A Ball For Daisy, written and illustrated by Chris Raschka, has been awarded the 2012 Caldecott Medal. This wordless picture book tells the story of a spirited dog named Daisy and her beloved red ball. Through a turn of events, she gains a brand-new friend and realizes there can be more than one way to have fun. The brightly colored, expressive illustrations make this story an entertaining read for kids and adults alike.

Moms and Dads can learn a lot from other parents in the ever growing parenting blogs. On one site, Geek Dad, parents blog about their experiences raising kids in the digital age. Technology, family friendly projects and pop culture are topics that are covered. Cool Mom Picks is another site that gives parents tips on clothes, gifts, and books, to name a few.

Valentine's Day is coming up and it's a great time to share your creativity and love for your family. Create your own valentine card for those you love or make a yummy treat with your parents. Special creations are a great way to say "I Love You." Don't forget to check out some books on love at the library too.

If you haven't heard about the Preschool Prep DVD series, you are in for a real treat! This series began back in 2004 with "Meet the Letters" and "Meet the Numbers" using colors and graphics to familiarize children with letters as they begin to talk. Since then, they have branched out into colors, shapes and phonics. You can find this series in our Parenting collection, that is when they aren't checked out!

Preschool prep company [videodisc]: Meet the colors

Preschool prep company [videodisc]: Meet the letters

Dead end in Norvelt by Jack Gantos — justly deserved winning the Newbery. It is an entertaining as well enriching read set in 1962 Norvelt, Pennsylvania — a real place. Indeed, the story is partly autobiographical which is why the main character's name is Jackie Gantos. Jackie is grounded for the summer for doing a couple dumb things. He ends up having to be the "hired hands" for an arthritic elderly neighbor, Miss Volker. As he transcribes the obituaries for the local paper, a sinister pattern begins to emerge — far too many of the town's elderly are dying in rapid succession by bizarre causes. Zany characters and wild escapades are intermixed with fascinating historical facts about not only Norvelt, but renowned figures in world history.

Guess what? Our beloved mitten state is celebrating a major milestone Thursday — 175 years of Statehood! Time does fly, doesn't it? We've seen both good and bad events in our historical journey through time, plus we have given birth to numerous famous people. On this date in 1837, President Jackson signed the bill that officially made us the 26th state in the union. There are lots of ways you can celebrate this momentous occasion including baking a cake shaped like Michigan, take pictures of your neighborhood, write what you love about our great state, or check out some of our wonderful materials on Michigan.

Hi Kids!
One of my New Year's Resolutions was to meet some new friends. It looks like I am getting a good start! Scaredy Squirrel visited the library the other day. If you haven't read the adventures of this little fellow, you really should! As his name suggests, Scaredy Squirrel is afraid of lots of things… like germs and unicorns, and crowds, and Godzilla. However, he always seems to manage to overcome his fears with a little bit of pluck, and by playing dead. Scaredy certainly enjoyed his visit to the library! You can check out pictures from his adventure over on Flickr! Hmmmm… now who should I meet next?
Bear Hugs!
Thorndyke

This episodic story was originally published online and was a collaboration between the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance and the Library of Congress's Center for the Book. It began as a national literacy project for young people to help launch the READ.gov website. Nineteen celebrated children's book authors and illustrators have joined together to write a fun, humorous, adventure tale like no other:

The American Library Association has announced the winners of the 2012 Youth Media Awards. Here are the winners, with special mentions below:

Winners

Dead end in Norvelt by Jack Gantos — Newbery Medal.

A ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka — Caldecott Medal

Dead end in Norvelt by Jack Gantos — has been awarded the Newbery Medal for 2012.

Newbery Honor books for 2012 are:

Inside out & back again by Thanhha Lai

Breaking Stalin's nose by written and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

M is for masterpiece: an art alphabet by written by David Domeniconi ; illustrated by Will Bullas — is a great way to combine two great loves of mine — the ABC's and Art. This colorful book highlights a different item or person in the world of art and gives you a chance to brush up on your alphabet. Sounds like a winner to me. Enjoy!

This program has been cancelled for Monday, January 23, only.

Kids and Tweens in grades K-6, improve your reading skills and make a new friend by reading aloud to a dog. Sign up begins at 6:25 PM and is on a first come, first served basis. Sessions are 10 minutes long.

Program Date: Monday, January 23, 6:30-8:30 PM

We are ushering in the Year of the Dragon with many cultural presentations including bonsai, origami and calligraphy. Students from area Chinese Language School will perform Chinese yo-yos, an old art form from China. You will have time to visit with the presenters and sample light refreshments. Children will get a paper yo-yo as souvenir.
Date: Monday, January 30 from 7:00-8:30 PM
Location: Community Room
Come and partake in this joyous event!

Cam Jansen and Choose Your Own Adventure will soon have new homes in the J Fiction collection. Cam Jansen will be shelved under the author's name, Adler. Choose Your Own Adventure will be shelved as J Fiction Choose because more than one author writes for this series. Again, we appreciate your patience and understanding while these items are temporarily unavailable in order to change the spine labels.

Kids and Tweens in grades K-6, improve your reading skills and make a new friend by reading aloud to a dog. Sign up begins at 6:25 PM and is on a first come, first served basis. Sessions are 10 minutes long.
Program Date: Monday, February 27, 6:30-8:30 PM

All ages may enjoy a storytime program in Tamil presented by Sivakami Rajendran.

Program Date: Thursday, February 2nd at 7:00 PM in the Purple Room

Join us on Monday, February 20 for an all day family movie extravaganza starting at 10:00 AM with a film for our youngest patrons and gradually getting more sophisticated, until the 6:30 PM showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

• 10:00 AM — Winnie the Pooh (G)
• 1:00 PM — Kung Fu Panda 2 (PG)
• 3:00 PM — Mr. Popper's Penguins (PG)
• 6:30 PM — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (PG-13)

You may bring pillows, snacks, even your own comfy lawn chairs if you like.

In conjunction with Canton Township’s 100 Days to Health, staff from the Village Dentist will come to celebrate National Children’s Dental Health Month. Listen to stories and learn about keeping your teeth healthy. For ages 3 and up with a caregiver.

Program Date: Monday, February 6, 7:00 PM

On January 23 at 7:45 AM, the 2012 Youth Media Awards will be announced at this year's American Library Association Midwinter Conference in Dallas, TX. The Newbery, Printz and Corretta Scott King for literature and illustration are just a few of the many accolades to be awarded. One of the most anticipated announcements is the Caldecott Medal which is awarded to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. It's always an exciting time in the world of youth literature and we will keep you posted of the winners as they are announced. In the mean time, you may peruse our list of past winners here. Stay tuned!

There was a man who loved a rat and other vile little poems by written by Gerda Rovetch ; illustrated by Lissa Rovetch — is full of colorful, short poems will make you laugh and declare how gross they are all at the same time! My favorites are the man who kept sardines in his pants, the man who baked bread with a snake, and the man who found a kidney. Which ones did you enjoy?