, funny book?

Kate DiCamillo is famous for her wonderful fiction.  Her new book, “Good Rosie,” is a dog story for   Rosie is a little dog who needs to learn how to make friends.  Dogs, like children, have to learn how to become friends. Can an anxious little dog become friends with a massive St. Bernard?

children who are just beginning to read, really a graphic novel for beginners.

 

“Look,” by Fiona Woodcock, is a nearly wordless book with an interesting twist.  Every word in the book has double o which can have different, confusing sounds.  A brother and sister visit the zoo, see animals like kangaroos and baboons and look at a book.

How do non-English speakers learn the sound of oo?

 

Finally, Adam Rex, who is both an illustrator and a writer, has published “Are You Scared, Darth Vader?”  This is an unusual picture book with a “Star Wars” connection.  What is Darth Vader afraid of?  Of course, he says, “I fear nothing.”  But is that true? 

These books, along with other rhetorical questions and answers, are waiting for you at Litchfield Library.  Get ready to do your own happy dance!

Books, Sweatshirts, and Pumpkin Spice

By Jan Pease

It may be time for warm hoodies, crackling fires, and colorful leaves, but I draw the line at pumpkin spice in anything but pumpkin pie.  That said, it’s time to look at the fall schedule for children, tweens and teens at the library.

On the second Monday of each month, tweens and teens ages 10 and up are invited to Maker Space starting at 3:30 p.m.  The projects are different, interesting, and free.

Fourth Mondays are reserved for Teen Gaming Night.  Teens 12 and up are invited to come to the library at 6:30 to play a variety of board games. 

Every Wednesday at 10:15, parents and toddlers are invited to come to Toddler Time, a story time that is planned for little ones up to age three, but older siblings are always welcome.  Mom, Dad, or a caregiver must attend this story time with the toddlers. This story time does not include an art project.

Third Thursdays of each month are reserved for Beginner Book Club for grades 1-3.  Come right after school, at 3:15.  The September book is “The Twits,” and copies are available at the desk.

Brickheads, our Lego building club, meets every Thursday night at 6:30.  Children should be at least 4 years old to attend.  We use our library Legos, so all you have to bring is your imagination.

Every Friday morning, the library offers Story Time at 10:00.  This story time is planned for children aged 3-5.  We sing, act silly with Jim Gill, read a wonderful book, and do an art project.

Second Saturdays of each month, tweens and teens 10 and up are invited to teen programming from 1:30-3:30.  They tend to do interesting things, like learning how to manipulate green screens or computer coding.  There are several months with fifth Saturdays, so a second teen program is offered on those Saturdays. 

Watch for announcements about other special events that may pop up now and again.  For example, later this month the library will celebrate   Harry Potter’s 20^th Anniversary.  Please join us for the Harry Potter Anniversary Party, September 29^th from 1:30-3  p.m.  Please wear your best wizarding robes to this special event. 

A long ago director of Pioneerland Library System told me that he thought Litchfield’s children’s department had an “ambitious” amount of programs for young people. Yes, yes we do!

Thank You to Our Summer Reading Sponsors!

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

Summer is drawing to a close and, with it, this year’s summer reading program, Reading Takes You Everywhere.  This year in Litchfield, we had 349 kids signed up to participate.  Dassel Library had 171.  Grove City had 36, and Cosmos had 32.

To participate in the reading program, kids played a game that involved earning spots on a board by spending time reading and by doing other activities like attending library programs and playing outside.  When they reached each spot on the board, they got to choose a prize.  Everything from books to certificates for pizza to small toys were available to choose from.

Teens had a simpler version of the reading log that was all about hours spent reading over the summer.

We couldn’t have given out all of those incentives without our generous local sponsors.  I’d like to thank all of the businesses and organizations that gave prizes and donations for the summer reading program to one or more of the libraries in Meeker County:

Friends of the Litchfield Public Library
Dassel Friends of the Library
Dassel Community Chest
First National Bank of Grove City
Cokato-Dassel Lions Club
McDonald’s
Pizza Hut
KLFD Radio
Burger King
Pizza Ranch
Jimmy’s Pizza, Litchfield
Jimmy’s Pizza, Dassel
Willmar YMCA
Casey’s: Cosmos, Dassel, and Litchfield
DQ, Cokato
Qdoba
Red Rooster Foods
Subway, Cokato

I’d like to say a special thank you to the Friends of the Litchfield Public Library for sponsoring the highly-popular visit from the Minnesota Zoomobile (225 people came!) and to the Cokato-Dassel Lions Club for sponsoring Dassel Library’s afternoon for kids at the Xtratyme Tecknocenter, which was also full to capacity.  These were great opportunities for kids in our communities to have enriching experiences without having to pay admission, and families were very grateful. 

Kids can still turn in their reading game sheets for a few more days, through Friday, August 31.  I hope that kids in our communities have continued to read throughout the summer, whether they participated in our summer reading program or not.  Best wishes to all of the students and teachers as they begin the new school year!

Reading Can Take You ... to Tropical Forests

Reading Takes You to Every Era

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

With the kids this summer, we’ve been talking about how “Reading Takes You Everywhere,” our summer reading theme, and that includes other times in history.  It’s true for adults, too: getting wrapped up in a story can feel as though you’ve traveled through time.  A number of new historical fiction titles at the Litchfield Library can carry you to different eras.

Love and Other Consolation Prizes is a new-ish novel by Jamie Ford, the author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.  A twelve-year-old half-Chinese boy named Ernest is a charity student at a boarding school when, to his surprise, he is raffled off at the 1909 World’s Fair.  The raffle winner is the madam of a high-class brothel, where he becomes the houseboy and befriends the madam’s daughter and the scullery maid.  Returning to another World’s Fair in 1962, he looks back on the path his life took.  Surprisingly, this novel is inspired by a true story.

The Hamilton craze has led to an interest in Alexander Hamilton’s wife, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton.  She was a force in her own right, co-founding the first private orphanage in New York City, which exists to this day as a family services agency.  The new novel My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton was written by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie, based on letters and other original documents.  This popular biographical novel allows the reader to dive into founding mother Eliza’s life and the early days of America, from the Revolutionary War and meeting Alexander to her many active years of widowhood, preserving his legacy and advocating for causes important to her. 

Set during the Civil War, A Hope Divided is the second book in Alyssa Cole’s Loyal League series.  This historical romance features a free African-American woman who is a scientist and a spy, quietly helping with coded letters about anti-Rebel uprisings, treating Union prisoners, and assisting people who are fleeing the South.  When the Confederate Home Guard takes over her home, she and an escaped prisoner of war hiding in her laboratory have to get away through the Underground Railroad.  Readers enjoy learning about little-known aspects of the Civil War included in Cole’s books.

Mysteries are often set in historical time periods.  Catherine Lloyd’s Death Comes to the School is set in 1820.  This is the fifth book in the Kurland St. Mary mystery series, set in an English village.  Major Sir Robert and his wife Lucy have settled into village life, but their three-year marriage is less comfortable, and Lucy is unhappy that she is not yet a mother.  Lucy and others receive anonymous letters accusing them of witchcraft, and then the local schoolteacher is murdered.  Lucy steps in as a substitute, hoping to solve the mystery.

The Whispering City: Barcelona 1952 by Sara Moliner was first published in Spain.  This historical thriller is set during the height of General Franco’s fascist government, in a city full of rumors and violence.  A wealthy socialite is found murdered, and a young journalist is given the privilege of accompanying the police inspector handling the investigation.  But the journalist soon realizes that the clues don’t add up, and she and her scholarly cousin find themselves in danger when they become too curious. 

Whether you enjoy reading romance, mysteries, thrillers, or even fantasy novels, you can find books set in different eras of history.  Historical fiction can help us learn more about the past and broaden our perspective on the human experience.