The American Library Association’s Young Adult Library Services Association offers a variety of annual booklists, including a “quick picks” list with selections that may spark an interest in reluctant young adult readers. The lists are posted on the association’s Web site www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists. Reading is Fundamental, a national organization that promotes children’s literacy, provides the following [...]
Archive for June, 2008
Pump up the readers in your family!
Monday, June 30th, 2008How I spent my summer vacation
Monday, June 30th, 2008Although teachers may spend more hours in their classrooms than anywhere else during the school year, when the final bell rings in June — brace yourself — they have lives outside academia. Some pick up a second job, while others devote time to neglected hobbies, and others (much like their students) simply relish the warm [...]
Book’n it
Monday, June 30th, 2008Although he visited the Cockeysville Library twice a week last summer, Schooner is no typical patron. A Portuguese water dog belonging to Timonium Elementary School teacher Margo Rogers, Schooner is a trained therapy dog who helps children build their confidence in reading. He sits patiently as children read him a variety of books, pause to [...]
Hot Dates in July
Monday, June 30th, 2008Bad Reps Do you think snakes, bats, owls, coyotes and other animals are scary, aggressive or omens of bad luck? Now’s the time to learn otherwise. Come to the new nature center near the Hilton tire playground in Patapsco Valley State Park in Catonsville July 30 to learn why these animals don’t deserve such a [...]
The Match Game
Monday, June 30th, 2008At age 5, Becky Thompson showed little interest in soccer. During games, she simply stood on the soccer field and watched as the ball, and her teammates, rocketed past her. “She just stood there as the game swirled on around her,” said Jim Carlan, Becky’s grandfather and the chief operating officer of the Soccer Association [...]
Great choices, so go light on the chips
Monday, June 30th, 2008ON THE BORDER Whenever our family goes out for Mexican food, my children would make a meal out of just chips and salsa, if I let them. But on a recent trip to On the Border, which opened earlier this year in Elkridge’s Gateway Overlook shopping center, there was enough variety on the menu that [...]
Catonsville YMCA gets funds fit for overhaul
Monday, June 30th, 2008The Y of Central Maryland’s Catonsville family center is about to get a whole new look. The center was the recipient of $200,000 from the Maryland House of Delegates and $125,000 from the Maryland Senate, which will go toward expanding the center and the number of programs available. The current center in Catonsville was built [...]
Book pitches state’s best camping sites
Monday, June 30th, 2008With gas prices soaring and the economy stalling, many families are struggling over how to vacation this summer. Your holiday quandary could be solved in a newly released book: “The Best in Tent Camping: Maryland” by Lutherville resident Evan Balkan. “For a relatively small state …Maryland packs in a tremendous amount of diversity,” Balkan says [...]
Preteens can brush up on healthy habits
Monday, June 30th, 2008Preteens aren’t typically the most sought-after target audiences for museum exhibits. But executives at the National Museum of Dentisty think their latest exhibit will appeal to even the hardest-to-please pre-adolescent. Marvelous Mouth, which opens July 12, explores such topics as braces, oral piercings and the purpose of mouth guards — not to mention a reinforcement [...]
July
Monday, June 30th, 2008July is the warmest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Here are a few weather facts about July in Baltimore: 107¼ Highest recorded temperature (1936) 54¼ Lowest recorded temperature (1933) 91¼ Average daily high temperature 73¼ Average daily low 3.96″ Average amount of rainfall July ranks fifth for most precipitation 50th Sweatiest City [...]