Constitution Day is Sept. 17, 2010. You can celebrate by entering a contest and showing how the Constitution affects you. Use colored pencils, markers, crayons, or paints to design a handmade poster showing how you and your family benefit from the U.S. Constitution (including the Bill of Rights and the other amendments). Any child K-12 is welcome to participate.

The local poster contest winner gets a certificate and two copies of his or her poster. Entries must be postmarked by Oct. 1, 2010. Winners will be announced on the Gov Doc Kids Group website on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2010.

You can get more information on the contest and Constitution Day at this website. You can download entry forms right here on JoCoKids.

Summer Reading is here again! Stay cool this summer by reading as much as you can, recording what you read in our reading logs. Learn about Water Here, Water Everywhere with eco-troubador Stan Slaughter and singer/educator Linda Chubbuck. We've also got activities for you at the Library and on our website.

Summer Reading runs from May 24-Aug. 7 and is for everyone under the age of 19. Get more information at our JoCoKids Summer Reading page. Dive in and make a splash!

Click on "Full Story" below to see a Summer Reading commercial!

Eco-troubadour Stan Slaughter and singer/educator Linda Chubbuck will make a splash this summer at the Library with their Water Here, Water Everywhere programs. Combining singing and stories, guitars and drums, they make science fun and creative! You'll never look at a glass of water the same way again. Go green this summer with Stan and Linda!

For more information and a schedule of their performances, go to our 2010 Summer Reading Performers page.

On Saturday, May 8, 1-2:30 p.m. at the Central Resource Library, meet Christine Taylor-Butler and Andrea Warren, nationally recognized authors of informational books for children! They will talk about their experiences writing nonfiction for children from kindergarten to eighth grade and share their newest books, Sacred Mountain: Everest and Under Siege!: Three Children at the Civil War Battle for Vicksburg. Reception with refreshments and a book sale and signing will follow the program. Beginning April 19, you can register at all neighborhood libraries and online to win a copy of their books to be autographed at the event!

It's National Library Week, which means it's time to announce the winners of the annual Bookmark Contest sponsored by the Johnson County Library and the Friends of the Library. We had tons of amazing entries, just like we do every year. It's always hard to pick just one or two winners in each age category, but in the end, the winners were chosen. You can see the winning bookmarks at www.jocolibrary.org/bookmarks and copies of the bookmarks will be available at all Library locations throughout the summer. Celebrate your Library and celebrate reading by picking up a bookmark!

On Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, the Johnson County Library and Reading Reptile hosted their annual Young Writers reception at the Antioch Library, featuring contest-winning stories by children that have been selected and illustrated by local, professional artists.

The contest was open to writers ages 5 to 12. Each illustrator selected a story from contest entries received and then illustrated a single scene from that story. The original illustrations were presented to the authors of the stories selected. Each contestant also received a certificate of recognition and prizes from the Johnson County Library. At the reception, the illustrators made themselves available to chat and sign autographs.

You can read the winning stories at www.jocokids.org/youngwriters.

Wondering what good books you should read next? Come hang out in the meeting room at the Lackman Library and talk books the second Monday of each month. Find out the new hot titles, share your favorites, and rant about the ones you’ve hated. We'll have a selection of books to recommend and will be interested in hearing about what you’ve been reading. For ages 10-15. It starts at 4:15 p.m. and runs for an hour. Our first meeting will be on Feb. 8, 2010. You don't need to register, just show up!

It's almost time again for the annual Bookmark Contest co-sponsored by the Johnson County Library and the Friends of the Library. The contest is open to all ages, and the winning designs will be printed as actual bookmarks that will be available at all Library locations during the summer.

The Bookmark Contest begins on Monday, Jan. 4, 2010. More information, as well as the contest entry form and past winning entries, can be found at www.jocolibrary.org/bookmarks.

All writers ages 5 to 12, enter your original stories! The writing contest will culminate with a reception Friday, February 19, 2010 at 7 p.m. at the Antioch Library, where contestants and their parents will meet and hear from Kansas City's finest, nationally-published children's book authors and illustrators.

Download the Entry Form (PDF) 

No entries accepted after January 29, 2010. Sponsored by Johnson County Library and The Reading Reptile.

Preschoolers all over the state will be wiggling along with the 2009 Kansas Reads to Preschoolers about Fitness selection: Wiggle by Doreen Cronin! Kansas Reads to Preschoolers is an annual project held the third week of November. This year it will be Nov. 15-21. Get ready for high energy story sharing with this giggly, wiggly picture book! Toddlers and preschoolers will enjoy wiggling along with this delightfully energetic dog who wiggles at every opportunity.

School has started again! And that means...HOMEWORK! Luckily, the Library is here to give you help. We're constantly improving our Homework Help pages at http://www.jocolibrary.org/homework, where you can get access to homework resources 24/7. You can get live help from the Library's homework coaches (see our Homework Help page for hours and locations) and from Tutor.com, which has expanded its hours and services. You can now get help from Tutor.com seven days a week, 8 a.m.-11 p.m.

If you're having trouble with your schoolwork or homework, the Library is here to help!

This is the last week for Summer Reading, so if you haven't turned in your reading log and picked up your free book, you've got until this Saturday, Aug. 1 to do that. You can also turn in your drawings, which we'll post on our Web site. Don't miss out!

Our theme for Summer Reading this year is "Be Creative @ Your Library," and what better way to show us your creativity than through art, stories and poems? You can submit your own stories and poems, and we'll post them here on JoCoKids. You can also print off our Art Submission sheet (PDF), draw any picture you want within the frame (using pencils, pens, markers, crayons, paint, peanut butter, chocolate syrup, ketchup, or whatever you like to draw with) and turn the picture in at any Library location. We'll post those to JoCoKids, too. We've already got some pictures posted, but we want more. So get cracking! Draw us some pictures! Write us some stories and poems! Show us how creative you are!

Summer Reading has begun! Running from Tuesday, May 26 until Saturday, Aug. 1, our theme this year is "Be Creative @ Your Library." How can you be creative? In all kinds of ways! Through drawing, painting, music, stories, poems and more. There's always reading, too! If you haven't already picked up your Summer Reading log, hurry up and get one at any of our locations, or print one off from our Summer Reading page. You'll also find games, puzzles, reading suggestions and more fun stuff on our Summer Reading page. Keep your eyes open and your imagination running! See you this summer!

Enter Jo Ho’s Tall Tale Writing Contest! Jo Ho, local storyteller, will be presenting at the Library for this year's Summer Reading Club. She's inviting children ages 5-12 to write a story about an ordinary event in their lives or a fictional event with fictional characters and then stretch that story into a “whopper” or “larger-than-life” tall tale.

Jo Ho will choose three kid-authored stories for outstanding writing, and these stories will be featured in her summer storytelling program, “Kid-Authored Whoppers.” Winners will receive a $25 gift certificate to a retail store or restaurant of their choice. The deadline for submitting a tale is May 1. Winners will be announced in late May right here on JoCoKids.

All stories must be original. Entries should be between 500 and 2,500 words.

Send your tall tale to: joho@johostoryteller.com or drop off at any Johnson County Library youth desk. Be sure to get parental permission and include a contact e-mail for notification of winners.

Remember, to make it a tall tale...

• the story has many exaggerations in it;
• the main character has a problem to solve;
• the main character is bigger than life and has super-human abilities;
• the plot of the story is funny and impossible;
• in the end, the main character solves a problem, overcomes an obstacle and/or defeats a “bad guy”;
• the story includes lots of action.

UPDATE: We have winners!

• Gracie, age 6, "Julia Burps Fire"
• Trevor, age 10, "Big Mouth Lou"
• Benjamin, third grade, "A Basketball's Journey"

On behalf of the Johnson County Libraries Youth Services Staff and storyteller Jo Ho, we would like to thank all the children that submitted incredible stories for the Tall Tale Contest. Your stories were full of wonderful imagination and creativity! Keep up the great writing and have a very "creative" summer.

This year's Young Writers reception, held on Friday, Feb. 13, was the biggest, best one we've had yet. Not only did we have a packed room with over one hundred attendees, we had more winning authors this year! The Johnson County Library and the Reading Reptile cosponsored the contest and reception, attended by young authors, their family and friends, and local, professional illustrators Lisa Campbell Ernst, Brad Sneed, Dana Regan, Laura Huliska-Beith, Jenny Whitehead, Eric Brace, and Shane Evans.

The stories and poems were all fantastic, and the authors and illustrators were all very entertaining, especially Shane Evans and his friend JQ, who put on a terrific show. Afterwards, the illustrators stuck around to sign books and answer questions. It was a great night.

You can read the winning stories, and see their illustrations on our Young Writers page.

The winners of this year's American Library Association book awards have been announced, and it's an exciting batch of books. Ready? Here we go...

Would you like to learn about other countries and cultures? And have fun doing it? Come to the World Village at the Central Resource Library! We'll explore a different country each month with stories, crafts, food, and dance. The program is free and open to all ages. The World Village will open at 6 p.m. and remain open until 8 p.m.; come and leave as you please.

Countries featured by month:

Jan. 15, 2009: Iraq
Feb. 19, 2009: Brazil
March 19, 2009: India
April 30, 2009: New Zealand
May 27, 2009: Japan

The Friends of the Johnson County Library Bookmark Design Contest is traditionally held each April during National Library week. We're doing things differently this year and holding it at the beginning of the year. Entry forms for the contest are available right now at at all Johnson County Library locations, the Friends of the Johnson County Library bookstores, or they can be downloaded online (PDF).

When I was in first grade, I wrote my own story. It was called "The Haunted Car" and was about, yes, a car that was haunted. I made a cover out of construction paper and showed my book to my local librarians. They put the book on display in the library, with a little card that read "Young Writer." I was very, very proud.

So I'm very excited to announce the 2009 Young Writers contest, cosponsored by the Johnson County Library and the Reading Reptile. The contest is open to all children ages 5-12. The winning stories will be chosen by local authors and illustrators, including Lisa Campbell Ernst, Brad Sneed, Jenny Whitehead, Eric Brace, Dana Regan, and Laura Huliska-Beith. The winners will be announced at a reception at the Antioch Library on Friday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m., where they will be awarded an original illustration based on their story! Click here to download an entry form, and check out last year's winners for inspiration.

More than 1300 votes were cast in our Votes for Books election, and the results are clear: women rule in Johnson County! Our big winners were Dora the Explorer and Junie B. Jones. Junie B. got 106 votes, giving her a small victory over the 2004 winner, Harry Potter, who received 100 in this election. Dora received 111 votes, a clear victory over the brother and sister team of Max and Ruby, who got 94 votes.

Thanks to everyone who exercised his or her right to vote! See you again in four years.

Meet Cheryl Harness, children’s author and illustrator of historical picture books, at the Blue Valley Library on Friday, Nov. 7, 7-8:30 p.m. Ms. Harness has her artwork on display in the Blue Valley Library's gallery during the month of November. Ms. Harness will transport you from concept to final artwork in her lively 45-minute presentation. Reception and autographing will follow the program, with books for sale provided by Reading Reptile. Recommended for ages six and up. Registration is not necessary.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4, but you have to be 18 to vote. But starting Tuesday, Oct. 28, kids of all ages can come to the Library and vote for their favorite book characters. Come to any Library location and fill out one of our colorful ballots to vote for your favorite easy and chapter book characters. Voting ends on Election Day, and we'll post the winning characters here on JoCoKids. Plus, each Library location will draw names of voters to win free books as prizes!

It’s Sunday night, the Library is closed, and you need help with your homework. What can you do? The Library Homework Help pages are here for you!

Your friendly Johnson County librarians have been working hard for months to improve our Homework Help pages. Not only do they look better, not only are they easier to use, but we’ve added subject guides featuring easy searches, recommended books, and librarian-selected Web sites and databases. You can also connect to HomeworkKansas, which provides live tutors online for K-12 students. You’ve got homework? We’ve got Homework Help!

It's sad, but Summer Reading is just about over. It's time to get your reading logs in, get your name in for the grand prize drawing, and pick up your free book if you haven't already.

But just because Summer Reading is ending doesn't mean it's going out quietly! On Wednesday, August 6, we're having our End of Summer Celebration in the Carmack Community Room at the Central Resource Library. The party goes from 12-2:30 p.m., and no registration is required. We'll have face-painting, crafts to make and treats to eat. At 1 p.m., Devin Henderson will present “The Magic of Reading”, an interactive magic show with a simple message: “ If you have any kind of interest, you can read about it in a book.”

Come helps us celebrate Summer Reading one last time this year!

Ready to get down to some dance-tastic tunes at the Library? Bongo Barry will perform his Summer Reading show, Buggies With a Beat, on Thursday, July 10, 10 a.m., at the Leawood Town Center Amphitheater, next to the Leawood Pioneer Library. No registration is required. For more information, call 913-344-0250.

For a sample of what he'll be performing, click on Full Story to hear some song clips.

With the Sizzlin' Summer Booksale, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, in full swing, it's a good time to announce the winners of the Friends of the Library's annual Bookmark Contest.

And the winners are:
 
Preschool-Kdg: Adit Agarwal
Grades 1-2: John Maddock
Grades 1-2: Julia Slack
Grades 3-4: Anna Clements
Grades 3-4: Riya Rana
Grades 3-4: Erika Lobo
Grades 5-6: Betsy Cha
Grades 7-8: Thamara Subramanian
Grades 9 -12: Marissa Bortz
Adult: Andrea Thomas

The winners were given their awards on June 4 at the Antioch Library Summer Reading Kickoff Program. The winning bookmarks can be seen at www.jocolibrary.org/bookmarks. You can also get your own copies of the winning bookmarks at any Library location.

Walking With Dinosaurs--The Live Experience is running this week at the Sprint Center until Saturday, June 7. Library employee Monique Sendze took her children to the show and said, "It was fantastic! It was the bomb! The dinosaurs were so realistic!"

The Library had a drawing for five packs of tickets to this technologically amazing show, and the lucky winners were Traci Hurley, Gabe Cunningham, Haylee Bortz, Grant Dichiser and Amanda Winsky. Congratulations to you and your families!

When Traci Hurley won, she told us, "I can't wait until I get to take my kids to this show! Just when I think the Johnson County Library has done everything they could for the community, they do something like this. Thanks so much." Thank you, Traci!

Who doesn't like the wonder and mystery of magic? Local magician Devin Henderson, who never fails to amaze and entertain his audiences, returns to the Johnson County Library this summer, to help us celebrate the magic of reading.

Summer Reading is back! Starting Tuesday, May 27, you can "Catch the Reading Bug" and join in on Summer Reading 2008. Stop by any Library location to pick up your Summer Reading log or download them and print them off from our Summer Reading page. You can also check out the Summer Reading page for activities, reading recommendations, activities and a calendar of Summer Reading events.

An amazing new show is coming to the Sprint Center: Walking With Dinosaurs--The Live Experience! Fifteen life-size, realistic, animatronic dinosaurs, like you may have seen in the award-winning series Walking With Dinosaurs, walk the arena floor, bringing prehistoric Earth to life. The show runs June 3-7, 2008, and you won't want to miss it!

To help you see the show, the Library is randomly drawing five people to get a pack of four tickets. Visit any Library location by May 19 and look for the dinosaur display to find the entry slips for the drawing. And be sure to check out any dinosaur books and movies the Library has!

It's time again for our annual Bookmark Contest, co-sponsored by the Johnson County Library and the Friends of the Library. Grab an entry form and design your own bookmark in the space provided, using colored pencils, pens, paints or markers. Show how your family comes together at the library, or what you like about the library or how the Library is your friend.

Entry forms are available beginning Apr. 1, 2008 at all Johnson County Library locations, the Friends of the Johnson County Library bookstores, or they can be downloaded online (PDF).

You don't have to be mad to be a scientist, but if you come to Family Science Night at the Central Resource Library on Thursday, Mar. 15, 2008, from 6-8 p.m., you can learn about some of the crazy (and wonderful) science all around us. You can meet local scientists and teachers, and try some hands-on activities and experiments. You can see the University of Kansas formula car in action, check out stars and planets through the Astronomical Society of
Kansas City telescope, see the world’s strongest
permanent magnet, and much, much more. There's no registration required, so come on down!

Family Science Night is brought to you by KC Science, INC, and you can always check out that Web site for more science fun.

Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 was a cold, windy night, but the weather didn't keep people away from the Antioch Library for the annual Young Writers reception. The Johnson County Library and the Reading Reptile cosponsored the contest and reception, attended by young authors, their family and friends, and local, professional illustrators Brad Sneed, Dana Regan, Laura Huliska-Beith, Eric Brace, Jenny Whitehead and Lisa Campbell Ernst.

On Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007, Debbie McLeod, the Collection Development Specialist who buys all of the Library's great children's books, appeared with Tricia Suellentrop, the Library's Youth Services Manager, on the show Up to Date on 89.3 FM, KCUR. Debbie presented her picks of great children's books of 2007, while Tricia discussed some of her favorite teen books of the year.

The program's over, but you can listen to Debbie and Tricia in the show's archives. We've also put Debbie's picks up here on JoCoKids. Check out Debbie's list if you're looking for a great, new book to read!

Tuesday was the first day of the school year when schools closed because of snow or ice. The Library opened late and closed early, but we try to keep the Library open as much as possible. It's a good place to come on cold, wintry days.

When I was a kid, I loved to play outside on snow days, sledding and building snow forts with friends. I didn't mind the cold and would play outside for hours. I liked school, but I loved snow days.

What do you do when your school is closed because of ice and snow? Do you come to the Library? Do you play outside? Do you stay at home, curled up with a book or watching TV? Leave us a comment and let us know how you spend your snow days.

Have you ever been to a Library storytime and thought, "I wish I could take the librarian with me, to read to me whenever I wanted." Well, now you can! The Library is trying something new: online storytimes that you can listen to online and download to your computer. You can even subscribe online and get new storytime recordings as soon as they're released. We're also giving away a limited number of CDs with the recorded storytime, so you can listen at home and in your family's car. The CDs can be found at the Blue Valley, Oak Park, Corinth, Lackman and Central Resource Libraries, but you'll have to get in fast before they're all gone! If you don't get a CD, don't worry! We'll always have them on our Online Storytime page, waiting for you to listen to them.

Because this is something new we're trying, we want to know what you think. After you've listened to the Online Storytime, please take our online survey. 

Have you ever wondered what it's like to write and illustrate a book? Come meet children’s author and illustrator Christine Schneider at the Blue Valley Library on Friday, Nov. 16, 2007 at 7 p.m. Ms. Schneider, the author and illustrator of Saxophone Sam and His Snazzy Jazz Band, Picky Mrs. Pickle and more will have her artwork on display in the Blue Valley Library gallery during the month of November. Ms. Schneider will demonstrate the work (and play) that goes into creating a picture book. There will be a reception, book sale and autographing following the program. This event is recommended for ages six and up, and you don't need to register. Just show up! You can also visit her Web site at http://www.christineschneider.com/.

The winners of the 2007 Summer Reading Club have been chosen! The prize for the winners of this year's Summer Reading Club, "Get a Clue," was a full-size poster in the style of the American Library Association's READ posters.

It's Hispanic Heritage Month, and what could be a better way to celebrate than with music in English and Spanish? Come to the Cedar Roe Library on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007, 10:30-11:00 a.m., to experience joy, togetherness and music with Melanie Dill. Ms Dill creates music that is fun and entertaining, so you know you'll have a great time. ¡Vienes al fiesta!

This event is for ages three and up. You can register online, or call 913-384-8590 to register by phone.

Video games are coming to the Johnson County Library! Starting Monday, Sept. 10, 2007, the Library will have video games for Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii available in the catalog to be put on hold. The video games will actually arrive on Sept. 19, 2007, and will be located at the Lackman Library. Every game will also have a Browsing copy which cannot be put on hold in the catalog. The holdable games will check out for three weeks and can be renewed (as long as nobody else has a hold on them), while the Browsing copies will check out for two weeks and cannot be renewed. Some of the games the Library will have include Dance Dance Revolution Universe, Gran Turismo 4, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga and Mario Party 8. Looking for a new game to play? Come down to the Library and check one out!

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaber/.

Constitution Day is Sept. 17, 2007. You can celebrate by entering a contest and showing how the Constitution affects you. Use colored pencils, markers, crayons, or paints to design a handmade poster showing how you and your family benefit from the U.S. Constitution (including the Bill of Rights and the other amendments). Any child K-12 is welcome to participate.

The local poster contest winner gets a gift certificate valued at $125 for an 8-week art class offered by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. It will be awarded to a winner from the Kansas City Metropolitan Area.

Entries must be postmarked by October 1, 2007. Winners will be announced on Election Day, Nov. 6, 2007. Learn more about the contest and Constitution Day or go straight to the entry form (PDF).

What's better than reading quietly alone? Reading aloud to a cuddly, loving dog! The Libary offers events where you can grab a book and read to a dog that has been specially trained to be as calm, patient and attentive as possible. If you haven't read to one of our dogs, come give it a try! If you have done it before, come on back and do it again! We list our Read to a Dog dates, locations and times on our calendar, and you (and your parents or guardians) can find more information on the Read to a Dog page on our Johnson County Library Web site.

Welcome to the brand-new JoCoKids Web site! We've got news, reviews, Web links and fun stuff just for kids. Feel free to explore and tell us what you think. Leave no link unclicked! You can also submit feature reviews of your favorite library books, movies, CDs and computer games. We'll be adding more and more, so you'll have to keep coming back to see what's new and leave your comments!

You can find out more by reading the About Us Web page.

The Library had an End Of Summer Celebration on Wednesday, July 25, in the Carmack Community Room of the Central Resource Library, to celebrate the end of this year's Summer Reading Club. There was face painting, crafts, treats and prizes!

The Johnson County Library and the Friends of the Johnson County Library are pleased to announce the winners of the 2007 Bookmark Design Contest!

Pictured from left to right: Jackie, Patrick, Hridra, Thamara, Julia, Andrew, Interim County Librarian Donna Lauffer, Dawson, Riya, Anna, and Friends of the Library member Francie Flynn.