You can make your family famous, too!

My sister will soon be famous because of the holiday card I made for her, featuring HER! It's so easy and anyone can do it--yes, even you! First, go through all those old winter pictures of your family and find one that clearly shows everyone's face. Go to a copy machine and copy that picture. (You may want to make a few copies so you can experiment.) When you copy a color picture on a black and white copier, the brightness of the snow can make the faces and clothing too dark. No worries, just ask the librarian for help to lighten up your picture. However, when you do that, you may lose the shadows in the snow. Again, no worries, because you are an artist and can use a pencil to shadow it back in. (If I can do it, anyone can!) Just look really carefully at the shadows and you'll do fine. Then think back. Hmmm, was it so cold that everyone had pink cheeks? Well, find those old coloring pencils and lightly give everyone pink cheeks! Hmm, did the snow look so white it was almost blue? Well, whip out those coloring pencils and lightly shade in blue in the snow shadows! Looks great, huh! Now glue that copy onto some construction paper, add some stickers or even copy some music and glue that on, too! Have fun and make your family famous!

Holiday Family Craft bonanza

Hey, just a reminder! Our Holiday Family Craft bonanza will take place here at the Homewood Public Library on Wednesday, Dec. 5th, 12th and 19th from 4:00 to 5:00. Bring your family and create great holiday items to decorate your house. Each of us in the Youth Dept. must pick a craft and become a pro at assembling it. If you need help, we'll be able to assist you! Meet us in the common area in the Youth Dept. See ya there!

Here come the holidays!

Wow! Thanksgiving just blew by and we're speeding toward Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa! Here at the Homewood Public Library, we're ordering lots of new books in anticipation of the holidays.

I will say one of my favorite picture books on the list is "Olivia Helps with Christmas" by Ian Falconer. Now, you all know that Olivia is a pig with attitude. This gutsy swine helps Mom bake, helps Dad with the tree and waits impatiently for Santa--all those same family type things you do with your own family, only with funnier results! Does Olivia ever see Santa? (Have you?)

Even if you do not celebrate Hanukkah, you would still love "The Golden Dreydl" by Ellen Kushner. Tante Miriam visits during the holidays and presents Sara with an ancient golden dreydl who is actually a beautiful enchanted princess. So what, huh? Well, just wait until Sara gets sucked into the TV! Demons, soothsayers and sorcerors are all included in this holiday fantasy story. This book would be enjoyed by third through sixth graders.

"My First Kwanzaa" by Karen Katz, while not a new release, is a book written for younger readers. With colorful illustrations, Katz explains the meaning of each of the seven days of Kwanzaa and stresses the strength of family and community. If you are introducing Kwanzaa to your family for the first time, this book would be a welcome addition.

Reluctant readers, we're gonna get ya!

If you are a guy, you know you just can't stand to read all that girlie fiction. Gosh, all that primping and sighing and emotional stuff! Who wants to read that?! Well, you have a friend in Jon Scieszka, the author of "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales." Mr. Scieszka (pronounced SHESS-ka--I know I was pronouncing it wrong!) has created a website for guys called guysread.com. He lists authors that write for all you manly men out there--authors like Dan Gutman, who writes the Baseball Card Adventure Series or Lemony Snicket, who writes the Series of Unfortunate Events. He even varies his list by reader's age! So grab your mouse and start clicking! Yeah, we're gonna get ya!

Picky eater alert!

Are you a picky eater? If so, "The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating" by A.W. Flaherty will be your piece of cake! Katerina Elizabeth is on a cruise to Scotland to visit her grandmother. Every morning the cook serves oatmeal and every morning Katerina Elizabeth throws it overboard. A teeny, tiny worm finds the oatmeal quite delicious and swims all the way to Scotland alongside the ship. The ship finally docks, the oatmeal snack ends and poor Worm has to find a way to survive. How does the Loch Ness Monster figure into all this? Check out this book and find out!

Miss Deb's Youth Fiction

Welcome to Ms. Deb's Youth Fiction Blog!

I have just finished the most awesome book! "Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat" by Lynne Jonell tells the story of a girl who is mostly ignored in school and at home. Her parents have recently come into a boatload of money and are more and more frequently away from home, leaving Emmy alone with the housekeeper and her evil nanny, Miss Barmy. Emmy realizes Miss Barmy is drugging her parents with rodent potions that change their personalities and she and her new friends are determined to stop Miss Barmy at any cost. Funny, mysterious--you'll love it!