Pete the Cat - Book and Song

Here are some cute little girls with this fun book about what to do when things don't go the way you planned. My school principal read this to all the primary classes at the beginning of the school year and they loved it.

Pearls Before Swine - Aug 23, 2010

Library Humor - Again

Have you seen the Old Spice commercials? Here's a clever takeoff.

Animals Always: 100 Years at the Saint Louis Zoo

Author: Mary Delach Leonard

If you love St. Louis and the history of this town, this book is for you. If you are ambivalent toward St. Louis, but love zoos, this book is for you. If you don't care about St. Louis or zoos, but care about me, read this book.

Mary Delach Leonard, a past feature writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has done a magnificent job of telling the story of what is often rated as the best zoo in the world, the Saint Louis Zoo. When I got the book from the St. Louis County Library, I did not have time to read it right then, so I handed it off to my 86-year-old mother, who has lived in St. Louis her whole life. The book captivated her, and when I was finally able to pry it from her hands, I was captivated as well.

In this book you will find story after story about the earlier days at the zoo. The author brings you up to the present day with text boxes of interesting "then and now" statistics. One that demonstrates our changing times shows items most often left at the zoo in 1932 compared to today's lost and found. Take a guess.

Did you know that the zoo's first elephant, Miss Jim, was purchased through the donation of 238,400 pennies collected by the city school children? Do you know why, in 1910, the zoo's financial backers refused to purchase what would have been the first camel for the zoo? Did you know that in all of North America you can only find the horned guan, an endangered bird, at the Saint Louis Zoo? Do you remember the story of the spitting cobra that escaped from his cage and prompted a 40-day city-wide search?

Sharing this book with my mother was really special to me because she remembered so many of the stories from the earlier days. In fact, my maternal grandmother worked for a sewing company in downtown St. Louis. The sewers were scheduled to start work on the outfits for the zoo's monkey show when World War II began and the sewing company's plans were redirected.

Containing beautiful photos and many older photos that have never been published before, this book is a treasure.

(The St. Louis County Library system has thirty copies available for checkout.)

Bohemian Rhapsody as sung by The Muppets

More Librarian Humor

Librarian Humor

Swagger Wagon

Just got back from a wonderful visit in Spring Hill, TN with my brother and his family. My niece, Julie, showed me this clever Toyota commercial, part of a series of viral spots featuring the "Sierra family."

Trying My Hand at Glogster

Recently I found out about a site called Glogster and have been thinking of ways I can use it for class projects, specifically book talks on the order of the old Reading Rainbow series. While visiting at my sister's house today, one of her sons, Kevin, graciously agreed to let me videotape him doing a mock booktalk, so that I could, in turn, show it to students to give them an example of reading with enthusiasm and expression. I got more than I bargained for...Kevin is a very clever and funny guy. He hasn't read the book, just the blurb on the back cover. Here's the end result. Excuse the laughter...I'm still trying to learn how to edit videos.

Twenty Years Ago this Month - Olympic Flashback

Are you old enough to remember the "Miracle on Ice," the ice hockey game in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY? Russia was highly-favored to win the gold but the US team, made up of college and non-professional hockey players, defeated them in one of the medal rounds and went on to take the gold.

So inspirational was the victory, that twice the story was told on the big screen. The first movie, Miracle on Ice came out in 1981. In the second movie, Miracle (2004) there is a well-known scene where Herb Brooks (played by Kurt Russell), the coach gives a pre-game pep talk to the US team. For reference, you can see the clip here:

Miracle - Coach Brooks Addresses Team Pre Game

Here's a young boy who has memorized that speech and delivers it here. Cute.

BookBook

Hardback leather case for MacBook Pro available at Twelve South

February 14th Birthday: Paul O. Zelinsky

For the past few weeks I have been reading folktales from various countries to my students in preparation for Rockwood Reading Week: Read Around the World. One of my (many) favorites is Paul O. Zelinsky's version of Rapunzel.


Not only has Zelinsky crafted the words, but he is the illustrator as well. I love how he has captured the Italian Renaissance style in his oil paintings. He truly is a gifted artist.

He has shown similar style in other picture books, two of which are Rumpelstiltskin









and Hansel and Gretel



So I am always interested when an artist takes on another style that seems so unassociated to what I have come to expect from him/her. Here's Zelinsky's cover art for a more current book called Shivers in the Fridge, written by Fran Mahushkin.



This is the story of a family who live in a cold, dark place. They are not happy here, always startled and frightened by sudden blinding light accompanied by a monster's hand reaching in to remove part of their edible furnishings. They need a new place to call home.

Clever story and artwork, but I find it's always good to look at other examples of work in order to get a better picture of the scope of the artist's talent.

Known for his versatility, Mr. Zelinsky does not feel his work represents a specific style. He said the following in an interview:

"I want the pictures to speak in the same voice as the words. This desire has led me to try various kinds of drawings in different books. I have used quite a wide stretch of styles, and I'm fortunate to have been asked to illustrate such a range of stories."

You can find out more about Zelinsky and his books at his website.

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's a nice, inspirational website:

Photo of the Day

Today's photo is "True Hearts" by Mark Westlake. Awwwww...fitting for the day!

A Fun Game to Play

Here's a sophisticated, amazingly well-made game that is lots of fun to play. It's called Get the Glass! and is produced by the California Milk Processor's Board. You will see the "Got Milk?" logo at the bottom of the opening screen.

The storyline for the game is this: The Adachi family are in search of milk and they are in trouble with the law because they will go to any lengths to procure a glass of the white stuff. You roll the dice to move them along on the gameboard, but the police are always in hot pursuit. When the family is caught they are taken to Milkatraz, get it? Alcatraz, Milkatraz. They have various ways to escape and continue on the gameboard. Here are a couple screen shots from the game. When you have a few minutes, give it a try.



Oh, and the Got Milk website is really clever, too.

...and here's another reason why I need an iPhone

You can use the Brushes application to create drawings and then send them to your friends.

Read Through the Bible in a Year

Pastor Chris Smith, of Resurrection Presbyterian Church here in St. Louis, offers links to various Bible reading plans in his December 31st blog entry. I like the one called "Bible Reading Plan for Shirkers and Slackers," 'cause, hey, that's me! So I'm going for it. And the good thing is, there's no pressure. Shirkers and slackers have low expectations.

Need Books?

The St. Louis County Library is in the process of converting a number of the branches into self-checkout. It's quite an undertaking as the materials for the new system are quite expensive. So, right now there's a lot of "weeding" going on in all sections (fiction, non-fiction, childrens, etc) at a number of the branches. Except for the processing labels, many of the books are library-bound and in new condition. I know that Oak Bend is just starting, Daniel Boone and Eureka Hills have been underway for awhile. Others, too, I just don't know which ones. Toward the end of January there will be a big sale, 10 cents a book, but I noticed that some of the books are already going out on the sale table at my local library. I'm sure they will be advertising, so, if interested, be on the lookout or ask your friendly neighborhood librarian for more information.

Photo: Copyright FreeStockImages.org