In like a LION...

Out like a LAMB!

You have heard the old saying, "In like a LION and out like a LAMB."  This actually has little to do with the weather and more to do with astronomy.  Its origins lie with the constellations Leo, the Lion, and Aries, the ram or lamb. At the beginning of March Leo holds a prominent position in the sky and by the end of March Aries has taken his place.  It's funny how things evolve with time.

HOWEVER ... It's going to be 66 degrees today....ENJOY!!

LEO

ARIES

The Galaxy Song

sung by

Clint Black

Instead of sayin’ “purple hat,”

They all say “hurple pat.”

Instead of sayin’ ‘feed the cat,”

They just say ‘ceed the fat.”

So if you say, “Let’s bead a rook

That’s as billy as can see,”

You’re talkin’ Runny Babbit talk,
Just like mim and he.”

Everyone loves Runny Babbit and Shel silverstein, the genius behind him. April is poetry month.  Be sure to ask your mom and dad if they have a favorite poem.


The backwards story of Cinderella.  This is old but it is still FUNNY!  Enjoy...

Your "Peak Reader" Calendars are due by

Friday April 1st

If you have lost your calendar you can pick up a new copy in the library. It must be filled out correctly and signed by a parent. Summer is coming. It's going to be fun.

The Tortoise and the Hare

This is one of the early Disney cartoons.  The story has been changed a little but it is still fun. ENJOY!

DON'T MISS...

"Big Guy Little Guy"

at the Provo City Library this Saturday

Big Guy Little Guy is an annual event for boys aged three and older and their caregivers. With sword-fighting, magic shows, a menagerie, facepainting, balloon-twisting, and more, it's a literal carnival of fun for boys and their dads!


THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN!!!

This week in the library...

The amazing story of "glow in the dark" paint

This week in the library we will be reading the wonderful story of the Switzer brothers and how they invented fluorescent paint.

Here's what I am reading...

After listening to Christopher Paul Curtis speak last weekend, I realized that I had not read the Newbury Award Winning book  Bud, Not Buddy.  I am just about finished with it and I can say it is a great read. I hope you will come and check out a copy.

This book describes the troubles and adventures of a 10-year-old African-American orphan in Depression-era Michigan. Bud, not Buddy, is fed up with the cruel treatment he has received at various foster homes, and after being locked up for the night in a shed with a swarm of angry hornets, he decides to run away. His goal: to reach the man he believes to be his father, jazz musician Herman E. Calloway.

While the grim conditions of the times and the harshness of Bud's circumstances are authentically depicted, Curtis shines on them an aura of hope and optimism.

It's the First Day of Spring!

LOOK WHAT I BOUGHT FOR THE LIBRARY!!

I've wanted to do this for years and I finally did it.  I bought this amazing cuckoo clock for the library.  It should arrive next week and by Friday we will be enjoying the music of Edelweiss and the sound of the ever prompt cuckoo bird.  I hope you will love it.

MARCH IS...

"Peak Reader" month

We are half way through March and I hope you are all keeping up with your Peak Reader calendars.  If you have lost yours I have plenty in the library.  Come and get a new one.

KEEP READING!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

We gave away 25 books, two frogs and 10 $1,000.00 bills (in funny money)  Congratulations to you all.  You are fabulous readers!

John Baker wins the Iditarod

John Baker

Baker's lead dog, Snickers

NOME, Alaska -- John Baker crossed the finish line first Tuesday in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to reclaim the title of Iditarod champion for an Alaska Native musher.  He is the first Native musher to win the world's longest sled dog race since  1976.

He won the purse of $50,400, a new truck, and a new cell phone with a year of service from GCI. Exxon Mobile gave floral wreaths to the lead sled dogs, Velvet and Snickers.

An exhausted, calm Baker set a record finish time of 8 days, 19 hrs, 46 mins with Ramey Smith roughly an hour behind.

HAPPY Pi DAY

To all my darling math students...we will be celebrating Pi Day on Friday...  YUM!

I just couldn't resist  adding this second video.  Music is math.  This just might drive you crazy.

Congratulations

Amanda Howard

2nd place winner in the Utah Valley Spelling Bee

"Follow Me Boys"

"Following the Leader"

"I Will Follow Him"

"Follow the Yellow Brick Road"

I hope you will follow the library...

I have just added a gadget that allows you to follow our library blog.  I hope you will sign on. To find us scroll down on the right hand side.  Looking forward to seeing you!

New Stories

I have posted some new stories in "stories on video"   ENJOY!

This is the book that we have been reading in the library all week.

City Dog, Country Frog

by Mo Willems

This a sweet, tender story about friendship and loss, and about going forward when there is a loss.  I think it is a must read for all families.   In just 32 pages Mo Willems has created a book that goes right to the heart.  I was surprised at the kids reactions when I read this.  They sensed what was coming and immediately understood the message. It's a keeper.

This weekend I will be attending the

UVU Forum

"For the Love of Reading"

keynote speakers include...

Christopher Paul Curtis,

 Patricia Reilly Giff

Steve Jenkins

This should be a great experience.  I will bring you back some new books!

Brandon Mull

at the

Provo City Library

Friday, March 18, 2011

Library Ballroom

7:00 pm

Free tickets will be available to Provo City Library cardholders and Provo residents on Saturday, March 5, 2011 at the Children's
Services Desk.
Questions? Call 801-852-7685.

Beautiful Ireland

This is the inside of Ashford Castle, very fancy and very European.  We had to dress for dinner.  It was fun but the food was a challenge since most of it was very bland.  I did, however, discover some things I had never heard of before that were really delicious... salad with edible flowers and cucumber sandwiches ... YUM! 

One afternoon we sat in front of the windows and ate pickle and cheese sandwiches. They were wonderful. My kids literally inhaled them.  When I ordered another plate the waitress looked at us like... "You Americans eat too much!"  We didn't care, we were starving.

In one of the hotels there was a full suit of armor positioned just to the left at the bottom of a large staircase.  I would forget that it was there and every time I went down the stairs it would startle me.

This was my favorite place... The Park Hotel, Kenmare, Kerry County.  It was beautiful but not quite so formal.  The best part was that behind the hotel was an amazing garden of flowers that covered at least an acre.  There was a small path through the garden that led directly to the sea.  It felt like I was in an old painting.

Our room

RUN!

TODAY'S THE DAY...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The streets of downtown Anchorage were filled with barking dogs and screaming fans today as the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race got under way in Alaska's biggest city.

Lance Mackey reaching out to the fans

Defending champion Lance Mackey is trying for his fifth consecutive Iditarod win.

Mackey finished the 2010 race in eight days, 23 hours, 59 minutes — the second-fastest finish in Iditarod history. The 40-year-old Fairbanks musher said there is nothing in his way to prevent him from reaching Nome first, again.

The Omni Wing

Click on our new KID LINK and learn how to make an OMNI WING airplane.  They are cool!


http://kidlinksfa.blogspot.com/

March is "Peak Reader" Month

You should all have received your forms for this year's Peak Reader.  If you have questions you can contact me in the library.  Keep reading, summer is coming.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Though Geisel passed away in 1991, his legacy lives on. Here are five things you might not know about Dr. Seuss...

• Geisel first used the pen name Seuss with an illustration published in a 1925 edition of Dartmouth's Jack-O-Lantern humor magazine. His piece? A cartoon drawing of the Pied Piper.

• Dr. Seuss wasn't a doctor at all. Though he worked toward an English PhD. at Oxford in England, Geisel dropped out to focus on his drawings and cartoons before he completed his course of study.

• A writing career didn't come easily to Geisel at first. The first book he published, And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street, was rejected  27 times before eventually being published in 1937.

• Geisel's penname Seuss was actually his middle name. Though today many Americans pronounce it like "Soose," it is a Bavarian family name and would have been pronounced like "Zoice" by his relatives and native speakers.

• Although Geisel and his wife were unable to have any children of their own he has entertained generations of children with his clever writing.  Geisel was often asked how a childless man could write so well for children. Apparently, his standard response was, "You make 'em. I'll amuse 'em."

Hope you enjoy this clip.  It's funny.

POWERSCOURT ESTATE, IRELAND

Powerscourt is one of the most beautiful country estates in Ireland and a treasured tourist attraction. The gardens go on for miles and there is an avenue leading to the Palladian house lined by over 2,000 beech trees. It was gutted by fire in 1975. Then, in 1996, a process of restoration began with the re-roofing of the house and the restoration of the windows. The entrance hall now features an exhibition describing the fascinating history of Powerscourt.

No matter where we live we all use what is available to us.  In Ireland it is rocks, rocks, rocks.  As a result there are beautiful rock walls.  The walls around the gardens at Powercourt were probably fifteen feet tall.  There were actual doorways built into them.  The interesting part is they didnt' use mortar  They are known as "dry walls"

I came home determined to build rock walls all the way around my property...  I'm still dreaming.