Instilling a love of books Instilling a love of books (July 30, 2004)

Thumbs up for library's summer reading program
by Teresa C. Brown

Pleasanton kids love reading. That's the verdict as the Pleasanton Public Library begins to wrap up its annual summer reading programs for children.

"We absolutely love what readers Pleasanton children are," said Sue Jones of the Pleasanton Library. Currently 43 children are enrolled in "Maze Mania," a reading program for toddlers through under 18 years.

The children earn points for reading time, including the time an adult reads to them. Accumulated points earn the players prizes, Jones said. Prizes include toys, activity books, coupons and tickets.

"Not even to mention the 380-plus middle school kids volunteering to help play the game," Jones added. The volunteers work at either the prize or game tables, as a game monitor or as a reading buddy in the library's story-land area.

Another successful reading program at the library is Paws to Read, in which students sign up to read a story to a therapy dog. Paws to Read has grown from five to 10 dogs per session to 18 dogs this year, Jones said.

For the first time this summer, the library offered an international language story time with its program Many Voices, Many Lands. The bilingual story time was offered in English, Russian, Mandarin, Farsi, Japanese and Spanish, Jones said.

The storytellers were teachers and librarians from surrounding communities, who were experts at telling tales, she said. The program, which concluded Thursday, may be offered again.

Attendance ranged from 25 to 83 people, Jones said, adding, "The response was wonderful." The most popular story time, with 83 attending, was the Russian.

What's hot in children's books What's hot in children's books (July 30, 2004)

In addition to the Harry Potter series, several books were especially popular this summer, said Sue Jones of the Pleasanton Public Library. Many children are reading Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books, gearing for the upcoming film starring Jim Carrey.
Other titles topping the library's check-out list are: € "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke. A fun and fanciful tale about a little girl whose father has a magical ability to bring characters in a book to life and the problems the little girl must deal with when the characters become real. € "Pure Dead Magic" by Debbie Gliori is a story set in a Scottish castle, home to the Strega-Borgia clan. With draw bridges, crocodiles, a pet dragon and a butler named Latch, the children, Pandora and Damp, get into lots of trouble. € "In the Land of the Lawn Weenie and Other Misadventures" by David Lubar offers a collection of short stories that are funny, creepy, thrilling and surprising. € "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett is a fun yarn about two friends trying to unravel a mystery surrounding real-life artist Vermeer. The book is filled with clues, puzzles and secret messages that keep the reader pondering possibilities.
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