We rely on our friends in one way or another and we all require friendships to feel emotionally and socially fulfilled. Friendship Month is all about highlighting the importance of friendship and celebrating what it can do for us.
Social connections can keep problems at bay and ensure we’re happier and better balanced as we move through life. It’s important to stop and recognize the importance of our friendships from time to time. A lot of things change in life, but one thing that never goes away and never loses its importance is friendship. We all need it and we all cherish it. The time we spend with friends is vitally important and those are the times we value most of all. Friendship Month aims to recognize that fact. Friendship Month is something you can recognize privately by spending more time with your friends and appreciating them. Or even getting back in touch with people who you used to be friends with but have since lost touch with. For other people, Friendship Month is an opportunity to reach out to new people and make friends with them. We’re never too old to make new friends and that’s something that more people are now realizing; in part, thanks to Friendship Month. We have a HUGE range of books at hte IS from fiction to non-fiction (especially helpful if you are having friend-drama!). So search up "Friendship" in the catalog and find your next great read!
0 Comments
Today is Jeff Kinney's birthday! Check out some of this info about him that you may have not known already:
In 1998 Jeff came up with the idea for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, a story about a middle-school weakling named Greg Heffley. Jeff worked on his book for almost eight years before showing it to a publisher in New York. Jeff Kinney was born in 1971 in Maryland and attended the University of Maryland in the early 1990s. It was there that Jeff ran a comic strip called “Igdoof” in the campus newspaper, and he knew he wanted to be a cartoonist. However, Jeff was not successful in getting his comic strip syndicated after college, and in 1998 he started writing down ideas for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which he hoped to turn into a book. Jeff worked on the book for six years before publishing it online on Funbrain.com in daily installments. To date, the online version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid has more than 80 million visits, and is typically read by more than 70,000 kids a day. In 2006, Jeff signed a multi-book deal with publisher Harry N. Abrams, Inc. to turn Diary of a Wimpy Kid into a print series. The first Diary of a Wimpy Kid book was published in 2007 and became an instant bestseller. Just a year later, more than 100,000 copies were in print in the United States alone. With each subsequent book, in-print numbers continue to grow exponentially both in the U.S. and abroad. There are now more than 200 million copies of the series in print worldwide. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has been a fixture on the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. The series has remained on the New York Times bestseller lists since the publication of the first book, for more than 500 weeks total, and more than 350 on the series list. The books are currently available in 76 editions in 64 languages. Since initial publication in 2007, the series has gone on to win many regional and national awards around the globe including two Children’s Choice Book Awards and six Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards for Favorite Book. Jeff Kinney was named one of Time magazine’s most influential people in the world. Jeff Kinney is also the creator of Poptropica, which was named one of Time’s 50 Best Websites. He spent his childhood in the Washington, D.C., area and moved to New England in 1995. Jeff lives with his wife and two sons in Massachusetts, where they own a bookstore, An Unlikely Story. Want more Jeff Kinney? Revisit some of your favorite books he's written! For those that value kindness, Random Acts of Kindness Week encourages people out there to be loud about how easy it is to give to others. This holiday centers around making kindness a standard for others to follow to make society a better place to live in.
This week is all about showing appreciation for those around you, seeing others in need and taking action, and instilling kindness in today’s youth so the future can look a little brighter. History of Random Acts of Kindness Week On the second week of February, people all over the world celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week by striving to make kindness an inspirational aspect of people’s lives. Officially started through the Random Acts of Kindness organization, this holiday lets people give back to others through random acts, whether that be taking a trip to Africa to feed the poor, show support for cancer patients, or helping someone on the road fix their flat tires. RAK, a non-profit organization, located in Denver, Colorado, consists of a small team that works hard to inspire others. RAK offers resources for those wishing to participate during the week, including school programs, calendars, videos, and training materials. According to RAK’s website, the whole week is dedicated to these acts of kindness, while the highlight of their celebrations occurs on Random Acts of Kindness Day, which is where all those acts of kindness become louder than ever. Those wishing to take part in the celebration can become activists and educators, those who lead by example and teach others about kindness, hoping to inspire others to do the same and make society a better place to live in. Becoming an activist means building trust, focusing their efforts on kindness strategies and creating environments for growth and nurturing the future of selfless acts. How to Celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week: BE KIND! 1. Pay it Backward: buy coffee for the person behind you in line. 2. Compliment the first three people you talk to today. 3. Send a positive text message to five different people right now. 4. Post inspirational sticky notes around your neighborhood, office, school, etc. 5. Tell someone they dropped a dollar (even though they didn’t). Then give them a dollar. 6. Donate old towels or blankets to an animal shelter. 7. Say hi to the person next to you in line. 8. Surprise a neighbor with freshly baked cookies or treats! 9. Let someone who only has a few items go in front of you in line. 10. Leave a gas gift card at a gas pump. 11. Throw a party to celebrate someone just for being who they are, which is awesome. 12. Leave a note on someone’s car telling them how awesome they parked. 13. Try to make sure every person in a group conversation feels included. 14. Write a kind message on your mirror with a dry erase marker for a family member. 15. Smile at five strangers. 16. Set an alarm on your phone to go off at three different times during the day. In those moments, do something kind for someone else. Want to read a bit more about kindness? Check out the book below! Today is Lost Penny Day! Check out this info on the history of Lost Penny Day (and also some history on pennies!):
On one special day each year we can take the time to gather up those ever-wandering coins and finally do something more useful with them that we usually do by donating them to a charity of our choice. Lost Penny Day is the perfect day to take a moment to recognize that despite the fact that pennies may not seem like they are worth much, they can still be found and used to help those in need to whom each and every penny counts and adds up. History of Lost Penny Day The first penny ever was designed by Benjamin Franklin and minted in 1787. The penny we’re familiar with today, however, adorned with the bust of late American president Abraham Lincoln, was first minted in 1909 and released on February 12th to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth. The founder of Lost Penny Day, Adrienne Sioux Koopersmith, wrote a log post about her idea, explaining that what she was trying to demonstrate was: “Petty change can make an astounding difference”, which is a positive message indeed, and one we can suspect Honest Abe himself would have supported. In fact, one of Lincoln’s most well-known quotes was, “I walk slowly, but I never walk backward”. How to celebrate Lost Penny Day Lost Penny Day is the perfect time to go through your home—your sofa, the pockets of old coats you haven’t worn in ages, and every other nook and cranny you can think of — in order to find as many pennies (or loose change altogether) as possible. You could even turn the search into a competition between you and your family members to see who can find the most coins laying about the home collecting dust. Once you’ve turned your home upside-down, it will be time to count up all of the change you and your children have found, and see who won. The fun doesn’t there, though. The next step is to decide what to do with the money you’ve found! You could search for a charity that could use the money, and then write a check out to that charity for the amount you found—even if it is only a few dollars, just a few dollars can buy a lot of hot bowls of soup for the homeless, or dog or cat food for the animals at the local animal shelter. If you;d like to read more about the history of money, check out the book below! Opera is sort of like a live play - only everything is sung and there are no speaking parts. The first opera ever written was WAY back in 1597! Those who sing opera, unlike in plays, do not use microphones! They are trained so intensely that their voice alone can fill an entire music hall - so think of being able to sing from the field at Arrowhead without a mic and the entire stadium could hear you are though you were right next to them! Yup, opera singers are that good!
So while we don't have a ton of opera books in the IS, we do have one that will give you a bit of history. And while you are at it, check out the other link and listen to a bit of opera as well! As of right now you can officially check out movies from the library! Because there is a PG rating on most of them, you do have to have parent permission. I sent this info out to parents last week and so far nearly 100 parents have replied saying it's cool for you to check out DVDs. If you want a DVD and aren't sure if your parents approved it, just ask them! Or place a hold on one and I will let you know if you don't have approval. If your parents haven't approved it because they missed my email, all they have to do is email me with your first and last name and say that it's okay for you to check out DVDs. To check them out, all you have to do is place a hold on the one you want! You can only have 1 at a time and you get them for 1 week only! If you don't return your DVD on time, you will not be able to check out more.
Almost all of our DVDs are based on the great books in the library. So when you are done with the movie (or better yet - BEFORE you watch the movie), be sure to grab a copy of the book from the library and read it to see how it compares! Surprise: the book is always better... Today is weather forecaster's day! Check out this interesting history provided by the National Weather Service:
February 5th is National Weatherman's Day, commemorating the birth of John Jeffries in 1744. Jeffries, a Boston physician and one of America's first weather observers, began taking daily weather observations in Boston in 1774. He took the first balloon weather observation over London in 1784. He carried a thermometer, a barometer, and a hygrometer to the height of 9000 feet. This is a day to recognize the men and women who collectively provide Americans with the best weather, water, and climate forecasts and warning services of any nation. The IS library has a TON of books about weather, weather forecasting, and natural disasters! Use the button below to search up whatever weather-related topics you are interested in to learn more! So you wouldn't think that a disaster is something to celebrate. And it's not. But sometimes we have days to acknowledge that are more about bad things that have happened and we recognize them so that we can prevent those things from happening in the future. So while you may not be able to help your cruise ship from overturning, you CAN be prepared for a tornado. Or Tsunami (if you are on vacay). Disaster Day is observed on 2/5 annually as a way to remind people to prepare for disasters since preparation means survival. While the I Survived books are fun, we have a lot of books in the library that are focused on what to do in a disaster so you can survive and get help. So today, consider reading a bit about how to react in disasters. Or about others who have survived harrowing experiences....and pick up that I Survived book as a reward for all your hard work!
Use the links below to see what disaster books we have at the IS! It is always so exciting when they make good books into movies. Yes, the book IS always better! But it's also darn cool to see what we read on the big screen! There are now 55 movies, all made off books, that you can check out.
Because many of the videos are rated PG, your parents will have to email me with approval before you can hold them. However, once I get that you will be good to go for checking out and chilling with some awesome movies! And if you haven't read the book, you should do that first! We have nearly all of the books these movies are based on in the library so you can read it, watch it, and love it! Don't forget the popcorn! Many people have been asking about the new STEAM kits you can check out. I posted about this a while ago so I am resharing again in case you need the info to check out these awesome new items! To read all about them, click the button on the left below that says "Click here to read about all the kits!" We have a new kit as well since the original post! There are two options (easy and hard) of Ozobot mazes. Simply figure out the correct codes to get your Ozobot to the end of the maze! There are 12 mazes in each kit so you will have plenty to play with! Be sure to get the permission form signed and returned via email or in paper copy to the library before placing holds on any kits. You can only have one kit at a time.
|
AuthorHi! I am Areadingwoman (otherwise known as Melissa Arenson). I just love books! I have a bachelor's degree in 9-12 English education, a master's degree in literature, and a specialist's degree in library science. Archives
January 2023
Categories |