Earth Day 2010

Happy Earth Day!

Every year, since 1969, we have observed Earth Day on April 22nd. Earth Day's purpose is to increase public awareness of environmental issues such as recycling, pollution, energy, and global warming.

There are lots of easy, small things you can do to help care for our planet. Here are a few ideas:

1. Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Or, better yet, if there's enough sunlight coming in, leave the lights off when you enter a room.

2. Reuse the back-sides of paper.

3. Turn off the water when you're not using it, specifically when brushing your teeth.

4. Don't leave the refridgerator open for too long. Decide what you want before opening the door because it takes more energy to cool the refridgerator down after the warmer air has come in.

5. Unplug unused electrical devices throughout your house. Anything plugged into an electrical socket, but not turned on will still use some amount of energy. This energy is being wasted! So besure to unplug old toys, stereos, and chargers that you aren't using.

6. Pack a greener lunch: Use a cloth bag instead of paper bags, and pack your food in reusable plastic or metal containers, instead of plastic wrap or foil. You can also pack your drink in a reusable bottle or thermos, and even try using a cloth napkin instead of paper ones.

7. Check out a book on Earth-friendly crafting, such as this one, for instance.

And why not read a few short storioes about the saving the Earth for inspiration? I think you're never too old to enjoy a picture book. Here are some titles to get you started:

Just A Dream, by Chris Van Allsburg

Charlie & Lola: We Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers, by Lauren Child

Stuff!: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, by Steven Kross

The Great Trash Bash, by Loreen Leedy

Abigale the Happy Whale, by Peter Farrelly

Teen Book Review: The Princess Bride by William Goldman

The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Reviewed by Erika, Gr. 8

Even though I have seen this movie a thousand times, I still think that the book was better. And to be quite honest, I didn't think that it even was a book, till i searched it on the web, and decided to take it out. If you haven't read the book or seen the movie, I highly recommend you at the very least read the book. You haven't read a fairy tale story with a happy ending till you read The Princess Bride.

This book is about a regular girl that lives on a farm with her family and her 'farm boy' Westly. After Westly has left, and had been killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts, the Prince chooses her to be his bride. As she has been kidnapped, she is reunited with the only love of her life Westly, and they go through many battles with the prince to save their love.

This was and still is a wonderful book, and I recommend it to everyone that loves a good fairy tale. =]

*Note from Miss Catherine: The 20th Anniversary Edition of the movie has the coolest cover I've ever seen in my life... check it out below.  It reads the same upside down as it does right side up!  Unbelievably clever!  (By the way, fabulous post Erika!)

Check out Richie's Picks

I just spent a nice morning at the Fran Romer Memorial Workshop listening to Richie Partington tell us all about some great YA books. Turns out he grew up right in the next neighborhood from me in East Northport so we're almost like old neighbors! (Except now he lives in California!) Check him out at http://richiespicks.pbworks.com/. He has some really great books to recommend! Happy reading!

Intelligent video clip

Quite possibly one of the most ingenious video clips I've ever seen.  This is a video that was made by the people at Penguin Publishers (DK Publishing) for an internal meeting about the future of publishing.  It was so well received that they released it to the public.  It's brilliant in every way possible:  for its content, its message and the concept of perspective.  You have to watch this all the way through to get the full effect... trust me, it is so worth the watch. 

Peeps as...

This week is (was?) officially Peeps Week 2010 and, in honor of this delicious holiday week(end), I thought I would share with you some fun and interesting ways to eat and serve Peeps. I got ALL of them from awesome Serious Eats website, which also has all kinds of other interesting and yummy recipes.

Here goes...

(1) Peeps as Peeps Krispie Treats



Apparently, although these are made the same way regular rice crispy treats are made, Peeps Krispie Treats taste sweeter that regular ones (sprinkly sugar on top, maybe?). Plus, they're so pretty and colorful! I'm thinking of giving these a shot myself actually, because they look so easy to make. Click the link above for instructions.

(2) Peeps as Peepshi



You can make Peepshi (Peeps Sushi!) with just some peeps, rice crispy treats, and Fruit by the Foot. But you have take a picture before you eat it, because this one's all about the image. Click the link above for a Beginners Guide to Peepshi.

(3) Peeps as S'meeps



Seems so obvious, but I didn't think of it! Apparently these taste just like regular s'mores, but have an extra (and delightful) subtle crunch. I'm also considering making these.

(4) Peeps as Fluffernutter



This one has a surprise! It's not just a regular fluffernutter sandwich with a marshmallow swap. Nope. Instead of ordinary bread, this sandwich is made with 1" pieces of POUND CAKE. Mmmmm!

(5) Peeps as Peepza



Okay, I'll be honest, when I first stumbled upon this I let out an, "Ewww!" But then I gave it a bit of actual consideration and yep, I can see this giving me the exact salty/sweet combo I am always craving (you know, like chocolate covered pretzels do). You're actually supposed to melt the peeps, and when you think about it (really) pizza with a little extra sweet... probably pretty okay.

(6) Peeps as Chocolate Covered Peepsicles



I don't know how you can go wrong with this one, really. Plus it seems totally easy to make. I'd imagine that, in addition to coconut, you could probably cover these guys in sprinkles or even maybe a caramel drizzle or something.

Happy Peeps Week, guys!

National Poetry Month: Book Spine Poems

April is National Poetry Month!  Check out this cool take on creating short poems from titles on book spines.  Easy, fun, and once you start... quite addicting!  What book spine poems can you make? 

Printz Book Evaluation Results

Thank you to all the teens who participated in the Printz Award Book Evaluation Project!  From December 2009 until March 2010, teens in grades 6-12 have been reading books from our list of award nominees and then filling out in-depth evaluation sheets for each book.   We received 33 evaluations- here are the results:

Alligator Bayou by Donna Jo Napoli (2 out of 2 thought it WAS worthy of an award)
Carlos is Gonna Get it by Kevin Emerson (1 out of 1 thought it WAS worthy of an award)

Charles and Emma: the Darwin's Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman (1 out of 1 thought it WAS NOT worthy of an award)
Cricket Man by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (1 out of 1 thought it WAS worthy of an award)
The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang (1 out of 1 thought it WAS worthy of an award)
Fire by Kristen Cashore (1 out of 1 thought it WAS worthy of an award)
Going Bovine by Libba Bray (2 out of 2 thought it WAS worthy of an award)
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (1 of 1 thought it WAS NOT worthy of an award)
If I Stay by Gayle Forman (4 of 4 thought it WAS worthy of an award)
Jolted by Arthur Slade (2 of 3 thought it WAS worthy of an award)
Jumped by Rita Williams (1 of 1 thought it WAS NOT worthy of an award)
Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes (1 out of 1 thought it WAS worthy of an award)
Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez (1 out of 1 thought it WAS worthy of an award)
Riot by Walter Dean Myers (1 out of 1 thought it WAS NOT wothy of an award)
The Roar by Emma Clayton (2 out of 2 thought it WAS worthy of an award)
Tropical Secrets by Margarita Engle (2 out of 3 thought it WAS NOT worthy of an award)
The Unnameables by Ellen Booraem (1 out of 1 thought it WAS worthy of an award)
When you Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (1 out of 1 thought it WAS NOT worthy of an award)
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (2 out of 2 thought it WAS worthy of an award)

If you're interested in seeing the more in-depth answers on a particular title, just ask me and I'd be happy to share it with you!  And if there's anyone who submitted a book evaluation and hasn't gotten credit for it in their community service binder sheet, please see me... I have 3 nameless papers that need to be claimed!!

Raffle winner chosen for Teen Tech Month!

Congratulations to Sharon Dang, our Teen Tech Month raffle winner!  All Sharon had to do to win was submit a book review to our blog.  Fun and easy!  Congratulations on winning a Best Buy gift card, Sharon, and thanks for sharing your reading experience with the Hauppauge community!