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Baby Bird Watching

By Children's and Teen Services on April 18, 2013 in Children's Services Staff, Gardening, Kathleen, Local

Camouflaged nestling.

Recently I found a baby bird in my small backyard. Our meeting reminded me of the scene from the movie “E.T the Extra-Terrestial” when Gertie got her first look at E.T. Mutual cries of surprise erupted then a tentative friendship was reached.

In our case the little bird scurried to safety and I ran inside to grab my camera and a stool so that I could wait patiently to snap some pictures. I figured that mama bird was not faraway so I chose a spot for my stool a respectful distance from the baby and waited quietly to snap some family photos.

When you are sitting still and waiting, time goes very slowly, but eventually mama returned and as you can see from the photo to the right, she first flew to the top of the fence to look down at her baby. I learned that getting a family shot was not going to be easy because the time the two spent together was brief. Initially I snapped a lot of fuzzy photos before I learned to wait, camera poised, ready to shoot.

Mother bird came and went several times as I watched and then she suddenly decided to relocate her baby. The two scurried behind some flowerpots and then mother flew up onto the fence, hopped down to the yard and then took flight. I thought she was gone but she came up behind me and gently nudged my back. I interpretted this as an acknowledgement of my presence and possibly a warning that she was watching me. I remained in my spot making minimal movement until I had taken a picture of mother and baby together.

Even though we live in suburbia it is still possible to have encounters with wildlife. My husband and I purposely keep our backyard somewhat natural and have been visited on many occasions by nesting birds as well as birds who are just passing through. Each spring we are visited by courting Mourning Doves who literally spend hours just sitting on our fence. Sometimes at night in the summer a racoon shows up to dig for bugs in the yard. Our main rule is, never feed the wildlife, we don’t want them to become dependent on us nor do we want to create an environment that is unsafe for us or any of our visitors.

The Library offers books on gardening to attact wildlife and the Children’s Department has a book on designing a butterfly garden (the information will be useful whether or not you’re a kid.) Ask a librarian for assistance in locating these or any other books on gardening, birds, wildlife or whatever strikes your fancy!

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Books Meet Art: Quick Hits

By Adult Services on April 9, 2013 in Adults, Books and Authors, Garrett, Local, Movies, Music and Art, Sunnyvale

Need some book-related artistic entertainment/inspiration? Here are three blogs that are definitely worth a glance, and maybe even a follow.

a sample from Corpus Libris

Even if you don’t know Chip Kidd‘s name, you definitely know his work. Kidd is a prolific and prominent book cover designer. Among his many well-known designs are Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, Naked by David Sedaris, and 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. His blog is varied and interesting, with highlights of his work mixed in with observations (often humorous) about publishing and design in general.

A fun blog that I found linked from Kidd’s is Corpus Libris, where readers submit photos of themselves replacing parts of their bodies with the images from book covers. Equal parts creative and hilarious, perhaps you’ll be inspired to contribute with a book you find in our collection?

Another Kidd link referral, artist Thomas Allen does amazing photographs using books in creative ways, particularly with his cutouts from pulp novel covers, where the characters come bursting (literally) to life out of the pages of their books.

a Thomas Allen design

On another note, several months ago on this blog, I mentioned filmmaker and Sunnyvale native Bernie Su’s web video project The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Since that post, Bernie gave a talk here at Sunnyvale Library, wrapped up the series, and announced a follow-up project in one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns ever. The series has become wildly popular, as this article from WIRED describes. If you haven’t taken a look, I highly recommend it (be warned, the 100+ episodes are highly addicting).

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E-I-E-I-O

By Children's and Teen Services on March 28, 2013 in Books and Authors, Children, Gardening, Local, Nancy

Lenore and Brutus

Jon Katz, author of the children’s book Meet the Dogs of Bedlam Farm, has a new tale to tell. When puppy Lenore comes to Bedlam Farm, she doesn’t quite fit in. She only wants to socialize while all the other animals have work to do. In Lenore Finds a Friend, Katz uses his own colorful photography to tell a story of surprising friendship. If you’ve not yet seen the Bedlam Farm books, check them out. For regular updates on the happenings at Bedlam Farm, visit Jon Katz’s Bedlam Farm journal.

It might be hard to get to upstate New York to see Bedlam Farm in person, but if your family wants a day on the farm there are lots of options closer to home.

Hidden Villa is located in Los Altos Hills, adjoining the Rancho San Antonio open space preserve. Visitors can tour the organic farm and gardens or explore open wilderness on over eight miles of groomed trails. Hidden Villa offers special events throughout the year, including sheep shearing day coming up this April 6th.

An operating family farm since 1922, Webb Ranch covers over 230 acres near Stanford University. Riding lessons are offered through Webb Ranch stables and trail rides can be booked on Saturdays as weather permits. Local produce in season is available at the on-site farmer’s market.

In what is now known as the city of Fremont, Robert Patterson and his family settled on 205 acres of fertile farmland and called it Ardenwood. Visitors can go back in time to the 1850′s Patterson Ranch – a working farm complete with a restored Victorian mansion, elaborate gardens, and a horse-drawn railway. Docents are dressed in vintage garb and a blacksmith shop is open for public demonstrations.

It’s all about the goats at Harley Farms. Set on nine acres in the coastal town of Pescadero, this restored 1910 dairy farm is home to 200 alpine goats. Visitors can take a tour (which includes the chance to milk a goat) or simply stroll the grounds to see goats and llamas in the pens and pasture. No visit is complete without samples of fresh ricotta, chevre and goat milk feta from the Harley Farms cheese shop.

May through September is berry picking time at Phipps Country Store and Farm. Kids can roam acres of Pescadero farmland while picking organic strawberries and olallieberries. An extra treat is the post berry picking stop at the Country Store, which offers fresh jam, dried herbs, local honey, and over 75 varieties of heirloom and exotic dry beans.

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Transmedia Storytelling

By Adult Services on September 18, 2012 in Books and Authors, Garrett, Local, Movies, Technology, Teen

Transmedia storytelling, like the name suggests, describes a method of using multiple media (books, videos, web, etc.) to tell a story. Unlike the traditional method of simply adapting, say, a book into a movie, this type of writing weaves the story among the various media so that each complements, or even relies upon, the others. Transmedia is not new, but it is growing in popularity, and here are a couple of transmedia stories that I’ve enjoyed and am currently tracking.

Skeleton Creek

Patrick Carman is a bestselling young adult and children’s author (The Land of Elyon series, The 39 Clues: The Black Circle) and has done groundbreaking work in transmedia storytelling through a number of books, including the four-title Skeleton Creek series. In the first Skeleton Creek book, the story begins with journal entries by Ryan, a teenager who is homebound after a mysterious accident left him with a broken leg. He receives an email from his friend Sarah, who tells him that she has video footage from the night he was hurt, but something strange was captured on the tape. Readers, along with Ryan, are directed to go to Sarah’s website to watch the video. After watching, the story continues back in the book with Ryan’s reactions and further interactions with Sarah. As the two delve deep into the mystery of an unexplained death that no one seems willing to talk about, the story passes back and forth between Ryan’s text and Sarah’s videos, truly bringing the small town of Skeleton Creek and its mystery alive before your eyes.

To me, there is much to love about transmedia storytelling as it relates to children’s and teen literature. Young people that may otherwise be “reluctant readers” can get swept up in the mysterious, engaging, and downright creepy videos, but are quickly drawn back to the written word. Before long, they’ve devoured an entire novel and are hungry for more. Parents who struggle with the overwhelming access to electronic screens in their kids’ lives can embrace this kind of technology that encourages and enhances quality writing. Patrick Carman has utilized the book/video model in other stories, including the Dark Eden series (also for teens and super-creepy), and Trackers, about a group of tech-savvy “spy kids” (for middle graders, and includes interactive puzzles along with the videos on the companion website).

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Depending on your Jane Austen persuasions, the world has either too many or too few adaptations of Pride and Prejudice. But for those who ever wondered what Elizabeth Bennet would look and sound like as a 24-year-old graduate student with a video blog, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is just right. The Diaries is a series of web videos, released twice weekly, that gives all of the elements of the classic story a modern twist: Lizzie’s unending dramas with her marriage-obsessed mother, boy-crazy little sister Lydia, and best friend (and video producer) Charlotte, all while supporting her shy but sweet sister Jane in a budding relationship with new-to-town medical student Bing Lee. Oh, and of course his standoffish friend Darcy came along too. Where transmedia comes into play is that every character in the show has a social media presence. They converse with each other on Twitter and other sites and viewers are free to follow along and even jump into the conversations. Austen-ites that ever wished they had a friend like Elizabeth Bennet, here’s your chance.

Another great reason to highlight this show is that co-creator Bernie Su is a Sunnyvale native. We’re planning to have Bernie visit the library this winter to talk about videomaking and all things LBD, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, if all this Lizzie talk has given you the urge to read (or re-read) the novel, remember that Pride and Prejudice is available in the public domain, so you can download a complete and completely free and legal digital copy anytime through either the Project Gutenberg ebook collection, or our OverDrive collection (public domain books on OverDrive do not count toward your checkout limit).

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An interesting place to visit… Alcatraz!

By Adult Services on June 18, 2012 in Adults, Local, Richard

Like many residents of the bay, I have lived in the area for a long time, yet had never visited Alcatraz, that infamous island in the middle of the San Francisco bay. That is, until a week ago. I finally got a chance to go to the island with visiting relatives and it was quite interesting. Sure, I had gleaned some if its history over my years of living here, reading about it in the newspapers, and from classes in school. For instance, although it was no longer a prison by the time I moved to California, I do remember the Native American occupation that came later — do you?

Heart of the rock : the Indian invasion of Alcatraz / by Adam Fortunate Eagle.

The library has a number of books about Alcatraz and its many different uses, from fort, to prison, to park:

Alcatraz : the gangster years / by David A. Ward.

Ghosts of Alcatraz / by Kathryn Vercillo.

Alcatraz screw : my years as a guard in America’s most notorious prison / by George H. Gregory.

You can also find movies placed there:

Birdman of Alcatraz [videorecording] / a Norma production ; produced by Stuart Millar and Guy Trosper ; directed by John Frankenheimer ; screenplay by Guy Trosper.