Happy Holidays!

Have an Origami Christmas

 Once again, library director Fran has festooned the library with garlands of origami ornaments. If you want to try your hand at folding your own, drop by the library and pick up some origami paper and a sheet of directions.

Except for the strand of cranes, these ornaments are different stages of a folded balloon. You can stop after a few folds to get a hanging diamond (just add thread and a paper clip).

Or  do a few more folds to get an elongated shape. It looks very cool done in shiny foil.

Once you blow into it you get a fat box, called a "balloon".   If you like to see things being folded, here's a video showing how to fold an origami balloon.

For younger hands, try folding an origami Christmas tree. It takes just a few simple folds of paper and then you can have fun decorating it any way you like. Here's how.

If you're looking for easy-to-make Christmas ornaments for youngsters, check out these ideas:

• jar lid ornaments
• popsicle stick snowflakes
• unbreakable ornaments for toddlers

For those who want to explore more origami, we've got more than a dozen books on origami on our shelves, ranging from Easy Origami to Not-quite-so-easy all the way up to Sort-of-difficult Origami. There are two books full of things to fold for the holidays and - if you have an animal loving kid in your home - there's a book of Animal Origami.

Great Books to Share on a Chilly Day

The first snows have come, and it's getting to look a lot like winter. This is a great time to cozy up with a book to share with a young child. Whether you've got a fire going in the wood stove or you snuggle beneath a quilt, sharing books will warm your soul. Here are a few titles we've got on our shelves.

Moon glowing, by Elizabeth Partridge

While autumn leaves twirl down, a squirrel, a bat, a beaver and a bear prepare for winter. Squirrel stashes, bat swoops, beaver builds and bear eats.  

Animal hibernation, by Jeanie Mebane.

Why do aquatic frogs spend the winter buried in mud? Why do garter snakes coil together in dens? This book shows animals hibernating in some unique ways.

Molly, by golly!: the legend of Molly Williams, America's first female firefighter, by Dianne Ochiltree

“Our Molly is as fine a cook as any in New York City,” the lads of Fire Company No. 11 liked to boast. They argue about whether her hasty pudding or chicken roly-poly is the best. Or maybe it’s the hot apple tansy, venison stew or codfish muddle. Then one winter day, with many volunteers sick with influenza (it’s 1818), Molly jumps into action to stop a house fire.

Bugs and bugsicles: insects in the winter, by Amy S. Hansen

Every fall, insects disappear. Where do they go? The dragonfly dies, leaving its young safe in the muddy bottom of a stream. The monarch butterfly sails the air to dry mountains in Mexico. But the Arctic woolly bear caterpillar freezes solid, then thaws out to live another day. Check out how other insects outwit winter by turning into bugsicles.

Winter trees, by Carole Gerber

A boy and his dog walk through a wintry forest and discover the wonder of winter trees, one at a time. "Crunch! Our footsteps make the only sound." The boy looks closely at different trees, examining bark, limbs, even the sharp needles of a spruce.

The trees of the dancing goats, by Patricia Polacco.

During a scarlet fever epidemic one winter in Michigan, a Jewish family helps make Christmas special for their sick neighbors by decorating trees. This begins some Hanukkah miracles, too.

Swamp Angel, by Anne Isaacs

Angelica Longrider (aka Swamp Angel) wrestles a huge bear, known as Thundering Tarnation, to save the winter supplies of the settlers in Tennessee
.

Giving Thanks for Books about Autumn

If it seems late in the season to read books about fall - don't fret. There may be just a few stubborn leaves clinging to the branches, but there are plenty on the ground for raking and jumping and walking through. Fall's not over yet, and with Thanksgiving coming up we thought we'd serve up some seasonal books from the shelves.

These two picture books are full of vibrant, warm illustrations in yummy fall colors. Count Down to Fall, by Fran Hawk starts at ten and counts backwards. It's a fun way to learn about the leaves, trees, and animals we see in the autumn - and there's activities at the back.

 Let it Fall, by Maryann Cocca-Leffler is a rhyming book featuring apple picking, hayrides and lots of leaves. Here's a sneak peek: "Mounds of color raked up high/ jump right in and watch the sky!" Granted, the leaves this month are not as pretty as they were a few short weeks ago... but they're still good for raking and jumping.

In November, by Cynthia Rylant is filled with luscious lyrical language and soft paintings that will draw you into the world of a curious mouse. “In November the earth is growing quiet. It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures. The bed is white and silent, and much life can hide beneath its blankets.” November is filled with dancing leaves and orange smells... it's a time for gathering and sharing with your family.

A perfect book for sharing with someone is I Spy Thanksgiving, with riddles by Jean Marzollo and photographs by Walter Wick. Children will have fun finding an apple pie, an autumn leaf, a pumpkin and more. The I Spy books are not only great fun (they're like miniature mysteries for young children), but they help sharpen observational skills and - most important - a great way to engage a child while you're trying to bake that apple pie, or as a backseat book while driving over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house...

 If you are looking for a different sort of holiday book, check out An Outlaw Thanksgiving by Emily McCully.  It's based on a true incident in the 1890's Wild West, when Butch Cassidy and his gang threw a Thanksgiving banquet for the ranching community that was their favorite "hideout". McCully imagines this feast through the eyes of a young girl traveling from New York state to California. A blizzard stops the train and Clara ends up sharing dinner with Butch and the gang.

New to our shelves ~ children's picture books

You know how, when you're supposed to deliver a message but get so caught up in what you're doing, you forget stuff? That's what happens to Fox - and he forgets to pass on a most important message to Bear, who worries and worries that his friend Goose is missing. A fun new addition to Suzanne Bloom's Goose and Bear collection.

Lion is a bully, and he bullies the other animals so much they just can't take it anymore. So they post a want ad, seeking a hero. Animal after animal answers the ad, but Lion outsmarts each one ... Until a rabbit shows up and shows him who's who.

 If you've ever moved to a new town, then you know how scary meeting new people can be. But what if you move to an entirely new world, where the people look funny and eat strange food? And what if you go to school and no one wants to play with you except the really big one-eyed kid who sits in the back row?

If there is a King of Little Things, where is his kingdom? And over what - or whom - does he rule? More important: when he's tossed into the dungeon during a war, how does he escape? Written by storyteller Bil Lepp, this book will have you telling stories long after the light's been turned out.

Young Frank likes to design things: toilet paper chairs and wiggly book skyscrapers. But his grandfather, Old Frank dismisses his efforts and takes him to the museum to see "real architecture". The both return home inspired to try new designs.

Fran has added at least a dozen new titles to the shelves since the last time we looked. Drop by the library and check them out!

100 "Must Reads" for Kids 9 - 14

This summer, National Public Radio asked its listeners to send in titles of their favorite books for kids age 9 – 14. More than 2,000 people responded, sending in hundreds of titles. NPR turned to a panel of experts (award-winning authors & librarians) who whittled the list down to 100 of “the best”. The final list has adventure stories, magic, animal stories, pioneer sagas, science fiction, survival, and more.

The list is way, way too long to post. But you can see the illustrated and annotated reading list here. Or if you’re in a hurry and just want the titles, click on the printable list.

THANK YOU for Supporting the Book Sale ...

... And What Is that Straw Man Doing @ the Library?

Reading, of course. But on one of the new e-readers that will soon be available for loan. We'll tell you more about them once they are set up and ready to borrow.

If you already have an e-reader, you may download e-books from the library. You request them like any other book, and when they "come in" you download them to your e-reader. You'll need to download the program that Finger Lakes System uses called Overdrive - instructions here. And like any other library book, they're due back in 3 weeks. You may also check out audio books and music to download on your MP3 player - don't worry, though... they're also available in CDs for those of us who still use our CD players.

Fall Book Sale This Weekend!

The annual Fall Book Sale happens this weekend, during Fall Festival, and the shelves are overflowing with books. If you are looking to stock up on winter reading at basement-level prices, you won't want to miss the fall book sale. The Friends of Candor Free Library have been busy sorting and stacking and now's the time to drop by and fill your book bags.

You'll find books for kids, books on tape, books full of cowboy lore, how to fix a meal in 20 minutes, detective stories, romances and more. 

 Fall Book Sale hours are:

• Thursday, October 10 - from 10 am - 8 pm
• Friday, October 11 - from 10 am - 8 pm
• Saturday, October 12 - from 10 am - 4 pm

There's a Bake Sale on Saturday starting at 10 am and ending when everything is gone. Come early because people line up for the pies...

And Saturday afternoon there's a Bag Sale from 3 - 4 pm: all you can put in a brown paper grocery bag for just a couple bucks ($2.00).

It's Banned Book Week - Celebrate Your Freedom to Read

The best thing about libraries is that you can walk in and find great books to read - and you don't have to buy them. If the book you want isn't at our library, you can probably get it through interlibrary loan.

But there are some times when people want to push certain books off the shelves. They are "too graphic" or the main character is homosexual and they don't want their children - or anybody else - to be "exposed to" that book. Even now, in the 21st Century, people and groups challenge books in an effort to get them removed from their children's classroom, a school library, a school system, a town library.

Some of our greatest literature has been banned. Back in 1885, when the Concord Public Library banned Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain told his editor, "This will sell us another twenty-five thousand copies for sure."

More recently, Harry Potter showed up on the list of the challenged and banned. And last year, Captain Underpants topped the list. You will find these - along with other great books that have been challenged and banned - in our library. Why? Because, as Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. said back in 1989, "If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."

Some people celebrate "Banned Book Week" by reading a banned book. Here are a few titles to get you started. The entire list of 100 books is at  http://www.ala.org/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009 

Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling 

Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 

The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier 

And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell 

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou 
His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman 
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky 
Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers 
Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey 
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain 
The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison 
Forever, by Judy Blume
Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger 
To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
The Giver, by Lois Lowry

Friends of Library Accepting Donations for Fall Book Sale

The Friends of Candor Free Library are once again accepting donations of good, clean, used books for the fall book sale. Got any histories, mysteries, politics, wildlife, pets, parenting. gardening, cooking, romance, westerns, sci-fi or children's books sitting around collecting dust? This is the perfect way to clear your shelves - and make space for all the new books you'll be picking up at the book sale next month. It's also a perfect way to share your much-loved books with other readers.

If you have books to donate, please drop them off when the library is open - or call 607-659-7153 for pick-up.

The Friends are not accepting:

• Reader's Digest Condensed books
• Textbooks older than 5 years
• law books
• National Geographic magazines or news magazines

Pre-School Story Hour Begins a New Year

It's Story Hour time again!

Starting Tuesday, September 10, story hour happens at the library from 10:15 to 11-ish. Terry-the-story-lady has been leading this fun-filled book and activity time for the past few years and is looking forward to sharing new books with children and their caregivers.

Story Hour is more than books. Terry shares finger plays, activities, a parachute game - and she reads some good picture books that kids love. There's even a snack, because reading can take a lot of energy!

While Story Hour is aimed at the preschool crowd, there are children of all ages up to five years. Some older homeschooling siblings have been known to tag along and help out, though the library is open for those who might want to do homework or look something up for a report.

If you're interested, just drop in on Tuesday and check it out. And remember, when the Union-Endicott and/or Candor schools are closed due to a weather emergency, there's no Story Hour.

Room to Write at the Library

Our little town library is full of readers. But did you know it's also a place where local writers meet to talk about writing and, sometimes, write?

The Write Now writer's group has been meeting at the back table on the first Wednesday night of each month since... well, for many years. The group meets from 7 - 9 pm to learn more about the craft of writing, share ideas, support each others work, offer positive critiques, and catch up with news. 

Sharing is the biggest part of the group's informal meetings. But don't think it's all small talk; these are serious writers helping each other towards a goal of getting published.

So what do writers talk about when they get together? Manuscript preparation, publisher's guidelines, setting goals, writer's block, plotting, character development, how to do research, querying an editor... the list is endless. While writers do bring their work to read - and get feedback on - there's no rule that members have to bring something to read each month. Some meetings are question/answer sessions or brain-storming.

Membership is open to any serious writer who is 18 years old or older, and there is a small lifetime membership fee. For more information on membership or visiting the group, contact author Carol Henry at carolhenry@frontiernet.net or 607-659-7661.

Check the "what's happening @ the library" calendar for meeting dates.

Summer Reading Winners

For some kids, summer is the best time to dig into reading. There's long lazy days, sipping lemonade while reading a favorite novel. Or sneaking a flashlight under a blanket to finish a story.

During this summer's reading program, participants filled out a ticket for every book they read. Then they dropped their tickets in a can. On August 19, the winners were chosen - not by "who read the most books", but by random drawing. Though if you know anything about probability you know that those who read the most books got the most tickets.

So, the winners - who each get a bookstore gift card:

Owen Huizinga for the Beginning Reader crowd
Kadrianna Foster for the 3rd - 6th grade group
Ethan Howe for the teen reads group

Congratulations to all our summer reading participants. And thank you to all the children and teens who made books happy by reading them.

New to our Shelves

Before showing you the cool new books, a REMINDER about the ongoing Scavenger Hunt.

The August "Explore the Village" Scavenger Hunt features architecture and other tidbits found in the Village of Candor. You may pick up a sheet of photos at the library, or download photos from the blog here. Then just take a walk down Main Street (and maybe the school and park) and see if you can find everything.

While you're at it, take a photo or two of something interesting you see, and post it on the library bulletin board. If you don't have a camera, the library has some kid-friendly digital cameras for loan.

And now, check out some of these fun new titles that have been added to our shelves - for children of all ages!

UnderGround is just plain fun reading - and a perfect book for this summer's theme: "Dig into Reading". If you have a kid who likes to dig in the garden (or anywhere, for that matter) then this is the book to read. Simple rhyming text and awesome illustrations.

"Are the Dinosaurs Dead, Dad?" The title of this book becomes a Very Important Question as this boy and his father explore a natural history museum. Because, if the dinosaurs are dead, why does that one want the kid's lunch?

 Got a kid interested in construction? There's a whole series of books perfect for the future architect: Building a Bridge, Building a House, Building a Road, and Building a Skyscraper. 
On the other hand, maybe your child is more interested in breaking rocks and digging tunnels. There's a few perfect for her, too: Digging Tunnels, Demolition, and Construction Tools.

 The Eye of the Whale is a true story of a rescue operation. A whale, tangled in fishing lines, will die if the divers can't free her. But how does a person help an animal so huge? This is a wonderful, engaging story that even older children (and maybe some adults) will enjoy.

As Fast as Words Could Fly won the "New Voices" award this year. Emerging author Pamela Tuck crafts a wonderful narrative about growing up during the Civil Rights movement. The story, while fiction, is based on a true family story. Book review and interview with the author here.

Did you know that a turtle shell is made up of 60 different bones? A Place for Turtles is jam-packed with useful information about these slow-moving, but important, animals that live in the ponds and streams around us. The illustrations are field-guide quality. You can read a book review and interview with the illustrator here.