Pamela Martinez

Happy New Year from the Youth Services Crew! We have a great selection of books here in the Young Readers’ Room for readers of all ages–kids’ books aren’t just for kids! Are you ready to find your new favorite book this year? Please come peruse our “New Books” shelf at your earliest convenience.

Picture books are such a joy to read over and over, and to linger over the pictures. Here is a list of five new picture books I thought you would enjoy to start out the New Year:

More than Words: So Many Ways to Say What We Mean written by Roz MacLean flows from page to page filled with children who have a multitude of learning and communication abilities. The illustrations are colorful and mostly shared on a double spread. The end pages are laid out with communication access ideas for your children and how to share the love of communication for each individual child.

The Story of a Book is written by Joy McCullough and illustrated by Devon Holzwarth. This story transports the reader through the life of a book. Starting out on the shelf in the library, a brand-new addition to the shelf, this book is chosen by a potential reader. The book then travels to its next destination. Beautifully written and illustrated, this story will have you remembering some of the wonderful books you’ve read throughout your lifetime!

A Very CRANKY Book, is written and illustrated by a national bestseller duo: Angela & Tony DiTerlizzi. Everyone experiences the ol’ cranky mood every now and then, but what about a book? Can a book be ‘cranky?’ Check out this title and find out! What happens to a book when its shelf mates are checked out all the time, but this book, well, just stays put, no check-outs or browsing joy to be found? Let the crankiness go and read to your hearts delight with this laugh-out-loud story!

The BOO-BOOS of Bluebell Elementary, written by Chelsea Lin Wallace and illustrated by Alison Farrell, will have readers turning the pages over and over as they connect with the kids in the story. The book opens up to a double-page spread of multiple colored band-aids. You may think, ‘Oh-oh!, what could possibly happen at an elementary school nurse’s office?’ Well, Mrs. Peatree is a school nurse at a local elementary school, and this story will enlighten you, through humor, of just how busy school nurses can be…thank you to all of our school nurses out there who keep our kids healthy and well!

My final picture book offering for you today is written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Robert Starling: I Am Happy! When you first turn the cover there is a red, floating, happy balloon that greets you and leads to the title page of an adorable, skipping puppy holding onto said balloon. What do puppies do when they are happy? Well, they wag their cute little tails, and maybe they swing and play with bubbles…who doesn’t like bubbles?! A joyful book that may just make you a little bit more happy once you’ve read it!

These five titles are just a sampling of our new books. Please come in and tell us which book is your favorite so far this year!

November brings celebrations for many cultures. Día de los Muertos is a Mexican and Latino celebration that is celebrated on Nov. 1 or Nov. 2 to honor the dead and welcome their spirits home for just one night. The day is meant to bring joy rather than sorrow as we remember our loved ones with fondness.

Smiley Library is pleased to welcome our community to help celebrate this tradition, which is over 3,000 years old. Join us Wednesday, November 1, for our third Annual Día de los Muertos community event. This year will consist of traditional crafts, dance, music, and food for families to enjoy together. From 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., Smiley Park, on the south side of the Library, will be adorned with families celebrating their departed loved ones by creating marigold flowers, sugar skulls for their ofrendas (offerings or, colloquially, altars), and a mini-ofrenda to take home.

We will also offer an evening program from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The Contemporary Club, 173 S. Eureka St., Redlands, consisting of remarks by prominent members of our community, short speeches, a musical performance by a professional musician, and of course, Saint Mary’s Ballet Folklorico of Redlands.

Please visit our website or social media pages for more information:

www.akspl.org; Instagram: @AKSmileyPublicLibrary; and FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/AKSmileyPublicLibraryRedlands

The ol’ “Back-to-School” saying has arrived! Parents, teachers, and students rejoice, right?! Well, have no fear, the Young Readers’ Room has a book to help your student with homework assignments or pleasure reading – we aim to please!

You can browse our non-fiction shelves for some interesting, educational reading, and peruse the New Book shelf for the newest selections. The non-fiction books in the Young Readers’ Room range from early learners, such as first or second graders, all the way up to middle school students. Come in soon to find that ‘just right’ book! The suggestions below can be found on the “New Books” shelf.

We’ll start with dinosaurs and go allllll the way back in time! Written by Jill McDonald, “Exploring Dinosaurs” will have your youngest paleontologist reading their way through this book in no time flat! Each colored page you will find not only written information, but a full-colored drawing of a dinosaur as well. Even cooler is the Stats section about each dinosaur. Find this book at J 567.9 M145e.

Shark Week has come and gone this summer, but we can always admire these great beasts through a book or two. Check out “Megalodon” by Kate Moening this week. Explanatory text will introduce you to this underwater beast from the Neogene period of the Cenozoic era, about 20 million years ago! The illustrations by Mat Edwards may have you double checking the pool, bathtub, and backyard for any unwanted guests! Find this book at J 567.3 M722m.

In keeping with, perhaps a tad scary for some, animals and such, you may enjoy checking out, “A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider, Jumper.” Written and illustrated by Jessica Lanan, this non-fiction treasure will have your youngsters exploring the smallest of spaces, searching for jumpers and imagining what life would be like, if they were just like her! The last four double-page spread contains single paragraphs of interesting information about jumpers. The final back pages contain a glossary, author’s note, and a section of finding and identifying spiders with resources included. A treasure indeed, as we come to understand the lives of jumping spiders. Find this book at J 595.4 L22j.

Heading back to the ocean, we’ll discover Suzanne Slade’s “Behold the Octopus.” The left-hand pages declare a one-word adjective which is explained in paragraph form on each right-hand page. The illustrations have you feeling as if you are under the waves, in the ocean, discovering these incredible creatures. Perhaps a trip to the aquarium will result in your family plans after checking out this book! Please find this title at J 594.56 SL12b.

My final recommendation for books this week is “Invisible Things” by Andy J. Pizza and Sophie Miller. A fun, inviting, colorful book about senses, written at a third grade AR level, this book will be read over and over again. Complete with ‘invisible glasses,’ er, “invisible things” – spotting glasses that kids pick up on the very first page. A fun, intriguing book for kids; adults will enjoy looking through as well. Once you’ve finished the book, the end page reminds you to be responsible by stating, “Please return your invisible “invisible things” – spotting glasses here.” Find this book at J 152 M612i.

Please let the Youth Services crew know which of these new books were your favorite… I know – I know; it will be hard to decide!

Everyone, well, just about everyone, is quite able to log on to the internet these days. Kids and Teens seem to know exactly what they’re searching for, even helping out us ‘older’ folks every so often! There are so many options out on the world wide web, that I’m happy to share with you a few of our databases. In this week’s article I will highlight an array of databases focusing on the youth. This list is compiled in alphabetical order.

You can find all of these databases on our library’s website: www.akspl.org/elibrary/

Please be sure to have your library card number handy (or memorized!) and also your PIN number, which is the last four digits of the phone number you referenced when applying for your library card. If you have trouble, be sure to check with a Circulation staff member to verify we have your correct information. If you do not have a library card, and you’d like to access our online databases, please apply for an e-card, online on our website! (www.akspl.org). We want you to succeed and enjoy your local library and all we have to offer.

Once you log in, scroll down the page and explore all of these free, vetted websites that we, as the library, deem educational and, even fun!

Most of our elementary schools in Redlands Unified School District utilize the Accelerated Reader Bookfinder portal for students to test their reading comprehension. We offer the link so kids or parents can access the database to verify the book is in the AR system, at the right reading level for their child. No library card is required to access this database.

The next database will bring a form of entertainment aspect to your kids. BookFlix requires a library card to log on. BookFlix is aimed at children in grades PK- third that shows Westin Woods videos of stories they know and love. Weston Woods has been creating videos of stories for decades. They create the video exactly how the story reads…they are excellent! Please check out this database and search for your favorite story to watch!

Our next database to highlight is Flipster, an on-line magazine database. I am very excited to share that the Youth Department has added seven additional titles to our collection. Beginning May 1, you will be able to also read: Bazoof!, Blaze, Brainspace, Eco Kids Planet, How it Works, and Krash. These seven new titles join the other nine we have to offer. You will need your library card to log on to this database. Let us know which magazine is your favorite one to scroll through!

The next database is geared towards high-school students. Gale in Context: High School is a cross-curricular content that follows a national as well as a state curriculum and standards that is designed to help high-schoolers succeed in their educational journey. This database does require a library card to log on.

Lote4Kids is the newest database we offer for kids. It is a world language database that translates many languages into stories for the kids to listen to. Whether you speak another language or are maybe learning a new language, this database will help you to hear the language and how to pronounce words correctly. What is your favorite story to listen to in a world language?

These are just glances into the wonderful databases at your fingertips. Please log on today to our website mentioned above, and explore these resources we provide for you. Of course, if you have any questions, be sure to give the Youth Services Department a call at (909) 798-7674, or email us at: yrr@akspl.org.

What’s New this week at Smiley? How about the newly-appointed Newbery and Caldecott Medal winners?! I’ll share the winners with you for 2023, and then backtrack a few years just to make sure you’re up to date on all of these fabulous stories.

Congratulations to Newbery medal-winner Amina Luqman-Dawson who wrote Freewater. Get your name on the reserve list quickly, as it is getting checked out quickly! This story takes a look at slavery in the south with 12-year-old Homer, who makes some grown-up decisions that will change his family’s life forever. An adventurous story of survival, friendship, and so much more. You can find this book on the new book shelf.

The Last Cuentista, written by Donna Barba Higuera, won the Newbery Medal last year. This story has science fiction, Mexican heritage, family, and story-telling mixed into an amazing story…no wonder it won the best book for 2022! Check it out today from the fiction section!

The newly-appointed Caldecott Medal winner for 2023 is Hot Dog, written by Doug Salati. A wonderfully illustrated, simple story, you’ll fall in love with this small, adorable, hot, dog! What a treat for us to read this book about the hot days of summer!

“Watercress,” written by Andrea Wang, and illustrated by Jason Chin, won the Caldecott Medal last year. A beautiful autobiographical story of Chinese heritage, a child of immigrants learned about her family history while out on a family drive. Check out this wonderfully illustrated story today and maybe share with your children the story of your family’s journey.

Come by the Young Readers’ Room to check out these award-winners and more! Be sure to ask the Youth Services Crew for recommendations–we’re happy to help!