June 2009 RETURN TO HOME PAGE FEEDBACK

Animals--from kittens and birds to chickens and grasshoppers--are the heroes of the children's book section this month at the Noe Valley­Sally Brunn Library at 451 Jersey Street. Meanwhile, the California Grizzly Bear stars in a documentary shown for adults on Tuesday, June 9, at 7 p.m. For more information, drop by the branch, call 415-355-5707, or log on to www.sfpl.org. The library is open Tuesday through Sunday--see hours below.

Children's Fiction

- A city boy finds an injured bird and nurses it back to health in How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham. Ages 4 to 6.

- In Chicken Said "Cluck!" by Judyann Grant, Chicken is able to help out in the garden when a swarm of grasshoppers arrives. Ages 5 to 7.

- Yoon uses what she learned from a book her mother gave her about a girl who outwitted a tiger, in Yoon and the Jade Bracelet by Helen Recorvits. Ages 5 to 7.

- Allie starts a new school and gets a kitten in The New Girl, the second in the "Allie Finkel's Rules for Girls" series by Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries. Ages 9 and up.

Children's Nonfiction

- America's diverse cultures and ethnic and religious backgrounds are explored state by state in Children of the U.S.A. by Maya Ajmera. Ages 7 and up.

- Sandy's Circus: A Story About Alexander Calder by Tanya Lee Stone is a picture-filled book about the sculptor's childhood and artistic development. Ages 7 and up.

- The lives of a civil rights leader and a German-born rabbi come together in As Good As Anybody: Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Joshua Hershel's Amazing March Toward Freedom, by Richard Michelson. Ages 7 to 10.

Selected by Children's Librarian Carol Small

Adult Fiction

- Destiny and history collide to change the life of a movie projectionist in The History of Now by Daniel Klein, author of Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington.

- Everything Hurts, by David Letterman writer Bill Scheft, is about a man who parodies self-help books but who can't find a cure for a pain in his leg.

- In fictional vignettes based on true events, Helen Humphries examines the 40 times between 1142 and 1895 that London's Thames River turned to solid ice, in The Frozen Thames.

- Chief Inspector Van Veeteren investigates a female killer bent on vengeance, in Håkan Nesser's Woman with Birthmark. The book's first printing won the 2007 Best Novel prize awarded by the Swedish Crime Writers' Academy.

Adult Nonfiction

- In the updated We Are Our Mothers' Daughters, public radio and television journalist Cokie Roberts shares the personal stories of women who have inspired her, including civil rights activist Dorothy Height and mechanic Eva Oliver.

- The Lincoln Anthology: Great Writers on His Life and Legacy from 1860 to Now, edited by Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer, includes more than 100 selections from writers such as Edmund Wilson, Gore Vidal, and Carl Sandburg.

- Prolific author John Updike completed Endpoint and Other Poems only weeks before his death from cancer in January 2009.

- Former San Francisco Chronicle reporter Tom Zoellner examines the history, science, and politics behind Uranium, the strongest chemical element and "the rock that reshaped the world."

Annotations by Karol Barske, of the Voice staff

LIBRARY EVENTS

"Grizzly Road" for California Bears

- Writer/director Sabrina Alonso shows Grizzly Road, a documentary about the sad fate of the California Grizzly Bear, on Tuesday, June 9, 7 to 8:15 p.m. The film includes rare photos, paintings, and film footage from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Book Club on Wednesdays

- The Noe Valley Book Group invites you to its first meeting on Wednesday, June 17, at 7 p.m. Future meetings will be held on the third Wednesday of each month, 7 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. At the first meeting, participants will discuss choices and decide on the first book (which will be featured at the July meeting).

Music Jam with Dylan

- Singer Dylan Donkin leads a half-hour music fest for kids at two times, 10:15 a.m. and 11 a.m., on Tuesday, June 16.

Toddler Tales

- Treat your baby or toddler, age 18 months to 3 years old, to books, rhymes, music, and motion at Toddler Tales, held on Tuesdays, June 9 and 30, at 10:15 a.m.

Family Story Time

- The library invites you to Family Story Time, a read-aloud program for children 5 and younger, on Tuesdays, June 9 and 30, from 11 to 11:30 a.m.

Preschool Films

- Kids ages 3 to 5 can watch a half-hour show of Short Films, including "Alphabet," "Frog on His Own," and "Mole and the Rocket," on Tuesday, June 23, starting at 10:15 a.m. The program repeats at 11 a.m.

All events take place at the Noe Valley­Sally Brunn Branch Library at 451 Jersey Street, between Castro and Diamond streets. For information, call 355-5707.