Rosemary Kiladitis

gaming, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Tabletop Gaming: Monsters in the Elevator

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I may have mentioned once or twice that I’ve developed a bit of a tabletop addiction. Since my last post about gaming in the library, I’ve Kickstarted… well, lot; and I’ve discovered great games by going to the Boston Festival of Indie Games every September. This past time around, we discovered yet another game that provides for laughs, smack talk, and great family time.

Jason Wiser created Monsters in the Elevator with his 7 year-old daughter, and the premise is simple and hilarious: there’s an elevator going up and down in a building. Monsters are getting on and off the elevator. Elevators have weight limits, right? Each monster has its weight listed on a card, and you have to work together to keep that elevator from getting overloaded and crashing! There’s help along the way – certain monsters get off at certain floors; some monsters get sick and have to leave the elevator, or even better, some monsters let loose some gas that clears the elevator pretty darned fast (there is no end to the joy a card like that brings when my family plays).

It’s a math game, and it’s FUN. The fact that it’s cooperative makes it a great game for younger kids; my 4 year-old is even able to play with our help. We all work together to keep the elevator from falling. My husband got to meet Jason Wiser at BFIG last year and had nothing but great things to say, and I love that he created a family game with his own kid. It’s kid-tested, parent-approved, and now, librarian approved: my Corona Kids and I had some intense gaming sessions with my deck, and I’ll be introducing it to the Elmhurst kids very soon.

Monsters in the Elevator is available for the next five days through IndieGogo, where there are some nice backer gifts, including stickers (because seriously, monster stickers, who doesn’t love that?), and it’s also one of the five games featured on Hasbro’s Next Great Family Game Challenge. If you enjoy and want to support indie gaming, this is a fun, educational one to add to your game pile.

Animal Fiction, Early Reader, Fiction, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Ladybug’s Garden Blog Tour!

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

(Ladybug’s Garden, by Anabella and Sofia Schofield, Jan. 2017, Pink Umbrella Books, $9.99, ISBN: 9780998516202)

Sixteen year-old sisters Anabella and Sofia Schofield have written a sweet story about a ladybug who takes time out to help friends in need, even as she’s on her way to a picnic. With hand-created illustrations and sweet rhyming text, little ones will enjoy the story about friendship, sharing, and helping others.

This is a project the Schofield sisters began when they were 13. The text shows a gift for rhyme and flow that makes for fun storytime reading and listening. The art is very sweet, and will inspire little ones to make their own ladybugs – help them along with a fun ladybug storytime craft like this paper plate craft, from My Mommy Style. For preschoolers and kindergarteners, pair this with Eric Carle’s The Very Grouchy Ladybug and ask your listeners to point out the differences and similarities between the two ladybugs.

Support this budding author and illustrator and take a look at Ladybug’s Garden!

Ladybug’s Garden Blog Tour:

February 8: Mom Read It

February 9: Beach Bound Books

February 10: Book Review Mama

February 11: I Heart Reading Pre-launch Party

February 12: The Reader’s Salon

Books Direct Review and Giveaway

Pop’s Blog Author Interview

February 13: Little Fox Reads Author Interview

February 14: Life with A

SolaFide Publishing Blog

February 15: Katie’s Clean Book Collection

February 16: Cranial Hiccups, Two Heartbeats

February 17: Sarah Boucher

February 18: The Resistance

Fantasy, Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

The Stone Heart takes a deeper look at The Nameless City’s turmoil

Posted on February 6, 2017February 6, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Stone Heart, by Faith Erin Hicks, (Apr. 2017, First Second), $14.99, ISBN: 9781626721586

Recommended f0r ages 10+

Picking up shortly after the events in The Nameless City, The Stone Heart throws readers right back into the turmoil within the Dao as the General of All Blades seeks to form a Council of Nations that will bring peace to the City. The general’s son is furious at being denied his perceived birthright to rule. Kaidu, meanwhile, believes he’s discovered a text that describes how to create a devastating weapon used by the City’s founders. Kept in the archives by the Stone Heart monks – where his friend Rat lives – Kaidu is torn between betraying his friend and bringing the solution to his father’s attention, should war break out.

The Stone Heart is one of those sequels that shines just as brightly as the original story. We get more character development, deeper story progression, and an ending that left me with clenched fists, waiting for the next chapter in this series. Kaidu’s father and the General of All Blades are tired warriors who just want peace in their time, and both struggle with their relationships to their sons. Where Kaidu’s frustration lies with an absentee father, Erzi, the general’s son, has been raised in a foreign land, with entitled expectations, and finds his father stripping away everything he’s ever known. Rat and Mura are two street urchins, both cared for by the Stone Heart monks at some point in their lives, but have become two very different people. These character parallels add so much more to the overall story and really invest readers. Even seemingly peripheral characters, like Rat’s friends from the City, enrich the overall story and illustrate how different Kaidu’s life has been thus far.

The Stone Heart is one of the first must-read books of 2017. Add it to your graphic novel collections and booktalk this series hard. Get your copies of Amulet, Avatar, and Legend of Korra back out on display shelves for this one. An author note provides background on the author’s influences, and a lovely shout-out to libraries. There’s also a great sketchbook at the end.

Check out Faith Erin Hicks’ author webpage for info, including interviews, webcomics, and art.

Storytime, Toddler

Toddler Storytime/Test Driving New Books

Posted on February 3, 2017February 3, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I had a picture book storytime planned for my second session today, but most of my attendees were toddlers, which required a little tweaking of the booklist (I’d used most of the same songs from the first storytime). Luckily, I’d left the house with two new ARCs that I picked up at ALA Midwinter, figuring I’d test them out if the crowd seemed up for it. I’m really glad I did – the books were PERFECT for storytime (one of the reasons I picked them up); the kids loved them and really got into the reading!

Clap, by Uncle Ian Aurora (Sept. 2016, Flowerpot Press), $16.99, ISBN: 978-148670945-8 is an interactive book that got my kiddos clapping, stomping, and counting. A boy narrates the book, telling readers that “this is the book where we all clap along, because sometimes a book has a beat like a song”. We clap and stomp, counting to 10; we clap to show different feelings and for different locations; we clap for our narrator, which brings the story to a fun close. The cartoony characters and bold marker-writing font, caught the kids’ attention, and the parents enjoyed playing along with their little ones. This is entering my permanent storytime rotation.

Spunky Monkey is the newest from Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson (Jan. 2017,Scholastic Press, $17.99, ISBN: 978-0545776431), and it’s illustrated by Brian Won – this is already a home run. Monkey is absolutely adorable – the digital illustrations look entirely hand-painted, and a note at the end of the book explains how Won achieves this. It’s bright, colorful, and loaded with movement – Monkey is on the move, and he’s taking us with him! Michael Sampson uses rhyme and repetition to get kids up and moving, and uses the doctor’s diagnosis for Monkey – he needs exercise! – to emphasize the importance of movement and exercise. He builds on the classic rhyme “Down Down Baby” to set the tone and beat for the book. Kids and parents alike responded so well to this book! We ding-donged, clap-clapped, stomp-stomped, and sis-boom-bah-ed the whole way through! This is another must-own for caregivers and educators; toddlers and preschoolers will love this and so will you.

I slowed things down by reading Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s Plant a Kiss, with art by Peter H. Reynolds (Dec. 2011, HarperCollins, $14.99, ISBN: 978-0061986758). Everyone enjoyed the magical story about a girl who plants a kiss and shares the explosion of glittery love and happiness that follows.

Most of the songs stayed the same from my earlier Toddler Storytime, but I added Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, Days of the Week, and I’m Going to Take a Sweater, since it’s freezing out today!

Song: “I’m Going to Take a Sweater” (to the tune of “For He’s a Jolly Good) Fellow”
I’m going to take a sweater, a sweater, a sweater
I’m going to take a sweater when I go out today
When I go out today, when I go out today
I’m going to take a sweater when I go out today
I’m going to take a scarf, a scarf, a scarf,
I’m going to take a scarf when I go out today
When I go out today, when I go out today
I’m going to take a scarf when I go out today
I’m going to take my mittens, my mittens, my mittens
I’m going to take my mittens when I go out today
When I go out today, when I go out today
I’m going to take my mittens when I go out today
I’m going to take my hat, my hat, my hat,
I’m going to take my hat when I go out today
When I go out today, when I go out today,
I’m going to take my hat when I go out today!
Source: King County Library System

Song: “Days of the Week” (Addams Family tune)
Days of the week (snap, snap or clap, clap), Days of the week (snap, snap or clap, clap),
Days of the week, days of the week, days of the week (snap, snap or clap, clap)
There’s Sunday and there’s Monday, there’s Tuesday and there’s Wednesday,
There’s Thursday and there’s Friday, and then there’s Saturday.
Days of the week (snap, snap or clap, clap), Days of the week (snap, snap or clap, clap),
Days of the week, days of the week, days of the week (snap, snap or clap, clap)

These storytimes are great for my own fitness level – I spent over an hour jumping, dancing, and playing!

Storytime, Toddler

Toddler Storytime: Hugs and Kisses

Posted on February 3, 2017February 19, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I had my first storytimes (two sessions, both attended by toddlers) at my new library today, and incorporated quite a few ideas from Storytime Underground’s Social Justice kit. The storytime here runs a little bit longer than my Corona storytimes, so I plumped up the outline with a lot of songs and fingerplays. Since I was a little nervous about storytime to a new crowd, I turned to Jbrary for guidance; sure enough, the ladies have a storytime planning sheet that helped me visualize everything I wanted to do.

I had a great crowd – 35 families, including some of my Corona families, who came to visit! Everyone seemed to enjoy the songs and fingerplays, and happily, the Chinese and Spanish that I incorporated into my stories and songs went over well. Here’s the storytime in full, with links as used.

Hello song (ASL)
Hello, my friends,
Hello, my friends, Hello, my friends,
It’s time to say hello.
Source: Jbrary

Song: We Clap and Sing Hello
We clap and sing hello, We clap and sing hello,
With our friends at storytime,
We clap and sing hello!
We wave and sing hello, We wave and sing hello,
With our friends at storytime,
We clap and sing hello!
We stomp and sing hello, We stomp and sing hello,
With our friends at storytime,
We stomp and sing hello!
Source: Jbrary

Action Rhyme: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes,
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes,
And eyes, and ears, and mouth, and nose,
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes!

Song: “Yo te amo”
Yo te amo, yo te amo, all day song, I sing this little song to you,
Yo te amo, yo te amo, darling, I love you.

Wo ai ni, wo ai ni, all day song, I sing this little song to you,
Wo ai ni, wo ai ni, darling, I love you.

I love you, I love you, all day long, I sing this little song to you,
I love you, I love you, darling, I love you.
Source: Jbrary

Fingerplay/Song: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!
Zoom, zoom, zoom
We’re going to the moon.
Zoom, zoom, zoom
We’re going to the moon.
If you want to take a trip
climb aboard my rocket ship.
Zoom, zoom, zoom
We’re going to the moon.
In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Blast off!
Source: Jbrary

Song: “The More We Get Together”
The more we get together, together, together,
The more we get together, the happier we’ll be.
Because my friends are your friends, and your friends are my friends,
The more we get together, the happier we’ll be.
Source: http://www.metrolyrics.com/more-we-get-together-lyrics-raffi.html

Song: “If You’re Happy and You Know It”
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands (clap clap)
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands (clap clap)
If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. (clap clap)

If you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet (stomp stomp)
If you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet (stomp stomp)
If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it
If you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet. (stomp stomp)

If you’re happy and you know it, shout “Hurray!” (hoo-ray!)
If you’re happy and you know it, shout “Hurray!” (hoo-ray!)
If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it
If you’re happy and you know it, shout “Hurray!” (hoo-ray!)

If you’re happy and you know it, do all three (clap-clap, stomp-stomp, hoo-ray!)
If you’re happy and you know it, do all three (clap-clap, stomp-stomp, hoo-ray!)
If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it
If you’re happy and you know it, do all three. (clap-clap, stomp-stomp, hoo-ray!)

Song: “Skinnamarink”
Skinnamarink-e-dink, e-dink, skinnamarink-e-doo, I love you,
Skinnamarink-e-dink, e-dink, skinnamarink-e-doo, I love you,
I love you in the morning, and in the afternoon,
I love you in the evening, and underneath the moon, oh!
Skinnamarink-e-dink, e-dink, skinnamarink-e-doo, I love you!
Source: Jbrary

Song: “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”
The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout,
Down came the rain and washed the spider out,
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain,
And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

Song: We Clap Goodbye
We clap goodbye like this, We clap goodbye like this,
With our friends at storytime,
We clap goodbye like this!
We wave goodbye like this, we wave goodbye like this,
With our friends at storytime,
We wave goodbye like this!
We stomp goodbye like this, We stomp goodbye like this,
With our friends at storytime,
We stomp goodbye like this!

Goodbye song (ASL)
Goodbye, my friends,
Goodbye, my friends,
Goodbye, my friends,
It’s time to say goodbye.

After storytime, I passed out these great alphabet craft bracelets for the kids to color and wear. They went over very well!

Fiction, Horror, Humor, Teen

Drama, demons, and the Revenge of the Evil Librarian

Posted on February 3, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Revenge of the Evil Librarian, by Michelle Knudsen, (Feb. 2017, Candlewick), $16.99, ISBN: 978-0763688288

Recommended for ages 13+

Cynthia and her BFF, Annie, have finally settled down after the events from Evil Librarian (#1), where Mr. Gabriel, the librarian in question, tried to make Annie his demon bride. Cyn’s now dating her crush, the gorgeous Ryan Halsey, and the two are off together to drama camp, where Cyn’s hoping to start working on set design. She’s ready to embrace the summer and all it has to offer, especially with Ryan at her side, but the demons have other plans: Aaron, demon-ish consort of the demon queen, looks Cyn up and reminds her that she owes the queen a few favors, for one. And things with Mr. Gabriel may not be quite over just yet.

Revenge of the Evil Librarian is the follow-up to 2014’s Evil Librarian, and it keeps a lot of the fun tone set in the first novel. There are demons at a theatre camp, a romantic rivalry, and a showdown to remember. Cyn is head-over-heels for Ryan, and the ups and downs of their romance – impacted by the fallout from the first book – will appeal to YA romance readers. Peter, another camper, is an endearing character whose background will crack readers up, and Jules, Ryan’s longtime summer camp “friend”, is the classic romantic rival.

Liven things up with your drama/theatre club readers and pair this with Stephanie Kate Strohm’s Taming of the Drew. If you’ve got readers who enjoyed the first one, they’ll love this one (and wait for the next one); if you have readers who enjoy their YA with a smidgeon of paranormal or horror, booktalk this one.

Adventure, Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Humor, Middle Grade, Middle School, Tween Reads

Back to Stately Academy for Secret Coders: Secrets and Sequences

Posted on February 3, 2017January 7, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Secret Coders: Secrets and Sequences, by Gene Luen Yang/Illustrated by Mike Holmes, (March 2017, First Second), $10.99, ISBN: 9781626720770

Recommended for ages 8-12

The third installment of the Secret Coders series picks up right where Paths and Portals leaves off: our heroes, Hopper, Eni, and Josh have to code their way out of trouble with Principal Dean, who’s not only a creep, but a creep who’s thrown in with a super-bad guy, Professor One-Zero, who was also one of Professor Bee’s best students way back when. There are more codes to program, more turtles to run, and an evil plot to foil.

This has been a fun STEM series; explaining coding through the graphic novel format is a great idea, allowing kids to help reason out how things work and run. Readers are invited to download activities to expand their learning. This series makes for a great computer club activity and a great comic book club discussion group topic. Put this one with your Scratch and Ruby programming books, and if you have the chance to get the kids in your life, library, or classroom coding, do it! You will be happy you did.

Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Teen, Tween Reads

Say Cheese! teaches kids how to make their own yummy cheeses

Posted on February 2, 2017December 26, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Say Cheese! A Kid’s Guide to Cheesemaking, by Ricki Carroll & Sarah Carroll, (Apr. 2018, Storey Publishing), $18.95, ISBN: 9781612128238

Recommended for kids (and grownups) 9+

I do love a good kids’ cookbook, and Say Cheese! is the goods. It’s an introduction to cheesemaking for kids – how cool is that? The book provides smart, everyday tips, like how to read a milk carton (the differences between raw, pasteurized, ultra-pasteurized, homogenized, and fortified milks); info about the ingredients that go into milk making, the different animals who provide the milk we drink, and a look at the history and science of cheese and cheesemaking. That all being said, there’s a rundown on the tools and utensils you’ll need, advice on how to clean and prep everything, and finally, without further ado, the recipes! Color photos and step-by-step instrucitons give kids all they need to know on making their first cheese, with an emphasis on adult supervision: they are using the stove and sharp knives, after all. Make a mascarpone or some yogurt, spread some home-made cream cheese on a bagel or skewer some feta onto a toothpick with some watermelon: there are great recipes and tips for snacking to be had. This may not be up every kid’s alley, but it’s a fun, nontraditional cookbook to have on shelves and great for kids who love to cook and are looking for something new to test their skills.

Fiction, Fiction, Fiction, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction

A Boy Called Bat is gentle and kind

Posted on February 1, 2017January 9, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

A Boy Called Bat, by Elana K. Arnold/Illustrated by Charles Santoso, (March 2017, Walden Pond Press), $16.99, ISBN: 9780062445827

Recommended for ages 8-12

Bixby Alexander Tam – Bat, for short – loves animals. Fortunately, his mom is a veterinarian, so he gets to be around them quite a bit, and he knows how to handle them, too. One day, his mom brings home an orphaned baby skunk that needs to be nursed and cared for until he’s big enough to go to a wild animal shelter, and Bat falls in love. He just knows that the kit, who he names Thor, is meant to be his pet. Now, he just has to convince his mom!

A Boy Called Bat is a sweet story about a gentle boy who also happens to be on the autism spectrum. It’s never outwardly addressed – no giant, neon arrows here – but Elana Arnold alludes to it in her text, and rather than concentrating on a label for the boy, gives us a well-rounded story about a special boy and the special animal that comes into his life. At only 96 pages, with black and white illustrations, it’s a great book for all kids (and adults!) to read; it also would make for a great classroom read-aloud. It helps further understanding, showing Bat doing the same things most kids do: not loving shuttling back and forth between his divorced parents’ homes; wanting a pet and learning how to take care of it; navigating friendships at school.

This is a solid addition to diversity collections. Booktalk this with Daniel Stefanski’s How to Talk to an Autistic Kid and Ben Hatke’s Mighty Jack; graduate readers to books like Ann M. Martin’s Rain Reign.

Espionage, Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Humor, Middle Grade

Introducing Pops and Branwell, an all-ages teamup!

Posted on February 1, 2017August 29, 2019 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Short Con, by Pete Toms/Illustrated by Aleks Sennwald, (Feb. 2017, Alternative Comics), $9.95, ISBN: 9781681480084

Recommended for ages 8-12

In the first installment of a new mystery teamup, Pops and Branwell – two orphans in an orphanage that’s a cover for a full-scale detective operation run by kids – take on their first mystery: who killed Branwell’s parents, and what does her Uncle Lamb know?

This is an all-ages graphic novel that’s too much fun; taking on the hard-boiled detective genre with kids. Branwell is the new kid, the only survivor of the fire that destroyed her life. “Pops” is the seasoned detective that takes her under her wing, with a smart comment and nickname for everyone around her. (My favorite was “Sylvia Plath” for the disconsolate Branwell.) Being assigned the new girl doesn’t sit right with Pops, who prefers to work alone, but it creates a hilarious relationship between polar opposites. The supporting cast includes a nun who wonderfully apes the frustrated boss, and a John Watson-type fangirl, who writes fanfiction adventures where she inserts herself and a “hot guy” into the detectives’ adventures. The conclusion is laugh-out-loud hilarious, and the ending left me happily waiting for another installment.

Booktalk this with your Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Encyclopedia Brown series. It would also work nicely with the Series of Unfortunate Events, which is getting renewed interest thanks to the Netflix series. Display with any Adventure Time graphic novels you have around; artist Aleks Senwald is a writer and storyboard artist for the series.