New YA Books

The Willoughbys - Lois Lowry
In this tongue-in-cheek take on classic themes in children's literature, the four Willoughby children set about to become "deserving orphans" after their neglectful parents embark on a treacherous around-the-world adventure, leaving them in the care of an odious nanny.

Waiting for Normal - Leslie Connor
Twelve-year-old Addie tries to cope with her mother's erratic behavior and being separated from her beloved stepfather and half-sisters when she and her mother go to live in a small trailer by the railroad tracks on the outskirts of Schenectady, New York.

The Encyclopedia of Immaturity
Presents a series of entries for amusing activities and tricks which include such projects as making a paper boomerang, sending a secret message with a rubber band, and building a domino chain with books and junk items.

Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels - retold by Donald Lemke
Lemuel Gulliver always dreamed of sailing across the seas, but he never could have imagined the places his travels would take him. His adventures could be the greatest tales ever told, if he survives to tell them.

New Children's Books

Frogs - Nic Bishop
Nic Bishop's photographs show all different kinds of frogs, big ones, very tiny ones, frogs with beautiful colors of skin, and one frog you can see inside of.

What to Do About Alice? - Barbara Kerley
An illustrated biography of Alice Roosevelt Longworth that 9ocuses on her experiences while her father was president of the United States.

Bye-bye, Crib - Alison McGhee
A big boy and his best stuffed friend seek the courage to move to a gigantic new bed.

Larue for Mayor: Letters from the Campaign Trail - Mark Teague
With Mrs. LaRue injured and in the hospital, Ike decides to uphold justice and take the laws of Snort City into his own paws.

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever - Marla Frazee
Friends James and Eamon enjoy a wonderful week at the home of Eamon's grandparents during summer vacation.

My Dog May Be a Genius - Jack Prelutsky
Have you ever encountered an underwater marching band, a pig in a bathing suit, a pet orangutan, or a witch in a hardware store? Have you ever sat with a skunk in a courtroom, shopped for a dinosaur, or conversed with a Bupple, a Wosstrus, a Violinnet, or a Celloon? You will have, once you've read this collection of poems.

Dog and Bear: Two's Company - Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Three more easy-to-read stories reveal the close friendship between a dachshund named Dog and a stuffed bear.

New Mathematics Curriculum

From McGraw-Hill/Wright Group:

Everyday Mathematics (2007 edition - we will retain our 2001 edition)
Teacher and student editions for grades K-3. (Grades 4-6 will be added during summer 2008.)

New Language Arts Games

Phonics Games

Jet-Boat Harbor: A Short Vowels Game
This game targets standards in these areas: recognizing short vowel sounds, blending sounds into words, decoding and word recognition. For 2-4 playes, ages 6 and above.

The Keeper of the Castle: A Long Vowels Game
This game targets standards in these areas: reinforcing long vowel sounds, recognizing and using long vowel spelling patterns, and decoding words. For 2-4 players, ages 6 and above.

Roller Coaster Craze: A Word Blending Game
This game targets standards in these areas: identifying the sounds of letters and letter pairs, blending sounds into words, decoding and word recognition. For 2-4 players, ages 6 and above.

Tiki Challenge: A Blends and Digraphs Game
This game targets standards in these areas: recognizing blends and digraphs, blending sounds into words, decoding and word recognition. For 2-4 players, age 6 and above.

Vocabulary Games

Mini-Golf Dash Vocabulary Game
This game targets standards in the following areas: building vocabulary, understanding phonics, using context clues. For 2-4 players, ages 9 and above.

Secret Agent Challenge Vocabulary Game
This game targets standards in the following areas: building vocabulary, understanding phonics, using context clues. For 2-4 players, ages 9 and above.

Sea Floor Explorers
This game targets standards in the following areas: building vocabulary, understanding phonics, using contxet clues. For 2-4 players, ages 9 and above.

New Flash Cards

Money
Set contains 96 cards designed to develop an understanding of coins and currency. For ages 6 and up.

Telling Time
Set contains 96 cards designed to develop the ability to tell time, in both digital and analog formats. For ages 6 and up.

More Picture Words
Set contains 96 illustrated cards in these categories: people, animals, numbers, household objects, food. For ages 6 and up.

Action Words
Contains 96 cards showing action verbs and illustrations of the verbs. Designed to build vocabulary and improve spelling. For ages 6 and up.

Vowels and Vowel Teams
This set contains 72 cars showing a vowel or a vowel team, along with a photograph representing a word with that vowel sound. For ages 6 and up.

Word Families
This flash card set contains 94 phonograms and is designed to help students improve reading and spelling skills. For ages 6 and up.

Fraction Fun
This flash card set focuses on whole numbers and fractions through twelfths. For ages 7 and up.

New Math Instant Learning Centers

These Instant Learning Centers provide math practice for 1-4 students at a time and are designed for grades 1-3.

Addition and Subtraction

Fractions

Geometry

Data and Graphing

Time

Standard Measurement

Money

Place Value

New Language Arts Games

From the "Whole-Class Partner Game" series:

Riddle of the Sphinx
Game includes 15 two-player game boards for 30 students and targets standards in these areas: understanding and explaining figurative language expressions; identifying words with multiple meanings. Suggested for grades 3-4.

Soccer Scramble
Game includes 15 two-player game boards for 30 students and targets standards in these areas: verb tense and agreement, plurals and possessives, homophones, grammar and usage. Suggested for grades 3-4.

Fishing for Clues
Game includes 15 two-player game boards for 30 students and targets standards in these areas: reading comprehension, analyzing text, vocabulary development. Suggested for grades 3-4.

Bike Racers
Game includes 15 two-player game boards for 30 students and targets standards in these areas: recalling facts and details in text, making inferences, identifyting main ideas, and recognizing cause-and-effect relationships. Suggested for grades 3-4.

New Bingo Games

Money Bingo
Targets standards in these areas: identifying coins and values; counting coin combinations. For up to 36 players, ages 5 and above.

Fractions Bingo
Targets standards in these areas: identifying equivalent fractions; understanding fractions. For up to 36 players, ages 10 and above.

Time Bingo
Targets standards in these areas: matching analog and digital time; telling time to the quarter-hour. For up to 36 players, ages 6 and above.

New Christian Education Resource

Big Big God: 13 Amazing Lessons Where Preschoolers Experience God!
Old Testament -- God saves baby Moses (Exodus 1:12:10) -- God protects the Israelites from the plagues (Exodus 7:110:29) -- God spares the Israelites during Passover and parts the Red Eea (Exodus 11:115:21) -- God chooses David as king (1 Samuel 16:1-13) -- David defeats Goliath (1 Samuel 17) -- David and Jonathan are friends (1 Samuel 18:20) -- Daniel prays and is sent into the lions den (Daniel 6:1-28) -- Jonah disobeys God (Jonah 1:3) -- New Testament -- Jesus calls his first disciples (Matthew 4:18-22) -- Jesus calms a storm (Matthew 8:23-27) -- Jesus dies on the cross and comes back to life (Mark 15:11; 6:8) -- Jesus ascends to heaven (Acts 1:1-11) -- The Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47)

New Award Book

Recently announced winner of the Phoenix Award, awarded annually since 1985 by the Children’s Literature Association to a book originally published in English twenty years previously which did not receive a major award at the time of its publication.

Eva - Peter Dickinson
After a terrible accident, a young girl wakes up to discover that she has been given the body of a chimpanzee. The picnic on the beach is Eva's last memory. As she lies in the hospital bed while her mother explains about the accident and the coma, Eva senses there is something they are not telling her--a price she must pay to be alive.

New Children's Books

I Am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices - Paul Fleischman
A collection of poems about birds to be read aloud by two voices.

Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices - Paul Fleischman
A collection of poems to be read aloud by four people, with color-coded text to indicate which lines are read by which readers.

Love, Ruby Valentine - Laurie Friedman
After Ruby Valentine misses her favorite holiday of the year, her parrot, Lovebird, convinces her that every day is the perfect day to say "I love you."

New Puppets

New from Folkmanis:

Barn Owl Puppet

Polar Bear Puppet

Shaggy Dog Puppet

Girl Puppet

Turkey Puppet

Tabby Cat Puppet

Frog Puppet

Beaver Puppet

Hamster Puppet

Baby Emperor Penguin Puppet

Angel Puppet

Polar Bear Puppet

New Teaching Aids

Crazy Faces
This card game, played liked Crazy Eights, is designed to develop matching and organizing skills. For two or more players, ages 3 and up.

Food Pyramid Bingo
This nutrition game is designed for 2-30 players, ages 8 through adult.

New Kamishibai Story Cards

Kamishibai is the traditional Japanese tradition of story-telling through the use of large picture cards.

The One-Inch Boy
An old, childless couple prays for a child. A one-inch son, who never grows any taller, is born to them, and his parents care for him tenderly. Despite his size, when he reaches maturity, Issun-boshi goes out into the world to prove himself. He does not retreat from difficult situations, but uses his knowledge and strength of character to prevail.


Momotaro, the Peach Boy
A baby is found inside a peach by an old couple and grows into a boy of amazing strength. With the help of a dog, a monkey and a pheasant, he rescues his village from ogres.




The Little Crab
A little crab is allowed to go out alone in the ocean for the first time, but is warned by his mother not to use his claws mischievously. The little crab's adventures begin when he disobeys his mother and end when he helps others. The themes of this story are personal responsibility and the importance of choosing to use one's abilities to be helpful, not harmful.


The Old Man and the Fox
In traditional Japanese folklore, the fox is a magically empowered trickster animal. It often asumes the shape of a woman. In this story, an old man happens upon a peacefully sleeping fox. The old man decides to play a trick on him but ends up learning a lesson himself! This comical, safely scary folktale delightfully illustrates the "Golden Rule."

April 2008 CMC Newsletter

CMC 40th Anniversary

The sixth monthly drawing celebrating the 40th anniversary of the CMC was held on March 13. The winner was Brianna Shenk, who received a $25 gift certificate to United Art and Education. Congratulations to Brianna! There is still time to enter the final drawing in April for $40 in cash.

CMC 40th Anniversary Reception

During the library's observance of National Library Week, there will be a reception celebrating the CMC's 40th anniversary. Please join us at your convenience on Thursday, April 10, from 2:00 until 4:00. Hope to see you here!

CMC Website Enhancements

In the Christian Education Resources tab on the CMC website, there are links to PDF files listing some of the CMC's CE resources, such as children's Bibles and devotional books, Christian children's books, Bible curricula, etc. In an effort to make these resources more accessible, we will no longer be updating the PDF files, but rather will be adding links in the Christian Education Resources tab which will take the user directly to the library's catalog and to a list of each resource type. For a sample, click here for a list of our children's Bibles.

Website of the Month

Need book discussion guides for middle or high school kids? Check out the Multnomah County (Oregon) Library's Discussion Guides page. Most of the books on the page are young adult books, and most guides give a summary of the book, a suggested "book talk", and a list of discussion questions.

New Resources

During March, we added over 70 new books and videos to the collection, in addition to over 40 new teaching aids, including games, puppets, flash cards, a new collection of kamishibai cards, and the 2007 edition of the Everyday Mathematics curriculum for grades K-3. Click here to see the complete list of the new books and videos. (Sorry - the teaching aids are not included on this list, but if you click here, you can see the recent blog postings showing the teachings aids.)

New Children's Books

The Lord Is My Shepherd: The Twenty-Third Psalm - Gennady Spirin
Illustrates each line of the Twenty-Third Psalm and features a foldout painting that combines all the previous pictures.

One City, Two Brothers - Chris Smith
To settle an inheritance dispute between two brothers, King Solomon tells a tale of how Jerusalem came to be founded.


Little Red Riding Hood - Jerry Pinkney
A sweet little girl meets a hungry wolf in the forest while on her way to visit her grandmother.

The Great Texas Hamster Drive - Eric A. Kimmel
When Pecos Bill's daughter gets two pet hamsters, they soon multiply into the hundreds, so Bill decides to take them all to Chicago where lots of boys and girls want pet hamsters.

The Missing Piece - Shel Silverstein
A circle has difficulty finding its missing piece but has a good time looking for it.

The Missing Piece Meets the Big O - Shel Silverstein
A missing piece, looking for someone to carry it along, finally develops its own momentum.

Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly - Alan Madison
Velma starts first grade in the shadow of her memorable older sisters, and while her newfound interest in butterflies helps her to stand out, it also leads to an interesting complication.





What Happens on Wednesdays - Emily Jenkins
A preschooler marks the progress of her day, not by the clock but by what happens after lunch, after nap, after swimming, after the library - and after Daddy comes home. She doesn't map her neighborhood by street signs, either. Her morning walk to see dogs in the park takes her past the cat outside the deli, past her friend Errolyn's building and the daycare where she used to go when she was little, and down the block to the bagel store.

A Birthday for Cow! - Jan Thomas
Despite the objections of Pig and Mouse, Duck insists on adding a special ingredient to the cake they are making to celebrate Cow's birthday.

Randolph Caldecott's Picture Books

Presents nine of the illustrator's books of nursery rhymes and other classic rhymes for children, including "The House that Jack Built," "The Queen of Hearts," and "Baby Bunting."

New Nonfiction Books

The Museum Book: A Guide to Strange and Wonderful Collections - Jan Mark
Explores various aspects of museums, such as the word "museum," different types of museums, their impact on science, and reasons people collect things, and discusses such topics as the Elgin Marbles and the dodo.

Pocket Babies and Other Amazing Marsupials - Sneed B. Collard
Learn about the marsupials of the world, including opossums, kangaroos, koalas and others.

Sneeze! - Alexandra Siy
Explains some of the reasons why people sneeze, featuring color micrographs of the air-pollen, dust mites, mold spores, dust, goose down, and other allergens that provoke sneezing.

Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children about Their Art
Twenty-three illustrators of children's literature discuss their lives, inspirations, and creative backgrounds and present photographs of themselves and their work spaces along with examples of their illustrations.

Birmingham, 1963 - Carole Boston Weatherford
Describes the feelings of a fictional character who witnessed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombings in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963.

Hamas: Palestinian Terrorists - Maxine Rosaler
Discusses the origins, philosophy, and most notorious attacks of the Hamas terrorist group, including their present activities, possible plans, and counter-terrorism efforts directed against them.

How Big Is It? A Big Book All About Bigness - Ben Hillman
Shows just how big several big things truly are by setting them next to other items in illustrations.