New DVDs

Yucky Worms
'Yucky!' says a young boy about the worms his grandmother digs up in her garden. But he soon changes his mind when he discovers how interesting worms really are, and how important they are in helping the soil, plants, and animals in the garden. Yucky Worms is a lighthearted study enhanced with appealing artwork and the witty comments of the many worms who live in Grandma's garden.

Dinosaur
Students will gain an understanding of the Jurassic and Mesozoic era through study of paleontology, dinosaur entomology, theories of extinction and dinosaur physiology.

The Way Things Work: Levers
A young Mammoth Islander observes some children playing on a see-saw and is inspired to try a simple machine called a lever to get her job done.

Planets & the Solar System
Students will learn the key characteristics of each planet, the difference between inner and outer planets, and which planets have their own moons. They'll take a fascinating look at how remote-control rovers are designed to explore other surfaces in the solar system. Also, in a fun, hands-on activity, students will demonstrate how gravity keeps all the members of the solar system in orbit around the Sun.

The Way Things Work: Flight
When a mammoth delivering canvas awnings gets lifted off the ground by the wind, the Mammoth Islanders discover the power of the wind. The Islanders experiment and eventually learn the right combination of the four forces involved in flight: gravity, lift, thrust, and drag.

The Way Things Work: Musical Instruments
The Mammoth Islanders invite a visiting inventor to a noisy concert of musical mammoths. Then they learn the principles behind various wind, string, brass and percussion instruments. The result is music to their ears.

African-American Heritage
The vibrant sights and sounds of West Africa come alive as children learn about the region's diverse geography and cultures, and they explore the history of African Americans. They'll learn to count to ten in the More language and practice a few words in the Yoruba language, take a field trip to an African food market and learn how to make their own African adinkra cloth designs. They'll also enjoy the animated folktale, "Anansi the Spider," and sing the traditional Senegalese folk song, "Galigi."

The Declaration of Independence
Join our host as she aids viewers in discovering the people and events involved in creating the Declaration of Independence.

America's Documents of Freedom, 1775-1786
The stories behind important documents in United States history, featuring expert commentary from scholars and historians.

America's Documents of Freedom, 1787-1796

The Oregon Trail & The Pony Express
2 documentary programs. The Oregon Trail is an account of America's longest and most famous pioneer trail, covering the reasons for going, the landscape crossed, and the experience as described in immigrants' diaries. The Pony Express describes the gamble that bankrupted the men who started it, and lasted only 19 months, but made a legend of its riders and provided a vital link between California and the Northern states at the start of the Civil War.

The Civil War
This program utilizes exciting reenactments, artifacts and interviews to explore key battles of the Civil War, life on the northern and southern homefronts, and the role of African Americans in the war.

Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Battle & The Address
Brings to life not only Lincoln's famous speech, but also the major events leading up to the Civil War, a comprehensive background on Lincoln's life, and a summary of the Gettysburg Battle itself. Features one of the most famous and most quoted speeches in American history given by Lincoln in just two minutes on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1983 at the dedication of the soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. Includes re-enactments of the battle, Lincoln's address, and discussion of his speech by local community members.

New Children's Books

Check It Out! Reading, Finding, Helping - Patricia Hubbell
Librarians love books, reading, and children and inspire children with a love of books and reading.

Bunny Mail - Rosemary Wells
While Ruby plans a Fourth of July doll picnic, Max sends letters to Santa to ask for "a bright red Sand-Spitter Motorcycle with Bigfoot tires," but the letters are delivered to his grandmother, instead, and she must try to decipher the pictures. Includes lift-up flaps.

Bunny Money - Rosemary Wells
Max and Ruby spend so much on emergencies while shopping for Grandma's birthday presents, that they just barely have enough money left for gifts.

E-mergency! - Tom Lichtenheld
The letter E has fallen and injured herself-- which letters will replace her and how will words be spelled without her?

Those Rebels, John & Tom - Barbara Kerley
Introduces children to the lives and accomplishments of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

Aesop's Fables: A Pop-Up Book of Classic Tales - Kees Moerbeck
Classic tales from Aesop told with pop-up illustrations.




Tower of Treasure - Scott Chantler
As an acrobat in a traveling circus, 14-year-old orphan Dessa Redd flies through the air with ease. Still, she is weighed down by troubling memories. But when her ragtag circus troupe pulls into the city of Kingsbridge, Dessa feels a tickle of hope. Maybe here in the royal city she will finally find her twin brother -- or the mysterious man who snatched him away when they were just children. Meanwhile, Topper, the circus juggler, recruits Dessa and the circus strongman, Fisk, for the job of robbing the royal treasury. Hungry and desperate, both agree, setting off a series of adventures that will take the three thieves from one end of the world to the other in search of Dessa's long-lost brother.

New YA Books

Bluefish - Pat Schmatz
Everything changes for thirteen-year-old Travis, a new student who is trying to hide a learning disability, when he meets a remarkable teacher and a sassy classmate with her own secrets.

Promise the Night - Michaela MacColl
Explores the early life of Beryl Markham, who grew up on a farm in Kenya, and became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west.

New Children's Books

The Whole Story of Half a Girl - Veera Hiranandani
When Sonia's father loses his job and she must move from her small, supportive private school to a public middle school, the half-Jewish half-Indian sixth-grader experiences culture shock as she tries to navigate the school's unfamiliar social scene, and after her father is diagnosed with clinical depression, she finds herself becoming even more confused about herself and her family.

Spunky Tells All - Ann Cameron
Called a troublemaker by his human family, a reflective dog defends himself and then relates the family's adoption of an aristocratic but incompetent cat, who gives him a life purpose and new way of looking at his world.

The Gifted Teen Survival Guide - Judy Galbraith
Discusses what the label "gifted" means, and covers such issues as intelligence testing, educational options, and relationships with parents and friends.

A New Year's Reunion - Yu Li-Qiong
Little Maomao's father works in faraway places and comes home just once a year, for Chinese New Year. At first Maomao barely recognizes him, but before long the family is happily making sticky rice balls, listening to firecrackers, and watching the dragon dance in the streets below. Papa gets a haircut, makes repairs to the house, and hides a lucky coin for Maomao to find. Which she does! But all too soon it is time for Papa to go away again.

The Prince's New Pet - Brian Anderson
In a gray and colorless kingdom, the Prince receives an unusual, colorful new pet for his birthday.

Robert McCloskey: A Private Life in Words and Pictures - Jane McCloskey
McCloskey wrote and painted what he knew: from his Midwestern childhood to island life in Maine. His younger daughter, Jane, chronicles the loving, difficult, but productive family relationships in a way that will add depth and meaning to his wonderful books.

Wheels of Change - Sue Macy
Explores the role the bicycle played in the women's liberation movement.

Mary and Her Little Lamb - Will Moses
In 1810s Massachusetts, young Mary Elizabeth Sawyer nurses a sickly lamb back to health and becomes the subject of a famous nursery rhyme. Includes facts about the real Mary, John Roulstone who wrote the rhyme, and Lowell Mason who set it to music.

The Odyssey: A Pop-Up Book - Sam Ita
An abridged, graphic novel adaptation of the many adventures of Odysseus, a Greek hero of the Trojan War, after his ship is blown off course while on his journey home. Lift-the-flap, fold-out, and pop-up pages.

New Professional Resources

Bringing Grammar to Life - Deborah Dean
Presents how to use everyday sources from textbooks to advertisements to incorporate an integrated approach to grammar instruction.

What Should I Read Aloud? - Nancy A. Anderson
Suggests and describes two hundred best-selling picture books, arranged by topic or theme within age levels from infant to eight years, for parents to read to children, and provides guidance and tools for understanding and fostering the reading development of one's child.

Scaffolding with Storybooks - Laura M. Justice
Presents a practical guide that helps to develop literacy skills in the preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade classroom; and provides strategies to strengthen children's knowledge of written language, vocabulary, the alphabet, and more.

A Comprehensive Guide to Readers Theatre - Alison Black
Presents a comprehensive guide to readers theatre that shows how to implement Readers Theatre in the classroom as well as meet current literacy standards.

Helping Children Become Readers Through Writing - Arlene C. Schulze
Examines research related to the effectiveness of writing workshops in kindergarten, presents a sample kindergarten schedule that includes a writing workshop, explains how to plan for and structure a workshop, discusses the importance of having teachers share their own writing process with students, considers assessment and reporting, and includes writing samples, and reflections from educators.

New YA Books

Flyaway - Lucy Christopher
While her father is in the hospital, thirteen-year-old Isla befriends Harry, the first boy to understand her love of the outdoors, and as Harry's health fails, Isla tries to help both him and the lone swan they see, struggling to fly, on the lake outside Harry's window.

The Probability of Miracles - Wendy Wunder
Having spent several years in and out of hospitals for a life-threatening illness, pragmatic sixteen-year-old Cam is relocated by her miracle-seeking mother to a town in Maine known for its mystical healing qualities.

A King's Ransom (Book 2 of Cahills vs. Vespers) - Jude Watson
After seven members of their family are kidnapped by an organization called the Vespers, Dan and Amy Cahill must race against time to track down an ancient map to pay as ransom to bring the hostages home.

The Dragon's Tooth - N.D. Wilson
When their parents' seedy old motel burns down on the same night they are visited by a strange man covered in skeleton tattoos, Cyrus, Antigone, and their brother Daniel are introduced to an ancient secret society, and discover that they have an important role in keeping it alive.

The Exiled Queen - Cinda Williams Chima
Two teenagers, one fleeing from a forced marriage and the other from a dangerous family of wizards, cross paths and fall in love.


Around the World - Matt Phelan
Challenged with circling the world at the end of the nineteenth century, three very different adventurers--avid bicyclist Thomas Stevens, fearless reporter Nellie Bly, and retired sea captain Joshua Slocum--embark on epic journeys.

Legend - Marie Lu
In a dark future, when North America has split into two warring nations, fifteen-year-olds Day, a famous criminal, and prodigy June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him, discover that they have a common enemy.

Finding Somewhere - Joseph Monninger
Sixteen-year-old Hattie and eighteen-year-old Delores set off on a road trip that takes unexpected turns as they discover the healing power of friendship and confront what each of them is fleeing from.

Clockwork Prince - Cassandra Clare
As the Council attempts to strip Charlotte of her power, sixteen-year-old orphaned shapechanger Tessa Gray works with the London Shadowhunters to find the Magister and destroy his clockwork army, learning the secret of her own identity while investigating his past.

New Picture Books

Tom the Tamer - Tjibbe Veldkamp
Tom's father is afraid of animals. Butterflies, snails, squirrels--they alarm him so much, he won't even come out of the house. Tom decides to take drastic measures and heads to the pet shop. First he trains a polar bear and sneaks it into the house. Then he smuggles in a tiger, a squid, a tortoise, a snake, two peacocks, three hippos and a small flock of flamingos. His father doesn't seem to notice at first but learns that his son's creativity and courage can help him conquer his fears.

Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the True Story of an American Feud - Suzanne Tripp Jurmain
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson put aside their differences in the name of friendship.

The Really Awful Musicians - John Manders
In a faraway kingdom where music has been banned, an ever-increasing group of musicians flees certain death, but when their terrible playing becomes too much for their horse, he teaches them to play together by using musical notation.

How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum - Jessie Hartland
Dinosaurs roamed the earth for millions and millions of years. Museum visitors are awed by the massive skeletons/fossils/creatures on display. But how did the fossils of a colossal diplodocus make the 145-million-year journey from the prehistoric plains of Utah to the Smithsonian Museum of today? Acclaimed author and illustrator, Jessie Hartland (How the Sphinx Got to the Museum), beautifully presents this informative and fascinating history of the diplodocus: from its discovery in 1923 in Utah to its arrival in the hallowed halls of this world-famous museum. Essential reading for junior paleontologists.

Billions of Years, Amazing Changes: The Story of Evolution - Laurence Pringle
Traces the history of man's discoveries about evolution, covering both the mechanisms of evolution and examples of natural selection.

New YA Book

The Lions of Little Rock - Kristin Levine
In 1958 Little Rock, Arkansas, painfully shy twelve-year-old Marlee sees her city and family divided over school integration, but her friendship with Liz, a new student, helps her find her voice and fight against racism.

Buckeye Children's Book Award

This year's Buckeye Children's Book Awards were recently announced. This award is unique among other state book award programs in that the nominated and winning titles are entirely selected by children. Teachers and librarians who encourage their students to participate in the BuckeyeChildren’s Book Award process report an enthusiastic response.

Grades K-2 Winner:

Shark vs. Train - Chris Barton

A shark and a train compete in a series of contests on a seesaw, in hot air balloons, bowling, shooting baskets, playing hide-and-seek, and more.

Grades 3-5 Winner:

Chalk - Bill Thomson

A wordless picture book about three children who go to a park on a rainy day, find some chalk, and draw pictures that come to life.

Grades 6-8 Winner:

Out of My Mind - Sharon L. Draper

Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.

New Teaching Aid

Giant Dominoes
Contains a double-six set of 28 foam dominoes (each 7"x4"). For 2 or more players, ages 7 and up.