Summer Reading Guest

This week for our Summer Reading Program we had author/illustrator David La Rochelle come and do a presentation for the kids. David told and illustrated a story with participation from the kids. Everyone listened attentively and really enjoyed David's tale about a king who loved to eat spinach, a troll who wanted the king's spinach and the knight who vanquished the troll from the kingdom.

David also read to the kids from his book, The Best Pet of All. It is a great story of a boy and a dragon who work together to get the best pet of all for the boy. You'll have to read the book to find out what the best pet is.

David signed bookmarks for the kids and answered questions about being an author and illustrating books. We also got a sneak peek at David's next picture book, a funny tale that partners with the illustrations to tell the story of a cow on a ride.

We enjoyed having David for a presenter and would recommend him to any school or library that would like to have an author/illustrator come.

Media Review: The House of Eliott

A friend suggested I might like to watch The House of Eliott series put out by the BBC. I enjoyed it very much and thought I would leave a short review about this 3 season series.

The House of Eliott is the name of a fashion house in London in the early 1900's. Two sheltered sisters find themselves alone in the world with little or no skills accept the dressmaking abilities they acquired by making their own clothes. Their Father's passing left a load of debts and a few skeletons in the closet.

The elder sister starts work as a photographers assistant and wealthy clients start to notice her well designed clothes. With the help of her younger sister Evangeline, Miss Eliott starts producing clothing designs for London's upper crust. Love interests wane and bloom but the sister's commitment to their new found business will not be overshadowed.

Despite an unscrupulous cousin who is managing their money, the two sisters forage through a forest of obstacles to forge a business of their own and a name for themselves in The House of Eliott.

I have really enjoyed watching this production and recommend it to those who are interested in the fashion industry and the working woman.

You will not find this series offered in the MORE consortium but you can search WISCAT, our inter-library loaning system. Click on the season you want and print out the sheet. Bring it to your local MORE Library and a librarian will be happy to reserve a copy for you through WISCAT. If you have any troubles searching WISCAT for this series of shows, just ask a librarian at your library and I am sure they will assist you in finding it.

Happy Viewing!

Jenny

The Wonder Weavers

Today was the beginning of our Summer Reading program. Performing for us this morning was the female duo, the Wonder Weavers Storytellers (Tina Rohde and Colleen Shaskin) from Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The Wonder Weavers had a great collection of international stories that they told, while using puppets to help them tell the stories.

One of the activities they did with the children was to use the colored parachute. As you can see the kids had a lot of fun.

The best part was to flip the parachute high and then hide underneath! Luckily the weather held out for us and didn't rain this morning. It's hard to believe it's July 1 and the temperature outside was only in the upper fifties. I guess that's better than having little children sitting outside in 90 degree heat!!!

For more information about the Wonder Weavers, go to their webpage.