Craft Day with Mrs. Claus in Freeport

From 10 a.m to 12 p.m on Saturday, December 3, Freeport Library, a branch of Brazoria County Library System, will host Craft Day with Mrs. Claus. Children who attend will get to make ornaments, decorate a cookie, get a free book, and meet Mrs. Claus herself!

Several stations - each with a different activity - will be set up throughout the library. Children will decorate a cookie, make a tree ornament to take home, and stamp gift wrap to make their own wrapping paper. Mrs. Claus will read stories to all the children, and then they will receive a free book, provided by Friends of the Freeport Library.

“Craft Day with Mrs. Claus is one of our biggest events every year, and we’re excited to see everyone come celebrate the holiday season with us,” Cindy Yell, Freeport branch manager, said.

The event is sponsored by Friends of the Freeport Library and is free to the public. For more information, call the library at 979-233-3622.

Book Club In a Bag

Friends of the Lake Jackson Library members
show off the Book Club in a Bag bags
which were purchased with a Target community grant.

Thirty Book Club In a Bag bags are now available for checkout. Made possible by a community grant from Target, the bags are available in three reading levels: preschool to third grade, fourth to sixth grade, and junior high to high school.

Each bag contains eight paperback copies of the same title along with discussion questions and booktalk notes. These paperbacks supplement the hardcover editions already available throughout the library system to help provide enough copies for a large group.

The purpose of the bags is to encourage more children to visit the library and read for reasons other than just school projects and to develop a lifetime commitment to reading that will carry over into adulthood and be passed down to future generations of readers.

Teachers, groups, organizations, parents or individuals are encouraged to start their own book clubs and check out a bag.

NPR's Back-Seat Book Club

National Public Radio has an online book club for children ages nine to 14. In November, they're reading the classic book "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster.

"The Phantom Tollbooth" was published in 1961 and fifty years later it is still popular. Our library's copies have checked out a total of 167 times as of this writing.

From the book's jacket copy:

This ingenious fantasy centers around Milo, a bored ten-year-old who comes home to find a large toy tollbooth sitting in his room. Joining forces with a watchdog named Tock, Milo drives through the tollbooth's gates and begins a memorable journey. He meets such characters as the foolish, yet lovable Humbug, the Mathemagician, and the not-so-wicked "Which," Faintly Macabre, who gives Milo the "impossible" mission of returning two princesses to the Kingdom of Wisdom...

In addition to reading the book, participants are encouraged to interact with the book's author.

Check out a copy of the book. Send the author a message. And don't forget to tell us what you thought about Milo and his journey!

Rocket Languages

Brazoria County Library System announces its latest feature – Rocket Languages – an online resource for language learning available from home or inside the library branches.

“The library system is always looking for ways to help our patrons. Having Rocket Languages available online for people to use at home will be a great service,” Catherine Threadgill, library director, said.

Rocket Languages includes lessons for Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and American Sign Language. It also includes English lessons for Spanish speakers.

The courses include MP3 files that can be listened to online or downloaded to an MP3 player. The American Sign Language courses also require the installation of software.

The lessons are broken down into a variety of topics and include quizzes and games to test users’ skills. A motivation center is also provided to help keep users excited about learning another language. Each language also includes online forums for additional help, resources and tips for users.

To access Rocket Languages, users should visit the Brazoria County Library System website. They will need to click the Rocket Languages logo or the Homework/Research menu button. The first time users access Rocket Languages, they will need to register with their library card number, name, email address and library password.

Author Visit: Lindsey Backen

photo provided by the author

Lindsey Backen will hold a book tour throughout Brazoria County including a short book talk, followed by a signing. Dates for the tour are:
6 p.m., Nov. 7 at the Angleton Branch
7 p.m., Nov. 9 at the West Columbia Branch
7 p.m., Nov. 10 at the Brazoria Branch
7 p.m., Nov. 16 at the Pearland Branch

A former Sweeny resident, Backen was still attending Brazosport College when she sketched out the basic ideas for a novel. In March 2010 she published "The Calling," the first book in the Secret of Sentarra series.

The book centers around a fictional kingdom called Eirlerre. Tehveor is the nephew of the tyrannical king of Eirlerre. Because of an unusual physical feature, he is also declared to be Celestion, a foretold leader who will reinstate the fallen kingdom of Sentarra. Leading a double life, he must work to understand the bits of writing left by the inhabitants of Sentarra, while ensuring that Sentarra’s rise does not endanger the kingdom that is set to pass on to his benevolent cousin, Prince Kael.

“The book was hard to categorize,” Backen said. "The best I can explain it is ‘historical fiction with a slight fantasy flair.' There are people and trickery that are difficult for the characters to understand or explain, but there are no magic abilities or mythical creatures involved. I’ve gotten good feedback from fantasy and non-fantasy readers alike. I would say that anyone who enjoys the medieval days would enjoy the book. A large portion of the plot is based on character relationship, making it more than a simple adventure story.”

Each visit is sponsored by the branch's Friends. Books will be available for purchase after the talk.

For more information about Backen's novels, visit www.lbacken.com or www.secretofsentarra.com.