New Holiday Books

From the series Holiday Histories by Mir Tamim Ansary:

Arbor Day
Explores the history of Arbor Day, a day that is celebrated by planting trees, and discusses how and why Arbor Day was started.

Columbus Day
Introduces Columbus Day, explaining the historical events behind it, how it became a holiday, and how it is observed.

Presidents' Day
Introduces Presidents' Day, explaining the historical events behind it, how it became a holiday, and how it is observed.

Veterans Day
Introduces Veterans Day, explaining the historical events behind it, how it became a holiday, and how it is observed.

New YA Books

Poppy and Ereth - Avi
After a long, hard winter in Dimwood forest, Poppy the deer mouse finds new adventure thrust upon her while rescuing Ereth the porcupine from the mud.

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg - Rodman Philbrick
Twelve-year-old Homer, a poor but clever orphan, has extraordinary adventures after running away from his evil uncle to rescue his brother, who has been sold into service in the Civil War.

The Twilight Prisoner - Katherine Marsh
In an effort to impress a female classmate, high school sophomore Jack Perdu endangers both of their lives by taking her to New York City's Underworld, where those who died in New York reside until they are ready to move on.

Palace of Mirrors - Margaret Peterson Haddix
Fourteen-year-old Cecilia has always known she is the true princess of Suala, but when she and her best friend, Harper, decide to speed up her ascendancy to the throne, they find danger and many imposters who challenge her claim.

New Children's Nonfiction Books

Larousse Children's French Dictionary
Presents a French dictionary for children ages eight through eleven and contains twenty-two illustrated scenes, fifty dialogues, cultural information about the country, word games, vocabulary building, and more.

Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea - Steve Jenkins
Provides a top-to-bottom look at the ocean, from birds and waves to thermal vents and ooze.

First Thousand Words in Arabic - Heather Amery
Presents 1,000 common Arabic words accompanied by drawings.

May 2009 Newsletter

New Christian Education Resources Database

On April 9, a new database went online that helps users locate Christian education resources housed in the Centennial Library’s Curriculum Materials Center. There are over 700 items in the Christian Education Resources Database, which focuses on such resources as children's and youth Bibles, activity and idea books, Christian children's books, children's devotional books, and much more. Users may limit their searches to eleven specific publishers if desired. All new Christian education resources will be added to the database as they arrive in the CMC. Thanks go to Eric Svendsen and Kyle Linden of Computer Services for their work on this project.

Website of the Month

According to a recent issue of MultiMedia & Internet@Schools, "the nonprofit Curriki.org is a 3-year-old organization that offers a large collection of free and open source content and collaboration tools" for educators. Teachers can find a large number of customizable individual lesson plans, units of instruction, and even more than 300 full courses. The content is carefully screened by paid and volunteer experts. As textbooks become more and more expensive, and textbook budgets continue to decline, some schools are considering this type of open source collaboration as the answer to a growing problem.

New Materials

During April, nearly 90 new items were added to the CMC collection, including trade books, phonics resources for middle grades, and curriculum sets. Click here to see the full list.

Have a wonderful summer! This newsletter will resume in the fall.