Check It Out

April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965). The Waste Land, 1922.


In Wisconsin, April can indeed be cruel. The weather just never gets quite warm enough. But there is hope and we see it every year; buds on the trees, crocuses popping up. It’s time to start cleaning up the yard, deck or patio and doing some gardening!

As spring rolls around, the gardening books are waiting once again to venture into the many homes where vision and planning produce a long show season. Need something on gardening from the balcony, in containers, or in the greenhouse? Looking for a climbing plant or a bush to plant in that shady area in your back yard? How about producing fruits and vegetables for the next winter season? Looking for something more? Dig into landscape design and try a garden wall, or a sprinkling system. From weeds to garden walks the Wauwatosa Public Library’s collection can offer ideas, solutions and instruction. Here are some recent additions to the library’s extensive collection of gardening books:

Best garden plants for Minnesota and Wisconsin by Don Engebretson

Bird-by-bird gardening: the ultimate guide to bringing in your favorite birds
by Sally Roth

Compleat squash: a passionate grower’s guide to pumpkins, squash & gourds
by Amy Goldman

Elegant silvers: striking plants for every garden by Jo Ann Gardener

Gardening among friends: 65 practical essays by master gardeners

Hardscaping: how to use structures, pathways, patios & ornaments in your garden
by Keith Davitt

Outside the not so big house: creating the landscape of home by Julie Moir Messervy

Small garden by John Brookes

Scotts sprinklers & watering systems

Books

AC/DC: maximum rock & roll by Murray Engleheart
The complete story of one of the all time great rock bands.

At the same time: essays and speeches by Susan Sontag

Blog!: how the newest media revolution is changing politics, business, and culture
by David Kline

Everyday food: great food fast
From the kitchens of Martha Stewart Living

Heavenly handmade bags: over 25 designs to stitch, knit, embroider & embellish
by Sue Hawkins

Lone wolf: Eric Rudolph: murder, myth, and the pursuit of an American outlaw
by Maryanne Vollers

Only game in town: baseball stars of the 1930’s and 1940’s talk about the game they loved by Fay Vincent

Ten days in the hills by Jane Smiley
Satirical novel, modeled on Boccaccio’s Decameron, set in a movie director’s house in the Hollywood hills.

Trouble with physics: the rise of string theory, the fall of a science, and what comes next by Lee Smolin

Wall Street Journal guide to the business of life: everything you need to know about leading the good life by Nancy Keates

Books on CD

Dust: A Richard Jury Mystery by Martha Grimes

Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Powerful memoir of a boy caught up in the Sierra Leone civil war.

Shopaholic & Baby by Sophie Kinsella
Amelia Bedelia grows up! 5th book in the laugh-out-loud Shopaholic series.

Skeleton Coast by Clive Cussler

Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman

DVDs

Blood Diamond

Casino Royale
The new James Bond!

Flicka

Holiday

Fast Food Nation
Based on the book, Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal
by Eric Schlosser.

CDs

Appassionato-Yo Yo Ma

Infinity on High-Fall Out Boy
4th album by the Chicago area punk-pop band.

Romanza-Andrea Bocelli

Russian Album-Anna Netrebko
One of the world’s most glamorous and accomplished sopranos sings arias from her homeland.

West-Lucinda Williams

Join us for the Wauwatosa Public Library Foundation Leadership Luncheon, Monday, May 21st at 12:00 noon at the Zoofari Center. Guest speaker will be Steve Rushin, Marquette graduate and author of “Steve Rushin’s Air and Space” column in Sports Illustrated. In addition to his writing for Sports Illustrated, Steve Rushin has written Road Swing: One Fan’s Journey into the Soul of American Sports and The Caddie was a Reindeer. Tickets are $35.00 and are available at the Library Information Desk.

Meet Trudy Knauss Paradis, author of German Milwaukee: Its History, Its Recipes. Born and raised in Milwaukee to German immigrant parents, Trudy Knauss Paradis is proud of her German heritage and has compiled a book of history, photographs, recipes and anecdotes that paint a rich portrait of the German community in Milwaukee. Meet the author, sample some recipes and purchase a signed copy of this beautiful book, Saturday, May 5th from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Wauwatosa Library Firefly Room.

For years, ObieYadger was a popular local classical radio announcer. These days, he spends his time as a freelance writer. Join us, Wednesday, May 9th at 6:30 p.m. in the Firefly Room, as he reads from his latest book, Obie’s Opus, a collection of amusing stories from the world of classical music gathered over the course of his 30 year radio career.

Mother Goose Rhymes have been around since ancient times. Some scholars believe that the Queen of Sheba might have been the first Mother Goose.

A more recent candidate is Charlemagne’s mother, Queen Bertha, who died in 783. She was known as Queen Goose-foot or Goose-footed Bertha, because her feet were supposedly very large and webbed. French legends also tell of a Goose-footed Bertha who told stories to children while she sat at her spinning wheel. In 1697, Charles Perrault published a volume of fairy tales under the title, “Tales of My Mother Goose.” He is better known as the author of the French Cinderella story and “Puss in Boots”.

The real Mother Goose may even have been American. In 1692, Elizabeth Foster married Isaac Goose, who had ten children. Together they had six more children. Many years later, a son-in-law published a book of rhymes that he heard Elizabeth recite to her children and grandchildren. No copies of “Mother Goose’s Melodies” exist today and there is no proof that Mrs. Goose was Mother Goose.

For an entertaining evening of Mother Goose Rhymes and fun poetry, bring your children, ages 3 and older to “Rhyme Time” Family Story Night on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 or Thursday, April 12 at the Wauwatosa Public Library. From 6:30- 7:00 pm, the Children’s Librarians will present rhymes, stories and more. For more information or to register, please call the Wauwatosa Children's Library at 414-471-8486.