Books about Kindergarten

Each year the library does a school-themed story time to celebrate the beginning of another school year! For your librarians, this is always a happy time of year because we get to say “yay” and “congrats” to a whole new set of 5-year-olds who are just starting out their first year of…KINDERGARTEN! We COULD choose to be sad about this, but we’re determined to see the silver lining!

With that in mind, here is a set of our favorite books about kindergarten for families to enjoy together. Have fun and come see us soon!

• The Night Before Kindergarten, by Natasha Wing and illustrated by Julie Durrell.A rhyming story about kindergarten and gearing up for the big day.
• Who Will Go to Kindergarten Today? by Karl Rühmann, illustrated by Miriam Monnier
  Sam decides to send his toy monkey Timbo to kindergarten in his place, but after telling Timbo about his school friends and what his day is really like, he realizes he wants to go himself.
• The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten by Maureen Fergus, illustrated by Mike Lowery.
• Countdown to Kindergarten by Alison McGhee, illustrated by Harry Bliss. 
  Ten days before the start of kindergarten, a preschooler can not tie her shoes by herself and fears the worst.
• Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate, illustrated by Ashley Wolff.
  Introduces the letters of the alphabet as Miss Bindergarten and her students get ready for kindergarten.
• Welcome to Kindergarten by Anne Rockwell.A boy visits the classroom where he will attend kindergarten the following fall and finds out what is in store for him.
• Wemberly, Worried by Kevin Henkes.A mouse named Wemberly, who worries about everything, finds that she has a whole list of things to worry about when she faces the first day of nursery school.

You can find all of these titles right in the library's picture book bins, or you can order them online or over the phone. 

Non-Fiction Science Books for Adults

This is the last week of the Eager Free Public Library’s summer reading program! We hope you had as much fun reading this summer as we did around here. Did you participate in the first adult reading program? Don’t forget to turn in your book bingo sheets by the time the library closes on Saturday August 16th in order to enter our awesome prize drawing.

One of the bingo spots is “non-fiction science.” We fielded a lot of questions about this square this summer, about what “counts” as non-fiction science for adults. In case you’re scrambling to find an appropriate book for that spot this week, we’ve compiled a list of books that fit into this category. 

Science writers to check out:

• Mary Roach. With titles like Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal and Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, Roach’s books are smart, entertaining, and present science “for the rest of us.”
• Michael Pollan. Pollan’s books cover important topics that affect us everyday, particularly when it comes to food science and issues related to farming and food production. 
• Carl Hiaasen. Check out the non-fiction work by popular fiction and environmental science writer Carl Hiaasen.
• John McPhee. This writer’s eclectic catalog ranges from geological histories to sports. 

More recommended titles:

• The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic, and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson 
• The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz-Age New York by Deborah Blum
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (it’s the next book club title, so you can read more about the book and read-alikes here!)
• Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss
• The Best American Science Writing collections for you anthology lovers out there!

We hope you find something to suit your science appetite in this list!

Books about Community Helpers

Tuesday, August 5th is National Night Out and this year Evansville hosts the Rock County Night Out in our very own Lake Leota Park. Night Out is sponsored by the emergency services departments from Rock County, including of course the Evansville Police Department and Department of Emergency Medical Services. 

To celebrate the vital work that these folks do for our community, we’ve compiled a list of picture books about helpers in communities. Check ‘em out at the library or through RockCat today!

• All Through My Town by Jean Reidy (found at Hedberg PL) Illustrations and simple, rhyming text take the reader on a tour around town.

• Police: Hurrying! Helping! Saving! by Patricia Hubbell (found at Hedberg PL) Illustrations and rhyming text celebrate police officers and what they do.

• On the Town: A Community Adventure by Judith Caseley (found at Hedberg PL) Charlie and his mother walk around the neighborhood doing errands so that Charlie can write in his notebook about the people and places that make up his community.

• I Stink! by Kate McMullan (found at all Rock County PLs) A big city garbage truck makes its rounds, consuming everything from apple cores and banana peels to leftover ziti with zucchini.

• The Firefighters by Sue Whiting (found at Beloit PL and Hedberg PL) After dressing up as fire fighters, building a fire truck out of a cardboard box, and extinguishing imaginary fires on the playground, Mrs. Iverson's students are surprised by the arrival of a real fire engine with real fire fighters on board.

• Firefighters! Speeding! Spraying! Saving! by Patricia Hubbell (found at Beloit PL and Hedberg PL) Illustrations and rhyming text celebrate firefighters and what they do.

We did a whole blog post dedicated to fun picture books about libraries and librarians, so you can check that out here!

Eager Free Public Library will be at Night Out on Tuesday, August 5th at Lake Leota Park. Stop by our table to say hello and make a fun back-to-school craft!

THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS

 

Our book for next month's book club meeting will be The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.  This work tells the story of Henrietta Lacks and her cells.  These cells became an important part of scientific discovery and led to developments such as the polio vaccine and gene mapping.  Her cells have been used by many, and yet, she remains unknown.  This is her story.

If you are interested in more information on the author or Henrietta Lacks, you can visit http://rebeccaskloot.com/

If you liked The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, give one of these works a try:

Stiff by Mary Roach
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed
Generation Rx by Gerg Critser
Abraham Lincoln's DNA and Other Adventures in Genetics by Philip Reilly
Blood Work by Holly Tucker
The Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard

Fiction Readalikes:

The Second Time Around by Mary Higgins Clark
The Mystery of Breathing by Perri Klass
The Footprints of God by Greg Iles
Mr. and Miss Anonymous by Fern Michaels
Fifth Vial by Michael Palmer
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley


Picture from http://syndetics.com/index.php?isbn=9781400052172/lc.jpg&client=arrowheadlbs&type=rn12

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: DEBORAH HARKNESS

Deborah Harkness is the bestselling author of the All Souls Trilogy.  The final book, The Book of Life, was released last week, and fans of the series will finally learn what the witches had discovered centuries ago.  After traveling through time, Diana and Matthew return to the present to face new problems and old enemies.  The search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on more urgency as they face their biggest threat to their future.


When she isn't writing, Deborah teaches European history and the history of science at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

For more information on the author or the series, visit http://deborahharkness.com/





The All Souls Trilogy:
A Discovery of Witches
Shadow of Night
The Book of Life

Want more?  Try one of these titles listed below!

The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark
Overseas by Beatriz Williams
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
Dark Curse by Christine Feehan
Faefever by Karen Marie Moning
The Diviners by Libba Bray
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield


Picture from http://syndetics.com/index.php?isbn=9780670025596/lc.jpg&client=arrowheadlbs&type=rn12

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: ANN BRASHARES

You may know Ann Brashares from her bestselling Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, but she has also written stand alone novels.  Her most recent work, The Here and Now, was just released this year.

The Here and Now tells the story of Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was 12.  However, she did not come from another country, but from another time.  She is from a future where an illness has killed millions.  Prenna and the others who escaped must follow a strict set of rules: don't reveal where you are from, don't interfere with history, and don't be intimate with anyone outside of your community.  This is not a problem for Prenna until she falls for Ethan Jarves...

Works by Ann Brashares:
The Here and Now
3 Willows
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
The Second Summer of the Sisterhood
Girls in Pants
Forever in Blue
Sisterhood Everlasting
My Name Is Memory
The Last Summer (of You and Me)

Books similar to The Here and Now:
Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone
Things Hoped For by Andrew Clements
The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
Until the End of Time by Danielle Steel
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Picture from http://syndetics.com/index.php?isbn=9780385906296/lc.jpg&client=arrowheadlbs&type=rn12

SHOELESS JOE

Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella tells the story of reclusive author J. D. Salinger and an Iowa baseball fan who has built an authentic baseball field on his farm property for Shoeless Joe Jackson and other baseball players.

Growing up Field of Dreams was a family favorite, and I still love the movie today.  I have never read the book it is based on, so I am really looking forward to this month's Book to Movie discussion.  Pick up a copy today, and join us at Creekside Place on July 31st!

 

Looking for more baseball?  Give one of these books a try.

Calico Joe by John Grisham is set during the Cubs and Mets 1973 season.  It traces the paths of Joe Castle, a rookie hitter, and Warren Tracey, a hard-throwing pitcher.

The Great American Novel by Philip Roth follows the Ruppert Mundys of the Patriot League in this rearrangement of baseball's history.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach takes place at Westish College.  Baseball star Henry Skrimshander is destined for the big-leagues, but when a routine throw goes off course, the fates of five people are upended.

The Natural by Bernard Malamud tells the story of Roy Hobbs as he attempts to become the best there ever was.  It is a story of pride, second chances, and baseball.

Or, check out one of these baseball movies!

Field of Dreams
The Natural
42
Pride and Perseverance: The Story of the Negro Leagues
Moneyball
A Braves New World
Bad News Bears
Pitcher and the Pin-Up
Bull Durham


Picture from http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=shoeless+joe