Monday, October 31, 2011

Alternate Uses of Halloween Candy


Booooooooooooooooooooooooooo, it's Halloween! The one day a year where anything goes, crazy outfits, candy for dinner, and ringing the doorbells of strangers.

But what about tomorrow? And what about all that leftover candy? Here are 10 fun ideas you might want to consider when the novelty of just eating it has worn off (or made you a little nauseated):

1. Make one of the awesome ornaments seen here. All you need is some colorful hard candy, some cookie cutters, an oven, and a little creativity.

2. Make a mosaic with it! Use sturdy cardboard as your base, cover it with colorful construction paper, then glue on candies (go for the colorful ones!). When you're done, cover it with spray shellac to prevent the candy from getting buggy or rotting.

3. CandyExperiments.com is awesome! Check out some of their fun experiment ideas and donate your candy to an afternoon of science fun.

4. Make Apple Candy Bar Salad or one of the other delicious-sounding recipes on this Squidoo page.

5. Save it to make miniature (and edible) cornucopia for Thanksgiving this year by filling sugar cones with a mix of candy corn, M&Ms, Runts, etc.

6. Chop up the chocolate bars and freeze the shavings so you have a year-round ice cream topping on hand.

7. Operation Gratitude (which sends care packages to US troops overseas) is looking for candy to send to Iraq! This is a copy of their current wishlist, and as you can see, Halloween candy is on it! Scroll down their list for information on donations and shipping. Or see if a dentist near you is participating in Operation Buyback.

8. Try making this candy corn fudge. It's easy and looks delicious.

9. Save some pristine candy to attach to wrapped gifts. All presents are more exciting to open when there are a couple of fun-size candy bars taped to the ribbon.

10. Make your own blizzard in the blender! Try crumbling your Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, or all three and placing them in a blender with vanilla ice cream to create a homemade blizzard or flurry.

And of course, there's always the chance that you might just wind up eating it.

Happy Halloween! Be safe trick-or-treating!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

NPR's new "Back-Seat Book Club"



Do you like to listen to books on audio CD or MP3?  NPR (National Public Radio) has a program called "All Things Considered" which is launching a new segment for kids ages 9-14, called the "Back-seat Book Club."  Once a month there will be a new book selection offered, and kids and parents are encouraged to listen to the book and give their feedback.

We're asking young people and their parents to join us in reading a special book each month. We also want young readers to join in the conversation with that book's author. We want to know what you think about the book. And most important, we want to give authors a chance to answer your questions. This is a great way for All Things Considered to celebrate kids' books and to provide a special treat for all those youngsters who are fed a steady diet of NPR news.

October's selection is The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.  This book has won numerous awards, including the Newbery Award, the highest award for children's literature.  It was also a Suffolk County Battle of the Books title from this past summer and a Hauppauge Middle School Book Chat selection from last year. 

I personally have listened to this book on audio and have to say it was extremely well-done since the author himself is the reader... which is.not something that happens often in the audiobook world, believe it or not.  And anyone who has heard Neil Gaiman speak knows that his voice has a special quality to it that makes it easy to listen to him!  Check out the audio CD or the Playaway version today from the Hauppauge Library!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Teen Read Week 2011

Teen Read Week officially starts on Saturday! It runs October 16th through 22nd, and this year's theme is "Picture It @ Your Library", encouraging you to read graphic novels and other creative or illustrated books just for the fun of it!

Teen Read Week started in 1998. Libraries across the world celebrate by encouraging teens to read for pleasure and (by using their library) to read for free.

It's important to celebrate Teen Read Week because, even though there are lots of other really great entertainment options out there, reading for fun is free, entertaining, and proven to help improve test scores.

Visit the library for a few awesome graphic novels, or put one or two of these great ones on hold:

The Eternal Smile: Three Stories by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim

Maus I : A Survivor's Tale : My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman

Miki Falls: Book 1, Spring by Mark Crilley

Mail Order Ninja: Vol. 1 by Joshua Elder

Kitchen Princess 1 art by Natsumi Ando, story by Miyuki Kobayashi, translated by Satsuki Yamashito, adapted by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life. Vol. 1 by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Jellaby by Kean Soo

Dramacon Vol. 1-3 by Svetlana Chmakova

Plus!!!

If you check out any book during Teen Read Week, you'll automatically get... (drum roll please)... a free book + CANDY + a raffle ticket to win one of the lovely prizes below:


(One per teen, per day)

Enjoy reading for the fun of it!

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