To Get You in the Mood...

Here's one to get you (and your charges) into the spooky October mood, if it isn't happening naturally for you. I'm a Jersey girl by birth, but living in Cali I sometimes lose track of the seasons. Here's one of my favorites for when the leaves start (or should start) falling...

For Tweens and Teens: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

I picked this up a few years ago and LOVED it. I thought it was the best thing I'd read in ages. Deliciously creepy and wonderful. Coraline is a young girl who moves into a new flat with her preoccupied techie parents. She is bored and her Father suggests exploring her new digs. Coraline finds a key and unlocks the door that separates her flat from another apartment. She meets a woman there who looks just like her mother, except for big, black button eyes. The woman says she is Coraline's "Other Mother". Things turn sinister quickly when Coraline realizes her parents have been trapped by the Other Mother, and it is up to her to save them.

I played the audio book (read by the author) for my fifth graders and they LOVED it. It was edgy, spooky, and they clamored for it after we came back from lunch. They were significantly bummed when it was over. An awesome pick for this otherworldly month.

The Twilight Series

I just finished Eclipse, the latest book in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I stumbled upon Twilight, the first book in the series, at The Flying Pig Bookstore while vacationing in Shelburne, Vermont last October. This is a very cool children’s bookstore that I felt lucky to find on my trip. But, I digress. Anyway, I treated myself to a stack of books and Twilight was among them. It’s a young adult novel about high school kids falling in love. But it’s not so simple when one of the kids is a mortal girl and the other is a vampire posing as a high school boy.

Well, I loved it, and I’m not the only one apparently. Twilight made the American Library Association’s Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults list in 2006 and their Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers list as well. Other awards include:

• A New York Times Editor’s Choice
• A Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year
• An Amazon Best Book of the Decade…So Far

I loved the second book, New Moon, as well, and as I mentioned just finished the third, Eclipse (it was released this past summer 2007). Now I’m just bummed that I have to wait for the continuing story of Bella and Edward for another year or so. If you’re looking for a good October read for you, or that teen you know check out this series!

Pumpkin Soup

We’re well into October and as my three-year-old, Sammy, keeps saying, “It’s almost Halloween!” I hit the bookstore a few days ago and returned with these two books. They have Sammy’s seal of approval.

The first, Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper, is a rollicking tale of three friends: Cat, Squirrel, and Duck. They live together happily in a little white cabin and every day they make pumpkin soup, the best you’ve every tasted! The Cat slices the pumpkin, the Squirrel stirs the soup, and the Duck measures out the salt. One day Duck decides to mix things up (literally) when he demands to stir the soup instead of doing his regular job. Cat and Squirrel are mad and Duck moves out. Will they ever make pumpkin soup together again? The curious preschooler will want to know.

This book is also a great springboard to cooking with kids. After I read the book to Sammy, we made pumpkin soup together (okay, it was really butternut squash soup, but who’s gonna know?). Sammy really enjoyed slicing up the pumpkin (like the Cat), stirring (like the Squirrel), and measuring the salt (like the Duck). And the soup? Well, it was the best you ever tasted, of course!

The School Library Tiger’s recipe for Pumpkin Soup (aka Butternut Squash Soup with Parmesan and Sage)

1 large butternut squash (about 3 lbs)
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs butter
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
6 - 8 cups vegetable stock or broth
1 large piece of Parmesan cheese rind
2 bay leaves
3 or 4 fresh sage leaves, diced fine
1/8 ts cayenne
1/4 ts freshly ground nutmeg
4 tbs freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 ts freshly ground black pepper
1 ts kosher or sea salt

1. Quarter the butternut squash and scrape out seeds. Place on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil (See Sammy demonstrating in the picture above). Roast squash at 400 degrees for an hour. Remove and let cool. Remove skin, chop into large chunks (2 in.) and set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium heat and saute celery and onions for 5-6 minutes.
3. Add veggie stock, Parmesan cheese rind, squash, and Bay leaves. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Partially cover and let simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Remove rind and Bay leaves.
5. Puree the soup in a blender until smooth and return to pot. Warning: If you do this while the soup is hot, cover the blender with a towel instead of the lid or remove the center piece in the blender top to allow stem to escape. If you don’t do this it will explode! (I know from personal experience).
6. Add grated Parmesan, sage, salt, and spices. Simmer until heated through.
7. Optional: Garnish with chopped toasted walnuts, creme fraiche, or Tabasco sauce, depending on your tastes. For color, sprinkle some chopped fresh parsley on top.

Room to Read

I just read "Room to Read: Bringing Books to the World", an article by Laurie Snyder on MSN.com. Room to Read is a San Francisco-based non-profit dedicated to raising literacy rates in developing countries. It was founded by John Woods, a former Microsoft executive who was inspired to quit his job and start helping others while on vacation in Nepal. According to the organization's website, Room to Read has helped more than 1.3 million children in developing countries. It has established 3,800 libraries, built 287 schools, published about 150 children's book titles in local languages, created 136 computer and language labs, and funded 3,448 long-term scholarships for girls, which pay for tuition, school supplies and uniforms. Room to Read has projects in Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam and plans to expand to other countries. Room to Read is also a member organization of the Clinton Global Initiative. Pretty amazing stuff!

New Logo for The School Library Tiger

The School Library Tiger has a new logo. This is my virgin attempt at Photoshop, but being a good future librarian I wanted to have an image that wasn't infringing on anybody's copyright. I got the original tiger photo from flickr.com courtesy of "seeks2dream" and the book box image from "ukslim". Both were available for use and "remix" through a creative commons license. In Photoshop, I used a filter on the tiger image and then cut and pasted the two images together, colored and drew a bit, added text and volia! Not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with my new logo for this blog!

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

I like books. And I like Dolly Parton. She's a talented woman and an amazing songwriter and musician. Some people can't get past the boobs and 9 to 5, but I'm getting off track. The point is, if I hadn't found myself at Dollywood one steamy summer day in the Great Smoky Mountain region of Tennessee, I wouldn't know about her book thang. Umm...The Dolly Parton Imagination Library to be more specific. She had this idea to give a book each month to every child born in her home county from birth to age five. It's a pretty nifty idea, I think. You can find out more, including how to start this in your own community at http://www.dollysimaginationlibrary.com/howworks.php.

And if you want to hear a different side of Dolly, check out my two favorite albums of hers: The Grass is Blue and Little Sparrow. And that means you! You'll like it, trust me.

Readin' Owl

Today I returned from a 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Saturday class session for my Collection Management course at San Jose State University. It was a good class, and I learned stuff, but hey, I had to get up at 6-something on a Saturday, even before my 3 year-old daughter deems it civilized to get up on the weekend. I had to skip breakfast, hit Kinko's (to make copies for a little presentation I had to give in class), and drive in the rain to San Jose. Well, okay, no one twisted my arm or anything, but it wasn't my first choice for activities at the end of a wickedly busy week. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw my husband and daughter waiting out on the stoop for me as I pulled onto Cole Street. And surprise, surprise! They had a present for me! And even better, I really liked it. Dan and Sammy gave me a little stuffed owl reading a book. He even has a little kink in one knee so he can cross them properly while he looks wide-eyed and enthralled in his book. I plan to put him on my desk when I become a real school librarian. He's super cute and reminds me of the 70s, which makes him even cooler. My husband picked him up at Starbucks (okay, 90 percent of the impromptu gifts I get from him are from Starbucks, but I'm not complaining).