Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key is about an elementary school student with attention-deficit disorder. Joey tries very, very hard to follow the rules, but between his disorder and his vivid imagination, he finds staying out of trouble to be quite difficult (often with humorous results). The author of the Joey Pigza books, Jack Gantos, does a phenomenal job of reaching into Joey’s head and Continue Reading »

Secrets of Dripping Fang

It’s gross! Giant ants collect nasal drippings and stinky-foot odor to feed their ant larvae. It’s absurd! For example, a professor is married to a giant spider. It’s hilarious! The children are orphaned in part because of an unfortunate port-a-potty incident. And sometimes it’s a bit Continue Reading »

Reading Makes You Smart!

Recently, an adult came in to the children’s department and selected a number of juvenile non-fiction titles. Before she left, I asked her if she had found everything she needed. She replied that she had found what she was looking for and added, “I like to read about a lot of subjects, and I prefer to read the children’s books because they are Continue Reading »

What’s in the bag?

My boss tells the following story from her days as a reference librarian. One day a patron approached her and asked for a book about snakes, particularly snakes in that region of Florida. After she had retrieved some snake books, her eyes fell on the paper bag that the patron had placed on the counter. “What’s in the bag?” she asked. Continue Reading »

Why I hate the Accelerated Reader Program

Recently, a mother came up to the desk with her third-grade daughter. The daughter had selected a book about horses that she seemed very eager to read. The mother asked me if it was on the Accelerated Reader list. It was not. “Well,” she said, “there’s no point in my daughter reading this book if she can’t get points for it.” The child was then made to put the book back on the shelf. Need I say more… Continue Reading »

Reading on the job

I supervise four library assistants, and I encourage them to read as many children’s books as possible. My rule about reading on the job is simple: If we are slow, by all means read a book; but, it must be a children’s book. One of my assistants is a college-aged girl who recently discovered Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner. Skippyjon Jones is a Siamese cat who thinks he’s a chihuahua. It is hysterical. Continue Reading »

Spam Sandwiches

The Trap by John Smelcer grabbed my attention because of it’s cover. Drops of blood on the snow near an animal trap led me to want to learn more about the story. Survival stories can be quite riveting, and I was in the mood for a fast-paced and gripping read. The story, set in Alaska among a Native American community, is beautifully told. The grandfather’s fight for survival is excrutiating to read about because as the reader you feel his pain and frustration. Continue Reading »

Hi, I’m Joel and I’m an addict!

A few months ago, Allie recommended that I get some audio-books to help me pass the time while commuting to and from work each day. She selected the prequel to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time Series, but neglected to mention that it was the beginning of a very long series. The next thing I knew, I was hooked. It was nice. Bad traffic was no longer a problem. No road rage for me. I would just sit and listen to my book. Sometimes I would remain in the driveway after returning home because I just couldn’t “put the book down.” Continue Reading »

Discovering Jane Eyre

As an undergraduate, I majored in English literature. Except for the grammar classes, I loved every minute of it. I read books I never would have read otherwise, like Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. At first, I dearly hated that book. It was, I thought, impossible to read, but I pressed on. Today, I count it among my favorite books. Unfortunately, even an English major does not read everything, and somehow I missed the classic Charlotte Bronte novel, Jane Eyre. Recently, I stumbled upon Jane Eyre through the unexpected activity of Continue Reading »

Not all information is good information

Go to martinlutherking.org and you will find offensive and inflammatory material written by Klan sympathizers. Countless students will no doubt discover this page quite innocently as they prepare to do school reports. This web-page is a blatant example of why Google is not a replacement for libraries. Students often think that whatever material they find on the Internet is factual information. Sometimes adults also fall victim to this kind of thinking and fail to Continue Reading »