CHECK IT OUT

Along with the pleasures they can find between two covers, kids can

win a galaxy of goodies in Books and Beyond, the Newport Beach Public

Library’s 2001 summer reading program for toddlers through sixth-graders.

Prizes include stickers, toys, paperbacks, food coupons and T-shirts.

New this year is a weekly drawing for a free pass to the Orange County

Discovery Museum, open to cyber-scientists who correctly answer a quiz

question appearing every Tuesday on the Kids Page at o7

https://www.newportbeachlibrary.org.f7 A drawing for tickets to Knott’s

Berry Farm and Wild Rivers will conclude the fun in late August.

As in years past, readers who push their literary horizons to

encompass multiple genres will receive special recognition. Possibilities

include biographies, fantasies, mysteries, folk tales, science fiction,

nonfiction and award winners.

For 9- through 12-year-olds interested in some of the world’s most

famous figures, “Ferguson Career Biographies” put the spotlight on Bill

Gates, John Glenn, Martin Luther King and other 20th century leaders.

Contemporary role models also are the focus of “Real-Life Reader

Biography” selections, include biographies about Christina Aguilera,

Ricky Martin and Mia Hamm.

The settings are real but the characters are fictitious in Gloria

Skurzynski’s “National Parks Mystery” books -- mysteries set in such

venues as Yellowstone, Glacier and Hawaii Volcanoes national parks. The

fast-paced adventures combine survival techniques and environmental

issues in tales sure to interest preteens visiting our nation’s outdoor

spaces this summer.

A younger audience should enjoy “Tasty Baby Belly Buttons,” Judy

Sierra’s lively retelling of a Japanese folktale about ogres in search of

their favorite delicacy -- baby belly buttons. Equally charming is “Cold

Feet,” in which Cynthia Defelice retells a Scottish legend with just the

right mix of humor and gore to delight second- through fourth-graders.

Even preschoolers can sample science fiction with “Nova’s Ark,” David

Kirk’s futuristic picture book about a sensitive robot who gets lost in

space. Or, they can look at the galaxy as it really is in Seymour Simon’s

“Destination: Mars,” featuring pictures from the Mars Orbiter Camera, the

Hubble Space Telescope and the Pathfinder lander.

More escapist fare is in “See You Later, Gladiator,” the newest

fantasy in Jon Scieszka’s “Time Warp Trio” series. For fourth- through

sixth-graders partial to warp-speed adventure, this romp to ancient Rome

includes a stint in gladiator school for hapless time travelers Joe, Sam

and Fred.

The same trio is cast into a horribly skewed literary world in “Summer

Reading is Killing Me!” Launched when Fred sticks Sam’s summer reading

list into the boys’ time-travel book, this escapade finds Homer Price

ambushed by the Headless Horseman, Dracula mistreating Winnie the Pooh

and a very hungry caterpillar eating a dictionary. And when the action

finally ends, kids are likely to feel that -- like summer vacation --

it’s all over way too soon.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Melissa Adams, in collaboration with

Bonnie McLaren. All titles may be reserved from home or office computers

by accessing the catalog at o7 https://www.newportbeachlibrary.org.

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