Next Book Club Meeting!

Don't forget that our next meeting of the Ashburn Kids Book Club
will be Thursday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. We will be discussing the book,
"Mr. Popper's Penguins," by Richard and Florence Atwater. I've
got a fun activity planned and maybe we will discover that not
everything Mr. Popper believes about penguins is really true.

Mr. Popper's Penguins

I hope it has been fun for you to read Mr. Popper's Penguins! This entertaining book was published a long time ago, in 1938. That's sixty-nine years ago! The truly remarkable thing is that this book has NEVER been out-of-print since it was published. There are only a handful of books that can make this claim. It has been translated into over fourteen languages, even Braille!

I wonder, though, if you noticed anything in the book that seemed really different from the way it is today? For example, the Popper's rely on their radio to get important news. That's because they didn't have any televisions in 1938! And there was no such thing as a computer or the Internet! Do you think that's why people didn't even know what a penguin looked like?

What other differences or oddities did you notice in the book? Leave us a comment and share your ideas!

Author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor -- Live!

Readers! I just found out about a very neat opportunity! Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, the author of Shiloh, will present a program for ages 8 and up entitled "Shiloh and Other Stuff" this coming Friday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m., in the Board Auditorium of the Fairfax County Government Center 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax. This program is being sponsored by the Fairfax County Library to celebrate National Children's Book Week, November 12-18. Books will be available for sale and signing. For details and to reserve a seat, call 703-324-8428 or e-mail libraryevents@fairfaxcounty.gov.

I hope some of you get the chance to go and see Ms. Naylor in person and get your Shiloh books signed. I've driven from Ashburn to the Fairfax Gov't Center several times. It's about a 30 minute drive. If you do go, please write a comment for our blog and share the event with all of us.

Shiloh -- A Beagle

Shiloh is a beagle, a member of the hound family. Beagles are medium-sized dogs and have a keen sense of smell and a strong tracking instinct. This makes them especially good at hunting small animals like rabbits. They are also used by police and airport security as detection dogs. They are even-tempered with a gentle disposition and popular as pets.

Does this sound like the dog, Shiloh? What do you think?

What's in a Name? A Dog's Name, That is!

Shiloh, the dog at the center of the story in our October book selection, is named after the West Virginia town of Shiloh. But "Shiloh" wouldn't even make the top-50 list of most popular names for dogs. The #1 most popular name for a male dog in the U.S. is . . . MAX! The #1 most popular name for a female dog is . . . MAGGIE!

Here's the top 10 most popular dog names for male and female dogs.

Top-10 Male Dog Names: 1. Max 2. Jake 3. Buddy 4. Bailey 5. Sam 6. Rocky 7. Buster 8. Casey 9. Cody 10. Duke

Top-10 Female Dog Names: 1. Maggie 2. Molly 3. Lady 4. Sadie 5. Lucy 6. Daisy 7. Ginger 8. Abby 9. Sasha 10. Sandy

What's your favorite dog's name? If you have a dog, what is its name? Post a comment and tell us!

October Book Club Selection -- Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

In the book, Shiloh, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, we read about a boy's love for his dog and what lengths he will go to protect his pet.

Do you have a pet?

How do you feel about your pet?

If you don't have a pet, would you like to have one?

What kind of animal would it be?

Post a comment and tell us your thoughts and ideas about having pets!

A Whole Lot of Similes!

Author Grace Lin make great use of the similes through out the book, "The Year of Dog." Do you know what a simile is? A simile (which is pronounced sim-uh-lee) is a figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by "like" or "as". The author puts a simile on almost every page.

Here are some examples:

p. 9 "Like the smell of roast pork, the news of Grandpa's good work spread..."

p. 80 "They sat there like a line of birds on a telephone wire, gossiping and sharing tea."

p. 104 "I felt like a thistle in a rose garden."

p. 120 "Like a creamy chocolate in my mouth, a warm feeling melted through me."

p. 130 "Like a rabbit hearing a gun fired, I jumped away."

Can you find anymore similes in the book? Can you write some of your own? Post a comment and tell what you found or share a simile of your own. Here's an idea to start with: complete this sentence "Coming to the end of summer is like ______"