Children’s picture books and fantasy go together like peanut butter and jelly.  It’s hard to have one without the other.   “Emily’s Tiger” from Barefoot Books is one of my favorite new fantasy releases.   The best way to get what you want is to turn into a grouchy tiger.  Or, is it?  Emily doesn’t want her haircut.  She doesn’t want to eat carrots and she definitely doesn’t want to brush her teeth.  Mom and Dad aren’t quite sure what they are going to do with their tiger-daughter.  Just in time, Grandma comes to the rescue.  She has a secret to share with Emily.  She’s a tiger, too.  But, Grandma has learned that happy tigers have much more fun than growling tigers.  As Emily and Grandma take an adventure into the bright moonlight, Grandma shows Emily the benefits of taming her tiger.   Young children will probably not understand the message of taming the tiger within, but they will relate to the everyday issues of the story.  The author of this book is also the illustrator  Her colorful, cartoon-like drawings on double-page spreads make this book very appealing to children.  I think Grandma Tiger looks quite cute in her glasses. 

 

If you have a little tiger in need of taming, check this book out at the Burlington Public Library.

Children of Men by P.D. James

Book Review by Dawn Hayslett

Public Services Manager

Burlington Public Library

 

Children of Men

 

Remember I said that what I like about science fiction is that it asks “What if” questions?  Well, I have another one for you.  What if there were no new babies being born?  What if there were no babies born anywhere around the globe?  What would our world be like?  That is the question P.D. James poses in “Children of Men.” 

            P.D. James is best known for writing great whodunits.  She is the creator of the Adam Dagliesh mystery series which have been produced for BBC mystery programs and now are available on DVD.  She is admired for the skillful construction of her plots, an interest in the psychology of her characters, the intricate details of her settings, and the elegance of her prose.  “Children of Men” is a departure for her into the realm of science fiction.

            In 2021, the human race is becoming extinct.  For reasons beyond the grasp of modern science, human sperm count went to zero. The last birth occurred in 1995, and in the space of a generation humanity has lost its future. Oxford historian Theodore Faron is our unlikely hero.  Unexpectedly and against his nature, he is drawn into the schemes of a group of revolutionaries out to overthrow the tyrannical government and build a new society.  Can this group have found the one woman who can save the world? 

            The chilling and intriguing aspects of this novel are James’ creation of a world we hope we never see.  This is a world where schools are closed and playgrounds are empty;   dolls and pets have become an elaborate “replacements” for children, the infirm are encouraged to commit suicide, criminals are exiled and abandoned and immigrants are subjected to semi-legalized slavery. James uses her platform well to talk about the ills of our society but you won’t mind because the action is fast-paced and the characters are fully realized, even the “bad guys.” The New Yorker magazine said in its review that the novel is, “As scary and suspenseful as anything in Hitchcock.” Will our future be saved?  You have to read “Children of Men” to find out.

            “Children of Men” became a movie last year.  Both the book and the movie on DVD are available at the Library.

The Youth Services staff at the Burlington Public Library is reminding all summer readers that great prizes are waiting for them at the library.  It’s not too late!  Sign-up and read to earn free food, noisy gadgets, and the chance to win $100 chamber bucks.

Here’s what’s happening this week at the Burlington Public Library.  Join us in the meeting rooms for the following events:

• July 6   1:30   Family Storytime
• July 7   1:00  ICN Class - “Dance & Move” (Please Register)
• July 8   1:00-3:00  Teen Eco Craft (Reuse Buttons)
• July 8   6:00 - 8:00  Teen Anime Discussion Group
• July 10  10:00   Movie - “Inkheart” (Rated PG)
• July 11   10:00   Local Author, Linda Gerdner

“You wouldn’t want to be a worker on the Statue of Liberty!” is one of the newest releases in this high-interest, non-fiction series for children.  The book starts with a brief historical look at the design challenges facing French sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi when he is commissioned by Edouard de Laboulaye, a French politician, to build a statue for the United States of America.  The reader is drawn into the book as Bartholdi’s humble assistant and is warned that this may involve some dangerous work.  Cartoon-like drawings of people with their comments in speech bubbles give this book a comical feel.  Yet, a surplus of information, including a glossary, is found within its 32 pages.  For a reluctant non-fiction reader, this series is fun to read, and a great introduction to the information collection in the Youth Services area of the library.

 

Originally published in Great Britain, this series is recommended for children, grades 3-5.   The Burlington Public Library has more than 45 of these books available for checkout.  Some are about well-known historical subjects like the Mayflower and Christopher Columbus, and some are about lesser-known moments in history, like Polar exploration and the Irish potato famine.

Join us this week for more summer fun.  All programs are held in the meeting rooms at the Burlington Public Library.

• June 29  1:30 — Family Storytime
• June 30  1:00 — ICN Class - “Now you see it” (Please register)
• July 1  6:00-7:00 — Teen Anime Discussion Group
• July 2  2:30 — Rick Eugene, Children’s Magician and Balloon Artist
• July 2  3:30 — Balloon Workshop (Ages 8 & up - Limited Registration)
• July 3 — Library Closed
• July 4 — Library Closed

Steamboat Days 2009 is winding down.  Wind up at the Library this week.  All events are FREE and held in the meeting rooms at the Burlington Public Library.

• June 22  1:30  Family Storytime
• June 23  1:00  “Ham it Up!” ICN Class (Please Register)
• June 23  5:00-7:00  Teen Game Night (Grades 6-12)
• June 24 1:00-3:00  Teen Eco Craft - Pop Tab Creations
• June 24 6:00-8:00  Teen Anime Discussion Group
• June 26  10:00  Storytime with Buzz & Friends (Burlington Bees)

Be Creative @ Your Library is this year’s summer reading theme for kids. Teens are asked to Express Yourself as their theme and adults get to Master the Art of Reading. Whatever you call them, summer reading programs are always about having fun reading.

 

Summer Reading

Area libraries are hopping with lots of visitors signing up for the reading program, checking out books, winning prizes, and attending events. At the Burlington library, there is an event, or two, everyday in June, including Saturdays and July is nearly as busy. While some people slow down in the summer, public library staff members kick into high gear.

 

Planning for summer reading begins over a year ahead. The themes are already announced for next year. A multi-state consortium known as the Collaborative Summer Library Program chooses the themes each year. Libraries throughout Iowa use these themes. Soon after this year’s program ends the State Library of Iowa will begin workshops on planning for next summer. A lot of work and anticipation goes into creating a great summer reading program.

 

It also takes a lot of community support. This year the Youth Services staff at the Burlington library received donations from a long list of area businesses and organizations. A full list can be found at the library or on the library’s web site. Donations range from money to purchase prizes and pay for programs to in-kind gifts of free pizzas, pool or skating passes, and other prizes. The generous support from these groups makes it possible to give the summer reading participants incentives to keep reading throughout the summer.

 

Educators will tell you that keeping up reading skills over the summer is very important to school success in the fall. The summer reading program is a great way to keep kids motivated to read.

 

Adults are also encouraged to participate in their own summer reading program. It sets a good example for children to see their parents, grandparents, and other adults reading for pleasure. It can give an adult another reason to make time to sit on the patio with a good book on a warm summer day.

 

Some libraries, like Burlington, have added summer reading programs for our youngest residents. This program for babies and toddlers is designed to encourage and reward parents for reading to their young ones. Early exposure to books is important to developing young minds. Reading together is a fun way to bond with babies and toddlers and help them start on a lifelong habit of reading and exploring.

 

Getting Creative

The many programs that libraries hold during summer reading programs are great ways to fend off the “I’m bored” syndrome that starts to sink in during the summer. Because this year’s theme is about creativity and self-expression, the events focus on art, theater, poetry, and other fun and creative pursuits. Magic shows, concerts, movies, and crafts fill the line-up. All of the programs are free entertainment for families looking to get out of the heat.

 

If you want to take some creativity home with you, your library offers lots of opportunities to pursue your hobbies, learn a new skill, or take on a new project. You will find books, magazines, and how-to DVDs devoted to all sorts of creative activities from learning to play guitar, designing and building a tree house, scrapbooking your summer vacation, planting a butterfly garden, and so much more.

 

The Burlington library recently added an online creativity tool. At www.burlington.lib.ia.us, you can go to the databases section and find Hobbies and Crafts Reference Center. To use it from outside the library building, you will need to have a Burlington Public Library card.

 

This resource covers a wide range of topics from collecting records to fantasy sports and kayaking to model railroading. For each topic you can read articles, find project how-to pages, or watch videos. If you want to read up on a current hobby or get creative by exploring a new interest, this online resource is another way to explore.

 

To find more ways to get creative, talk to your local library staff. They will help you find resources in the library or online.

 

See you at the library.

Burlington Public Library 

 

1:30 p.m. Mondays beginning June 22

Family Storytime

 

10 a.m. June 19

Movie: High School Musical 3

 

10 a.m. June 20

Local Author Storytime

 

1 p.m. June 23

Stories and More, register at Youth Services Desk

 

5-7 p.m. June 23

Teen Games

 

1-3 p.m. June 24

Teen Eco Crafts: Magnets

 

6-8 p.m. June 24

Teen Anime Discussion Group

 

6-8 p.m. June 24

Internet Searching: The Basics class

 

9 a.m. June 25

Sit and Stitch

 

10 a.m. June 26

Burlington Bee’s Baseball Reader

 

9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. June 27

Friends Book Sale

 

1 p.m. June 30

Stories and More, register at Youth Services Desk

 

6 p.m. July 1

Teen Anime Discussion Group

 

2:30 p.m. July 2

Rick Eugene, magician and balloon artist

 

3:30 p.m. July 2

Balloon Workshop, registration required

 

July 3 and July 4

Library Closed

 

1 p.m. July 7

Stories and More, register at Youth Services Desk

 

1-3 p.m. July 8

Teen Eco Crafts

 

6 p.m. July 8

Teen Anime Discussion Group

 

9-11 a.m. July 9

Keyboarding class

 

9 a.m. July 9

Sit and Stitch

 

10 a.m. July 10

Movie

 

10 a.m. July 11

Local Author Storytime

 

2 p.m. July 13

Pockets Full of Fun

 

1 p.m. July 14

Stories and More, register at Youth Services Desk

 

1-3 p.m. July 15

Teen Eco Crafts

 

6 p.m. July 15

Teen Anime Discussion Group

 

6:30 p.m. July 16

Storytime at Farmer’s Market

 

10 a.m. July 17

Burlington Bee’s Baseball Reader

 

 

Mediapolis Public Library 

 

10:30 a.m. June 19

Face Painting

 

10:30 a.m. June 26

World of Difference, Kathak Indian and Bollywood Dance

 

July 3

Last Day of Summer Reading Program

 

7:15-9 p.m. July 9

Summer Reading Program Swimming Party

 

Henderson County Public Library 

 

2 p.m. June 20

Mad Scientist Party for boys. Bring your dad, grandpa, or special friend.  Is it oozing, bubbling, slimy or gooey? 
 
2 p.m.  June 27

“Hotel for Dogs” Free admission, popcorn, and drink.  All ages welcome. Rated PG.

 

Keokuk Public Library

 

10 - 11 a.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays
Story Hour

If library events in your community are not listed here, contact the director of your local public library and ask them to inquire about publishing them here and in The Hawk Eye.

6 – 7 p.m  June 23
Grandma Sometimes Forgets: A special evening Story Hour with the author,
Kathy Huls 

2 – 4 p.m. June 26
Afternoon Movie: The Tale of Despereaux

4 p.m. July 1
The Comedy Magic of Rick Eugene

6 – 8 p.m  July 9
Movie Night (Title TBA)

6 – 7 p.m  July 14
Babaloo: A musical comedy act and outdoor concert

2 – 4 p.m. July 17
Afternoon Movie: Bedtime Stories

To give my summer reading some shape, I sometimes choose authors by nationalities. One summer, I read Russian writers, another one, Latino. I began this summer thinking I would return to contemporary American writers. What I did not expect was to read several books where ghosts or spirits are part of the story.

Staphanie Kallos’ Sing Them Home comes under this category of the dead still being with us. Hope Jones, one of the main characters, has been dead for years as the story begins; yet, we hear her voice through diary entries and from what other characters tell us about her. Not surprisingly, she provides us with some of the strongest connections between the dead and the living as Hope, naturally, still shapes her children.

We enter Larken, Gaelan, and Bonnie Jones’ lives as their father dies in a thunderstorm. We watch them hurdle memories of their mother’s death (a tornado takes her when they are children, and they refer to her death as her “ascending” or “going up,” never as dying).  Their father’s death when they are adults, adds another layer that shrouds their already complicated lives.

Kallos writes about death, grief, love, siblings, and family ties. One of her strongest passages is about grief: “A human being can only hold so much, and grief occupies a large piece of real estate. When it arrives, it takes up residence in every seen and unseen part of a person.”  Surely most can relate to how grief can turn our lives into ones we barely recognize where the simplest motions become difficult or where we turn to crutches (like food for Larken, working out for Gaelan, or piecing together memories for Bonnie) to help us stay grounded.

Although Kallos sometimes falters in making connections and at times covers too much information about her many characters,  her images often enchant. Overall, she tells a readable story, complete with insights into the Welsh language and customs, the insides of pianos, and how a family handles being a family.

This novel is not currently at The Burlington Public Library but is worth getting through inter-library loan or buying from your favorite bookstore.