Tournament of Kids Books WINNER

It's all over. Out of 16 titles, one came out victorious.

After weeks and weeks of voting throughout March, the Tournament of Kids Books came to a close last Saturday when Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling was announced as the winner.

Over 400 kids participated in voting!

And good ol' Harry claimed the championship by 3 votes....

The Lawrence Public Library was very fortunate to have two special guests from the University of Kansas Men's Basketball Team, Justin Wesley and Jeff Withey, assist in announcing the Tournament of Kids Books winner. They also selected the grand prize raffle winners and each read a picture book to an awe-struck attendance.

Each week a raffle winner was chosen for a stack of books provided by the Friends of the Library, but kids who voted throughout the month were ALSO eligible for the grand prize raffle: A signed basketball by the 2011-12 KU Men's Basketball team OR a stack of the newest titles by the authors represented in the tournament.

At the Winner's Ceremony on Saturday, after announcing Harry Potter as the winner (Justin Wesley opened a wrapped library copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Jeff Withey decorated the bracket with a poster of the book's cover), the athletes each selected one raffle winner. Unfortunately, it was a little anticlimactic because both winners were not present, but they were very excited to receive the phone call later that evening!

After the tournament winner was announced and the raffle winners selected, the audience was treated to a couple of tall tales. Yeah... bad joke.

Jeff Withey read the classic Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? by Bill Martin Jr.

Justin Wesley read his childhood favorite, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

And that was that! It's all said and done.

Best part of all?

The kids loved it.

They embraced the Tournament the whole way through.

Especially, last Saturday, when all their heroes... basketball heroes Jeff Withey and Justin Wesley...  and book heroes Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Jack and Annie, Geronimo Stilton, Greg Heffley etc. were all under one roof.

For the love of basketball and most importantly for the love of reading.

Keep on reading kids and Rockchalk!

Poetry as Story

To celebrate National Poetry Month, Sunday's  storytimes throughout the month of April are themed around poetry. A couple weeks ago was Poetry is FUN! Storytime, where we focused on how silly poetry can be. This week's focus was how poems are also stories. After a few ballads and rhymes, we made Color Poem Books for our after-storytime craft.

"Poetry as Story" Storytime Lineup:

May I Bring a Friend? by Beatrice Schenk De Regniers, illustrated by Beni Montresor

A Caldecott-winning, classic. This book was a suggestion of my co-worker, who is also a storyteller and also a poet. It was my favorite of the selections read.

The Ballad of Nessie by Kieran Lachlan, illustrated by Andy Harkness

The Ballad of Nessie is actually a short film by Disney inspired by none other than the Loch Ness Monster. I showed the kids this picture of the Loch Ness Monster and explained the legend before reading this sing-song story.

Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sun in the Year 1866 by Earnest Lawrence Thayer, illustrations by Christopher Bing

What a great book to celebrate the opening of baseball season and example of poetry as a story. My best friend's mom is a school librarian and reads this book to her kids every year.

My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

I read this book primarily as a segue into the 'Color Poem Book' craft. A bright and simple story about our many emotions.

Color Poem Book:

First, I have to say, this sweet little craft was originally created by Susan Kapuscinski Gaylor and featured on her blog, Making Books. Tons and tons of fun book making activities for children including this 'Color Poem Book' craft. It turned out to be one of those crafts were the parents enjoy making as much (if not more) as the kids did.

Here's how we made our "Color Poem Books"...

Materials used included leftover crepe paper from the rainbow craft, card stock, yarn, glue, tape, and the Mary O'Neill's color poems found in the book Hailstones and Halibut Bones.

Cut a piece of paper or card stock 12 inches in length and about 3-4 inches high or whatever height desired.

Fold the strip three times into equal lengths. If there is a little leftover on the end, snip it off.

Cut colored card stock or construction paper into rectangles a little larger than the books to be used as the covers.

Tape colored cover to that back and front of the book. Use double stick if you have it. (I unfortunately ran out)

Cut color poems out into small stanzas.

Oh, and up to this point I prepared the above ahead of time for the kids. In case you were thinking of making this with younger children.

Tear crepe paper into small sections.

Glue crepe paper down as desired and glue printout over it.

Continue gluing crepe paper and poems on inside of book pages. Coresponding crepe paper colors with same color poem.

Let dry.

Bind book with a bow.

Red is a ruby/Set in a ring./Red is the color/That makes my heart sing.

Green are the leaves/Sprouting in the spring,/Green is the color/Of a luna moth's wing.

Orange is a pumpkin/Orange is a cat,/Sleeping in the sun/On an orange mat.

Purple is a grape,/One of a bunch,/Purple is the jelly/In the sandwich/I ate for lunch.

The above are Color Poem Book examples a few storytime kids made for me. Darling, no?

If you live in Lawrence, don't forget there's a long list of poetry activities to participate in throughout the month, created by the Lawrence Public Library and the Lawrence Arts Center. See HERE for more details.

How are you celebrating National Poetry Month?

image sources: may i bring a friend, ballad of nessie, casey at the bat, my many colored days

Porch Reading

National Library Week

Since this week is National Library Week, I decided to put together an extended list of my favorite read aloud books about the library and reading. A few weeks back, I read these picture books for Library Day Storytime and recommend you check out those selections as well. All are a great way to share the library love this week and every week.

Picture Books:

The Library by Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small

Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

Quiet! There's a Canary in the Library by Don Freeman

Baby Bear's Books by Jane Yolen

The Library Dragon by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Michael P. White

Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk

The Little Red Fish by Taeeun Yoo

The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians by Carla Morris, illustrated by Brad Sneed

Homer, the Library Cat by Reeve Lindbergh, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf

Lola at the Library by Anna McQuinn, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw

The Wonderful Book by Leonid Gore

Wild About Books by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Marc Brown

But Excuse Me, That is My Book by Lauren Child

The Day Dirk Yeller Came To Town by Mary Casanova, illustrated by Ard Hoyt

Miss Brooks Loves Books! by Barbara Bottner, illustrated by Michael Emberley

Reading Makes You Feel Good by Todd Parr

Winston the Book Wolf by Marni McGee and Ian Beck

Easy Reader Books:

Amelia Bedelia Bookworm by Herman Parish, illustrated by Lynn Sweat

Library Bear: 10 Words by Janet Spaht Gill, illustrated by Bob Reese

Nate the Great and the Hungry Book Club by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Mitchell Sharmat, illustrated by Jody Wheeler

We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems

Annie and Snowball and the Book Bugs Club by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Sucie Stevenson

Non-Fiction Picture Books:

The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter

Miss Dorthy and Her Bookmobile by Gloria Houston, illustrated by Susan Condie Lamb

Waiting for Bilioburro by Monica Brown, illustrated by John Parra

The Inside Outside Book of Libraries by Roxie Munro, illustrated by Julie Cummins

No storytime post this week-- The library was closed Sunday for the Easter holiday. Sunday Storytime will be back next week!

image sources: the library, library lion, quiet there's a canary in the library, baby bear's books, library dragon, library mouse, that little red fish, boy raised by librarians, homer the library cat, lola at the library, the wonderful book, wild about books, but excuse me but that is my book, the day dirk yeller came to town, miss brooks loves books,  reading makes you feel good, winston the book wolf, amelia bedilia bookworm, library bear, nate the great, we are in a book, annie and snowball, librarian of basra, miss dorthy, waiting for biloburro, inside outside book of libraries