Knights of the Lunch Table: The Dragon Players

Knights of the Lunch Table: The Dragon Players
     written by Frank Cammuso

Artie King is a 6th grader at middle school just trying to get through the days, one by one. He still likes fantasy play although he now makes it his personal activity, and he flips out when his sister tries to get rid of his super hero toy collection. It's a childhood/growing up thing.

Mrs. Dagger, the evil principal, has a broken windshield from a bowling ball hitting it in the parking lot (long story) and has pinned the blame on one of Artie's friends, Wayne, who must now find a way to get the money and fix the windshield.

The boys decide to enter a schoolwide contest that has a $300. first place prize. They think that they could win.

But so does the Horde, a gang of school bullies who have bullied another friend Percy, into entering the contest for them.

Artie and his crew draft Evo, a mysterious kid who happens to have won the contest last year, and Artie has to now face a choice to "cheat or not cheat" when he is given a chance to shut down all the competition.

Read this graphic novel to find out what happens, there's plenty more mischief, adventure, and humor to go around.

School Library Journal has given this book a starred review...see what you think and let me know.

You'll find it in the graphic novel section of the nonfiction section of our library.
Happy Reading!

ISBN: 978-0439903233

Octavius Grimwood's Graveyard Guide

Octavius Grimwood's Graveyard Guide: 
Vampires, Zombies, and Things You Don't Want to Meet in the Night
     written by Rod Green

 Open the coffin lid of this book if you dare (yes this book is actually in the shape of a coffin!) and you are in for a spooky read!

Octavius Grimwood shares his investigations and personal notes with you about the supernatural, spooky, and weird.



His ghost serves as a guide through the book as you learn about ghosts, skeletons, mummies, zombies, and vampires.

You'll read graveyard tales, find out details about haunted houses, learn about witches through history and literature, how to cast a spell, and so much more.

ISBN: 978-0-7641-6377-7

101 Freaky Animals

101 Freaky Animals
     written by Melvin and Gilda Berger


REVIEW

Get a head start on your animal reports this year by reading about 101 Freaky Animals. Maybe after sampling animals and facts about them you'll find one that you want to go into depth and research more about it.



 

Did you know?
38. The Great Indian Hornbill males use their casques on their beaks as an inflight weapon.


24. The Fennec Fox's ears are almost 1/2 as long as its body.


51. Komodo Dragons smell with their tongues.

65. Octopuses have a bag of tricks they use to escape their predators: they can flee by squirting water out of their bodies to jet away, they can change their skin color to camoflage themselves, they can spread dark ink in the water to confuse their enemies, and they can squeeze themselves through cracks and rocks to escape quickly.

84. Sphynx Cats have no fur and they are not Egyptian.

88. Star-Nosed Moles use their 22 tentacled noses to "see."

That's just six of the 101 animals featured in the book with interesting information to learn about.

Each page has an animal named and numbered to locate easily. There's an index in the back of the book to check to see which animals are featured.

Included with each animal factoid is a full photo of the animal being discussed and a thumbnail for easy reference and connection to the text.



The facts are interesting, the photos detailed and stimulating...so this book should peak your interest and leave you wanting to find out more!

We'll be building a Wallwisher Wall this Spring with interesting animal facts and Discovery Streaming videos to watch so be sure to keep checking back on our Media Center website. When we launch the wall we will also launch a page to recommend good books to read and you can bet that this one will be on the list!

ISBN: 978-0-545-23758-1


Happy Reading!

A Hero's Guide to Warriors

A Hero's Guide to Warriors
     written by Deborah Murrell

REVIEW

Now you can learn facts about 4 of the major types of warriors through history. Learn about the Greek Warriors, Gladiators, Samurai, and Knights. This is a brand new book just published in September and was a great seller at the Fall BookFair!

Greek Warriors. Learn about Hoplites, training, weapons and armor, war machines used, the War with Persia, Defeating the Spartans, Alexander the Great, battle tactics, and the decline of Greece.

Gladiators. Gladiators defined, Gladiator school, Gladiators of the Empire, Provacatores, Equites, and Velites, the Colosseum, Gladiator Events, Win or Lose, and the end of the Gladiators.

Samurai. When Samurai lived, becoming a Samurai, the Pen and the Sword, weapons used, armor, ninjas, early clans, the Rise of the Samurai, three great men, the last Shoguns, and the dcline of the Samurai.

Knights. Knights defines, when they lived, training, weapons used, armor, horses, battle tactics, battlefields, heraldry, castles under attack, off the battlefield, tournaments, and the decline of Knights.

If you don't like the heavy reading of regular history textbooks we use, then try this book!  If you are interested in weapons, fighting, and war, this is the "history text" for you, right here in our Media Center.

The book has a full table of contents and index, not just for the book, but complete contents for each chapter so you can easily find the information you are most interested in. We'll be using this book to show examples of how using contents and indexes, and glossaries really help you get the most out of content reading, especially when researching for reports! There is also a glossary for the terms used throughout the book.

The information is organized into tidbit paragraphs with stylized text and graphic boxing to offset and separate clusters of information, which makes the information so much easier to locate and read without pages of text you find in a regular textbook.

So if you are interested in warriors throughout history, watch the trailer below, and then find the book in our nonfiction section and check it out soon.

ISBN: 978-1-59566-802-8

A Hero's Guide to Warriors-Trailer from Roxanne Clement on Vimeo.

Warriors: The Lost Warrior

Warriors: The Lost Warrior
     created by Erin Hunter...
     Manga written by Dan Jolley, art by James L. Barry

REVIEW

So Warrior fans know where our stack of books are in the fiction section, but did you know that you can also find them now in the graphic novel section of the library?

Now the nationally best selling series is being created in Manga!

Erin Hunter herself comments in the foreward of this title how the Manga version can show a wide range of emotions and actions of one of her favorite characters in the series, Greystripe. She evaluates the drawings as strong and powerful and loves the crisp dialogue to move the action along!


 Be sure to look for "The Lost Warrior"  and other Manga as we purchase them for our collection.

Right now our first copy is available through the Extremely Popular Binder so sign up today!

ISBN: 978-0-06-124020-1

The Usborne Book of Famous Paintings

The Usborne Book of Famous Paintings
     written by Rosie Dickens

REVIEW.

This book shares 35 of the world's best known paintings with explanations customized for each of the paintings presented giving you, the reader a behind-the-scenes peek at how the painting was accomplished, style and format, technique, and history. It's another "text" for Bay Farm's Media Center Library collection that proves learning something new can be interesting and fun.

It feels like you are on a private art gallery tour with a personal guide! There's even a website set up by Usborne to provide gallery links and art activities to accompany the book. Great idea for our Art Docent program as well as personal reading.  http://www.usborne-quicklinks.com  Choose United States. Then type in the key words "famous paintings." You can tour any number of famous museums and art galleries.

The famous painting "St. George and the Dragon" by Rafael has commentary that explains the technique of clustering major characters into a pyramid, how to create the feeling of distance, additional details that help to tell the story, symbolism used in art in the 16th century and how to add depth to a painting.







"A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" was painted in 1884 by Georges Seurat. Seurat used color according ot the theories of the day in the 19th century. He used 35 million dots, dabs, and dashes of color in his painting because he believed the theory that color mixing actually happened in the eye itself and he wanted his painting color to be brighter and richer. The characters in his painting are staged much like a movie director would do when setting a movie scene. He also painted people from all walks of life to assure us of the "modern people" of the 19th century.

There are so many classic works of art to view, and then the galleries and museums online to keep your artists interests going for hours on end. 



ISBN 978-0-545-24327-8

Math Curse

Math Curse
     written by Jon Scieska and Lane Smith

 A student falls victim to the "Math Curse" when her teacher says "You can think of almost everthing as a math problem."


Suddenly, everything is exactly that...a math problem....until she finds a way to end the curse. Here's a wild and crazy book that addresses math anxiety and numbers in every day life.

The paintings, collage -like artwork, and stylized text add to the tempo and voice of the story and plotline, and help to build momentum as our child-narrator's anxiety and frustrations living with the math curse increases. So do the additions of math symbols, shapes, algorithms, designs, and calculations.

It's a great read aloud and even better book for us to talk about together!


ISBN: 0-679-86194-4

Better Homes and Garden Snack Attack: Return of the Munchies

Better Homes and Garden Snack Attack: Return of the Munchies
     written by Meredith Books

One of the most popular sections in our nonfiction section is the cooking section. And there's a new title to read and then make some of the recipes for snacking!

It's spiral bound and full of color photos with snacks to tempt you...gathered into these chapters: After School Munchies, Game Day, Grab and Go, World Tour, and Come on Over.

Recipes have the following components: a color photo of each recipe, utensils and ingredients needed, step by step directions, and nutritional facts per serving.

Try out Cowboy Cal's Beans and Salsa, Tango Mango Smoothies, Racin Rice and Broccoli Bowls, Kickin Smores, Rocky Road Popcorn, Inside-Out Turkey Treats, Stuffed Pita Pockets, and more.



There's more than 50 snacks to make in all.
 Happy Cooking!

ISBN: 978-0-696-24121-5

Cool Stuff 2.0 and How it Works

Cool Stuff 2.0 and How it Works
     written by Chris Woodford and Jon Woodcock

DK's Cool Stuff 2.0 and How it Works won the VOYA Nonfiction Honor and the IRA Young Author's Choice Award.

Find out how things work from smoke detectors, high tech toilets, floating beds, to smart carts, and security cameras, to super computers and roller coasters, to solar sails, and night vision just to name a few of the items from the book.

If you like science, inventions, and wonder how everything works, check out this book from the nonfiction section!




ISBN: 978-0-7566-7106-8

You Can't Scare Me!

You Can't Scare Me! A guide to the Strange and Supernatural
      written by Ticktock

Here is a collection of real life trivia about the supernatural organized into different categories with photos to accompany the text. Learn about everything from hauntings, to ghosts and vampires, to antural monsters, werecreatures, mysteries and the occult, ESP, close encounters, chnneling the supernatural, witches and warlocks, mysticism and miracles, magic, energies, and psychic powers, and more.

Learn about fakes and frauds, restless souls, phantom ships, ghost busting, and classical monsters, how to cast the oracle, use tarot cards, and dowsing for water.



ISBN: 978-0-545-28101-0

What in the Wild?

What in the Wild? Mysteries of nature Concealed...and Revealed
     written by David Schwartz and Yael Schy

Are you a nature detective? Can you solve riddles of nature?  This book has 8 animals for you to guess from hints within poems presented.






Each set of pages has a fold-out page with an animal photo answer and detailed information about the animal.




ISBN: 978-1-58246-310-0

The Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes

The Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes
written by Doug Stillinger

We were so glad when the Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes was at the Fall Book Fair! Our copies of this book are so worn out from circulating we needed the replacement! (Multiple copies of course!)

This book  shares 10 different types of planes. The only supplies necessary are 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheets of photocopy or printer paper.

And while you're busy making "The Hammer," "The Professional," "The Space Cruiser," the "Hurricane," and others, you'll also learn about symmetry, wing angle, elevators, and ailerns, dihedrals, speed, thrust, and drag, angle, gliding, flight dynamics, and more.

Best of all, you can organize a paper airplane challenge during snack recess and have a great time!

Happy Reading!

ISBN: 978-1-59174-900-4

The Slightly Odd United States of America: Wacky Facts Great Country

The Slightly Odd United States of America: Wacky Facts Great Country
              written by the editors of Klutz

Complete with a fold out map of the United States, each page in this book has trivia facts about one of the states of the US.

The states are positioned in the book according to their locations, Upper Right, Lower Right, Middle, Middle Middle, and Left.

Sprinkled within the text are games and trivia hunts focused on the states. Answers can be found in the back of the text. Challenge your friends and see how much you really know about the 50 states.


ISBN: 978-1-59174-904-2

The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary

The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary: How Greg Heffley Went to Hollywood
           by Jeff Kinney

REVIEW.
With the popularity of the Wimpy Kid Series, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood came knocking on Jeff Kinney's door. But the author had no clue about how a movie is made, and so he decided it would be fun to write about the new adventure as a companion to the series.

Written in the now familiar format of the Wimpy Kid series, Jeff Kinney guides the reader through the movie-making experience including each major element along the way, starting with the evolution of Greg Heffley, the main character himself..."born" as a stick figure that would evolve and change many times before becoming the beloved figure we know today and was cast for a movie about him and the series.
This book includes the familiar format with an important plus....color photos from within the movie-making process itself, so the reader can truly experience the creation of the movie from start to finish.

Chapters include the original doodlings that led to the series itself,  sceenwriting, including how the script was "pitched" to the studio executives, casting process, location selection, storyboarding, the process of shooting, retakes, and out-takes of the movie, the role of the propmaster in film, and of course the unforeseen and spontaneous movie moments of moviemaking.

Not only is Jeff Kinney a great writer for tweens, he communicates directly and clearly to them. Although the book is close to 200 pages, it is filled with visual photos and illustrative treats of book and movie realia that few of us on the outside of production rarely see, with text concise to clarify what the reader is seeing, making the complex process of writing a book, converting it for film, and the process of filming understandable to the tween population and any age reader. Entertaining and informative, with the familiar literary character of Wimpy Kid adds up to a great nonfiction read!