December Book

The Book Buddies book for December will be The Last Holiday Concert by Andrew Clements.  We will meet on Monday, December 17th @ 3:30pm in the John Clarke Children's Program Room to discuss the book and have some holiday treats.  Copies of the book are available at the Children's Desk.

Registration is required - please let me know if you plan to attend so that I can make sure to have enough treats and supplies.  Call 401-847-8720 ext. 204 or email cgould@newportlibraryri.org to sign up.

Life is usually easy for popular fifth grader Hart Evans, but when his music teacher puts him in charge of the holiday concert, Hart must use all of his leadership skills to unite the other students.

Did You Know...

Did you know that you can download music for free through the Newport Public Library?  By visiting the library's website and selecting Freegal Music (under "downloads" in the red menu bar), patrons with a Newport Public Library card can download up to three mp3 songs each week.  Songs do not expire!  They are yours to keep.

For help getting started, visit our Freegal Music Help page.

Freegal music has a wide variety of music both new and old - check it out today!

For additional help downloading music through the library contact the Reference Desk at 401-847-8720 ext. 208.

November Meeting Wrap-Up

The Book Buddies Book Club met yesterday afternoon to discuss our November book, The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling.  Everyone really enjoyed the book and we had a terrific discussion.

We began by talking about our first impressions of John and whether or not he is "a very nice boy" as he is described.  We felt that a "nice" person is someone who is helpful, kind, a good listener and one who is good at sharing and that John had some "nice" qualities but that he was very selfish and greedy where chocolate was concerned.  We also thought about whether or not he would be a good friend and decided that he would be a good friend and that he was a good friend to Susan even though he destroyed her silver dollar and ruined her birthday party.  We felt that those incidents weren't really his fault because he didn't intend for the bad things to happen and because Susan encouraged him to bite the silver dollar against his better judgement.

We thought John was wrong for not taking responsibility for things that happened to him and were all glad when he did finally realize there was no one to blame but himself. 

We hope that John probably learned a lot from his chocolate experience and will be less greedy and selfish in the future.

One book club member suggested that the storekeeper who sold John the chocolate that started his chocolatitis might have actually been Dr. Cranium.  Could they be the same person?  Perhaps Dr. Cranium wanted to teach John a lesson about his chocolate greed and felt that this would be a good way to do it.

We all thought it would have been nice if John could have chosen which things in his life would turn to chocolate and discussed other food "touches" we would like to have.  Some would like things to taste like pizza, bacon, truffles, or ice cream.  Others liked the idea of a "burger touch."  Overall we all agree that having everything taste the same all of the time is a bad idea because it would get very boring after awhile and it would be bad for our nutrition.

Following our discussion we read a short version of the King Midas story and compared and contrasted King Midas and John Midas.  We also did a Chocolate Touch word search puzzle and crossword puzzle and tested our memories with a Chocolate Touch trivia quiz.

Prior to our discussion we attempted to make our very own chocolates!  Everyone had a great time melting the chocolate and pouring it into the molds.  Thanks to 15 minutes in the freezer, the chocolates hardened very quickly and everyone got to take some Book Buddies chocolate home.

It was an excellent meeting and thanks to all the Book Buddies members who came!

Meeting Reminder

Just a reminder that the Book Buddies Book Club will meet this afternoon at 3:30pm in the John Clarke Children's Program Room to discuss The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling.

Hope to see you there!

National Book Award Winner

The National Book Award winners for 2012 were announced on Wednesday and the winner for Young People's Literature is...

Goblin Secrets by William Alexander!

In Goblin Secrets, a boy joins a theatrical troupe of goblins to find his missing brother. In the town of Zombay, there is a witch named Graba who has clockwork chicken legs and moves her house around--much like the fairy tale figure of Baba Yaga. Graba takes in stray children, and Rownie is the youngest boy in her household. Rownie's only real relative is his older brother Rowan, who is an actor. But acting is outlawed in Zombay, and Rowan has disappeared. Desperate to find him, Rownie joins up with a troupe of goblins who skirt the law to put on plays. But their plays are not only for entertainment, and the masks they use are for more than make-believe. The goblins also want to find Rowan--because Rowan might be the only person who can save the town from being flooded by a mighty river.

Did You Know.....

Did you know that you can get eBooks for free through the library?

Check out EZone, Rhode Island's statewide eBook library, for eBooks AND audiobooks or visit the 3M Cloud library for eBooks available to Newport Public Library cardholders only.

Get instructions for downloading books through EZone to your Kindle, Nook, iPad and more!

 Get instructions for using the 3M Cloud!

For additional help downloading eBooks through the library contact the Reference Desk at 401-847-8720 ext. 208.

Native American Programs for Kids

Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with two amazing programs!

This Saturday, November 17th at 11:00am, performer George Penedo will share his love for the Native American flute.  He will give a little background on the history and making of the flutes and will play several tunes for the audience to enjoy.

On Monday, November 19th at 3:30pm, learn about Native American culture, history and archaeology with independent researcher Amy Tibbetts.  Find out what the Pilgrims and Native Americans ate at the first Thanksgiving and much more.  This program will include items for children to see and touch.

No registration is required for these free programs - just drop-in.

Hope to see you there!

King Midas

The Chocolate Touch (in which everything John's lips touch turns to chocolate) is a spoof of the greek myth about King Midas. Everything King Midas touched turned to gold. Much like John, at first King Midas was delighted with his power. But over time, he realized how horrible it really was. The children's department has a couple of books about King Midas that you might want to look at to expand your reading of The Chocolate Touch:

King Midas by Neil Philip (j292 Phi)

In ancient Greece, King Midas had the chance to ask one favor of the god Dionysus. He asked that everything he touched might turn to gold.

King Midas and the Golden Touch by Charlotte Craft (j398.2 Cra)

A king finds himself bitterly regretting the consequences of his wish that everything he touches would turn to gold.

Sweet Reading

In The Chocolate Touch, John acquires a magical gift that turns everything his lips touch into chocolate. At first this is wonderful but overtime, he begins to see how this might not be such a great thing. For those of you (like me!) who love chocolate, here a few more sweet stories to wet your appetite...

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Each of five children lucky enough to discover an entry ticket into Mr. Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory takes advantage of the situation in his own way.

Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith

From eating too much chocolate, Henry breaks out in brown bumps that help him foil some hijackers and teach him a valuable lesson about self- indulgence.

The Chocolate Cat by Sue Stainton

A clever cat helps his owner, a chocolate maker, to discover the magic in his work and together they transform a colorless town into a place of beauty and happiness.

This Book is Not Good For You by Pseudonymous Bosch

In this tooth-rotting adventure, Cass's mom has been kidnapped by the evil dessert chef and chocolatier, Señor Hugo! The ransom...the legendary tuning fork. Can Cass and Max-Ernest find the magical instrument before it's too late? Will they discover the evil secret ingredient to Señor Hugo's chocolate success?

Chocolate: A Sweet History by Sandra Markle

Complete with recipes, a guide provides an informative review of the history of chocolate by explaining where it originated, how it was originally used and by whom, how it is grown and processed, how it came to be made into tasty treats in modern times, and more.

Homework Help: Try This!

Looking for a great book to read?  Did you know that you can search NoveList to find:

• all the titles in a fiction series
• all the titles written by an author you liked
• fiction books about a topic that you are interested in or like to read about
• read-alikes for every author, title and series

Find NoveList by visiting the kids Great Reads webpage.

Questions?  Visit the Children's Desk or call 401-847-8720 ext. 204 for more information.

Letters About Literature

Do you like to write? 

All Rhode Island students in grades 4 - 10 are invited to write a personal letter to a favorite author, describing the impact of the author's book on his or her life or explaining how that book helped them see an aspect of the world - large or small - through new eyes.

This contest has a national prize of $1000.  The deadline to enter is January 11, 2013.

Directions for entering and contest guidelines can be found on the Letters About Literature website. 

Good luck and happy writing!