Stocking Display

Isn't this just gorgeous!! This is our newest display for the month of December. We have been very fortunate to have numerous local residents willing to share their special collections. This is just one excellent example. The lady who has made these stockings will be giving them to family members later this month. Obviously a lot of work has gone into the intricate designs and color

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A new book just received today (and a little late for Thanksgiving) entitled Thanksgiving Rules by Laurie Friedman is really cute. It was actually one recommended from a state convention session I attended this fall in Des Moines. I plan to read it along with a few others to the ladies at our local nursing home tomorrow.

I have also finally finished the Sarah Palin book, Going Rogue and would recommend that book as well if for no other reason than to better understand why many "good people" don't choose to run for a political office!! I will share more about this book later.

Santa Books

With Thanksgiving over it is now time to bring out all those wonderful books about Christmas!! This miniature "Santa" I found at that bargain store I mentioned in another blog gave me the idea to see how many books we had with Santa's name in the title. I was very surprised to find the one called Santa Kid was authored by James Patterson, the adult mystery writer of often gross thrillers!!! This childrens' book is a humorous and heartwarming story totally different from his adult thrillers!! The story is about Chrissie, Mr. and Mrs. Claus' daughter. Chrissie gives the reader some very humorous information on life at the North Pole as the daughter of such famous parents. But one day a strang businessman arrives who wants to BUY Christmas!! In fact he claimed he had already bought it and when the news media got wind of this news here is what the headlines said "NORTH POLE BOUGHT BY EXMAS EXPRESS! CHRISTMAS TO BE CALLED EXMAS!SANTA HAS A NEW BOSS!" How Chrissie and "friends" solve this crisis is what makes this story so enchanting for all ages.

Here are a few of the other titles shown in the pictures and a few not so visible: How Santa Got His Job and How Santa Lost His Job by Stephen Krensky; Dear Santa, Please Come to the 19th Floor by Yin . Chris Soenpiet; Twelve Gifts for Santa Claus by Mauri Kunnas; A New Improved Santa by Patricia Rae Wolff; Santa Clause and the Woodcutter by Kathrin Siegenthaler and illustrated by Marcus Pfister; and What Santa Can't Do by Douglas Wood.

Cafe de Poetry

"Cafe de Poetry"

We meet the last Friday of each month for lunch- a "brown bag event". We also share poetry orally- either someone's original poems or ones published by others. I often use poems by Helen Steiner Rice and funny ones from such books as Kid's Pick the Funniest Poems.

We had a smaller than usual group today even though the group "voted" last month to have our monthly meeting today despite it being the Thanksgiving weekend. No matter. Those of us who came still were blessed with meaningful poems. The poem "Over the River" was also shared orally as no one volunteered to sing it. Since I will be visiting family in Miami Beach, Florida, next month we won't be able to meet again until January.

The collection of poetry books on the shelf in the picture came in handy today as a couple of the participants hadn't had time to bring something from their home to share. We are a very informal and friendly group. I encourage other librarys or groups to try such an event. It really is uplifting and as one of our members has said it is like "an oasis" in her monthly schedule of events.

World War II

In honor of Veteran's Day I had a display of recently donated books on World War II aircraft. This library has been very fortunate in receiving many wonderful donations and we have a very significant collection of other World War II books as well as books about other wars Americans have served. These books were donated by one of the World War II pilots still alive today who was a resident of this town for many years before his retirement.

The books shown here are Bomber Command : American Bombers in Original World War II Color by Jeffrey L. Ethell; The Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft by Robert Jackson; Pictoral History of Aircraft by David Mondey; Conquer the Sky:Great Moments in Aviation by Harold Rabinowitz; and Fortress Fighters by William S. Somers.

If you like historical fiction books of the World War II era I strongly recommend the Zion Covenant series by Bodie & Brock Thoene. It does have 9 books that do follow chronological events so one should read them in order. There is even a Zion Chronicles series and a Zion Legacy series by these authors that are not as long. The books provide the reader with an indepth understanding of the plight of Jews in Europe during this historical era. Another Christian fiction author, Elyse Larson has a 3 book series set during World War II that I also recommend.

Thanksgiving

Most every Tuesday I go to our local nursing home to share a few stories with 8-10 of the residents. I have found that childrens' books go over best with them. This picture shows 3 of the books I shared today in honor of Thanksgiving. We, of course, sang the words in the first book shown. I was impressed with how well my "sleepers" stayed alert to the middle book, How Many Days to America by Eve Bunting as it was a more serious book with more words in it. I do use my years of being involved with young children as well as some drama experience to "tell" the stories with as much drama as possible to hold their attention. The 3rd book in this picture is a spin off from the book entitled The House That Jack Built with a much different ending. The ending allows the reader to really project his or her voice which definitely woke up any of my audience who might have been dosing off.

An added "treat" for the residents is when I stop reading and go to their well tuned piano to play music for them. The song I always end with is one entitled "In His Time" and then I usually read a brief inspirational poem by Helen Steiner Rice who is my absolutely favorite poet!!

A brief update on my reading of Going Rogue. There are only about 5 actual chapters in the book but with several subchapters (if that is a word). I am now into Chapter 3 and I can officially go on record as saying I would never, ever want to try and run for any political office at any level!!!!That being said, I again must applaud Sarah Palin for her stamina, integrity and willingness to go against seemingly insurmountable odds in this chaotic world we are now living in.

Childrens' section

Here are a couple shots from the newly renovated childrens' section of the library. Since I'll soon be changing the decor to the Christmas look I wanted to share these seasonal fall shots now. I also have numerous stuffed items along the shelves to add interest. Thought it quite unique to find this stuffed pumpkin at a neighboring thrift shop. That is where I find most of the items I use to decorate. One can find all kinds of inexpensive items in such a store. It literally pays to find one in your area.

The following books are some of the childrens' books I have used as my "Pick of the Week" section of my weekly newspaper column: Big Words for Little People by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell; Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink by Diane De Groat; Substitute Groundhog by Pat Miller, and Unexpected Treasure by Victoria Osteen. I have a few Christmas ones I'll share later.

Lots of laughs

Do you want a wholesome book with a lot of laughs? Then I heartily recommend the Miss Julia series (there are presently 10 books in the series) by Ann B. Ross. When I initially discovered books 1 and 2 in this library over a year ago I wrote a review about it in my weekly news column. The responses I have gotten from other readers has been most encouraging. I even got a positive reply from a former resident who happens to receive our small town newspaper where she now lives. Needless to say I have made sure we obtained all other books in this series and I personally can't wait for book 11 to come out whenever that happens!

For more wholesome laughs I recommend the recently published book of Bill Keane cartoons entitled The Family Circus - The complete comics from the beginining - 1960-61. It also includes a brief pictoral autobiography of his family in the early days of his career.