This week, there were a number of Guessing Game Winners. Six children guessed the correct number of stretchy bracelets-Brandon Singh, Julian Larenas, Timmy O'Hare, Ty Wuchte, Ryan Bice, and Adam Baksh. Great job, guys!

Each week, there is a new guessing game, and children up to Grade 5 can use their powers of estimation to guess the number of items in the jar. Give it a try the next time you're in the library, you just might win!

Have you signed up for the Summer Reading Club yet? There's still time! Read what you want, earn prizes and an invitation to a special show! Visit the Children's Room to register.

Family Movie

The Children's Department presents the unusual and entertaining movie, The Secret of the Magic Gourd (Rated G, 85 minutes), on Wednesday, July 29 at 7:00pm. Come and enjoy a great family movie in the cool, comfortable library.

Mask Creations

The Long Island Children's Museum will be here on Tuesday, July 28 to teach children how to make some cool masks. Grades K-2 will meet at 1:00p.m. and Grades 3-5 will meet at 2:15p.m Registration began in the Children's Room on Tuesday, July 21st.

Crafts with Shirley Ruby

Children ages 21/2-5 (who are not entering Kindergarten in September), along with a caregiver, can sign up to make a Hand Painted Backpack on Tuesday, July 28 at 10:00a.m. Registration began on Tuesday, July 21st.

Upcoming Book Discussions

New Friends in a Book, a book discussion group for children who will be entering the Third Grade in September, will meet on Thursday, July 30 at 1:00pm. The selection will be How to be Cool in the Third Grade by Betsy Duffey. Bring a brown bag lunch. We'll provide a beverage and a snack! Registration began July 16th.

Page Turners is the book discussion group for children who will be entering the Fifth Grade. Participants should bring a brown bag dinner to discuss From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg on Thursday, July 30 at 5:30pm. We'll provide a beverage, a snack, and a good time with a great book! Registration began July 16th.

Books For New Readers

A very popular section with our summer reading club participants is the Easy Reader section. Located along the back wall, this is the area for the child who is ready to start reading independently. All of the book spines are marked with either a pink or a red tape.

•Pink Tapes are aimed at those children who are just starting to read on their own. They feature very few words on a page, and a controlled vocabulary. Often they focus on particular sight words, letter sounds or rhyming sounds. These are literary skills that will be worked on extensively in Kindergarten and First Grade. Some series to try are the Rookie Readers (with books authored by Patricia McKissack, Larry Dane Brimner, and Melanie Davis Jones, among others), the Sound Box Books by Jane Belk Moncure, or the Sandcastle Books (First Rhymes, First Words, First Sounds). Or, for a blast from the past, there's the Read with Dick and Jane Books, recently reissued.

•Once the pink tape books become too easy, it is time to try a red tape. Red Tapes are longer, with more text per page, and featuring a wider vocabulary. The storylines are more complex, the characters more interesting. There are lots of great red tape series, like the classics Amelia Bedelia (Peggy Parish), Nate the Great (Marjorie Sharmat Weinman), or Frog and Toad (Arnold Lobel). They are joined by newer favorites Henry and Mudge (Cynthia Rylant), Minnie and Moo (Denys Cazet), and soon to be favorites Houndsley and Catina (James Howe) and Poppy and Max (Sally Grindley).

Please check the library website www.gardencitypl.org for upcoming events and registration dates. Funding for these programs has been provided by the Friends of the Garden City Public Library. Priority for registration and participation is given to children who are Garden City Public Library cardholders.