Sweet-tastic Children's Books

I'm pretty sure I've said it before, but one of my favorite things about working over in the Children's Section so often is getting to find and read through some pretty awesome books. The artwork, the stories themselves, and the characters are just so interesting to me. So today, I wanted to share some of the more sweet-tastic ones I've found recently with you all.

The Crows of Pearblossom by Aldous Huxley - What first caught my eye about this book was the artwork on the cover. I love the style it's done in. Then I saw that it was written by Aldous Huxley (author of Brave New World), which I thought was pretty awesome. I read through it, and in true older children's story fashion, it's very... blunt, and somewhat violent. Huxley wrote it in 1944 (it was the first of two children's stories he wrote) for his niece. You can read more about it here.

Crazy Hair by Neil Gaiman - Another book that I was drawn to by the artwork on the cover. It's so unique, and very unlike any illustration style I had seen in a children's book before. The story itself is very out there, revolving around a man who has crazy hair (surprise!) and a young girl who wants to tame it, but is warned not to because of all of the things that live inside of it. It's wild, and I love it. (You might recognize Neil Gaiman... he wrote Coraline several other science-fiction novels.)

Mr. and Mrs. God in the Creation Kitchen by Nancy Wood - Alright, I'll admit it, when I first saw the title of this book, I was a little skeptical. But then, when I read through it, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is the artwork beautiful, the message in the story is pretty great as well. Obviously, it leans more toward the creationist side of explaining how the universe/world came into existence, but it does so in a more progressive manner (taking into account geological estimates of the age of the earth and how long it would have taken for everything to come about). I thought it was very well done, and appreciated it's novelty.

Not much has been happening at work lately. Lots of bomb room work and shelving in children's because of the SRP. I have encountered some really adorable, and some really bratty, children lately though, which has made things fun. My favorite was this little girl from the other day who was probably about 9 or so. I was shelving, and I had a book that she wanted to see in my arms, so she said, "Excuse me, if you don't mind may I please see what that Great Illustrated Classic is?" So polite, I was pretty much blown away.

Another entertaining conversation I overheard was:

2 children asking for something and acting kind of hyper.

Adult says no.

2 children ask again.

Adult says "N. O. What does that spell?"

"No!" chorus the two children excitedly and they pretty much start behaving.

I just had to laugh... I can only wish that someday my children will be that excited about being told "no."

Also, another shout-out to everyone that's been participating in my Summer Reading Program! You are all awesome, keep reading! :)

Holy Shelving Batman! or, The Day the Library Exploded

So on Tuesday when I pulled into work, I noticed that our parking lot was rather full. Comparatively. I didn't really think anything of it, though. But when I walked into the back room, and looked up the hallway leading to the floor, there were about 3 full carts (2 of which were children's) that needed to be shelved, and when I glanced into the bomb room, one of my coworkers was tackling a huge pile of books and media.

So I went out onto the floor, pushing one of the childrens' carts over to the childrens' section, and lo and behold, there's already a half-full cart sitting there (composed of mostly Easy Non-fiction... woo!). So I push my full cart back across the library and park it back in the hallway and start heading back over, when I ran into Mr. B (a friend from high school who I hadn't seen in forever). Yay!

After we chatted for a bit, I went back over to children's to tackle the cart. The area was packed with kids and their parents, and it was a mess from kids just picking something off the shelf and leaving it elsewhere, be it on the floor, on top of the shelves, under the computers, etc.

Two hours later, I had finished that cart, helped a couple of kids find the books they were looking for, and finished half of another cart. Then I took my break, and when I finished I figured I'd check on the bomb room. At that moment, it was definitely very appropriately named, as it looked like a bomb had actually gone off. There were books piled on the counter. The crate holding the returns from the library lobby was completely full (actually more than full, I'm pretty sure there was a mountain of items bulging over the top of the crate) and about every 5 minutes, people would drop off more. I spent the last hour and a half trying to catch up, and when there were about 20 minutes until closing, this is what I had left to check in:

That huge tower is made up of cd books, and the one that's about half its size is dvds. Both of which have to be checked and made sure that every disk is accounted for. So at that point I finished checking in all the books, and went out to the helpline and asked if someone could please help me with the media? As the announcement was made that the library was closed, I had just finished with everything.

This was the result:

These are all carts lined up in the hallway of books that need to be shelved. There are about 5 and half completely full carts there (2.5 of which are more children's carts). Good thing we don't open until 1 on Wednesdays!

I'm not sure what caused the influx... and I haven't been back to work yet, so I'm not sure if it was just Tuesday or if this is how we're going to be over the summer. If it is, it's going to be crazy!

Also, yay for the people participating in the Summer Reading Program! You guys rock! :D

Sesame Pasta Chicken Salad and Updates

So it was announced on Tuesday that we have two people transferring from our branch. One of whom is B, my supervisor. :( I'm really bummed, things just aren't going to be the same without him there. But I am happy for him -he's leaving because he's been promoted to Assistant Branch Manager, which is really great. His last day is tomorrow, and luckily I'll be working. It's going to be a bittersweet day, I'm sure.

On Wednesday, we had a going away luncheon for him and the other girl who is leaving (she also got a promotion, yay!). I don't work on Wednesdays, but I went in anyway for the luncheon because I wanted to be there, and brought a pasta salad. When my co-worker who was in charge of putting the event together told me to bring a pasta salad I was like... "uh... I've never made one of those, but okay!" (I associate pasta salads with mayonnaise, which I can't stand.) So I checked my favorite recipe site and found a recipe for a "Sesame Pasta Chicken Salad." Here's the link to the original, but here it is with the alterations I made:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1 (16 ounce) package bow tie pasta
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat
• 1/3 cup chopped green onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 cup julienne carrots

Directions:

1. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add sesame seeds, and cook stirring frequently until lightly toasted. Remove from heat, and set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain pasta, and rinse under cold water until cool. Transfer to a large bowl.
3. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine vegetable oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, sesame seeds, ginger, and pepper. Shake well.
4. Pour sesame dressing over pasta, and toss to coat evenly. Gently mix in chicken and vegetables.

It was so good, and definitely gets better the longer it's refrigerated so the flavors can meld together.

I'm so looking forward to people's participation in the SRP now, especially after getting your comments on my last post! And 2 people have already filled out the form! Yay! I also got to fill it out for the first time, because I finished Charlaine Harris's latest, Dead Reckoning, today before work (review to follow soon)!

Work was rather bizarre today... the storms threw everyone off I think. We lost power briefly, and the lights kept flickering enough to shut the computers off a couple of times. It was crazy to watch out in the parking lot with the rain just pouring down and the trees been blown practically sideways. Someone also managed to drive their mini van up on the sidewalk when they were trying to leave. We had a leak inside the building.

And, when I was on my break and sitting in the breakroom, I noticed this woman walk slowly by the opening, but I couldn't see her very well at all so I just ignored it because she went into the staff bathroom. Then, as she was leaving, I got a better look at her and it was a mom with a walking toddler and a baby in a stroller. And it was a "huh, that's weird, she shouldn't be back here but maybe she was sent back here for some reason," moment, and then I heard one of my co-workers say, "Ma'am?" When she was confronted about it, she said she had seen the sign for the bathroom, when the sign clearly says "STAFF ONLY." And then she went on to just shrug it off and ask if she could check books out off the cart. T, my co-worker, said she was clearly not all there, and the first time she had seen her that night she was just hanging out on the floor next to our hold shelves. Go figure.

The last day of school is tomorrow! That means no more after school special. And, we're only open until 3 because it is a Friday, so it'll be a short one!

Summer Reading Program!!

School is letting out, and that probably means it's time for Summer Reading Programs at a library near you. If you were like me, many of you will remember getting out stacks of books and keeping your log over the summer of books that you read, and then taking it in and getting prizes... stickers, certificates, bookmarks, books, etc. I was pretty bummed when I found out that the SRP didn't apply to anyone over teenage level (not that I really would have had time to participate while I was in college...).

But now I'm out of college, and surrounded by SRP fun at the library (we got to decorate after our staff meeting the other day!), so I've decided that I'm going to participate in my own Summer Reading Program... and I want you to participate with me!

First, set a goal for how many books you want to read over the summer (as many as possible counts :) ). Then, between today (May 23) and August 13th, read! I've created a form (you can access it below, or I'll be making a static page for easy access), and all you have to do is fill it out and I'll have a spreadsheet that logs what you've read! (Make sure to use the same name for yourself each time for easier tracking.)

And, in true SRP fashion, I'll have "stickers" and "bookmarks" for you to print out or put on your blog soon. And, you'll get a certificate for participating. :D

If you have any questions or comments, please comment below! I look forward to seeing what everyone's reading!