Maker Craft: ArtBots

Join us on Saturday, October 4th from 2:00pm-4:00pm for a Maker Craft: ArtBots program.  Create a robot that can make its own artwork!  FabNewport, the wonderful people behind last summer's Maker Camp, will be on hand to help you design your robot.  Everyone who attends will leave with a working robot.  Don't miss out!

Registration is required and is limited.  Sign up at the Children's Desk or call 401-847-8720 ext. 204.  For children ages 6-12 years old.  Held in the John Clarke Children's Program Room.

Join TAG

The new Tween Advisory Group (TAG) will meet for the first time on Tuesday, September 30th at 3:30pm in the John Clarke Children's Program Room.  Come and let your voice be heard!  Meet to discuss books, plan programs and work on special projects.  We want your input in the kinds of activities that take place at the library.

No registration is required - just come by! 

Book Buddies September Meeting

The Book Buddies Book Club met yesterday afternoon to discuss Spaceheadz by Jon Scieszka.  We had a terrific meeting with all new members!

We began with our lightning round trivia which is a great way to refresh everyone on the plot and details of the book.  Everyone did incredibly well; I am always so impressed with all the small facts kids can remember.  The hardest trivia question was: "What book did Michael K. have to read in reading group?"  You would have needed to be reading very carefully since it was only mentioned once.  Respond in the comments if you can remember!

After trivia, while enjoying our snacks, we discussed many different facets of the book beginning with our first impression of the main character, Michael K.  We agreed that he seems like a shy kid, the type who enjoys video games and playing on the computer.  A couple of members thought he has a very strange haircut.  Overall he is a regular kid, someone who we might know or see at school.

We talked about differences and how easy or difficult it can be for people to accept things that are new and different.  Jennifer and Bob are both very different from the other kids at school and we felt that many of the teachers and students at P.S. 858 were not accepting of them and jumped to conclusion about them being from Bulgaria.

We decided that if we ever met an alien from outer space we would ask it some of the following questions: what it's phone number is, whether or not there is animal life on it's planet, where exactly it lives, if it wears shoes, if it knows if there are other worlds out in space like our own and if it has pets like we do.

In the story, Bob and Jennifer need to recruit 3,140,001 people to become SPHDZ or Earth will be turned off.  What would that look like?  We decided that if Earth were turned off it would not have any electricity, it would become a Black Hole, there would be no people here (we would all either die or freeze), SPHDZ would also die since they need Earth and Earthlings to exist and there would be no oxygen.

Bob and Jennifer talk in commercial taglines because they learned about people by watching TV.  We decided that for the most part commercials do not provide an accurate representation of Earth and the people who live here.  Commercials often make it seem as though anything is possible which is not always the case.  They tend to portray everything at it's best which is also not true to life.

We agreed that Michael K. had the best idea about turning kids into SPHDZ because kids are more willing to believe in things that may seem unreal and are more open-minded that adults.  In addition to creating a SPHDZ website and Major Fluffy's blog, we thought he could increase his recruiting efforts by also creating flyers and posters and posting to Facebook and Twitter.  Another idea was to create logos for water bottles and to pass them out to kids.

Agent Umber was unanimously voted NOT good at his job and we brainstormed ways he could be a better detective and alien catcher.  These included trying harder to not be seen when out investigating, obtaining more gadgets (think Inspector Gadget), doing more undercover work and being more careful of his surroundings and taking necessary precautions (think the incident where he fell out of the tree while spying).

We do not think that Agent Umber will ever catch an alien or get a cool color name however on the off chance he does we thought he might want to consider the names Agent Black, Agent Neon Yellow, Agent White, Agent Aquamarine and Agent Camouflague.

Overall we really enjoyed Spaceheadz and many of us expressed interested in reading on in the series.

 Following our discussion we made our own SPHDZ recruitment posters!  Everyone did a great job creating posters that will make kids want to become SPHDZ.

These posters will be on display in the library for a few weeks.  Come check them out!

It was a terrific meeting and thank to all the new members for coming!  See you in October!

Meeting Reminder

A reminder that the first meeting on the Book Buddies Book Club will take place on Wednesday, September 24th at 3:30pm in the John Clarke Children's Program Room.  Come enjoy snacks and discuss Spaceheadz by Jon Scieszka! 

Registration is required - sign up at the Children's Desk or call 847-8720 ext. 204.

Hope to see you Wednesday!

Spaceheadz Online

Visit the Spaceheadz website to learn more about the book and join Spaceheadz!

Read an interview with Jon Scieszka to learn more about Spaceheadz.

Read On

Like the action, adventure and aliens in Spaceheadz?  You might also like to read:

NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society by Michael Buckley

While running a spy network from their elementary school, five unpopular misfits combine their talents and use cutting-edge gadgetry to fight evil around the world.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

Sixth-grader Tommy and his friends describe their interactions with a paper finger puppet of Yoda, worn by their weird classmate Dwight, as they try to figure out whether or not the puppet can really predict the future. Includes instructions for making Origami Yoda.

Pi in the Sky by Wendy Mass

Joss, the seventh son of the Supreme Overlord of the Universe, must team up with a human girl to re-create Earth, when the planet is accidentally erased from existence.

Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon

Danny Dragonbreath and his friend Wendell get an up-close underwater tour of the Sargasso Sea from Danny's sea-serpent cousin, encountering giant squid and mako sharks--and learn about standing up to bullies in the process.

Magic Pickle by Scott Morse

Meet the world's greenest, bumpiest, briniest superhero, the Magic Pickle. With his feisty sidekick Jo Jo Wigman, the Magic Pickle faces his worst nightmare, the Brotherhood of Evil Produce. Will he save the world from those foul fiends, or will the world be conquered by vegetables gone wild?

Otis Dooda: Strange But True  by Ellen Potter

Everyday, nine-year-old Otis Dooda confronts a series of zany changes when his father's new job prompts the family's move to a New York City apartment, where Otis is cursed by a guy in a potted plant in their apartment building lobby and has to team up with a new friend and a gassy miniature horse to break the curse.

Spaceheadz Video

Author Jon Scieszka

Jon Scieszka is the amazing author of the Spaceheadz series.  He has written many books for children of all ages including the Time Warp Trio series, Math Curse and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.  He is also the editor of the Guys Read series.  Find out more about him on his website or by reading his memoir written for children, Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories About Growing Up Scieszka. 

Spaceheadz Series

Enjoying Spaceheadz?  Continue on in the series with:

SPHDZ Book 2

The campaign to save the earth from being turned off is going well, but Michael K. must enlist fellow fifth-graders Venus and TJ to help hide the SPHDZ from Agent Umber, especially when they become involved in a school play.

SPHDZ Book 3

With only one hundred more Spaceheadz to sign up, Michael K.'s friends start planning an Earth-saving party but Michael fears the Brainwave might be used for a much more sinister purpose.

SPHDZ 4 LIFE!

With a mysterious new principal and fifth-grade graduation fast approaching, will Michael K. and his friends be able to find the missing Brainwave before the chief of the Anti-Alien Agency uses it to destroy a planet?

September Book

The September Book Buddies has been selected!  Read Spaceheadz by Jon Scieszka and join us on Wednesday, September 24th at 3:30pm for snacks, a book discussion and a related activity. 

Registration is required - sign up at the Children's Desk, over the phone (401-847-8720 ext. 204) or email me (cgould@newportlibraryri.org).  Once you have a signed up you are registered for the year!  (There is no need to sign up each month if you plan on coming.  However, please let me know if you can't attend). 

Hope to see you on the 24th!

On his first day at Brooklyn's P.S. 858, fifth-grader Michael K. is teamed with two very strange students, and while he gradually comes to believe they are aliens who need his help, he has trouble convincing anyone else of the truth.

Rhode Island Children's Book Award

Voting for the Rhode Island Children's Book Award 2015 is a mere 6 months away!  I hope you've all been reading the books since the list was published in March.  As a reminder to read these excellent books so that you'll be ready to vote next year, I'll be featuring 4 titles each month, September - January.  See our special RICBA display in the library and check out one of these books today!

Athlete vs. Mathlete by W.C. Mack

When their two worlds collide in seventh grade, fraternal twins and opposites Owen and Russell find themselves in direct competition at school, on the court, and at home.

The Blessing Cup by Patricia Polacco

A single china cup from a tea set left behind when Jews were forced to leave Russia helps hold a family together through generations of living in America, reminding them of the most important things in life.

The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis

With love and determination befitting the "world's greatest family," twelve-year-old Deza Malone, her older brother Jimmie, and their parents endure tough times in Gary, Indiana, and later Flint, Michigan during the Great Depression.

Wild Born by Brandon Mull

As a dark force engulfs the land, the fate of Erdas has fallen on the shoulders of four young strangers who each have forged a rare bond with their spirit beasts -- a bond that gives great powers to all of them.