Children's Corner at Moore Library: February 2014

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

New Book Font Created Especially for Readers with Dyslexia

Have you heard of the new font, also known as a typeface, that was created for people with dyslexia to be able to read it more easily than typical fonts like Times New Roman? The new font style works well for readers with dyslexia because it has a heavier bottom, which help the reader not to flip or swap letters around in their heads, which can be a big problem for people with dyslexia. Another great thing about this font is that's totally readable by people without dyslexia, too.

Image courtesy: thebookdesigner.com

The reason why we're letting you know about this font is because we just got a new book, Bookmarks are People, Too! by: Henry Winkler, that is printed in his font. It's the first book in his new Here's Hank series.

In case any of you old-school television fans out there are wondering, yes, the author is the same Henry Winkler who played "The Fonz" on the classic show Happy Days! Helping readers with dyslexia is important to Mr. Winkler because he has dyslexia himself.

Image courtesy: npr.org

Monday, February 24, 2014

Dr. Seuss and Read Across America Day

Did you know that Read Across America Day is Monday, March 3? This is a day when children (and adults) across the country celebrate reading and Dr. Seuss! Click here for more information. Here’s some lesser known Dr. Seuss stories you might not have read, but that are just as good as his better known stories!

E SEUSS

The Bippolo Seed and other lost stories

The “lost” stories in this single book include: “The Bear, the Rabbit, and the Zinniga-Zanniga,” "Gustav the Goldfish,” "Tadd and Todd," "Steak for Supper," "The Bippolo Seed,” "The Strange Shirt Spot," and "The Great Henry McBride."

E SEUSS

Daisy-head Mayzie

The title does a good job of describing what this book is about: a girl named Mayzie who grows daisies out of her head!

E SEUSS

I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

The Cat in the Hat shows Young Cat how fun reading is.

E SEUSS

I had trouble in getting to Solla Sollew

The hero of this story finds out trouble can find you, even when you do your best to avoid it.

E SEUSS

Yertle the Turtle and other stories

Stories include: “Yertle the Turtle” (of course), “Gertrude McFuzz,” and “The Big Brag.” There’s also two poems, "The Ruckus" and "The Kindly Snather."

Monday, February 17, 2014

President's Day Books

Today is President’s Day. How much do you know about the presidents? Here’s some good books to learn more.

E ROCKWELL

President’s Day by: Anne Rockwell

A preschool class learns about President’s Day and puts on a play about the presidents.

J FIC GUTMAN

Mr. Macky is Wacky! by: Dan Gutman

A wacky teacher named Mr. Macky dresses up as Abraham Lincoln to get his students excited about U.S. Presidents.

J 324.70973 STIER

If I ran for president by: Catherine Stier

A class of children imagine what it would be like to run for U.S. President.

J 973.099 TOWNSEND

Michael Townsend's Where do presidents come from?: and other presidential stuff of super-great importance by: Michael Townsend

A collection of fascinating and little known facts about U.S. Presidents, including what it’s like to be President day-to-day.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Should classic and older books ever be re-illustrated to look modern?

This an interesting question for anyone who loves children's books: should old books ever be re-illustrated to look more modern? If a book's pictures are looking a bit outdated, does that mean that the book publisher should hire someone to re-do the pictures? In some cases, the re-illustration is hard to notice, while in other cases it may be more obvious. Some say re-illustrations help the book reach a new audience, while others argue that book illustrations shouldn't be re-done because it is disrespectful. The magazine School Library Journal (SLJ) had an article about this recently you can read here. The article suggests that maybe a middle ground is for both original and newly illustrated books to be available for kids to look at and compare and contrast. If you read an older book, take the opportunity to ask your child if they think the illustrations should be re-done and why or why not. The SLJ article gives a few examples of re-illustrated books, including Flat Stanley by: Jeff Brown (J FIC BROWN). Do you like the old or new version better? Or maybe you like them equally, for different reasons?

Re-illustrated version

Original version

Do you like one more than the other?

Monday, February 10, 2014

Valentine's Day Books

Can you believe Valentine's Day is almost here? Believe it or not, it's this Friday, February 14th. Reading a fun Valentine's Day book is just as sweet as candy (at least to us librarians)!