Ms. Nancy's Library & Technology Blog

“To be educated in any true sense of the word one must use the library and master the experiences of mankind.” — William T. Harris , 1893

Hello, Internets,

Is anyone going camping this summer? There are lots of books out there to help you get ready. Campground guides, road atlases and nature guides can all help you plan a trip. This is a good time to do a web search — look for “camping recipes,” “star gazing books,” “bug encyclopedias” and any other keywords you can think of. Even if you can’t get away any time soon, it’s always fun to plan.

Here are a few handy websites for you:

Oregon Parks and Rec

Environmental Kids Club

Nature Watch

and last but not least…

Happy 65th Birthday, Smokey Bear!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Best,

Ms. Nancy

“Read a book and take a look at the TV in your head.”

— O.G. Readmore

What are you reading this summer? At my house, we’re reading “Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World,” Harry Potter 6 (again), “Monsterology” and a lot of other fun stuff. We are spending a lot of our time at the library because it’s air-conditioned.

Have you been staying cool? In Portland, it has been hotter than hot — last Sunday (7/26/09), it was 93 degrees. On Monday it jumped to 103 . Tuesday and Wednesday were even worse — 106 degrees both days! Down to 96 degrees on Thursday and 94 on Friday. Saturday? Ninety-five degrees. And on Sunday it was 94 degrees. Today (8/4/09) it has been right around 84 degrees, which seems perfect after last week. (I tracked this information from the Weather Underground site — it’s fun to dig around there.)

My family and I have been going to the movies a lot, since we don’t have air-conditioning at our house. So far, we’ve seen “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (aka HP6), “Aliens in the Attic,” “Up,” “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” (aka Night at the Museum 2), and some older films, including “Yours, Mine & Ours” and “With Six You Get Eggroll.” (Both of those films are from 1968 — it has been fun to compare how they made films in the “olden days” compared to now.) It’s cheaper than air-conditioning, plus you get previews. There are a few films coming out that look really good, and are based on books. It’s nice, if you can, to read the book first before you see the movie. But if a good movie inspires you to read the book it was based on, then that’s good, too.

“Where the Wild Things Are,” “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” and “A Christmas Carol” are all due in theaters in the next few months. Of course, many of us are already looking forward to Harry Potter 7, which will be released as two films.

Remember to read the books, too! And I do hope you’ve been staying cool, wherever you are.

Best,

Ms. Nancy

This is the question posed to us by poet Mary Oliver in “The Summer Day”:

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Think about that this summer while you’re reading, out in the yard, at the beach, at the park, in your living room, at the library. Here are some more poetry websites for you, for more inspiration. Maybe you’ll even decide to write a poem or two.

Favorite Poem Project

Bill Moyer’s Fooling with Words

The Academy of American Poets

Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac

Best,

Ms. Nancy

Children who engage in as little as 21 minutes of independent reading per day are exposed to nearly 2 million words per year (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1998).

Wow. WOW! Amazing. Spectacular. Fantastic. Something else. Yowza! Right on. Incredible. Outrageous. And yes!

Keep reading.

Best,

Ms. Nancy

“I read because I want to know.”

— anonymous

Check here for list upon list of titles.

Happy reading!

— Ms. Nancy

“The buying of more books than one can read is nothing less than the soul reaching toward infinity…” — A. Edward Newton

What are we reading at my house? “Twilight” (Stephenie Meyer wrote the story behind Twilight, and you will also find a draft of “Midnight Sun,” the fifth book in the series), and the “Magic Treehouse” series, a biography of the actor Paul Newman, and “The Subtle Knife,” by Phillip Pullman (another series. We like series over here, apparently).

What are you reading? Leave a note in comments, if you’d like.

Don’t forget about Multnomah County’s Summer Reading Program. This year’s program starts June 12th.

Other reading programs you should know about:

Fort Vancouver Regional Library District Summer Reading Program: Be Creative! (begins June 1)

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program (earn a free book when you read eight)

Reading is Fundamental (RIF)

Beaverton City Library (programs for little kids and big kids, too — they want you to “Be Creative!” just like Vancouver does, and this program starts June 1, too)

Here’s to reading! Enjoy your summer and check back here for more titles, websites and updates.

Best,

Ms. Nancy

My Chicken's on the Internet

"My chicken's on the Internet.
She surfs the web all day.
I've tried to stop her browsing
but, so far, there's just no way.

She jumps up on the mouse
and then she flaps around like mad
to click on every hyperlink
and every pop-up ad.

She plays all sorts of chicken games.
She messages her folks.
She watches chicken videos
and forwards chicken jokes.

She writes a blog for chickens
and she uploads chicken pics.
She visits chicken chat rooms
where she clucks about her chicks.

I wouldn't mind so much
except my keyboard's now a wreck.
She hasn't learned to type yet;
she can only hunt and peck."

–Kenn Nesbitt

Courtesy of our own Multnomah County Library:

Abracadabra! Magic with Mouse and Mole (Herbert Yee Wong)

The Best Chef in Second Grade (Katharine Kenah)

Big Brave Brian (M.P. Robertson)

Big Cats: Hunters of the Night (Elaine Landau)

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever (Marla Frazee)

Goose and Duck (Jean Craighead George)

Heavy Equipment Up Close (Andra Serlin Abramson)

Jabberwocky (Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Christopher Myers)

Magic Pickle (Scott Morse)

Maybelle in the Soup (Katie Speck)

Mouse Noses on Toast (Daren King)

Otto’s Orange Day (Frank Cammuso)

Pssst! (Adam Rex)

Sisters and Brothers: Sibling Relationships in the Animal World (Steve Jenkins)

Uh-Oh, Cleo (Jessica Harper)

Young Pele: Soccer’s First Star (Lesa Cline-Ransome)