Storytime!

Today's storytime was the last day for the Perry School HIPPY group. We read two stories about underwater life - "Mister Seahorse" by Eric Carle and "Fish is Fish" by Leo Lionni.

"Fish is Fish" is a story about a young fish whose friend, formerly a tadpole and now a frog, has gone off on wild adventures away from the water. When he hears about all the amazing things that Frog has seen, Fish can't resist trying to get out to see it for himself. In the end, he learns to accept himself for what he is - a fish!

"Mister Seahorse" follows an expectant Seahorse Father around the sea, where he meets a wide assortment of other creatures waiting for their own children to be born (and carrying them around in the most interesting ways.

After all that, we finished the day with a National Geographic special all about (you guessed it), the ocean!

Finally, we cooled off to the breezy sound of Raeggae before the kids headed back out to the Perry School Community Center. We can't wait to see them again next year.

Best of luck in school!

Friday Double Feature!

Friday was a day for bizarre comedic movies. For the last few weeks, we've shown a lot of horror, action and suspense, so we felt it would be nice to take a turn into comedy for a change. The first film, "Over Her Dead Body", starred Eva Longoria as a recently deceased wife who's forced to watch her man wood by an attractive fake psychic. The movie is light-hearted, and served as an interesting reprisal of Longoria's role in the series "Desperate Housewives".

Later in the afternoon, we decided to go classic with "Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb". "Strangelove" is a quirky, satirical movie directed by Stanley Kubric, who also directed "2001: a Space Oddity". Here Kubric presents a wry look at Cold War politics and paranoia. Peter Sellers stars in a fascinating trifecta role as Captain Mandrake, Dr. Strangelove and the President of the United States. Also of note is the debut appearance of James Earl Jones.

Storytime!

Today we read two stories about ducks and foxes, and how to keep from being eaten! The first story was "Don't Fidget a Feather!", by Erica Silverman. Duck and Gander are very competitive, but when a staring contest almost gets them cooked, Duck discovers that sometimes losing is the only way to win.

Next was "Wow! It's Great Being a Duck", by Joan Rankin. Little Lillee is the last duckling to crack out of her shell, and she's the tiniest and skinniest of all her brothers and sisters. She's terrified of flying and swimming, and decides to go walking instead - until an encounter with a scary stranger teaches her the value of her native abilities.

Movie Mondays and Film Fridays

Starting today, Sursum Corda will be showing various movies from our shelves every Monday and Friday at 11:30 am for the duration of the Summer. There is no single theme or style. We'll be showing everything from action/adventure to romantic comedy as our collection continues to improve and expand.

Today's movie will be "Premonition", starring Sandra Bullock and Julian McMahon. In this film, Bullock plays Linda Hanson, a woman whose life is very much out of order and whose husband Jim (McMahon) seems to be alternately dead and alive. This film is part of a recent trend in suspense movies, playing on the regular fears and instincts of everyday life and turning it into something much more immediate and sinister. It's a must-see for fans of M. Night Shyamalan's "Sixth Sense".

"Premonition" is rated PG-13.

Overdue!

Wow, it's been a crazy week!

First, another reminder about tomorrow. The Washington National Opera will be here to perform a very short rendition of Madama Butterfly! The program will begin at 1:30 pm and run for about a half hour. It's aimed at children six and up, and we've heard from other branches that it's a blast.

Then there's July 14th, the Monday after next at 10:30 am, when we'll have Mr. Derby's Jam Session! He's well known in the District for his crazy remixes of classic nursery rhymes and modern cartoon theme songs, and his program is meant for kids of all ages. Definitely a must for the musically inclined.

Finally, we will have Dr. David Adamski an entomologist from the Smithsonian Institution. Mr. Adamski will be here on Wednesday, August 13th at 2:00 pm with live insects and facts about entomology.

As usual, we will be continuing our Wednesday morning storytime with children ages two through five. We start at 10 am, and anyone with a child of that age is always welcome to bring them for this.

Last week we showed off several books, all about optical illusions, including "Gallop", by Rufus Butler Seder, and "Hello, Red Fox", by Eric Carle. Both contained great examples of the amazing things the human eye can do.

"Gallop" is a "scanimation picture book", which means the pictures on each page move as you turn them. Each page shows a different animal in motion, which is a great way to teach children the difference between "galloping" and "pouncing".

"Hello, Red Fox" is a book about comlimentary afterimaging. The idea is simple - each color has an opposite, and when you stare at a picture in one color long enough, then look at a plain white background, you will see an afterimage in the opposite color from the one you saw. In this book, we saw the green fox turn red, and a red turtle turn green. It was very strange indeed. And since we were on the subject of colors, we followed it all up by breaking out the crayons and coloring pages!

Tomorrow we'll still have our morning program, and that will be followed by the Opera. Be sure to check it out.

~Nick H.

What a Week!

Well, it's been quite a week since last time we were able to post here. Friday, we couldn't open because of power outages across the District, and Monday and Teusday were very busy indeed! Even our plans for today went somewhat awry, since we couldn't find out coloring books or the stories we wanted to tell. We made up for it with two fun replacements. After getting our wiggles out by singing the Hokey Pokey, we read "Leaf Man", by Lois Ehlert, and "Silly Sally", by Audrey Wood.

"Leaf Man" is an excellent story to read to small children. Each page contains pictures of animals, plants and places, all made out of a variety of fallen leaves. The kids were really great at pointing out all the things that were hidden on the pages, even pointing out things I missed the first time reading it.

As it turns out, the preschool already owns a copy of "Silly Sally", and they were very excited to hear it here at the library. In fact, they knew the story so well that some of them were able to read it right along with me, and tell me what was going to happen next! To cap it off, we watched the first half of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", which we will be continuing in two weeks.

Next week we will definitely be having a Dinosaur Day. Miss Robinson has been working all week long on a pair of collages for the children, with a wide variety of pictures and names of dinosaurs for them to learn about. We will have coloring, stories and activities all related to those ancient animals.

Then, exactly two weeks from today on July 2nd, we will have the National Opera here in Sursum to perform "Madame Butterfly".

Looking forward to an exciting couple of weeks,

~Nick H.

Wednesday Storytime

Yesterday morning, we had a lot of fun! Our preschool kids came in for storytime once again. This time, we read two stories. The first was a short story called "Who Hops?" by Katie Davis. The book had us hopping, slithering, crawling and flying all over the place.

Next, we read one of my personal favorites, "A Giraffe and a Half", by Shel Silverstein. This poem shows exactly how complicated the life of a giraffe can be!

Next week, we're going to be having a Dinosaur Day. We'll have stories, of course, and also songs, a movie and a coloring contest. Events will start at 10:00 am, and last until about 11:30 or noon.

Celebrate Theatre @ Sursum

On July 2nd at 1:30 pm, the Washington National Opera will bring a special presentation of the classic "Madam Butterfly" to the Sursum Corda Community Library. The event is geared for an audience aged six to twelve years old, but will doubtless be entertaining for guests of all ages.

Saturday @ the New Court

It was a stifling, hazy Saturday morning here in the District, but that didn't stop the crowd from coming together at the new basketball court on New York and First. It was an important day for the NW1 community, with a newly refurbished court here to kick off the start of the season for the Metropolitan Basketball League. Unfortunately, the scheduled game was cancelled on account of the heat, which peaked at a maniacal 98 degrees Farenheit during the day. That didn't stop Team Unique from shooting a few hoops on their own before heading off to cooler pastures.

The highlight of the morning was the ribbon cutting ceremony, when speeches were given by city councilman Harry Thomas Jr. and Police Commissioner Cathy Lanier, amonst others. Powerade was there as a sponsor to keep everyone cool, and to celebrate the opening, DC Parks and Recreations gave away 100 basketballs to all comers, and DJ Rico kept things bumping with tracks hot enough to match the weather.

All told, it was a successful day despite the heat, and everyone looks forward to a great season out on the beautiful new court. Photos can be found on our myspace page.

Peace.

~Nick H.

Weekend Fun!

As usual, we will be closed for the weekend, but at least one of us will be making an appearance at the ribbon cutting tomorrow at the new basketball court next door. Next week, look forward to further additions to our Myspace and Facebook pages, including more book reviews, new discussion board topics and information about summer programming.

Wednesday, anyone with children is welcome to come to storytime starting at 10:30 am. There will be a blend of nursery rhymes, folk tales and even a little song-and-dance. Be there!

Have a great weekend.

~Nick H.

Book Review

"Light: Stories of Urban Ressurection", by R. Kayeen Thomas

Review by Nicholas Hirsch

"Light" is a powerful, inspired collection of short stories and poetry with a theme of urban redemption and, well, resurrection. His emotional range and impact are matched only by the extreme literary quality of his writing. His style covers a wide range; from the raw, jagged edge of inner city hip-hop to the neo-baroque inflections of horror writers like Anne Rice or Clive Barker.

The opening salvo of "Light" is a short story called "The Awakening". This is the story of a meeting between two inner-city teens whose lives are burdened by expectation and circumstance, each of whom harbors a secret light of knowledge and emotion kept invisible to everyone around them. Their meeting goes beyond the simple moment, though, and leaves both in a state of elevation and despair.

From there, Thomas takes us on a personal journey through a world of unheard screams and terrible whispers, casual divinity, sacrifice and, ultimately, renewal.

In his preface, Thomas tells the reader that "Light" is not simply a book but an experience to be lived through and changed by. After reading the whole thing through twice (it's not hard to do, at a deceptively short ninety pages), I agree whole-heartedly. This is especially evident in the final segment, a second-person narrative entitled (appropriately) "You". "You" is no simple story. Thomas does not ask, but tell the reader what is happening, and there's nothing else to do for it but to follow. In the mere space of four pages, Thomas renders bare the laughter and despair found in living, through the medium of a related dream.

Ultimately, "Light" is not simple a collection of "stories of urban resurrection". It is an open challenge to the reader, demanding that we be resurrected. It is a revival, told in poetry and prose. There is no suggestion to it. R. Kayeen Thomas doesn't leave room for equivocation, and, most important, leaves us with a sense that the door is open for this new generation to find its wings.

More Storytime

This morning, like every Wendnesday, was our story time with the preschoolers from across the playground!

Today's stories were "Old Black Fly", by Henry Holt, and "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?", by Dr. Seuss.



It was excellent fun, and we all learned to make some crazy sounds together.

What sounds can you make?

~Nick H.

Saturday B-Ball @ New York Avenue Playground

Saturday, June 7th, the ribbon will be cut on the new basketball court at the New York Ave Playground at the corner of 1st and N st. NW, right between Dunbar High School and Sursum Corda Library. That day will also kick off a 3 on 3 Tournament between Divs. 13U, 16U and 19U.

The ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at 10 am, with games starting at 11 am. Throughout the day, there will be a dunk contest, three point shootout, food, games, prizes and giveaways, blus live performances and a DJ provided by Triple Team Entertainment.

Info @ (240) 832-9351 or (202) 497-6210

Come out and support the community!

~Nick H.

Storytelling!

Today was the first of our summer programs, and it was quite successful!

Mr. Jon Spelman came to Sursum at 10:30 am today to share stories about a variety of things, from what happens to little boys who watch too much t.v. to why spiders have big bellies and little bodies. The children had a blast, and so did Mr. Spelman.



What a great start to the summer. Thank you to everyone who came, and we look forward to seeing you again!

Addendum to the Awesomeness

With the onset of summer, there are a lot of great things planned here over the summer. Aside from the pre-planned events that are happening city-wide, we'll be putting on our own programs and having our own workshops. Be sure to check for updates!

Love and Peace, and plenty of Vitamin D~

~N~

New Blog - Better Library!

This is the first ever post of the Sursum Corda Community Library weblog!

Along with our new presence on Myspace and Facebook, this will complete our new internet trifecta of awesomeness (tm) here at Sursum Corda - an attempt on our part to bring this community space into the digital age (and maybe get to know our patrons a little better, at that ^_^).

Here, we'll be posting library news, events and book reviews, along with the occasional op-ed piece by members of our staff. We'll also be keeping an ongoing update of Sursum's collection as new books continue to come in over the summer. Even better, we'll be creating a new Staff and Patron Favorites shelf, and posting its contents for all to see, discuss and enjoy.

Onward and Upward - Peace and Love.

~N~ - the Sursum Staff Webslinger