Beneath the Surface: great titles from our middle and high school reading list.

Today we look beneath the surface of three titles on our Middle and High School summer reading list.

Mike Mullin's Ashfall tells the story of an unknown super volcano lurking under Yellowstone National Park. Sixteen year old Alex is home alone for the weekend and looking forward to hanging out with his friends and playing computer games, when the super volcano erupts. With his town plunged into darkness, ash and violence, Alex must begin a difficult trek to try and find his family. A gripping and mesmerizing read that was voted one of the best teen books of 2011. Read more in book two of this series - Ashen Winter.

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPra takes you to a city that was created many hundreds of years ago. It is always night in the city of Ember, but there is no moon, no stars. The only light comes from floodlamps, but these are starting to flicker and go out...what will happen when the generator finally fails? After reading this, check out the great movie version.

Let's finish with a classic beneath the surface story - J.R.R. Tolkein's timeless tale of adventure, bravery and friendship, The Hobbit. Join Bilbo Baggins and 13 dwarves as they attempt to reclaim a stolen fortune from the dragon Smaug.

Make sure to log all your time spent reading - click here if you haven't signed up for our summer reading programme yet. There are still many more lazy summer days to while away with a good book :)

Check back next week for more highlights from our reading lists. Have a great weekend!

Dig Into Reading: great titles from our elementary reading list.

Today we are going to look at three titles from the elementary reading list. For more title suggestions, pick up a copy of the book lists from your local library.

We start with Peter Kent's intricate, detailed and fascinating Hidden Under the Ground.

Explore the exciting world beneath your feet, where trains run, pipes flow and where mysterious creatures are thought to have lived. A great book to share with an adventurous friend or two.

Charlie Small is an 8 year old adventurer who has been travelling the world for 400 years! In the fifth of the Charlie Small series, Charlie is trapped miles below the surface of the earth in the utterly unbelievable underworld.

Find out how Charlie escapes a hair-raising encounter with a terrifying troglodite and learn what to do if you get trapped in the web of a spitting Spidion! Click here to check out Charlie's cool website where you can find out more about the series.

Our final title today is Nightshade City by Hilary Wagner.

Deep beneath a modern city, lies the Catacombs - a kingdom of exceptionally intelligent rats. The once peaceful community has become a harsh and cruel dictatorship. Join orphaned brothers, Vincent and Victor Nightshade, as they struggle to overthrow the evil leader and restore peace to the kingdom. (If you enjoy this book have a look for part two - The White Assassin.)

Find all these titles and more great suggestions at your local library and don't forget to log all your reading minutes. Haven't signed up to our summer reading programme yet? No problem - just click here or come and see us at your local branch. 

Join us tomorrow as we delve Beneath the Surface and check out some of the great titles from the Middle and High School reading list.

Until then - keep on reading!

Dig Into Reading - great titles from our primary reading list.

Our summer reading programme is well underway. Young readers from all over the Winchester area are Digging Into Reading and Exploring Beneath the Surface,  recording all those precious reading minutes on their reading logs. It's not too late to sign up - click here to register online.

To help get you started, we've compiled booklists for Primary, Elementary and Middle and High school students. The titles we've included all relate to the themes of Digging Into Reading and Exploring Beneath the Surface. Over the next few weeks here at YouthScope we are going to put the spotlight on many of the suggested titles, and today we're going to start with the Primary List.

First up it's Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? by Brianna Sayres.

Do their mommies tick them in while their daddies sing a goodnight song? Do they ask for one more story and then snuggle into a cozy gas station? Find out just what happens at bedtime for diggers, dump trucks, snow plows and tractors. A must read for the truck lover in your house!


Next is Margaret Mayo's classic, Dig Dig Digging.

Another title for those vehicle loving younger readers. Mayo uses rhyme and lots of noise-filled words to explore the working days of eleven different vehicles - from construction trucks to rescue helicopters. Vroom! Vroom!

The wonders and delights of planting seeds and watching them grow is beautifully displayed in Lois Ehlert's Planting a Rainbow.

Vibrant colors and simple text are used to help children understand how to plant bulbs and seeds, and nurture their growth. A great introduction to gardening.

All these titles and more are available at your local library, where you can also pick up copies of the reading lists.

Check back tomorrow for some highlights from the Elementary list.
Until then - happy reading :)

Dig Into Reading!

The weather is getting warmer and children everywhere are counting down those last few days of school. Summer vacation will soon be upon us - more time outdoors; more time with family and friends; and more time to read!

Handley Regional Library is thrilled to announce the launch of our 2013 Summer Reading Program, Dig Into Reading.

Dig into Reading is a fantastic programe for all children and teens.  Just 15 to 30 minutes of daily reading helps children and young adults become better readers, and it's an excellent way to ensure that over the summer they don't lose all that important learning they gained over the school year.  

You can register for Dig into Reading any time after June 1st. Click here to register online or come and see us at your local library. For every six hours of reading you complete, you will receive a book from our book trunks. We'll also be giving away book themed prizes throughout the summer so be sure and register early.

There's also a whole lot of exciting things happening at your local libraries over the summer - PJ storytimes, puppets, magic, pirates - even gnomes on the roam! Click here to find more information about all the great library activities you can be a part of during the summer.

Join us for a Rally for Reading on Saturday the first of June at Bowman Library between 11am and 2:30pm, and help us get our summer of reading off to a fantastic start. 

Here's to summer and here's to lots of super summer stories! Get out there and Dig into Reading!

Happy Birthday Margaret Wise Brown!

Today we celebrate the birthday of beloved and prolific children's author, Margaret Wise Brown. Whilst Brown is best known for the classic bedtime story, Goodnight Moon, she also produced over fifty books for young children, including Big Red Barn and Runaway Bunny.

"Goodnight stars. Goodnight air. Goodnight noises everywhere."

It was whilst working as a teacher in New York city that Brown began to write for children. Her first story, When the Wind Blew, was published in 1937. Brown loved animals and most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She also loved rhythm and rhyme and you can often find repeated word patterns in her stories.

"If you become a little boy and run into a house", said the mother bunny, "I will become your mother  and catch you in my arms and hug you."

Brown tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story. Her books addressed the everyday world and the concerns of children. This went against the traditionally held belief that fairytales, myths, legends and folktales were the best way to introduce young children to literature. She listened to children - to how they talked, to the songs and poems that they made up - and created stories about children like themselves, in the style of language that they actually used. 

I like bugs. Black bugs. Green bugs. Bad bugs. Mean  bugs.

So celebrate the young readers in your life and celebrate Margaret Wise Brown too - come in and see us and check out some of the wonderful stories created by an equally wonderful author.

Happy Birthday Margaret Wise Brown!

Children's Book Week 2013

This week it's Children's Book Week - an annual celebration of books for young readers and the joy of reading. Every year since 1919 events have been held at libraries, bookstores, schools, homes...anywhere you find young readers and books. This year, over 50 cities across the country will host exciting events, featuring well known authors and illustrators.

Here's Robin Press Glaisser, illustrator of the wonderful Fancy Nancy series, at a very fancy CBW art show in Los Angeles.

The official CBW website is packed full of information about this very special week. (You can visit the site by clicking on the pink words "CBW website")

There are ideas on how to celebrate CBW ; you can read all about the history of CBW;  try out some CBW puzzles and you can download the official CBW bookmark, designed by Grace Lin.

If you are reading this blog then we're pretty sure that children's books are already an important part of your lives, but how about taking some extra time this week to really celebrate the amazing gift of writing and illustrating for children.

You could:

• visit your local library or bookstore
• dress your family up as their favourite book characters
• donate gently used books that you no longer need
• write your own stories and create illustrations for them
• write and share a review of one of your favourite books
• share this blog post on your Facebook page...
• and, of course...read, read and then read some more!!

Until next time...Happy Children's Book Week!

Official Book Week poster designed by Brian Selznick.

Your YouthScope!

Your YouthScope!

Welcome to the YouthScope Blog – a place for the youth of Winchester City and Frederick and Clarke Counties – and their parents, caregivers and teachers.

Here you’ll find an exciting space that celebrates the gift of reading.

v A place that reflects the interests, needs and ideas of our youth – be they baby and toddler, preschooler, elementary, middle or high school student.

v A place that showcases all the wonderful literacy programs offered by our libraries.

v A place for sharing reviews, recommendations, and book lists.

v A place to find help and advice on all sorts of things – developing lifelong readers, useful websites, help with homework and research, great Apps…we could go on and on!

YouthScope is for you – our library community and we welcome your input.

v Do you have ideas and suggestions for what you would like to see on the YouthScope blog?

v Have you read a book, watched a movie, surfed a website or used an App that you’d like to share with others?

v Have you taken part in one of our library programs and wish to share your experience?

We would also like to hear from any budding designers and artists who would be keen to create a logo for our YouthScope blog. Send us your design and we’ll feature it on YouthScope.

Keep up to date with all that is happening on YouthScope by liking Handley Regional Library on Facebook, or by entering your email address in the box on this page. You will receive an email message every time a new post is added.

Suggestions, ideas, comments and logo designs can be emailed to us at hrlyouthscope@gmail.com.

Until next time, happy reading!