The Language Collection’s in a New Spot!

Looking for books in languages other than English? We recently moved them to a much more prominent and noticeable part of the library! Now they’re on the shelves facing the picture books, on the other side of the graphic novels.

We’ve also focused the collection on fewer languages – Armenian, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish – since these are the languages we have the most resources for. You’ll also find our books in Braille over here. Don’t worry, we still have books in other languages. They’ve just moved to the nonfiction section (look for them with a Dewey Decimal number in the 400’s).

We’ve also added a brand new section: the Language Learning collection! Interested in helping your child learn a new language? You’ll find dictionaries, activity books, and DVD’s. We’ve even purchased a brand new set of Muzzy Language Courses!

Be sure to stop in and check it out!

Sign your child up to read with a dog!

Why are there dogs in the library?

It's Dog B.O.N.E.S., an awesome opportunity for beginning readers to improve their reading skills by sharing books with a dog!

Once or twice a month, volunteers bring in registered therapy dogs for kids to read to. Children sign-up for twenty-minute sessions and share any story of their choosing. The dogs are excellent listeners (and the dogs' owners are too!). The dogs never interrupt the reader, never laugh, never correct them. Kids build reading fluency and confidence by reading out loud to a calming companion.

We work with an organization called Dog B.O.N.E.S., which stands for Dogs Building Opportunities for Nurturing & Emotional Support. They help coordinate the volunteers who donate their time to make this program available.

All sorts of research in recent years has found that reading to dogs is very beneficial, especially for struggling readers. Check out a few resources below for more info:

Library Journal - Therapy Dogs' Presence Steadily Grows in Libraries

ABC World News - Study: Reading to Dogs Helps Children Learn to Read

CNN - Learning to Read? Try Talking to a Dog

Interested? We've got two Dog B.O.N.E.S. dates coming up in the next couple of weeks!

Saturday, March 31 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. AND

Sunday, April 1 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Call 617-972-6435 or stop in to register for a 20-minute session!

Nursery Rhymes: How Many Do You Know?

How many nursery rhymes do you remember? How often do you sing or say them to your kids?

Nursery rhymes are one of the best ways to help young children learn a skill called phonological awareness, or the ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words. When babies are first learning what sounds make up our language, they need to be able to break the words down into smaller sounds. Talking, talking, talking with your baby will help them do that. Nursery rhymes will give an extra push to this important development.

As children grow older, rhymes help them figure out what sounds are made by different letters. In her book Reading Magic, Mem Fox writes that studies have shown "that if children know eight nursery rhymes by the time they're four years old, they're usually among the best readers by the time they're eight" (p. 89, 2008).

So many parents, though, can't remember the nursery rhymes they learned as children. Or, perhaps, they never learned them in the first place.

What can you do?

Never fear! We have a wide array of nursery rhyme books and CDs to get you started or refresh your memory! Stop in and find some to take home, or request some using our online catalog (try a keyword search for "Mother Goose").

Happy Rhyming!

Tender Topics

Have you ever had a difficult subject to discuss with your child? Most parents have or will, and sensitive picture books can often help jumpstart the conversation. Here at the Watertown Free Public Library, we have a special collection of books for just this purpose. We call it the Parent/Teacher Collection, and it contains books that discuss a wide variety of tender topics.

These helpful picture books are kept on a special bookshelf in the early literacy play area. They are organized by topics. Each book has a sticker with a picture of a baby on it, along with a color-coded label indicating the topic.

We intend for parents (or teachers and caregivers) to share these books with children and spark thoughtful conversation. Currently, our topics are:

• Adoption
• Bullying
• Death
• Divorce
• Emotions
• Family
• Health
• Learning
• Moving
• New Baby
• Potty
• Separation
• Social Skills
• Special Needs

Of course, the books in this section are not exhaustive. There are other books throughout the library that deal with these topics, but we've gathered a wide selection in a convenient location. It's the perfect way to begin addressing those tender topics when you just don't know where to start.

2012 Watertown Children's Book Award Winners

The Children’s Department is pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 Watertown Children’s Book Award! Nominated books met certain criteria, specifically that books were original pieces and were published in 2011.

Our Winners:

Nonfiction:

Balloons over Broadway: the true story of the puppeteer of Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet

Fiction:

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

Picture Book:

I want my hat back by Jon Klassen

You don’t need to wait until next year to tell us about the books you enjoy! If you loved a book (or didn’t enjoy it as much as you hoped) let us know! Your opinion matters, and is important to us.

Curious about other Children’s Books that won awards?

This year the John Newbery Medal went to Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos, and the Randolph Caldecott Medal went to A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka.

Review (and keep!) a free book

You could be one of the very first people to read some brand new books! And then you can keep the book as part of your home library!

Occasionally, publishers send free books to our library either before they're available for purchase or when they've just come out. We'd love to involve YOU in reviewing these books!

Here's how:

- Stop in at the Children's Department and pick up a book.

- Take it home and read it.

- Write up a quick review about what you liked or didn't like.

- Give us the review.

- Enjoy your free book!

You can either write out your review on paper and bring it in, or you can e-mail it to us. If you'd like to e-mail your review, ask for one of the Children's Librarians' e-mails when you pick up the book.

The number of books is limited, and once they're gone, they're gone. So stop in soon if you're interested!

Book a Librarian!

Have you got a question that seems just a little too in-depth or complicated to pop into the library and ask? Maybe you just got your child a new e-reader and you want to find out how to use our free e-books. Or maybe your child has a big research project for school and you'd like some guidance on how to get started.

Ordinarily, the library is bustling with children and families and we librarian's can't spend as much time as we'd like on these types of questions.

But never fear! You can book a librarian! Stop in or call us in advance with what you need help with, and we can set up a special meeting with you where we can focus some additional time on your question.

We'll specifically be available at 4:00 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month (you'll still need to register in advance, though). But if that time doesn't work for you, it's no problem! We can book a time with you that works with your schedule!

Stop in at the library or call 617-972-6435 for more information or to register.