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A SPECIAL LIBRARY STORYTIME...FOR SOME VERY SPECIAL KIDS

Super S.T.A.R.s:  "Storytime Touching Autistic Readers"

Left to right: Library Director Jeanette Contreras, Library Board of Trustee President Al Shkoler,
Library Volunteer, ABC Correspondent, Children's Supervisor Lori Worden,
Author Joanna Keating-Velasco

Today I'd like to highlight a program that the Placentia Library District, here in Orange County, CA, has instituted for children with autism.  Super S.T.A.R.s is designed for children ages 3-8, who attend with a parent or guardian, and can even bring their siblings along.

This wonderful program is the result of a meeting in the summer of 2009 between library staff members and a local autism expert and author, Joanna Keating-Velasco.  Joanna saw the need for children with autism to be able to attend a "typical library storytime experience" without being judged for their behaviors.  With grants and help from the library Director, Jeanette Contreras and Children's Librarian, Lori Worden, Joanna's dream is now in full swing for families of the Placentia community - through a generous grant from the Target Corporation, their program will be acquiring new books on autism this year and some guest entertainment.

Storytime "Super Librarian" Lori Worden encourages kids to be library "Super Stars" and listen to the stories and sing along to the songs.  Each themed session begins with music and includes read aloud time, fingerplays, songs with movement and stretching, nursery rhymes to recite, and a craft at the end.  The children get used to their storytime routine and have fun learning the songs and fingerplays. And equally important, it's okay if they vocalize during the program or need to leave for a few minutes if they become overstimulated.

Would you like information about starting a program like this at your local library?  Click here.
PARENTS:  Want information about children's literature for children with autism?  Stay tuned!  I'm working on a follow-up post now with some good information and suggestions for you from some experts.
Note:  The Placentia Library has lots of great storytimes, inlcuding a "Lap Sit Time" for 0-2 year olds!)

New-look Nuggets Bang Short Handed Celtics 89-75

DENVER – The integration of five new players offensively will take time for the Denver Nuggets. Defense? That came immediately.

Nuggets kept short-handed - and shortened - Boston Celtics profit in the last minute over six Thursday night, closing the game with a 16-0 run 89-75 victory, their second in a row from the front Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups at the New York Knicks.

"Defense is all effort," said Kenyon Martin, who led Denver with 18 points and 10 rebounds despite playing with the flu and missing the second quarter to get two bags of intravenous fluids.

"This is the difficulty of play. Plans to come and go," said Martin. "This is simply to give maximum effort every day. That's what we did. That's what we will continue to do so."

Wilson Chandler, one of the newcomers, had 16 points and eight players each played more than 20 minutes coach George Karl system to spread the new wealth stars Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton time to divide point to the last five minutes when they were in the field and helped the Nuggets to get out.

The game between two teams who have transformed their lists before the NBA trade deadline. Nuggets took a lot of new players and the Celtics a lot of empty seats along the bench after a wave of occupations that have landed a large group of men.

Celtics dressed only nine players and had to fight through the emotions of losing center Kendrick Perkins, who was treated in Oklahoma City to forward Jeff Green in the greater Boston trio trading Thursday.

"Tough day to play basketball," said Kevin Garnett. "Very difficult day to play basketball, not concentrated. Being honest right. You feel like you lost a family member today. Hard day. "

"It was very moving, especially for me is that I had the chance to see Perkins grow from day one, fresh from high school who come here and see the level he has come to a team of championship, "said Paul Pierce." It's definitely emotional. I had the chance to talk with him this afternoon a little, he was certainly injured. The guys around this locker room was pretty painful to see Perk go. "

Nuggets, 2-0 since trading Melo, had their full complement of players, but their best defensive player, Martin, spent the second quarter in the locker room.

New Nuggets Chandler, Danilo Gallinari and Felton went to a slow start, combined to shoot 2 for 12 in the first half, which ended in Denver ahead 37-36.

Denver took a 61-60 in the fourth quarter, when the pace taken lightly.

Pierce led Boston with 17 points, hit a 3-points with 6:05 left that gave a lead of 75-73 in Boston, but the Celtics would not score again.

Chandler 3-pointer put Denver in front of a good, and three-point play by Martin with 3:03 left gave Denver the largest lead to a point at 79-75.

Celtics Eastern Conference leading also dealt reserve Nate Robinson Thunder and scored Nenad Krstic, a future first round draft picks and cash in accordance Perkins.

Earlier in the day, the Celtics draft picks acquired by sending forward Luke Harangody and rookie center Semih Erden in Cleveland and forward Marquis Daniels injured in Sacramento.

With such a short bench for coach Doc Rivers to work with, called the Celtics center Chris Johnson of the D-League, made him sign a contract for 10 days and put right to work. He scored six points.

Once loaded inner dimension, the Celtics now have the hope of Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal to get healthy in time for the playoffs.

"We have healthy Shaq. Shaq will be healthy. But if Shaq plays a lot, this operation was obviously very, very good for us," said Rio.

Participation Krstic center from Thunder, when they returned to the NBA from Russia in December 2008 should help to mitigate the loss of Perkins Boston.

It was not just the Perkins' departure, the Celtics were so sad.

"We lost Semhar, Luca, Quis" Garnett said, stopping. "Just a tough day. A difficult day."Nuggets hope to stay in playoff race in the West after the megadeal that led Gallinari, Felton, Chandler, and Timofey Mazgov Kosta Koufus New York and Minnesota.

"The last two games have probably been more fun for me to coach and win because you play a strong and united," said Karl. "We have too many talented children. It can not be the same story every night, but we'll see how you can score points and we'll find a way to win if we play hard and defend. "

The Celtics are concerned about its chemical composition without Perkins.

"I'm sorry to lose a teammate like Perkins," Pierce said. "He meant so much. People do not understand the chemistry of the bus engine is derived from the dressing room, so it's definitely a shock. It depends on how the other guys to adjust.

Pierce also said that this is an example of the ruthlessness of the NBA for both.

"The nature of business," he said. "People think LeBron James was ice cold in Cleveland the way it is. This is an example of how to do it consistently until the end. It can not be angry with the players, because it can happen to them suddenly, as if the player can be anywhere he wants. It 's just a real character. "

not your everyday princess books...

"Whatever comes," she said, "cannot alter one thing. If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it."     -Sarah Crew (A LITTLE PRINCESS)

I hope you won't limit your kids' experiences with Princesses strictly to the popular Disney versions.  Girls ages 4-8 will also love these beautifully illustrated picture books about these rather unconventional princesses who are courageous, innocent, loyal, and resourceful ...

THE APPLE PIP PRINCESS by Jane Ray. This is the story of a kingdom that was once full of laughter, happiness, trees, and birdsong. But when the queen dies, it becomes quiet and barren, and everyone is filled with sadness. What will make the kingdom come to life again? Can Serenity, the youngest of three princesses, bring hope and bloom back to her kingdom with a single apple pip — a precious seed left to her by her mother? This original fairy tale is brought to life and exquisitely illustrated by the internationally renowned Jane Ray.

THE PAPER PRINCESS by Elisa Kleven. A little girl draws and cuts out a picture of a princess. When the paper doll is blown away by a gust of wind, she travels far and wide and finally... ends up with her own little girl again. Kleven has taken this simple story and given it style and heart. The events, some of which are either purely fanciful or highly unlikely, all seem authentic. Giving an inanimate object a believable personality is not an easy feat, and the author does a fine job of it. Her graceful phrases add a lyrical air, and emotions are described with a light and delicate touch. Her multimedium collages have never looked fresher or more interesting. The world she creates is not necessarily free from danger or sadness, yet it is predominantly full of beauty and sunlight. All the elements of the visual arts-texture, pattern, shape, color, and line-come alive in her skillful hands. The best book yet from this talented author/illustrator, and one that children will love. - School Library Journal
(Also by the author: THE PAPER PRINCESS FINDS HER WAY, THE PAPER PRINCESS FLIES AGAIN: WITH HER DOG!)

THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA by Lauren Child.  School Library Journal: Child has expanded Andersen's tale from a one-page gem into a humorous picture book that will delight the whole family. Color photographs of a cleverly designed, three-dimensional miniature world of dolls reveal wonderful details. The mattresses–all 12 of them–are covered in multi-patterned cloth, tables and cupboards display real china plates, and a mirror reflects a princess sitting in her parlor. The prince says that he wanted to marry for love. In an aside, Child comments, He was just that kind of romantic boy. The prince now tells his parents: I would gladly marry tomorrow but…she must be more mesmerizing than the moon and I must find her more fascinating than all the stars in the sky. And there must be a certain…something about her. The loving king and queen throw a royal ball so that their son can meet all the eligible princesses; unfortunately, not one fills the bill. He then decides to travel far and wide to look for a real princess. It is not until he comes home that she appears at his door. We all know what happens then.

THE MAGIC HILL by A.A. Milne, illustrations by Isabell Bodor Brown.  I was so excited to discover a fairy tale written by A.A. Milne! School Library Journal says of this original tale, written in 1925: Neither complex nor overtly moral, it delivers its own sweet vision of childhood where play is as pleasant as a freshly picked flower. At her christening, Princess Daffodil's parents anxiously await a gift to be bestowed upon her by the Fairy Mumruffin. Will it be Beauty, Wisdom, or Goodness? No, it is that flowers will grow wherever their daughter goes. Upon the child's first birthday, the King returns from hunting to find flowers blooming on his pathways. He decrees that the Princess must be carried across all walkways and can play only in the flowerbeds. The forlorn child finds that the opposite is true for the other children, who are not allowed in the beds. Thus, when the Doctor finds her sorely in need of exercise, he advises, "although she is a Princess, she must do what other little girls do." The Queen finds a solution: a lovely little hill where the child can romp all day and the country children pick flowers come evening.

Melo has 27, Knicks Trash Bucks in his NY Debut

NEW YORK - Carmelo Anthony on the big stage debut was a huge success.

Anthony had 27 points and 10 rebounds, hit a pair of clutch buckets down the stretch in front of an audience that cheered his every move than New York beat Milwaukee Bucks 114-108 on Wednesday night in its infancy Knicks.

Anthony made only 10 of 25 shots but had his best closing minutes to help New York to resist because a friend of superstar Amare Stoudemire out of the dirty. He answered the questions of the third most in a game the Knicks debut in 1964, just two points' so Keith Van Horn 29, October 29, 2003.

"I'm just glad I got this game out of my system," Anthony said, adding that the last two days have been both "frantic" and a "roller coaster".

Chauncey Billups, who came to Anthony in Denver on Tuesday to trade blockbuster finished with 21 points and eight assists as the Knicks won for the third consecutive time. Toney Douglas scored 23 points and Stoudemire had 19

John Salmons scored 27 points for the Bucks.

With the fans sing, and Anthony and Billups at the last minute, New York, which corresponds to its total victory of the twenty-ninth of his victory of last season - the plans, but now the Knicks have a lot bigger.

Knicks never had a winning season since Anthony in the NBA and is mired in a stretch of the franchise more than nine consecutive losing seasons. Their revival began when Stoudemire was signed last summer and reached a new level Wednesday, when Anthony is out of the tunnel on the ground where he has averaged 30.4 points, just off Kobe Bryant 30.5 vertices among active players.

He said before the Knicks game could score 120 points per game, and they were not far off, even without any real practice time in their first match together.

Milwaukee has dropped to four, when Antonio was driving on the basis of incorporation with 1:18 left, and his band blow bucket with a clock that goes down to 26 seconds to go made 108-102.

He added two free throws with 11.4 seconds left fans chanting "Melo! Melo!" as he sank a six-point edge. Billups has been rocked by a "Chauncey Billups" song, he then went to the line.

The Knicks gave a lot of the country to be delivered to them first, Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov backup plan and Wilson Chandler. But say the price is worth it for the opportunity to pair with Anthony Stoudemire, and locked up in the long run, as Anthony has signed a contract extension on his way out of Denver.

With the building is fully completed before TIPOFF, fans roared as quotes Anthony appeared on the video board before introducing air, since he was born in Brooklyn and wanted to be a former Knicks star Bernard King.

Anthony had a rough, then use their popularity, and soon won his first points of the Knick offensive rebound with 9:37 left in the first quarter.

"I've never experienced anything like this before," said Anthony. "It was a hell of a time for fans to react as they did."

But appeared rusty after playing just last week, and maybe a little 'worn out after the tornado in the All-Star weekend, and his jumper was off all night.

He arrived in New York on Tuesday night and was introduced with Billups on a crowded news conference before the game, "said the crowd was" ready to go to work now. "

Just a quick workout, because players must pass physicals Wednesday, the Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said he put in four or five plays and it would be almost like an All-Star game. The Knicks were sharp early, shooting 59 percent in the first quarter and opening a lead of 11 points early in the second Anthony Dunk.

Milwaukee cut to 59-57 at halftime and grabbed the advantage before the third quarter. The Knicks quickly came forward and were up 86-79 after Douglas was the last of five points of the season, including a 3-pointer 2.6 seconds left.

E-READERS OR TRADITIONAL BOOKS? WHICH IS THE GREENER CHOICE?

THE JURY IS STILL OUT...
I'm no expert when it comes to questions about digital technology or the environment, but the experts are saying there's a LOT to consider in determining the carbon footprint of e-books versus traditional paper books. My head is spinning from all the information I've been taking in lately. Kind of like reading Jabberwocky.

Trial of the Knave of Hearts
illustration by John Tenniel

PLANT A TREE:  SAVE A BOOK?
One of the main selling points in favor of e-readers is that they are paperless.  But everyone knows that traditional books are sustainable and can be easily shared among friends, donated to used books stores, and ultimately recycled at the end of their shelf life.

Capitalizing on the fact that e-books are the latest trend, an Italian
based design company, Gartenkulter, has actually
designed planters made from old and disused books.  I
certainly hope this is not the future of traditional books!

From "E-Readers vs. Old Fashioned Books - Which is Greener?" on the SIERRA CLUB GREEN HOME website: Here’s the best answer... go to the public library next time you are downtown. Borrow three or four books, finish them all, then return ‘em next time you’re near the library. This is truly the most sustainable way to read: the good old fashioned public library. We preach “reduce, reuse, and recycle” and library books can be read by dozens of people over their lifetime.  And once they are finally too dog-eared and beaten up to grace library shelves, they can be easily recycled since they are generally all paper (even the leather on deluxe bound editions can be recycled).

Are e-books green? GREEN LIVING says, "The short answer is almost certainly yes, but only if you're comparing e-books to new books. As usual, the greenest way to go is reuse."

IT'S NOT E-ASY BEING GREEN...
So, what if you like buying new books and you read lots of books? E-reading may be paperless, but that doesn't mean it has no carbon footprint, as you can see from another well-researched article, "The Environmental Impacts of E-Books", posted by the GREEN PRESS INITIATIVE.  To make up the various electronic components and battery, e-readers require several mineral sources such as plastic (derived from oil) metal, and glass.  There is also the energy consumption of an e-reader to be considered, and whether or not e-book manufacturers have recycling programs(and how they go about it, if they do).

I'm not personally excited about e-books for children, especially those with distracting apps, but it appears we're seeing the beginning of a trend that could explode.  Since consumers help determine the market, I just hope parents will only supplement, not replace, good old fashioned books with e-readers, if or when they decide to follow the trend. But that's a whole different blog post...  


My mantra stays the same:  visit the library with your kids! Your wallet will thank you and you'll benefit the environment. If there are special books you want to own or give as gifts - especially children's picture books - my advice is to shop for the  traditional paper versions (new or used).  I think the environment will survive these sustainable purchases and your children (and grandchildren) will thank you for not leaving their tangible,  paper friends behind!