Banned Book Week Roundup!

All good things must come to an end, and on Saturday we had our last Banned Book Week Event. But we wanted to share photos and videos from our various events with you guys who weren't able to make it! Here are the highlights:

Banned Book Readout:

And here's an amazing video of Pam Doffek, our Library Director, reading from "The Adventures of Captain Underpants":

ALA Chapter Banned Books Party Costumes:

Go Ask Alice

50 Shades of Gray

Farenheit 451

The Color Purple

The Hunger Games

Lord of the Rings

Napoleon (Animal Farm)

Peter (Superfudge)

Where's Waldo

James and the Giant Peach

Lord of the Flies

Slaughterhouse 5

The Whole Group!

No More Dead Dogs

by Rob Stephens

Eight Grader Wallace Wallace shares one thing in common with George Washington: he cannot tell a lie, not even a little white lie. And so when his literature teacher asks his opinion about a class book, Wallace “feels compelled to inform his teacher that it was one of the worst books he’s ever read. Why does the dog in every classic book have to croak at the end?” (Book cover).

If you’ve  ever asked yourself the same question after reading classics like Old Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows, then this is the book for you. Come by the Goldstein Library to check out this fun and excellent novel by award-winning writer Gordon Korman!

Boating Squirrels

I want to tell you about The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin. 

This was a book written by Beatrix Potter and some would consider the book a classic.  A lot of people think that classic books are boring, but the illustrations are so cute and there isn't much text at all!

Check this out, this is what a whole page of text looks like:

"They made little rafts out of twigs, and they paddled away over the water to Owl Island to gather nuts.  Each squirrel had a little sack and a large oar, and spread out his tail for as sail."

What happens when you Google "Google"?

I found out something interesting today.  If you go to Google (the online search engine- that will be important later), anyway, if you go to Google and type into the search bar "do a barrel roll" the Google search results will actually rotate!  It was pretty funny to see.  Go check it out now, if you want.  But open another tab!  We don't want to lose you yet (you're a pretty cool person).

So why am I bringing up this search engine trick?  It could just be because I have a short attention span, but that's not completely true this time.  This time I want to write about The Google Book. WAIT.  Don't leave- the book is not about the search engine.  The Google Book was written by V.C. Vickers and it was published in 1979, which was waaay before Google (the search engine) was created.

 Why should you be interested?  The book is full of verses, but they're not boring like all the poetry that people try to trick you into reading.  Try this and see if you're interested:

"THE FLABBYTOES

But mark!! What is that sound I hear?

Someone in agony I fear! –

Oh no!! It is old Flabbytoes,

You can't mistake his funny nose."

Okay, you didn't really care for that?  Well, there's some pretty rad pictures, too.

A book to Tweet about

The Cuckoo’s Haiku and Other Birding Poems by Michael J. Rosen, illustrated by Stan Fellows

The Goldstein Library has a lot of illustrated books - I mean it does have the juvenile collection - but the illustrations in one of these books are pretty amazing.  The Cuckoo’s Haiku is filled with watercolor paintings of birds and bird-themed scenes.  Even if you’re really not into birds, the paintings are pretty spectacular, and the poems are short.  Come check it out and see if there’s something you like about it.  If you end up hating it, let us know that too.  We’ll comp you a free cup of coffee on any Friday you show up!

Dolphins: The serial killers of the water

The Saga of Pelorus Jack by Ross E. Hutchins

If you’ve ever been interested in learning about dolphins but thought that reading a non-fiction book was too boring, then The Saga of Pelorus Jack is the book for you!  The author basically tells you a ton of somewhat interesting facts about dolphins, but he does it by telling a story.  It’s child friendly so when he writes about how big of jerks dolphins can be he does it by saying they were defending themselves against a shark.  Whatever, we all know dolphins like to kill for sport.

“Dolphins have been observed engaging in the seemingly gratuitous killing of porpoises—going so far as to use sonar to locate the victim's vital organs and increase the lethality of the strike—but experts haven't quite worked out their motivation. Some speculate that the dolphins use the porpoises for target practice, preparing for possible clashes with fellow dolphins who infringe on their territory.”
excerpt from http://www.slate.com/id/2234729/

"The sheep were still enjoying the high life..."

The Quest of the Warrior Sheep by Christine & Christopher Russell

"A crazy caper about five sheep, one cell phone, and the greatest quest of the woolly lives."

And so, new to the amazing Alcove collection, The Quest of the Warrior Sheep is available to be checked out! A cell phone lands on Sal the sheep's head which gets him and his posse to head out on an adventure.  But this cellphone telephone belongs to a couple criminals - oh noes! - who are trying to get it back.  Find out what happens when the two meet.

The American Library Association recently had their annual conference in New Orleans, and while some of the Graduate Assistants had fun going, you're wondering why we're telling you.  No, we're not rubbing it in.  Why you should care is because there were lots of awesome books being sold and given away throughout the weekend, and that is where this great find came from!

Gators are Aweful

Alligators are Awful (And They Have Terrible Manners, Too) by David McPhail

So, some of the Graduate Assistants in the Goldstein Library are from northern parts of the country, and we don’t know a thing about Alligators.  We were so relieved when we found this book because it told us everything we needed to know to cope with Gators in Florida.  Check out this gem: “They sit in front of you at the movies and never take off their hats.” I mean, yeah I’m jealous that gators look good in top hats, but come on.  I want to watch the movie, not some shadow.

National Bathroom Reading Month!

Mr. Archimedes’ Bath by Pamela Allen

Did you know that June is National Bathroom Reading Month?  Come into Goldstein to see the sweet display featuring “Mr. Archimedes’ Bath”  and other bathroom themed books.  Even though they’re in a display case, you are welcome to take them home.  It’s probably the closest you will ever come to bathing with a Wombat.