April is National Poetry Month, and the best way to celebrate is by embracing poetry and all the joy it has to offer. Through poetry one can express any feeling and many fine writers have. Here are ten of my personal favorite books of poetry:

• The Beauty of the Beast: Poems From the Animal Kingdom J811.008 BEA
• Big, Bad, and a Little Bit Scary: Poems That Bite Back! - J811.008 BIG
• Creatures: Poems J821.008 CRE
• Exploding Gravy: Poems To Make You Laugh J811.54 KEN
• A Foot in the Mouth: Poems to Speak, Sing, and Shout J811.5408 JAN

Tumblebooks has something to enhance the reading experience for every young reader! This database is designed with young children in mind. Tumblebooks uses Flash animation to animate picture books. Additionally, Tumblebooks has wonderful games related to the books. You can find the link to this excellent resource right on the Commack Public Library home page (http://commack.suffolk.lib.ny.us/), or just click the icon below for more information on this wonderful database:

Ever wonder if that book everyone in your child’s class is reading is really appropriate for your child? Or how about that movie they’re all going to see?

Commonsensemedia.org is a great site to answer these questions. It rates movies, books, websites, tv, video games, and even music. Their  reviews suggest an average age for each item reviewed. For example, they recommend the newest Percy Jackson novel: The Last Olympian for children ages 10+.

To make it even more of a valuable resource, they have a section on each review called “What Familes Can Talk About” which suggests topics you can disscuss about the media item afterwards.

Do you sometimes  read a book and wish you knew of other books like it? I know I do! NoveList,  one of our Suffolk E-Resources,  is a great resource for moments like this!

NoveList is broken up into two databases:  NoveList K-8 for books written for children in kindergarten through 8th grade, and NoveList Plus for all teen and adult books.

If you haven’t tried the TumbleBooks  link on our Library’s home page take the time to check it out today.  TumbleBooks is an online site which the library subscribes to. The TumbleBook Library includes new children’s books, story books, puzzles and games related to the books, audio books, read-alongs (readables), and books in Chinese, French, Italian, Russian and Spanish.  The illustrations are gently animated and passages are  highlighted as they are read.  Just login with your library card barcode and your password from our homepage.  Click here for more information.

Posted by Ray Arroyo