Posted on March 17, 2013 by Laurie Willhalm to Children's Services Blog

Help Your Child Get Ready to Read - Talking

There are five activities you can do with your child to help him or her get ready to read. Today we talk about talking.

Every Child Ready to Read logo

You are your child's first and best teacher. Sharing five ativities regularly - talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing - with him will prepare him for reading.

We now know that from the moment they are born, they are learning about the world around them, processing input, making hypotheses, and coming to conclusions. A baby's brain  already weighs 25% of its adult weight; it has a lot of work to do!

It is never too soon to start talking with your child. As children hear spoken language, they learn new words and what they mean. They learn about the world around them and important general knowledge. Fifteen minute snippets of talking and listening while you are cooking, putting on makeup, driving, or gardening are as much as your child needs to start developing her vocabulary and understanding how language works, thereby getting her ready to read. 

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Posted on March 15, 2013 by Christy Thomas to Advice for Readers

Check Out an Award Winning Book

Congratulations to the winners of the Man Asian Literary Prize, the Story Prize, the National Book Critic Circle Awards, not to mention last week's blog giveaway.

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Posted on March 13, 2013 by Nina Lindsay to Children's Services Blog

Yes, again!

Does your toddler or preschooler insist on reading the same book over and over? They're doing exactly what they should.

Cover of the book Baby Beebee BirdWhy does your toddler or preschooler ask for you to read the same book over and over?  Children learn through repetition, and they need to experience a story many times to fully understand it.  They also love to hear funny or rhyming words, and active or soothing rhythms, over and over and over--it's how they learn to talk, build their vocabulary, and learn to be creative with language! Every time you read that story again, they are growing their brains, and--most importantly--you are bringing them joy.

Of course, it's hard to bring joy if you've just had enough of The Baby Beebee Bird for the night.  Stop in to

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Posted on March 12, 2013 by Miriam Medow to Children's Services Blog

Superhero Picture Books to the Rescue!

Superhero picture books for preschoolers @ the Oakland Public Library.

Do you have any superhero-obsessed 3-year-olds in your life? If so, then you may know how tough it can be to find age-appropriate books that satisfy these kiddos' interests.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Redrangeralex.jpg/256px-Redrangeralex.jpgBut never fear, the library is here!

Pull on your crime-fighting capes and head to your local branch to check out these awesome superhero books for the preschool set:

Breen, Steve. Violet the Pilot.

Buehner, Caralyn. Superdog.

Chabon, Michael. The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man.

Cosentino, Ralph. Batman.

Cosentino, Ralph. Superman.

Cosentino, Ralph. Wonder Woman.

Cottringer, Anne. Eliot Jones, Midnight Superhero.

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Posted on March 8, 2013 by Christy Thomas to Advice for Readers

Book Giveaway: How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia

Win a copy of a new book by the acclaimed author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Moth Smoke. The Washington Post calls How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia “extraordinarily clever“ and “surprisingly moving”.

If How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia sounds like a business self-help book, it is because the author inventively evokes that genre to tell the rags-to-riches story of an unnamed narrator in an unidentified developing nation.

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia came out earlier this week, and it is already receiving a lot of praise. The New York Times calls this novel a “a compelling story that works on two levels — in this case as a deeply moving and highly specific tale of love and ambition, and as a larger, metaphorical look at the mind-boggling social and economic changes sweeping ‘rising Asia.’” Moreover, “Mr. Hamid reaffirms his place as one of his generation’s most inventive and gifted writers.” Read The New York Times review 

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Posted on March 5, 2013 by Laurie Willhalm to Children's Services Blog

Baby Booties Camp

Baby Booties Camp experts from Bananas coming to Oakland Public Library this spring. Come get your questions answered.

As part of our parent workshops this spring, we are offering programs from Bananas, the parents’ resource organization in Oakland. These expert presenters will share their programs from Baby Booties Camp: Brain & Language Development, Baby Yoga, Baby Massage, and Babies and Sleeping. All parents and children are welcome, but the focus will be on babies. This is the time to get your persistent questions answered.

Image of Baby Booties

Brain & Language Development – Coming May and June at the Rockridge, Golden Gate, and 

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Posted on March 4, 2013 by Nina Lindsay to Children's Services Blog

Welcome!

Welcome to OPL's new children's services blog, and meet 5th graders at the 81st Avenue Library.

Welcome to Oakland Public Library's Children's Services blog!  Here your children's services librarians will feature upcoming events, reading and activity recommendations, and stories about your libraries and the people who love them. 

Our "Library People" series will include spotlights on staff, as well as interviews with the many different kinds of people who use the children's materials and services in Oakland libraries.  Our favorite people, of course, are you.

Oakland's newest library is the 81st Avenue East Oakland Community Branch, which opened in January 2011 as a joint-use facility with the Oakland Unified School District.  We'd like for you to meet that year's graduating 5th grade class from Acorn Woodland Elementary and EnCompass Academy, as they introduce you to their library. 

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Posted on March 1, 2013 by Christy Thomas to Advice for Readers

10 Great Reasons to Read Fiction in March

Check out 10 great new books coming in March.

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Posted on February 15, 2013 by Christy Thomas to Advice for Readers

Pride and Prejudice Celebrates 200 years

On the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, we take a look at the many adaptations you can find at OPL.

On January 28, 1813, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice was published for the first time. After two centuries, Austen's story of beautiful, clever and poor Elizabeth Bennett and arrogant Mr. Darcy continues to persist as both a canonical and popular novel.

Proof of the lasting influence of Pride and Prejudice is its impressive number of film and literary adaptations. There are movie and television versions, including the 1940 release starring Laurence Olivier, the 1995 BBC series starring Colin Firth, and the 2005 film starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. There are also numerous novels that continue the story or tell it faithfully from another character’s point of view, such as 

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Posted on February 1, 2013 by Christy Thomas to Advice for Readers

10 Great Reasons to Read Fiction in February

February looks like a great month for new books! Check out some of our highlights.

See Now Then
by Jamaica Kincaid
See Now Then is the first novel in over a decade from acclaimed Caribbean author Jamaica Kincaid, making its release a highly anticipated event! Kincaid tells the story of a family in small town Vermont, focusing on a marriage that is falling apart. In a starred review, Booklist raves: “Kincaid has created a measured, bewitching, and metaphysical fable, as well as a venomous, acidly comic, and plangent tale of love, betrayal, and loss that is at once slashingly personal and radiantly universal in its mystery, passion, and catharsis.” Fans may also want to catch her City Arts & Lectures appearance on Wednesday, February 13.

Vampires in the Lemon

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