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Are you a fan of Captain Underpants?  Do you like Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot books?  Is Dav Pilkey one of your favorite authors?  Then I've got a website for you.  You need to check out Dav Pilkey's Extra Crunchy Website o' Fun.  You can find out all about Dav's books, read a cartoon biography of the author, play groovy games, and all kinds of fun stuff.

This is just one of the cool websites for kids on our Cool Sites web page.  Check it out.

Do you have a favorite website that you think other kids would like?  Send us a comment and let us know about it.  We're always looking for fun and excellent websites.

Do you have any good princess books?  Do you have any easy books about horses?  Do you have any picture books about trains?  Where are your counting books?  Got any dragon stories with pictures?  Here at the library we get questions like this all the time.

In order to help you find picture books on some of the more popular topics, we have posted a Picture Book Finder on our website.  Here you will find a list of popular topics along with various concepts like numbers, letters, colors, etc.  The titles are linked to our catalog so you can see if a book is available at your nearest library, and you can also place a hold on any title.

So the next time you are looking for a picture book about fairies or books about a new baby in the family, check out our Picture Book Finder.  We hope you will find this to be a useful resource.

President Barack Obama promised his daughters they could get a puppy after the Presidential campaign was over.  Many people have weighed in on what kind of dog they think would be best for the first family.  If it were up to you, what kind of dog would you choose for Sasha and Malia?

There is a long history of pets in the White House.  The Bushes had two Scottish terriers named Barney and Miss Beazley and a cat nicknamed Willie.  Chelsea Clinton had a cat named Socks when her dad was President.  But not all Presidential pets have been so conventional.  Did you know Thomas Jefferson kept two grizzily bear cubs on the White House grounds?  John Quincy Adams kept an alligator in the East Room.  Abraham Lincoln's son had a pet turkey, and Calvin Coolidge had a pet raccoon named Rebecca.

You can read all about the different pets that have resided in the White House in the book Wackiest White House Pets by Gibbs Davis.  Yes, even Presidents love their pets.

The winner of the 2009 Newbery Medal has been announced, and the winner is The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.  The winner of the 2009 Caldecott Medal is The House in the Night illustrated by Beth Krommes and written by Susan Marie Swanson.

Here is the complete list of award winners and honor books:

Newbery Medal Winner
     The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Newbery Honor Books
     The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
     The Surrender Tree by Margarita Engle
     Savvy by Ingrid Law
     After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

Caldecott Medal Winner
     The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson, illustrated by Beth
     Krommes

Caldecott Honor Books
     A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever written and illustrated by Marla
     Frazee
     How I Learn Geography written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz
     A River of Words by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner
     We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson

Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books
     The Blacker the Berry by Joyce Carol Thomas
     Keeping the Night Watch by Hope Anita Smith
     Becoming Billie Holiday by Carole Boston Weatherford

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner
     The Blacker the Berry by Joyce Carol Thomas, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Books
     We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball written and illustrated
     by Kadir Nelson
     Before John Was a Jazz Giant by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by
     Sean Qualls
     The Moon Over Star by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Pura Belpre Author Award Winner
     The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita
     Engle

Pura Belpre Author Honor Books
     Just in Case by Yuyi Morales
     Reaching Out by Francisco Jimenez
     The Storyteller's Candle/La Velita de los Cuentos by Lucia Gonzalez

Pura Belpre Illustrator Award Winner
     Just in Case written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales

Pura Belpre Illustrator Honor Books
     Papa and Me by Arthur Dorros, illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez
     The Storyteller's Candle by Jucia Gonzalez, illustrated by Julu Delacre
     What Can You Do with a Rebozo? by Carmen Tafolla, illustrated by Amy
     Cordova

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Winner
     Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems

Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Books
     Chicken Said, "Cluck!" by Judyann Ackerman Grant
     One Boy by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
     Stinky by Eleanor Davis
     Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator by Sarah C. Campbell

Every January the Newbery Medal is awarded to the author of the most distinguished children's book of the year.  It is sort of like the Oscar award of children's literature.  It has become a kind of tradition for people across the country to gather and hold "mock" Newbery discussions before the winner is announced.  They discuss some of their favorite books of the year and try to guess which one might be the year's award winner.

Earlier this week I attended one of these mock Newbery gatherings with a group of librarians to discuss which book we would like to see win this prestigous award in 2009.  We discussed about a dozen different titles and ended up with one winner and two honor books.  Here are the results:

The winner:  Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park

The honors (runners-up):  The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
                                       Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor 

Do you have a favorite book you hope will win this year's Newbery medal?  The actual winner will be announced on Monday, January 26.  Stay tuned to find out which outstanding book is this year's winner.

Have you read the Newbery medal-winning novel The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo?  This delightful book tells the story of a small mouse with big ears, the princess that he loves, a servant girl who longs to be a princess, and the devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.  And now this wonderful story has been made into a movie featuring the talents of such actors as Matthew Broderick, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Watson and Kevin Kline.  It opens December 19 at a theater near you.

This would be a great book to read together as a family either before or after seeing the movie.  It's always fun to compare the book with the movie.  Stop by the library and check out a copy, or get on the waiting list if all copies are checked out.  This is a great book worth waiting for!

It's that time of year again when the Children's staff at the Olathe Main Library and the Indian Creek Branch Library pick some of our favorite books of the year.  We compile our list of Holiday Staff Picks and put these books on display at both libraries.  The books will be on display starting Friday, November 28, and will be up through the end of the year.  So if you are looking for some gift ideas for the young book lovers on your holiday shopping list, stop by the library and check out our display.  You can also view our list of picks by clicking this link:  Holiday Staff Picks.  Happy holidays and happy reading!

Kansas Reads to Preschoolers is a state-wide reading initiative sponsored by the State Library of Kansas and the Kansas Center for the Book.  The goal is to read the same book to every preschooler in the state of Kansas during the week of November 16-22.  This year's book is Bear Feels Sick by Karma Wilson.  The Olathe Public Library is doing its part by reading this book at our library storytimes throughout the week.  We will also be going out to read this book to children at nearly 40 area daycares and preschools.  You may also stop by either Olathe library and make a get well card for Bear.  This is our fourth year to participate in this fun and rewarding program for the youngest children of our community and state.

The library's Vote for Books campaign is over for 2008, and the winners are...President Wimpy Kid and Vice-President Pigeon!  Here is the breakdown of the final vote count at the Olathe libraries.

Wimpy Kid & Pigeon  46%
Clementine & Fancy Nancy  27%
Percy Jackson & Skippyjon Jones  18%
David Mortimer Baxter & Olivia  9%

And here is the breakdown of votes from libraries throughout greater Kansas City.

Wimpy Kid & Pigeon  43%
Clementine & Fancy Nancy  24%
Percy Jackson & Skippyjon Jones  23%
David Mortimer Baxter & Olivia  10%

The local votes pretty much reflect those throughout the metro area.  The young voters have spoken.  Thanks to everyone who voted.  It was an exciting race!

Have you explored the Cool Sites page on our website?  This is a great place to find some good kid-friendly web links.  Sites are listed by categories such as Books & Magazines, Homework Help, Local Links, Nature & Science, Fun & Games, and more.  Below are a few websites most recently added to the list:

Harry Potter Lexicon - Here you can find information about all things Harry Potter.
Professor Garfield - Garfield the Cat will guide you through a variety of fun educational activities related to science, math, reading, art, and more.
International Children's Digital Library - On this site you can read children's books online in many different languages---from Hebrew to Farsi to Chinese to Russian.  Some languages you may not have even heard of, like Tagalog or Shona.
ZOOM - This is the official website for the popular PBS series for elementary-aged kids.
FCC Kids Zone - This government site provides interesting information on different kinds of communication and technology like cell phones, television, computers, etc.
Ziggity Zoom - Play games, color pictures, read stories, and more on this fun site for preschoolers.

Do you have a favorite website you think would be a good addition to our list of cool sites?  Tell us about it by clicking on "Comments" below.  We may want to add it to our list.