Black Cats!

Black Cat Extravaganza!

We’ve scared up a list of books with Black Cats in them. They’re not all scary, but some will give you goosebumps!

NON-FICTION
Black Cats JE 394.2646 PETERSON
Poor Goose: a French Tale J398.2 ROCKWELL
Short and Shivery: thirty Chilling Tales J398.25 SAN SOUCI
Creepy Creatures DVD J591.65 CREEPY
Halloween Origami J736.982 OWEN
Paper Crafts for Halloween J745.59416 MCGEE
Ralph Masiello’s Halloween Drawing Book J743.87 MASIELLO
Pete the Cat’s Groovy Guide to Life J808.882 DEAN
Halloween Howls: Holiday Poetry JE 811.00803 HALLOWEEN
Hallowilloween J811.54 BROWN
A Curious Collection of Cats J811.54 FRANCO
Cat Poems J811.6 CRAWLEY

JUVIE BOARD BOOKS
Countdown to Halloween JBB EUBANK,P
Seven Orange Pumpkins JBB SAVAGE,S
Where’s Boo JBB YOON,S

JUVIE PICTURE BOOKS
The Night Cat JPB BEAMES,M
Black Cat, White Cat JPB BORANDO,S
Meeow and the Big Box JPB BRAUN,S
A Dark, Dark Tale JPB BROWN
Holly: the True Story of a Cat JPB BROWN,R
Inside a House that is Haunted JPB CAPUCILLI
The Witch of Hissing Hill JPB CALHOUN
Spooky and the Ghost Cat JPB CARLSON
Hubble, Bubble, Granny Trouble JPB CORDEROY, T
Pete the Cat JPB DEAN,J
Five Little Pumpkins JPB DEAN,J
Dog vs. Cat JPB GALL,C
The Night World JPB GERSTEIN,M
Five Black Cats JPB HEGARTY,P
Excuse me– are you a witch? JPB HORN,E
One Dark Night JPB HUTCHINS
Only a Witch Can Fly JPB MCGHEE,A
Be Gentle JPB MILLER
Pumpkin Cat JPB MORTIMER,A
Happy Halloween, Witch’s Cat! JPB MUNCASTER,H
Moonlight, the Halloween Cat JPB RYLANT,C
Scaredy-cat, Splat! JPB SCOTTON,R
Splat the Cat, What was That? JPB SCOTTON,R
Black Cat Creeping JPB SLATER, T
You and Me JPB VERDE,S
The Black Kitten Tg JPB VIZCARRA,N
Won Ton and Chopstick : a cat and dog tale told in haiku JPB WARDLAW,L
Mr. Wuffles! JPB WIESNER,D

JUVIE EASY READERS
Jenny’s moonlight adventure JE AVERILL
Spooky and the Wizard’s Bats JE CARLSON
The Bookstore Burglar JE MAITLAND,B
Friday, the Scaredy Cat JE MCMAHON,K
Amelia Bedelia Tries Her Luck JE PARISH,H
The Halloween Cat JE RICCI,C

JUVIE FICTION
Who Stole Halloween J Pbk FREEMAN
The Case of the Phantom Cat J WEBB,H
The Cat with Seven Names CDB J JOHNSTON,T
Cats on Track J MARTIN,L
Crenshaw J APPLEGATE,K
Edgar Allan Poe’s tales of mystery and madness J POE, E
The Forbidden Library J WEXLER,D
The Islands of Chaldea J JONES,D
Jenny and the Cat Club : a collection of favorite stories about Jenny Linsky J AVERILL,E
Lara the Black Cat Fairy J Pbk MAGICAL
Path of Stars J HUNTER,E
Pinky Pye J ESTES,E
Puss in Boots DVD J PUSS
The Three Golden Keys J SIS,P
Toes J SEIDLER,T
Bad Kitty Drawn to Trouble J BRUEL,N (MOVING UP)

Maybe you’ll see this black cat someday…..

Alley Cat by Dan Hess.

Read Full Post »

From Glue to Glory!

Kids make beautiful projects from papier-mache: an elephant and a bookworm!

We’ll start by showing you the ingredients needed to make your project, then we’ll show you the glorious art created by children from Albany.

 

Ingredients to Make Papier Mache Paste:

Flour, Water, Salt

You will also need these items:

Measuring Cup, Large Bowl, Stirring Spoon

Start out by measuring your flour into the bowl. Start with one cup of flour. Add one and a half cups of water. Stir this mixture well getting out lumps. You want it to be like runny batter. Add a teaspoon or two of salt. (Salt helps prevent mold that may form while project is drying.)

This amount of papier mache paste should be enough to do an entire medium-sized project. If you make more paste, remember to mix 2 parts flour with approximately 3 parts water.

Take your time creating your project. Apply glue and newspaper strips one layer at a time and let each layer dry at least 24 hours before you apply the next.

Store your paste between uses in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator. Always stir the paste before you start your next layer. Make sure all the parts of the paste are well-mixed before you start dipping paper strips into the paste.

Make a structure to give your sculpture an interesting shape. To make a Heart, as you see further down this page, use a hanger for a base and shape it into a heart. Then build up the sculpture, using layers of thin paper. Layer the strips on balloons if you want fantastic shapes. Strips of newspaper work well because they can be shaped easily.

 

From Glue to Glory! Look at the beautiful art created by kids in Albany. Their teaching artist, Lisa Norman, believes that kids should be given paints and materials of the best quality so they will know how beautiful their art can be. By thinking and planning a design, then enjoying the experience of creation, kids create stunning sculptures. We display these sculptures throughout our library.

On a class trip to the library, these fourth graders saw their art on the shelves!

 

 

 

Here are some students who found their hearts on the shelves. Families and friends (and little brothers) were happy!

 

 

 

 

Here’s a proud student in front of her papier-mache mask! We called this display, “The Guardians of Wonder.”

 

All this art was made by kids. You can do this, too! We hope to see your art at a local library.

Read Full Post »

The March of Art! Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!

March is Art Month at Albany Library. Art IS Education month, to be exact. The library is filled with children’s art and the calendar is filled with Arts programming for people of all ages.

Art IS Ed brochure

From the Irish-themed events on March 7, to the “Make a Book” Family workshop and “Sock Creature” maker space for Tweens on March 28, you’ll become an arty-schmarty at Albany Library this month.

March 7 Flyer

Art IS Ed 2015 AC Library Booklet

Art_IS_Ed_2015_Booklist

 

Read Full Post »

Tell Your Story: Art IS Education 2014

A theme made for a library: Tell Your Story! Last Tuesday, Art Is Education kicked off at Albany Library with a craft workshop led by Marion Coleman. Violet Juno and Cybele Gerachis assisted. Tracing their arms and outstretched hands, kids and adults fashioned a pair of arms to hold their special library books. These books were full of surprises, including pop-up hearts, origami cranes, flowers and much more. Besides taking home artwork, participants created a community storybook to display in the library. (See photos below or visit Juvie Fiction to see the art, yourself) Remember to check the Art Is Education brochure for the great events scheduled for all ages during the month of March!

Read Full Post »

Looking Good For Our Age: 100!

The city’s smallest citizens wish their library a Happy Birthday!!

On this day–December 4, 1913–the Albany Library was born. In a Fourth of July souvenir program from that year, Albany was called the place “where climate, convenience and courtesy cancels competition.” Can’t beat that! Albany Library has lived up to all those C’s, always striving to be convenient and courteous. And, in this town of 18,000, without using any shady methods to cancel competition, we are still the only public library in town. Come see if we look good for our age!

Deb and Dale

Happy Birthday, Albany Library!

Mom has Dec. 4 Birthday!

Read Full Post »

Everybody’s Playing

Over 500 players from Pre-Readers to Kids to Teens to Adults are reading and coloring and spinning and winning. The Alameda County Library’s Summer Reading Game lasts all summer. (Albany Library’s game shuts down in late August.)

The first Bingo winners are cashing in! Book-loving kids are hitting Albany Bowl and Togos, trekking to Lawrence Hall of Science and the Chabot Space Center–and a few have scored their final prize of a Book and Ferry Ride and chance at the county raffle.

Teen and adult prize winners are faced with the difficult choice between blow-up globe or squeezy ball. Psychological studies reveal that globe-pickers have dreams of world domination and squeezy ball choosers want us all to get along. (Don’t worry, peaceniks! The inflatable globe is accurate and will help kids pass their SATs. And the globe–like all dreams of world conquest–will lose its air, especially after a good game of soccer!)

This Monday we draw our first Albany Raffle Prize for each age group: four Solano Avenue gift cards. (Yes, the entire card can be spent on Ice Cream!)

Read Full Post »

Candy Land Library

Calling all Number Crunchers and Candy Munchers! Play our Candy Count Contest this February and WIN! One child, teen and adult will win a gift certificate to Games of Berkeley plus a share of the candy. Pick up a love book while you’re at it.  Winners will be selected third week in February. Closest guess wins!!!

Be sure to attend Margo’s Craft Workshop on Saturday, February 9 at 2:00 pm. She’ll help you ring in Chinese New Year, the Year of the Snake–making traditional paper cuts, and prepare for Valentine’s Day with Swedish hearts, origami hearts, and other paper fantasies.

Read Full Post »