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Check It Out
Find a listing of the latest arrivals of books, audio and video items at the Wauwatosa Library, as well as information on upcoming events and staff suggestions for timely information you can use every day on the library’s blog.
By Wauwatosa Public Library
Thursday, May 15 2008, 12:17 PM
 Spring gardens aren’t the only places you find bright colors in May; it’s prom season at high schools across the country. As one of the first formal events in the life of a teenager, the high school prom is considered a vital rite of passage to becoming an adult. Proms today can be lavish, elaborate events that involve limos, hotel ballrooms and dresses worthy of any red carpet.
However, they didn’t start out that way. High school prom (short for promenade, meaning a march of the guests at the beginning of a ball or other formal event) became popular in the United States in the 1930s and 40s. At the beginning, a prom was a simple affair; students would wear their Sunday best for tea, socializing and dancing. In the 1950s, automobiles and fancy prom dresses became much more important, as did the social status of the members of the prom court. Prom night became a significant picture taking event as well, similar to a graduation or a wedding, marking an important step in a young person’s life.
Although some of the social rules about proms have changed, for instance, groups of teens will sometimes go together instead of the traditional boy-asks-girl arrangement; prom remains a major event in the social life of high school students. It can also be a major expense. The average prom couple can spend close to a thousand dollars for a dress/tux, dinner, flowers, hair and nails, limo (a stretch Hummer has become a favorite!), tickets, and after-prom parties. The hot fashion tips for 2008? Traditional tuxes for the guys, with vest and tie matching their dates’ dress. For the ladies, bold colors or metallics, beading or sequin detailing and beaded corsage wristlets that double as bracelets after the prom.
Prom 2008 at Wauwatosa East and West is coming up May 17th. Watch for the stretch Hummers!
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Thursday, May 1 2008, 02:52 PM
Books
AARP Crash Course in Estate Planning: the Essential Guide to Wills, Trusts, and Your Personal
Legacy by Michael Palermo
Bobby Flay's Grill It by Bobby Flay
Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet by Jeffrey Sachs
Craft in America: Celebrating Two Centuries of Artists and Objects by Jo Lauria
Quicksand by Iris Johansen
 Perennial Combinations: Stunning Combinations that Make Your Garden Look
Fantastic Right From the Start by C. Colston Burrell
Physics of the Impossible: the Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields,
Teleportation, and Time Travel by Michio Kaku
Runner's World Guide to Road Racing: Run Your First (or Fastest) 5-K, 10-K, Half-Marathon,
or Marathon by Katie McDonald Neitz
Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson
What Moves at the Margin: Selected Nonfiction by Toni Morrison
Audiobooks on CD
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
Last Lecture by R. Pausch
Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith
 Santa Fe Dead by Stuart Woods
Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
DVDs
 Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Doctor Who: the Complete Second Series
Enchanted
Juno
There Will Be Blood
Music on CD
Terry Riley: the Cusp of Magic/Kronos Quartet and Wu Man
Juno: Music From the Motion Picture
 Moment of Forever/Willie Nelson
Standards & Ballads/Wynton Marsalis
Watershed/k.d. lang
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Tuesday, Apr 22 2008, 02:30 PM
Audio books on CD are now common in the library; in fact, we no longer purchase books on tape. But you may recently have noticed a new format for audio books – MP3 CDs.
The MP3 CD format has some advantages for audio books, most importantly the fact that a book that requires up to 20 regular CDs will fit on just one or two MP3 CDs. The cost is also considerably lower.
Will you be able to play this new format on your existing players? Many CD players sold in the past few years, even boom-box style ones, can play them and many new cars are coming with MP3 CD-capable CD players installed as standard equipment. In addition, almost any DVD player sold in the last few years will play them with no problem.
The library has just under 100 of these on the shelves now, with titles ranging from recent fiction to literary classics, to current non-fiction. Here’s a sampling:
The 47th Samurai by Stephen Hunter
Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
The Boys of Everest by Clint Willis
Defending Baltimore Against Enemy Attack by Charles Osgood
Emma by Jane Austen
Good Rat by Jimmy Breslin
Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez
No Simple Victory by Norman Davies
Sin in the Second City by Karen Abbott
Swim Against the Current by Jim Hightower
You can spot them by the bright red spine label with white lettering that says, “MP3 CD Your CD player must be able to play the MP3 format.” We hope that you’ll give them a try.
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Tuesday, Apr 1 2008, 02:29 PM
April Fool n. The March fool with another month added to his folly.
The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce
 Hopefully, you were lucky enough to survive April Fools’ Day without mishap or humiliation. If you were one of the unlucky victims of an April Fools’ prank, you might be wondering how, where and why this tradition started. Well, in short, no one really knows. There have been many explanations for the holiday’s origin (some have been hoaxes themselves!) Its origins are probably related to the turn of the seasons and the adoption of the Gregorian calendar.
Some ancient cultures celebrated New Year’s Day on or around April 1st (closely following the vernal equinox). In the Middle Ages, much of Europe celebrated the beginning of the new year on March 25th, the Feast of Annunciation.
In 1582, the Gregorian Calendar replaced the old Julian Calendar making New Year’s Day January 1st. France was one of the first countries to adopt the new calendar and make January 1st officially New Year’s Day. Those people who continued to celebrate the new year on April 1st , either because they weren’t aware of the change or didn’t wish to acknowledge it, were often subject to ridicule, sent gag presents or tricked into believing something false. This tradition of foolery spread throughout Europe and beyond. The French call the April Fool, Poisson d’Avril or April Fish (in April, the sun leaves the zodiac sign of the fish). Traditionally, the French celebrated April 1st by placing dead fish on people’s backs. Today, paper fish have replaced real fish and fish shaped candy and bakery are popular treats.
Many cultures throughout time have had days of foolishness in the spring around the beginning of April. Whatever the origin of April Fools’ Day, people the world over feel lighthearted in the spring and like to have a little fun (often at someone else’s expense). So, if you were the victim of a nasty prank on April Fools’ Day this year, just remember, in another time and place, it could have been worse, you could have had a dead fish slapped on your back!
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Tuesday, Apr 1 2008, 02:26 PM
The Wauwatosa Public Library Foundation cordially invites you to the Spring Leadership Luncheon Thursday, April 17, 2008 at the Zoofari Conference Center, 9715 Bluemound Road. The luncheon will be from 12:00 to 1:15 p.m. (registration will begin at 11:30 a.m.) and will include a program featuring keynote speaker, Dr. Bob Gleeson, M.D., the presentation of the Arthur B. Kohasky Leadership Award and Leadership Awards to area high school students.
 Dr. Bob Gleeson, M.D. is one of Milwaukee’s foremost specialists in internal medicine. As Medical Director of Northwestern Mutual and President and Chief Medical Director of Health Now, he has dedicated his life to studying the habits of healthy people. In his book, What Healthy People Know: and the 7 Things They Do to Stay Healthy and Live Long, Dr. Gleeson presents the science behind the daily choices that healthy people make to promote good health. He uses solid research to tell us how to lower our risk of chronic disease and enhance our quality of life, which will, in turn, substantially reduce health care costs and disability rates. A frequent writer and lecturer on wellness, chronic illness and epidemic disease, Dr. Gleeson is working on a second book, tentatively titled, Your New Life, Longer than You Thought.
 The Arthur B. Kohasky Leadership Award will be presented to Dr. and Mrs. Craig Larson. Craig and Ann Larson have been dedicated Wauwatosa volunteers for two generations. While their children were young, both were active in the Washington School PTA. Craig served on the Wauwatosa School board for 25 years and was a member of the Underground Traveling Medicine Show, a group of doctors who provided emergency care during stadium and Summerfest concerts. Ann was a devoted supporter and tireless fundraiser for the Wauwatosa East Marching Band, Orchestra and Theater Department. She has also been an active volunteer for the Medical Society Balls, raising funds for scholarships, in the Washington Highlands Homeowners Association and has served as an election judge at Wauwatosa’s polls for years.
Also on the program, will be the presentation of Leadership Awards to high school students from DSHA High School, Marquette University High School, Pius XI High School, Wauwatosa East High School, Wauwatosa West High School and Wisconsin Lutheran High School.
Get your ticket today! Tickets cost $35.00 and are available at the Library Information Desk. Corporate sponsorships are available. All proceeds will benefit the Wauwatosa Public Library Foundation. Call the Information Desk at 471-8485 for additional information.
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Tuesday, Apr 1 2008, 02:26 PM
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Books
Age of Miracles: Embracing the New Midlife by Marianne Williamson
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Films of Sergio Leone by Robert C. Cumbow
How Your House Works: a Visual Guide to Understanding & Maintaining Your Home by Charles Wing
Knitter’s Book of Yarn: the Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn by Clara Parkes
Me, MySpace, and I: Parenting the Net Generation by Larry D. Rosen
Predictably Irrational: the Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
7th Heaven by James Patterson
Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of
Everyday Life by Sandra Aamodt
Where Does the Money Go?: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis by Scott Bittle
Audiobooks
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
Logic of Life: the Hidden Economics of Everything by Tim Harford
Lush Life by Richard Price
Panama Fever: the Epic History of One of the Greatest Engineering Triumphs of All Time-the Building of the
Panama Canal by Matthew Parker
Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer
DVDs
Beowulf
In the Shadow of the Moon: Remember When the Whole World Looked Up
Into the Wild
Moliere
No Reservations
Music on CD
Bach/Canadian Brass
In Rainbows/Radiohead
Long Road Out of Eden/Eagles
My Foolish Heart/Keith Jarrett
Once: Music from the Motion Picture
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Tuesday, Apr 1 2008, 02:25 PM
More than 5,000 new books for children are published every year. How do you know which ones are the good ones? The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is a network of more than 4,000 children’s librarians, children’s literature experts and other adults committed to improving library service to children and their families. In addition to choosing the recipients of some of the most prestigious awards for children’s books in the English language, the ALSC publishes the ALA Notable Books for Children List or the best of the best in new children’s books. The Notable Children’s Books List includes a summary of each book and notes major ALA awards the book has won. It is divided into four categories: Younger Readers, Middle Readers, Older Readers, and All Ages.  Lightship by Brian Floca, a notable in the Younger Readers category, is also a 2008 Sibert Honor Book. This book’s spare prose and marvelously detailed pictures make this book a good choice for a very young reader looking for nonfiction. Yum! Mmmm! Que Rico!: America’s Sproutings by Pat Mora is an inventive mix of haiku and brilliant illustrations about 14 foods that originated in the Americas. This delicious book is for Middle Readers. The New Policeman by Kate Thompson is an intriguing fantasy set in Ireland that mixes Irish music with fairy lore. This book for Older Reader asks the contemporary question: Where is all our time going? Let It Shine: Three Favorite Spirituals by Ashley Bryan demonstrates the power of spirituals with kaleidoscopic cut-paper collages that fairly jump off the page. Bryan’s book, a notable for All Ages, is also the 2008 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Book.
The Wauwatosa Children’s Librarians compile their own annual list of the best of the best new books for 2008. They will present their choices at the “Annual Review of New Books” held from 10:00-11:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 12, 2008 in the Story Room of the Children’s Library. This list of new children’s books includes the major award winners and many ALA Notables. For more information or to register, please call the Children’s Library: 414-471-8486. This program is for Adults only.
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Monday, Mar 3 2008, 11:03 AM
"Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today."
Herman Wouk, U.S. dramatist and historical novelist, b. 1915  On Feb. 3, 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified making income tax a permanent part of the U.S. economy and our lives. As yet another tax season has us in its grip, a brief look at the events leading up to the fateful 16th Amendment might be of interest.
Under the Articles of Confederation, adopted in 1781, the government had few responsibilities and no nationwide tax system. The country depended primarily on donations from the states for revenue and the states imposed taxes as
they pleased.
When the Constitution was adopted in 1789, the federal government was granted the authority to collect taxes. To help pay the debts of the Revolutionary War, Congress levied excise taxes on such things as alcohol, refined sugar, tobacco and snuff, carriages, property sold at auction and various legal documents.
In the late 1790’s, the government imposed the first direct tax (a recurring tax paid directly by the taxpayer based on the value of the item taxed) on property and slave owners. When elected, Thomas Jefferson abolished direct taxes and the country relied again on revenue generated by various excise taxes.
To raise money to fund the War of 1812, Congress imposed additional excise taxes, raised customs duties and issued Treasury notes. In 1817, these taxes were again repealed and for 44 years the government collected no internal revenue, relying on customs duties and the sale of public lands to provide sufficient funds for running the government.
When the Civil War broke out, Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1861, which reinstated certain excise taxes and, for the first time, imposed a tax on personal income-3% on incomes higher than $800 a year. This tax on personal income was a new direction for the government’s tax system, relying mainly on excise taxes and customs duties. Due to increased war debt, the Union passed the Act of 1862 which imposed new excise taxes on items such as playing cards, gunpowder, feathers, telegrams, iron, leather, pianos, yachts, billiard tables, drugs, patent medicines and whiskey and also reformed and expanded the income tax system. After the war, the need for revenue declined and income taxes were eliminated in 1872 and, once again, the government relied primarily on taxes on tobacco and alcohol for revenue.
In 1894 Congress enacted a flat rate income tax which was found unconstitutional the next year because the Constitution allowed Congress to impose direct taxes only if they were levied in proportion to each state’s population. Becoming increasingly aware that high tariffs and excise taxes were not a sufficient source of revenue to run the government, Congress ratified the 16th Amendment in 1913, which allowed the government to tax the income of individuals without regard to the population of each state.
Tax rates have gone up and down and tax regulations have changed many times over the years due to the economic needs of the government. Even the date for filing has changed. April 15th has not always been the filing deadline. March 1st was the date chosen by Congress in 1913 after the passage of the 16th Amendment. In 1918, Congress moved the date forward to March 15th where it remained until 1954 when it was again moved forward to April 15th.
April 15th is fast approaching. The Wauwatosa Library has many of the state and federal tax forms and instructions in the Adult Library for your convenience and reproducible forms, instructions and publications are available at the Adult Information Desk. The AARP is providing tax assistance to senior citizens in the Wauwatosa Civic Center on Tuesdays until April 15th. Call the Adult Reference Desk to make an appointment.
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Monday, Mar 3 2008, 11:02 AM
 Anita and Arnold Lobel have written and/or illustrated almost 150 children’s books between the two of them. Arnold Lobel, who died in 1987, is best remembered for his charming Frog and Toad books, one of which received a Caldecott Medal Honor and another a Newbery Medal Honor. These early readers were the first of a variety of whimsical, fun-to-read books written by Lobel, followed by Mouse Soup, Owl at Home and Uncle Elephant. In 1981, he won the Caldecott Award for Fables, a book of one page tongue-in-cheek fables. He and his wife collaborated on four books, including On Market Street. This richly patterned alphabet book received several prizes and was designated a Caldecott Medal Honor book.
Anita Lobel’s opulently illustrated picture books have been praised for their originality and inventiveness. Animal Antics: A to Z, Pierrot’s ABC and Alison’s Zinnia show sumptuous landscapes, colorful flowers and cute animals. Anita Lobel’s autobiography, titled No Pretty Pictures, surprised critics and readers. In sharp contrast to her colorful picture books, this memoir of her Jewish childhood during World War II in Poland has no pretty pictures. It has a few black and white family photos and a reproduction of a religious picture given to her by her Catholic nanny, Niania.
The Lobel’s daughter, Adrianne Lobel, developed a family musical based on her father’s books: Frog and Toad are Friends, Frog and Toad Together, Frog and Toad All Year and Days With Frog and Toad. “A Year with Frog and Toad – the musical” was nominated for a Tony Award for best musical in 2003. Andrianne Lobel’s husband, Mark Linn-Baker, played the cantankerous toad in the Broadway show, making this musical truly a family production. First Stage Children’s Theater of Milwaukee will present “A Year With Frog and Toad – the musical” in April.
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Monday, Mar 3 2008, 11:02 AM
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Books
Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google by Nicholas Carr
Dakota: a Novel by Martha Grimes
Death in the Pot: the Impact of Food Poisoning on History by Morton Satin
Eat This, Not That: Thousands of Simple Food Swaps That Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds-
or More! by David Zinczenko
Freedom for the Thought We Hate: a Biography of the First Amendment by Anthony Lewis
Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner
Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies by Eric Corey Freed
Killing Ground by Jack Higgins
Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit, and the Era of Predatory Lenders by James Scurlock
What Happy Women Know: How New Findings in Positive Psychology Can Change Women’s Lives
for the Better by Dan Baker
Audiobooks
Appeal by John Grisham
Car Talk: Classics, Four Perfectly Good Hours by Tim and Ray Magliozzi
Duma Key by Stephen King
Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich
Way Off the Road: Discovering the Peculiar Charms of Small-Town America by William Geist
DVDs
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Festival Shorts Collection
Invasion
Queen Rock Montreal
30 Rock. Season 1
Music on CD
Bellini: Capuleti e Montecchi/Vincenzo Bellini
Calling/Mary-Chapin Carpenter
Dim Sum/Ying Quartet
Frank/Amy Winehouse
Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street: Highlights from the Motion Picture
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Monday, Mar 3 2008, 11:01 AM
THE NEWBERY MEDAL
The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
The 2008 Newbery Medal Winner 
GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES!: VOICES FROM A MEDIEVAL VILLAGE
by Laura Amy Schlitz
THE CALDECOTT MEDAL
The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.
The 2008 Caldecott Medal Winner
THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET by Brian Selznick
THE CORETTA SCOTT KING AWARD
The Coretta Scott King Award is presented annually by the Coretta Scott King Task Force of the American Library Association’s Social Responsibilities Round Table. Recipients are authors and illustrators of African descent whose distinguished books promote an understanding and appreciation of the “American Dream.”
2008 King Author Award
ELIJAH OF BUXTON by Christopher Paul Curtis
2008 King Illustrator Award
LET IT SHINE: THREE FAVORITE SPIRITUALS by Ashley Bryan
THE ROBERT F. SIBERT INFORMATIONAL BOOK AWARD
Awarded to the best informational book
2008 Sibert Winner
THE WALL: GROWING UP BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN by Peter Sis
THE MILDRED L. BATCHELDER AWARD
Awarded to the publisher of best book in translation
2008 Batchelder Winner
BRAVE STORY by Miyuki Miyabe
THE PURA BELPRE AWARD
Honors Latino authors and illustrators whose work best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in a children’s book. (Awarded every two years)
2008 Belpre Author Award THE POET SLAVE OF CUBA: A BIOGRAPHY OF JUAN FRANCISCO MANZANO by Margarita Engel
2008 Belpre Illustrator Award
LOS GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN by Marisa Montes; illus by Yuyi Morales
THE THEODOR SEUSS GEISEL AWARD
Awarded to the most distinguished beginning reader book.
2008 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
THERE IS A BIRD ON YOUR HEAD by Mo Willems
THE SCHNEIDER FAMAILY BOOK AWARD
Awarded for best artistic expression of a disability
2008 Picture Book Award
KAMI AND THE YAKS by Andrea Stenn Stryer; illus by Bert Dodson
2008 Middle School Award
REACHING FOR SUN by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
2008 Teen Award
HURT GO HAPPY by Ginny Rorby
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Wednesday, Feb 13 2008, 10:31 AM
The Business Center is a specialized library with the Wauwatosa Public Library.
If you’re looking for a job, the Business Center contains books on careers, job outlook, test preparation and how to write resumes and cover letters.
If you own your own business or want to start a business, the collection has books on business start-up, business plans, management, marketing, advertising and selling.
If you’re looking for personal finance and investment information, the library has books and databases (S&P, Morningstar and ValueLine) you can utilize to help you make sound financial decisions and investments.
Selling your house, redesigning your office, coping with a difficult boss or co-worker? Take a look at what the Business Center can do for you.
Speaking of investments, if you just can’t “bear” it anymore, here are some new additions to the
Business Center to help get you through:
Active value investing: making money in range-bound markets by Vitaliy Katsenelson
Anatomy of the bear: lessons from Wall Street’s four great bottoms by Russell Napier
Bull in China: investing profitably in the world's greatest market by Jim Rogers
Chindia: how China and India are revolutionizing global business
ed. by Pete Engardio
Complete guide to currency trading & investing: how to earn high rates
of return safely and take control of your investments byJamaine Burrell
Complete turtletrader: the legend, the lessons, the results
by Michael Covel
Entries & exits: visits to sixteen trading rooms by Alexander Elder
Forex patterns & probabilities: trading strategies for trending and range-bound markets
by Ed Ponsi
Full of bull: do what Wall Street does, not what it says, to make money in the market
by Stephen McClellan
Stock Traders Almanac 2008
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Friday, Feb 1 2008, 10:38 AM
 2008 is the Year of the Rat, the first animal in the 12 year lunar cycle of the Chinese calendar. The cycle starts with the rat, followed by the ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. According to one legend, the Jade Emperor invited all the animals to participate in a race; twelve showed up, and the signs of the Chinese zodiac were named for each animal in the order they finished the race. Are you a rat? If you were born in 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996 or 2008, you are, but that’s not a bad thing because in Chinese philosophy, the rat is associated with material success, cleverness, hard work, discipline and a passionate nature.
Chinese New Year
The Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. The festival begins on the first day of the first lunar month – in 2008 it falls on February 7th – and continues until the fifteenth day and the Festival of the Lanterns. In China, the New Year is a time to celebrate families and new beginnings. People prepare for weeks ahead, cleaning their homes from top to bottom, repairing and repainting, settling debts and clearing away traces of the old year to bring good luck for the New Year. Fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck, is symbolized by red clothes, red decorations and fireworks.
Take a look at the Chinese New Year display in the Adult Library. Chinese books, pictures, chopsticks, foo dogs, jade jewelry and other treasures will be on display throughout the month of February.
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Friday, Feb 1 2008, 09:38 AM
 Little Red Riding Hood is as timely in the information age as it was in 1697, when Charles Perrault published the first written version. Children of today would heed well its message, “Don’t give strangers personal information and addresses.” Perrault’s version differs greatly from the other well-known tales about a little girl with a red hood or cap. It ends abruptly without the wolf receiving just punishment. He eats the grandmother, waits in bed for Little Red Riding Hood and after playing the “Oh what big…” game with her, “he sprang out of bed and gobbled up Little Red Riding Hood.” This ending makes Perrault’s tale a cautionary one instead of a true fairy tale because it does not satisfy a child’s need for justice to prevail. Perrault’s fairy tales were written to amuse the French aristocracy and to caution young ladies about their behavior.
The Brothers Grimm’s version, Little Red Cap as it was originally known, is a true fairy tale because in spite of Little Red Cap’s disobedience, the tale ends happily. Little Red Cap dallies to pick flowers, thus offering the wolf an opportunity to meet her. Then she thoughtlessly gives him information about where her grandmother lives. The wolf eats the grandmother and Little Red Cap; however, a hunter arrives, guesses what happened, cuts open the wolf and rescues Little Red Cap and her grandmother. This account is gory and violent, but the happy ending reassures small children. Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Trina Schart Hyman, Josephine Evetts-Secker have written adaptations that closely follow the Grimm’s tale. Cooper Edens selected a version in which Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother are not saved, but justice is served. Little Red Riding Hood’s father and his friends find the wolf “and killed him with axes, so that he was punished for his cruelty.”
The most frequently translated version is the one by the Brothers Grimm. Caperucita Roja is a Spanish translation. Lon Po Po: a Red Riding Hood Story from China tells about three good little sisters and a tricky wolf dressed up like their grandmother. Pretty Salma: a Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa is about a girl who fails to heed Granny’s warning about talking to strangers. Ruby by Michel Emberly, Little Red Cowboy Hat by Susan Lowell, and Little Red: a Fizzling Good Yarn by Lynn Roberts are just a few among the many fractured fairy tales of Little Red Riding Hood.
“Little Red’s Most Unusual Day” is a fractured adaptation for opera that will be performed by the Florentine Opera Company at the Wauwatosa Civic Center on Saturday, March 1, 2008 from 1:30 – 2:15 pm. This children’s opera is best for students in Kindergarten through 8th grades, but everyone is welcome. Please register at the Children’s Reference Desk or call: 414-471-8486.
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Friday, Feb 1 2008, 09:38 AM
Books
Best of Wodehouse: an Anthology by P. G. Wodehouse
Charley Wilson’s War: the Extraordinary Story of the Covert Operation That Changed the History of Our Times by George Crile
Color Your Life: How To Design Your Home With Colors From Your Heart
by Elaine Ryan
Diary of a Bad Year by J. M. Coetzee
Curly Lambeau: Building the Green Bay Packers by Stuart Stotts
Good Dog. Stay by Anna Quindlen
Hot Drinks: Cider, Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate, Spiced Punch, Spirits by Mary Lou Heiss
Marvels of Engineering/National Geographic Society
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Shooters by W.E.B. Griffin
Audiobooks
Bleeding Kansas by Sara Paretsky
Body Surfing by Anita Shreve
Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
Senator’s Wife by Sue Miller
Star Wars. Legacy of the Force. Inferno by Troy Denning
DVDs
Invisible
Nanny Diaries
Once
Simon Schama’s Power of Art
Simpsons Movie
Music on CD
Best of Quartet West/Charlie Haden
Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love/Trisha Yearwood
Mothership/Led Zeppelin
No More Night: David Phelps Live in Birmingham/David Phelps
Since the Last Time/Arrested Development
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Wednesday, Jan 2 2008, 05:08 PM
" We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."
Edith Lovejoy Pierce, poet, b. 1904
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Wednesday, Jan 2 2008, 04:55 PM
 I t’s cold, it’s gray-a perfect day to watch a good movie. Of course, the library has copies of all the new movies to check out, but what about a classic, Citizen Kane, Godfather, Casablanca, Raging Bull, Singin’ in the Rain, for example? These are the top five of 100 movies selected by the American Film Institute for the 10th Anniversary Edition of 100 Years…100 Movies series.
The American Film Institute is an independent, non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1998, the 100th anniversary of American film, the AFI began its 100 Years…100 Movies series, an annual CBS television special honoring a different aspect of excellence in American film. Last year, the program was entitled 100 Years…100 Cheers: America’s Most Inspiring Movies. In 2005, it was 100 Years…100 Quotes.
Go to AFI’s website at http://www.afi.com/ to see the lists of selected films, quotes, heroes, songs and more that have been selected over the years and featured on this series. The library has an extensive collection of classic movies on video and DVD and all the titles on the 10th Anniversary Edition of 100 Years…100 Movies list. Start working your way through this list of the all-time best American movies.
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By Wauwatosa Public Library
Wednesday, Jan 2 2008, 04:03 PM
Books
Furniture Restoration: Step-By-Step Tips and Techniques for Professional Results by Ina Brosseau
Good Spirits: Recipes, Revelations, Refreshments, and Romance, Shaken and Served with a Twist by A. J. Rathbun
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Poet’s Corner: the One-and-Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family by John Lithgow
Silent Theater: the Art of Edward Hopper by Walter Wells
Books on CD
Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz
Fall of Troy by Peter Ackroyd
Free Life by Ha Jin
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