Highlights from NIGHTMARES

Video clips of storytellers The Hag of Old Greenwich and Motoko telling their tales at Nightmares on October 29th:

Tony Hillerman, 1925-2008

Author Tony Hillerman died Tuesday at age 83. He is most famous for a series of mystery stories set on the Navajo Reservation. Hillerman captured the essence of the discord between the modern society and the Navajo, or Dineh, world of spirits, nature, and magic.

Perrot has a collection of his mysteries and other titles on display in the Rand Room (Fiction).

Our Picks! for November:

Take a look at Youth Services' brand-new Our Picks! list for November 2008-- it features more seasonal books our staff enjoyed (and we know you will, too!)

And, here are some bonus picture books about our favorite fall fruit, the apple:

• The Apple Pie Tree (E HALL): Describes an apple tree as it grows leaves and flowers and then produces its fruit, while in its branches robins make a nest, lay eggs, and raise a family.
• Apple Picking Time (E SLAWS): A young girl and her family spend a fall day picking apples with others from their small town.
• The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree (E GIBBO): As the seasons pass, Arnold enjoys a variety of activities as a result of his apple tree.
• All for Pie, Pie for All (E MARTI): Grandma Cat bakes an apple pie that is heartily enjoyed by her family, as well as the Mouse and Ant families that live nearby.
• Apples, Apples, Apples (E WALLA): Members of the rabbit family visit an apple orchard, where they have fun picking apples and discovering their many uses.
• How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World (E PRICE): Since the market is closed, the reader is led around the world to gather the ingredients for making an apple pie.
  

F.E. Higgins, Author of The Black Book of Secrets, Visits the Book Clubs

Author F.E. Higgins visited with the Young Critics' Club and Young Young Critics' Clubs on Monday, October 20th.

Here's a video clip where Higgins discusses inspiration and combating writer's block:



There are lots more video clips and information on F.E. Higgins books on our website. Take a look!

Link: "Acclaimed Colombian Institution Has 4,800 Books and 10 Legs"

The New York Times published an inspiring article yesterday about Luis Soriano, a teacher who runs a donkey-drawn bookmobile in Colombia, in order to improve the lives of children who live in his impoverised region.

NIGHTMARES... Do you have your tickets?

Don't forget to sign up for your free tickets to NIGHTMARES, Perrot's annual evening of TERRIFYING TALES, at the Youth Services Desk.

It's so scary, it makes adults FAINT! Only brave young souls in grades 2 and up may attend...

Halloween at Perrot

Take at a look at Perrot's Halloween book displays! Some of our selections:

Baby Costumes, by Bettine Roynon, has an adorable collection of outfits for baby and toddler costumes. There are 24 ideas in this book, and each one is cuter than the next!

We also have a Pumpkin Chic: Decorating with Pumpkins and Gourds, by the editors of Country Living Magazine. There are terrific ideas for decorating every corner of your home for the autumn season.

The Halloween Encyclopedia, by Lisa Morton, is a study of all things related to the holiday. There are explanations for many rituals we associate with Halloween: trick-or-treating, wearing costumes, and making Jack-O’-Lanterns.

We also have a collection of horror stories and ghost books. This display is on the second floor-- get them while they last!

Mary Ann Hoberman Is the New Children's Poet Laureate

The Poetry Foundation has selected Mary Ann Hoberman as the new Children’s Poet Laureate! Hoberman inherits the two-year position from Jack Prelutsky. She is the author of 45 books, nearly all of which are written in verse.

Take a look at Perrot's selection of Mary Ann Hoberman's books.

Perrot Newsletter

The Winter/Spring 2008 edition of Perrot's newsletter, Précis, is now available!

Watch for your copy in the mail, pick up a copy in the library, or read it online (in PDF format).

DVD Diva: Sigourney Weaver

Sigourney Weaver has been in over 50 movies (theatrical and TV). She attended the Yale School of Drama in New York. Although Weaver has played a number of critically acclaimed roles in movies, she is best known for her appearances as Warrant Officer/Lieutenant Ellen Ripley in the blockbuster Alien movie franchise.

Ghostbusters When ghosts go on a rampage, only three men can save the world. Soon every spook in the city is loose and our heroes face the supreme challenge If you want your spirits raised, who you gonna call?

Alien Terror begins when the crew of a spaceship investigates a transmission from a desolate planet and discovers a life form that is perfectly evolved to annihilate mankind. Each crew member is slain until only Ripley is left.

Alien Resurrection Ripley is recovering from her first encounter with the deadly alien. Her account of that event is received with skepticism. Burke, an up-and-coming company man, talks Ripley into going back with a squad of colonial marines. Of course, the Marines do not take her warnings seriously either, until they come face-to-face with the awesome alien spawn.

Alien 3 Third chapter of the most terrifying saga in science fiction history. Ripley is the lone survivor when her crippled spaceship crash lands on Fiorina 161, a bleak wasteland inhabited by former inmates of the planet's prison. This is the story of her fears that an Alien was aboard her craft and the realization that may compel her to try to destroy not only the creature but herself.

The Village In a quiet, isolated village in olde Pennsylvania, there lies a pact between the people of the village and the creatures who reside in the surrounding woods. The townspeople do not enter the woods, and the creatures do not enter the village. The pact stays intact for many years, until the headstrong Lucius Hunt goes out to seek medical supplies from a neighboring towns beyond the woods. Animal carcasses begin to appear around the village, causing the elders to fear for the safety of the village and the sanctity of the pact.

Galaxy Quest For four years, the courageous crew of the NSEA Protector set off on thrilling and often dangerous missions in space. . . and then their series was cancelled. Now, twenty years later, aliens under attack have mistaken the Galaxy Quest television transmissions for "historical documents" and beamed up the crew of has-been actors to save the universe. With no script, no director and no clue, the actors must turn in the performances of their lives.

P.S. Internet Movie Database is now showing free, full-length movies and TV shows on their website.

Relive the Olympics

The Olympics are over, but perhaps you missed some of the highlights or would like to see them again. Perrot now has three new non-fiction DVD’s (796.48 BEIJI) that will recapture the excitement of these events:

• Beijing 2008 Complete Opening Ceremony: A two-volume DVD which will allow you to relive the complete Opening Ceremony or pick and choose your favorite parts to view again.
  
• Beijing 2008 Highlights: The Games of the XXIX Olympiad, including gold medal performances in track and field, gymnastics, beach volleyball, and many more.
  
• Michael Phelps: Inside Story of the Beijing Games: Includes personal interviews with Michael’s mother and coach, and descriptions of each race in his own words as he became the greatest Olympic champion in history.

-The Reference Librarians

Notes from the New Bin

New to Perrot’s Picture Book Collection:

SOURPUSS and SWEETIE PIE
by Norton Juster
illustrated by Chris Raschka


Knock, knock~
Who’s there?
Nanna and Poppy never quite know who is going to show up to visit. Will it be Sourpuss or Sweetie Pie? Their granddaughter can be either. Most of the time she’s kind, polite, respectful and fun. But other times she is bossy, rude, oppositional and irrational. And she can go from Sweetie Pie to Sourpuss in the blink of an eye! Does any of this sound dizzyingly familiar? Juster is the author of the children’s classic The Phantom Tollbooth, and Raschka was awarded the 2006 Caldecott Medal for his previous work with Juster, The Hello, Goodbye Window.

A Tale of Two Houses: Two Events

A TALE OF TWO HOUSES:
Two Events at Perrot Memorial Library


The FGM from A to Z: An Alphabetical Introduction to the Florence Griswold Museum and the Lyme Art Colony

With speaker David Rau

Monday, November 3rd, 2008, 7:30 PM

The art colony at Old Lyme was part of an international trend for artists to retreat from the modernity of the cities in search of picturesque subject matter in the country. By 1900, several New York artists made the trek to the New England village of Old Lyme to stay in the boardinghouse run by Miss Florence Griswold. Born a sea captain’s daughter and raised in one of the grandest houses in the village, by the turn-of-the-last-century she was an unmarried, childless woman with only the house to generate income. Lucky for her, and for the history of American art, some of the countriy's finest painters decided to consider the house their “home away from home” for the first three decades of the 20th century. Today, the Florence Griswold Museum tells the story of the Lyme Art Colony and life in the “holy house” on 11 acres of riverfront property in the charming village of Old Lyme.

David Rau has been the Director of Education & Outreach at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme since 1998. Most recently, Rau played a key role in the reinterpretation of the Griswold House as a boardinghouse for the Lyme Art Colony as well as the Museum’s new triad of on-line learning resources (www.FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org/learning). Since his arrival at the Florence Griswold Museum, Rau has initiated a broad array of new educational programming at the Museum, designed to promote active, experiential and life-long learning opportunities for a diverse audience. Rau holds a Master’s degree in the History of Art and a Certificate in Museum Practice from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Rau has held positions at Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, Dearborn, Michigan; and The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire. He also currently teaches in the Museum Studies program at Connecticut College.

The Bush-Holley House: American Impressionists and Their Friends

With speakers Marybeth Gioffre Nisco and Anne Young
Monday, November 17th, 2008, at 7:30 PM

Operating as a boarding house for artists by proprietors Edward and Josephine Holley, Holley House, in Cos Cob, Connecticut, was a lively hub of activity and creativity from the 1890s until the 1920s. Home of the Cos Cob art colony, the house (set on a harbor) drew many well-known American Impressionists, including Theodore Robinson, John Henry Twachtman, Childe Hassam, J. Alden Weir, Elmer MacRae and Ernest Lawson, who painted, studied and exchanged ideas. In addition to painters, the Cos Cob art colony attracted writers and editors such as muckraker Lincoln Steffens, editor Viola Roseboro, author Willa Cather, author and illustrator Ernest Thompson Seton, and other literary figures. Learn more about the Impressionist artists, their work and inspiration, as well as life at the boarding house for artists. A discussion based on photographs, letters and diaries will also bring to life the bohemian atmosphere that prevailed at Holley House. The talk will also include a few “behind-closed-door” stories of the house that is now a National Historic Landmark.

Marybeth Gioffre Nisco is the Assistant Director of Education for School and Adult Programs for The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich at Bush-Holley Historic Site. She has been with the Historical Society since March, where she has been actively developing new exhibition-related programs for both adults and schools, and training the docent team. Prior to her position, Marybeth completed an internship in the Education Department at the Bruce Museum, where she also served as a docent. As a certified and tenured social studies teacher, Marybeth has taught at Fox Lane Middle School in Bedford, NY, and at Mount St. Michael Academy in New York City. Marybeth holds a B.A. and M.A. in history from Fordham University. As a Presidential Scholarship recipient, she earned a Master's with a concentration in Medieval European history.

Anne Young has been the Curator of Special Collections at the Historical Society for the Town of Greenwich since 2006. She holds a Master's Degree in Information Science from SUNY Albany, and is a graduate of the Sotheby’s Works of Art program in American Fine and Decorative Arts. Anne has held archivist positions at The Frick Art Reference Library in New York City, The Shaker Museum and Library in Old Chatham, NY, and The Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, VT. Anne is active in community heritage and serves on the Historic District Commission in Greenwich. She is also the recipient of the Anna K. and Mary E. Cunningham Research Award, as well as a member of the Grolier Club, America’s oldest bibliophile society.

Notes from the New Bin

New to Perrot’s Picture Book Collection:

Really Truly Bingo
by Laura McGee Kvasnosky
E KVASN



1 lonely little girl with nothing to do
+ 1 busy mother (“Go outside and play”)
+ 1 rather large, mischievous, imaginary talking dog
(“Let’s do something we’re not supposed to do”)
+ water, dirt, daisies, pillow forts, sprinklers, and lots of mud

_____________________________________________
= 1 guilty little girl (“It was all Bingo’s idea!”)

Cool Website for Kids

www.ologyworld.com

Ologyworld is the online destination for all things Ology (i.e., Dragonology, Pirateology, Wizardology, etc.). There are lots of fun features including an Ologyworld club, Ology excerpts to listen to, activities to download, games, movie clips, challenges, and Knowledge cards to collect and swap.

Book Recommendation: Indignation

Indignation, by Philip Roth

"Is that what eternity is for, to muck over a life's minutiae? Who could have imagined that one would have forever to remember each moment of life down to its tiniest component?"

It's 1951, and Marcus Messner-- son of a kosher butcher, and dedicated college student-- is dead. An overprotective father, a mentally unhinged roommate, the auburn-haired and seductive Olivia, college-required chapel attendance, the Korean War, an appendectomy, and a snowstorm-- some (or all) of these events have lead him to where he is now. This unsettling book leaves the reader with much to ponder about war, religion, responsibility, and the hand of fate.

-Vicky

Cool Website for Kids

The Yuckiest Site on the Internet
yucky.discovery.com

Kids can learn about all kinds of gross stuff, like pimples, burps, and farts! You can also play Whack-a-Roach. Disgust your family and friends!