I’ll be honest…I’ve seen this book before on our New Books shelf, and the cover intrigued me. And I might have idly flipped through it a few times, never really paying attention to what the book was about. But now that I’ve actually read through this book of monster poems, I knew it had to be my next Random Book Sighting entry!

The Monsterologist: A Memoir In Rhyme
Ghostwritten by Bobbi Katz
Illustrated by Adam McCauley
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Personally, I love poetry and I think kids secretly do too, even if they won’t admit it out right. This book of hysterical monster poems is great for the monster-lover, the poetry-lover, or the kid simply looking for a book of funny rhymes. I love how the rhymes are funny without being too scary (a spaghetti-eating yeti isn’t very frightening!), and several of these made me laugh out loud. The book is set up to look like a scrapbook of letters and memories from the distinguished “Monsterologist” who has spent his or her lifetime studying monsters all over the world. You’ll find rhymes about zombies, trolls, werewolves, golems, and even a few about famous (deceased) musicians. The poem about Elvis’ ghost really cracked me up!

The look of this book is great, too. Illustrator Adam McCauley did an excellent job of making this book look just like an eccentric collection of letters, emails, bits of paper, maps, graphs, and even a personal ad. Every page has a different feel to it, but there’s no doubt that McCauley put a lot of thought into the illustrations. My favorite poem in this book, “The Suds-Surfing Sock Eater: A Conjecture” has a very funny illustration of a suds monster consuming a sock. At least now I know I’m not the only one with a missing sock problem!

Best of all, it’s a book of poetry! Poetry is wonderful for children of all ages (even those of us who might be adults age-wise but fully admit to being young at heart!) Poetry innately appeals to children because of its natural rhythm. I’ve found that even kids who swore up and down they didn’t like poetry at the beginning of one of my poetry programs wound up smiling and nodding their heads to the beat of the words. Like music, poetry flows and creates big images in the minds of kids using only a few words. And this book does just that, while using some great vocabulary as well. It’s okay if kids don’t know the words right off the bat…I’ve read many articles and heard teachers talk about the way poets like Jack Prelutsky help students learn new words. Bobbi Katz’s “ghostwritten” poems do the same thing in The Monsterologist: introduce kids to new words to help them build a bigger, stronger vocabulary.

So if this book sparks your fancy as a parent, or your child’s fancy, be sure to check out the amazing selection of poetry we have here at the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library in the Children’s Department! Any of us would be more than happy to help you find exactly what you’re looking for, whether it’s poetry, fiction, non-fiction, picture books, or audio books.

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Nuts to You!

It’s fall: acorns and leaves are falling to the ground, we want hot chocolate instead of lemonade, and the cool temperatures are driving us all inside.  When the family gets a little stir-crazy, and you need something fun to do, go nuts!  Peanuts, that is.

November is National Peanut Butter Lovers Month.  If you’re tired of plain old PB&J sandwiches, jazz things up a bit and use one of America’s favorite foods in new and exciting ways.  How about making peanut butter play dough for the kids?  That way they can play with and eat their food.  Or maybe you could make your own peanut butter from scratch.  Show your kids that food doesn’t always have to come from boxes, cans, and jars.

Furthermore, even though they are similar to tree nuts, did you know that peanuts are actually legumes like beans and peas?  If you have trouble getting your kids to eat their vegetables, then you can rest easy knowing that they are getting protein plus additional vital nutrients from one of nature’s super foods.  Another benefit of peanut butter is that it is a great staple for vegetarian or vegan diets.

Whether you are snacking on ants-on-a-log or criss-crossing peanut butter cookies for a pot luck, celebrate each mouthful of peanut butter this month.  And remember that peanut butter can compliment anything from apples, bananas, and carrots to a steaming stack of pancakes.  So go nuts this month and try out a new recipe or two—your family will thank you.

Other Links to Explore

Peanut Butter Lovers Month
http://www.irish-cream.com/peanutbutter.html

Celebrate Peanut Butter Lovers Month in November
http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/novemberholidays/l/blnovmon1.htm

Skippy Kid’s Corner
http://www.peanutbutter.com/funfacts.aspx

Jif Peanut Butter Recipes
http://www.jif.com/recipes/

Peanut Butter Trivia Quiz
http://www.braingle.com/trivia/22253/peanut-butter.html

Craft-   Nutty Buddies and Corky Squirrels

Transform nuts and corks and all kinds of fall litter into adorable little creatures.  All it takes is a glue gun, tacky glue,pipe cleaners, jiggle eyes, tree bark, leaves, corks, nuts and your imagination.

Books

Peanut Butter and Jellyfishes: a very silly alphabet book by Selina Alko
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From Peanuts to Peanut Butter by Kristin Toennes Keller
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Peanut Butter Burglary by Becky Freeman
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Peanut Butter Party:  including the history ,uses, and future of peanut butter by Remy Charlip
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The Peanut Butter Gang by Catherine Siracusa
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Peanut Butter: a traditional song illustrated by Robin Oz
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The Peanut-Free Café by Gloria Koster
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Mystery at the Club Sandwich by Doug Cushman
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Watch Me Make a Birdfeeder by Jack Otten
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Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Play Rhyme illustrated by Nadine Bernard Wescott
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Music

Fabulous food [sound recording] / [performed by Richele Bartkowiak and Patrick Brennan].
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Peanut butter — Have you been to candyland? — Chew, chew, chew your food — Donut song — Bread and jelly — Raindrop song — Muffin man — Oats, peas, beans — Goober peas — Watermelon song — One bottle of pop — Hamburger — Hinky dinky double D farm — Hot cross buns — Fast food — Sippin’ cider through a straw — Apples and bananas — Go bananas! — Shortnin’ bread — Peanut sit in’ on a railroad track — Did you feed my cow? — Chocolate chip cookies — My lollipop — Who took the cookies?

Singable songs for the very young [sound recording] / Raffi.
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The more we get together (1:07) — Down by the bay (2:07) — Brush your teeth (1:11) — Robin in the rain (1:54) — Five little frogs (1:40) — Wonder if I’m growing (1:33) — Aikendrum (1:17) — Bumping up and down (1:31) — Must be Santa (2:22) — Willoughby wallaby woo (1:53) — Spider on the floor (2:14) — Baa baa black sheep (:58) — Going to the zoo (1:39) — My dreydel (:32) — Peanut butter sandwich (:58) — Five little pumpkins (:30) — The sharing song (1:04) — Mr. Sun (1:16) — Old McDonald had a band (2:08).

Fingerplays/Songs

Peanut Butter

Peanut on a railroad track

His heart was all a flutter

Train came roarin’ round the bend

Toot toot- peanut butter

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