The Library of Michigan has announced the five finalists for the 2006 Michigan Reads program. This program picks one picture book title to feature for a year. It is part of the Library's push to promote early childhood literacy.

The five finalists are:
Bed Hogs by Kelly DiPucchio
In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming
Stranger in the Woods by Carl Sams
Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw
Imogene's Antlers by David Small

The public is welcome to vote. Votes can be cast here. The winner will be announced on December 12, 2005. That title will be featured in programs statewide during March.

The 2004 Michigan Reads book was Barnyard Song by Rhonda Gowler Greene. There was no 2005 award.

Boy, just what we've been waiting for.

If memories of struggling through Old English epic poetry during your pimply adolescence aren't exactly causing paroxysms of anticipatory glee, consider this: A full-blown animated film about the struggle between Beowulf and the monster Grendel from a script written by Roger "Pulp Fiction" Avary and cult comic writer Neil Gaiman (Sandman), directed by Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Cast Away), and starring--well at least the voices of--Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, Crispin Glover, and John Malkovich. Does that help? Meanwhile, you might consider Beowulf: A New Verse Translation, left, by Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, which includes both Old English and an English translation on facing pages. It's actually a ripping good yarn.

On NPR Nov. 8, 2005 Terry Gross interviewed TV news veteran Mike Wallace who has just published a book about his favorite interviews, titled Between You and Me written with Gary Paul Gates. He shares behind-the-scenes details from encounters with politicians, celebrities and criminals.
Mike Wallace has been with 60 Minutes since the show began airing in 1968. Wallace became known for hard-hitting interviews in which he refused to be led away from topics his interview subjects found uncomfortable. Now 87, he is beginning to take a more limited role on the show.

Jeanne Birdsall has won the 2005 National Book Award in the Young People's Literature category. The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and Very Interesting Boy won the coveted award for this first-time author. It is the story of a widowed botany professor and his four daughters who spend a summer in the Berkshires.
A reviewer for School Library Journal said, "Problems are solved and lessons are learned in this wonderful, humorous book that features characters whom readers will immediately love, as well as a superb writing style. Bring on more of the Penderwicks!"

Rev up your Nintendo DSs and bring them in to the tournament. Play against each other while you wait for your match!

We now have a tool that will allow you to register your DSs with our wireless system. It can be found under the "My Account" menu option. Click on "Wireless Devices". You will need to have a valid library card registered with the system in order to use the advanced wifi menu, but you all have library cards, right?

AADL Select Sites: Science

Great for students, great for general information, the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology’s Animal Diversity Web is written largely by and for college students but has the materials elementary, middle, and high school students might need for reports and that the general public might need to understand the particular animal.

The information section covers the geographic range, the habitat, a physical description, reproduction, lifespan/longevity, behavior, communication and perception, food habits, predation, ecosystem roles, positive and negative economic importance for humans, and conservation status. There is a box listing the kingdom, phylum, subphylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.

There are tabs for pictures (14 for the sandhill crane) and specimens (skeletal structure, teeth, etc.).

Are you ready for King Kong? More to the point, is Peter Jackson? This week Entertainment Weekly features a behind-the-scenes look at Jackson as he races to fully and convincingly render his CGI Kong before the December 14 release. Much (including Adrien Brody's career) rides on Jackson's success, but after a little history-making trilogy known as Lord of the Rings, you can bet your banana he'll pull it off. Meanwhile, place your hold on the digitally-remastered 1933 version of King Kong, left, or 1998's Mighty Joe Young (both on order). The original 1949 version of Mighty Joe Young will be here in December.

The winners of the 2005 National Book Award will be announced on November 16, 2005.
There are five finalists in the "Young People's Literature" category.

Penderwicks by Jean Birdsall
Where I Want to Be by Adele Griffin
Inexcusable by Chris Lynch
Autobiography of My Dead Brother by Walter Dean Myers
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

Thursday marks the 30th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, an event in Great Lakes maritime history immortalized by Gordon Lightfoot in his 1975 ballad, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", which appears on several Library CDs, including his own Sundown, and in books from our sheet music collection such as Music of the Great Lakes and The New York Times Great Songs of the 70s. A DVD titled The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is also available, and an article about the 30th anniversary recently appeared in The Detroit News.

The third week in November is National Geographic Awareness Week. To celebrate, check out National Geographic's Most Amazing Moments. Other National Geographic videos in our collection include classic programs such as Tigers of the Snow and For All Mankind, and recent productions such as the Be the Creature series; Welcome to Mars and Guns, Germs and Steel, left, based on the book by Jared Diamond. Coming soon: Inside 9/11 and Strange Days on Planet Earth.