We are very excited about our Korean Family Celebration this Sunday at 4:00 pm at the Downtown Library. We will have music with Sinaboro, a fan dance, a paper doll craft and homemade Mandu, Kim-Bab and more! On Tuesday, November 14 at 7:00 pm the delicious Newbery Award winning author of Bee-Bim Bop, Linda Sue Park, will chat with families of children aged 8 and up. Treat yourself to A Single Shard or Project Mulberry and meet Linda. She is great fun and brimming with talent!

Preschool storytime at the Northeast Branch library will take place twice on Thursday morning for the next six-week storytime session starting November 9 and ending December 14. Gather round the carpet and join us for storytime from 10-10:30 am or from 11-11:30 am.

Preschool storytime at the Downtown library will take place twice on Tuesday morning for the next six-week session starting November 7 and ending December 12. Two storytimes on Tuesday will go on into the Winter session, from January to April. Take a whirl around the fish tank and say hello to Porky the Puffer Fish. Then join us for storytime from 10-10:30 am or from 11-11:30 am.

Trick or Treat Countdown to a splendid Halloween parade for the preschool set! We can't wait to see our costumed little friends at the kick-off at the Downtown Library on Tuesday, October 31 at 10:00 am for fun stories and crafts. Then stroll down to Main Street for trick or treating heaven from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Dia de los Muertos (meaning "Day of the Dead") celebrations run from October 31 through November 2. Teach your child about this ancient Aztec holiday and celebrate the memory of your loved ones with these books from our youth collection:

Felipa and the Day of the Dead by Birte Müller
Beto and the Bone Dance by Gina Freschet
Clatter Bash!:a Day of the Dead Celebration by Richard Keep.
Calavera Abecedario : a Day of the Dead Alphabet Book by Jeanette Winter
Day of the Dead by Linda Lowery
The Skeleton at the Feast : the Day of the Dead in Mexico by Elizabeth Carmichael and Chloë Sayer.

I keep looking for stories with multi-cultural kids shown in everyday stories. There's promise in the following "chapter books" for 1st through 3rd grade readers. Each series has a few titles. Try the "Jackson Friends Books" by Michelle Edwards for varied cultures and kids in 2nd grade such as The Talent Show and Pa Lia's First Day. [Ruby Lu Brave And True] and Ruby Lu Empress Of Everything are by Lenore Look and the 8 year old girl is Chinese-American. "Willimena Rules" features African-American Willimena who is in 3rd grade. Try How To Lose Your Class Pet or 23 Ways To Mess Up Valentine's Day for a sampling. The "Little Bill" series by Bill Cosby, and Ann Cameron's series with Julian and Gloria are also based on African-American kids. Try Julian Dream Doctor and Gloria Rising for samples.

This great adventure story of the newest generation in a long line of monster hunters by Frank Zappa's son, Ahmet is filled with gross formulas and bizarre illustrations. Why are we not surprised? The Lemony Snicket crowd will gobble The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless up.

Fans of Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart will have to wait a little longer to get their hands on the final installment of the trilogy. According to Funke, the “working title is Inkdeath,” and it could be released some time in 2007. While you’re waiting, check out Funke’s new series for younger readers, Ghosthunters, or one of her fantastic novels for older kids, like The Thief Lord—I’m currently listening to the audio book, and it’s so good that I make excuses to get back into the car and listen to another chapter. Finally, if you’re especially patient, start counting the days until the Inkheart movie is released in 2008!

If your child goes to Elementary School in Ann Arbor Public Schools, the Teachers and Media Specialists guide reading levels by "Alphabet Level". The Ann Arbor District Library has the guides at all Branches in the Reference Collections. It leads Librarians and Parents to identify books at reading levels the schools use. There are 2 titles that cover the elementary school grades, Matching books to readers : using leveled books in guided reading, K-3 and Leveled books for readers, grades 3-6 : a companion volume to Guiding Readers and Writers. These titles are also referred to as "Fountas & Pinnell", the authors' names.

The more you read, the better you learn ....
The Library places colored dots to identify the earliest reading levels of books. The Ann Arbor Public Schools use alphabet letters to identify the reading levels. On the school web site is an excellent document to help parents find books for children who are learning to read Reading Levels.