Grimm Brothers tell the tales

Do you ever wonder where your favorite fairy tale came from? Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were both librarians who published a number of books in German. The volumes of Fairy Tales that they compiled in the early 1800′s eventually contained over 200 tales. They did this by collecting all the folktales and fairy tales that they could find, partly from people, and partly from manuscripts and books. Many of their tales were criticized as not suitable for children, and over the years, many authors have adapted them to make them more appropriate for kids by making them softer and sweeter.

The library has many of these adapted tales in the children’s collection. Just go to your favorite branch and browse the J398 section (your librarian will help you find it!). Many authors have taken the basic tales and added their own touches. Even Walt Disney took inspiration from the Grimm brothers in his movie making.

Here is one recent addition that you might want to look for. It is a 2010 American Library Association Notable Book for Younger Readers. But a warning: all of the tales have something (or someone!) that gets eaten!

Yummy: eight favorite fairy tales by Lucy Cousins

Ben Franklin – Friend of Books and Libraries

Ben Franklin was born on January 17, 1706. You may know him as a great statesman and inventor. He was also a printer and had a great love of reading. He formed the first public lending library in America. In those days, books were rare and expensive, so he started a group called the Junto who started a library by pooling their own books. in 1731, this evolved into a subscription library, where the members collected money to buy books. This was the Library Company, whose first librarian was hired by Franklin in 1732. The Library Company still exists in Philadelphia as a research library and houses over a half a million rare books and other items. The Alameda County Libraries have dozens of books on his amazing life that you will enjoy.

 

Even today he is an inspiration to those who love reading. Check out the digital tile mural by Jos Sances at the new Castro Valley Library!

New Year’s Resolutions

The start of the new year gets people thinking about resolutions–things that they would like to accomplish or to change about themselves. Take a minute right now and think about some resolutions. Maybe you would like to eat healthier, do better in school, remember to always wear your bike helmet, sign up to do some volunteer work, or just get your room organized and decorated. Then when you have decided, you can post a comment completing this sentence “My goals for the New Year are…”, and tell us how you will accomplish them. The library has lots of information that could help you reach those goals–just ask!

 

Here are some books to get you started. Go to www.aclibrary.org to see which libraries have them.

Groom Your Room

Serve your Community

Healty Eating

 

 

How to do Homework without Throwing Up