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     Did you realize that this past week was National Library Week?  Living in the electronic age, have libraries become obsolete?  Are they less used than they once were.  But, as I peruse the library website that services Phoenix, I can see that libraries are still current and are keeping up with the times.  They have so many online services and extra benefits for patrons to use, all for the price of $0! So, in honor of National Library Week, and because we are all book lovers who have been library users from our youth, today's Friday Fave #57 is all about libraries! 

     When I was a child, my mother used to take me to the Clovis, CA Carnegie Library.  (You can see it and read about it here). It was constructed in 1915, so it was old and musty smelling even when I was a child.  I remember the steps up to the double doors that seemed much steeper back then and the creaky wooden floors.  The children's section was in the basement. My mom would let me go and peruse the books to my hearts content and choose the books that I wanted to read.  She would make her own choices upstairs and then come down and give me some suggestions.  I remember checking out Dr. Doolittle and the Complete Adventures of Winnie the Pooh , among many others. There weren't a lot of extra programs at the library that I can recall, but it was a magical place to me all the same. It no longer serves as the town's library, but the building still stands as a landmark of former days and houses the Clovis Chamber of Commerce. 
     When my own children were young, I would take them to the Phoenix library, especially during the summer, when school was out.  During the school year they could use the school library, and I didn't want to mix up which books went to which library. Of course, if they needed something special that the school didn't have, we would go to the city library.  But, during the summer, it was always great to keep the kids reading and to participate in our library's summer reading program.  They won little prizes until finally at the end they could win Diamondback Baseball Game tickets after reading a certain number of books! Once, I took them to hear a cowboy tell stories at the library and he actually brought in his real horse wearing a diaper! My children were fascinated! 
     So, given these experiences over the years with my kids, I polled my girls to find out what they love and remember about the library:

Alicia: I am starting with Alicia because she actually worked in the Provo Library when she was in college.  Here is what she says about the library:  "I loved working at the library. It was the best job!
 I love when libraries are partnered with Libby and I can check out audio books from home
I also enjoy aimlessly wandering the aisles and finding books I've never heard of, to read." 
    If you haven't heard of Libby, it is a free app that lets you check out audio books onto your phone or mobile device for free! Here is the link to find out about it.
     Alicia also says it is awesome to be able to check out movies from the library.  We used to do that a lot in the summer when my kids were young.  It was a great way to stay indoors and be cool in our hot AZ summers! Alicia remembers, "​That’s how I watched the Ramona movies!"

Madalynn uses the library a lot! She says, "I like checking out movies and CDs from the library. And how you can get museum and zoo passes from the library. And the seed library. And the classes and activities they have for kids. Libraries are just a great resource for low budget families to experience things."  She continues with the CDs, "When I was in middle school I would go choose CDs I thought had cool covers and that was how I discovered music."  (She means how she found her taste in music.  Of course she knew there was music, ha ha.)
     I was amazed about the seed library when Madalynn told me about it.  I am excited to check that out! I just learned that our library (Cholla Branch)  has a craft night that is totally free on Tuesday Nights! There are e-classes offered and special speakers. 
     The culture passes Maddy spoke of are an awesome way to get free passes to museums and other attractions around the city.  You have to be quick though, because they go fast! 

Lindsey says, "I like library nooks where you can sit and read. It is so quiet and peaceful." About the movies that you can check out she says, " That's how I watched a lot of movies in high school!  I think that's how we saw the BBC Chronicals of Narnia when we were kids." Now that she is a mom, she is looking forward to the story times for kids and looking into the free classes that are offered.  Speaking of being a mom, one great class being offered at our library branch is a Kindergarten Bootcamp class for children starting school in the fall of 2018! It is just one hour a week for 7 weeks, it is totally free, including supplies!  It is amazing to see the number of free classes that are available online from the library! Here are the ones available from Phoenix! 
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     So, if you haven't checked out your local library lately, now is a great time to do it!  Don't forget the books! I've listed favorites that I want to read this year on this post, and the library is a great place to find them. (Then, if you love them you can buy them! The only thing I don't love about the library is that you have to give back the books that you fall in love with.)  Summer reading programs will be starting soon! The City of Phoenix is even doing a program that encourages everyone in the city to read a book together this summer! They are taking votes on which book it will be now! They are calling it, One Book, One Phoenix. If you live in Phoenix, go and vote now.  I voted for Albuquerque by Rodolfo Anaya.  Which one would you vote for? 
​      We will leave you with a quote from Albert Einstein. 
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     I grew up loving Fairy Tales. They could be the original versions from the Brothers Grimm, or the Disney-fied versions, it didn't matter.  As you know, I am a romantic at heart and Fairy Tales filled that magical need I had (have) inside myself. Not only that, but Fairy Tales can be used to teach lessons in a way children can understand.  Lessons about being kind, honest, hard working, and so forth.  So, as a result, my children were raised hearing Fairy Tales from me, whether I read them to them or told them from memory with my own twists.  We all have our favorites, plus we all have enjoyed some of the various spoofs and modernized versions of Fairy Tales that are available.  Because Monday, February 26th is Tell a Fairy Tale Day, we thought we would share some of our favorites in all of their many forms for today's Friday Faves.  Be sure to let us know what your favorite Fairy Tales are.

Lindsey had a hard time choosing one Fairy Tale, so she picked Into The Woods.  

This story uses many Fairy Tale characters from various stories and weaves them together into one story that deals with the consequences of the decisions made in the stories that we already know.  Into the Woods is actually a musical play, but many people love the story itself the best.

​The idea of intermixing all of these Fairy Tale characters reminds me of the television show, Once Upon a Time, available on Amazon.

Alicia chose Cinderella as her favorite. I must say that this is a story dear to all of our hearts.  Especially the Disney version because we love the music and the mice.  I also grew up watching the Roger's and Hammerstein Version with songs I always loved. It is fun to see Leslie Ann Warren on Once Upon a Time after all of these years.

But, the Cinderella story is universal and comes in many other formats. Check out these Cinderella story books (Many are available on Kindle and /or Audible): 

• An Illustrated Treasury of Grimm's Fairy Tales: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel and many more classic stories
• Ella Enchanted (Newberry Honor Book) 
• Cinderella Stories Around the World: 4 Beloved Tales (Multicultural Fairy Tales) ​

And, don't forget the super cute movie with Hillary Duff,  A Cinderella Story.

Maddy's favorite Fairy Tale is Sleeping Beauty.  Even as a teenager, when we went to Disneyland, we had to stand in line for her to be able to get her picture taken with Aurora.  And she does have a point that in the Disney version movie, this princess has the most well trained, beautifully lilting voice of them all. Her range is amazing. If I am reading the credits correctly, her name is Mary Costa.

But, just like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty is an old tale with many versions.  Here are a couple of them.

• Sleeping Beauty (Original Text with Classic Illustrations)
• ​​The Sleeping Beauty: The Story of Tchaikovsky's Ballet

I used to regale my children with tellings of The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks and The Three Bears. Of course, I would tell these by heart, without reading a book because my parents used to tell them to me that way. My father used to tell me that the hot porridge burnt all of the hair off of the Daddy Bear's tongue. I have passed that on to my children and grandchildren. And, when the Big, Bad Wolf went down the Pig's chimney, he landed in the hot pot which caused him to shoot back up the chimney and land so far away that he never came back to bother those 3 pigs (who all survived by the skin of their teeth) again.
But, I have seen some awesome versions of these stories over the years. Here are just a few of my favorites:

• The Disney version in book and DVD. I really like the music in this classic.
• The James Marshall Version The Three Little Pigs (Reading Railroad) I love his illustrations!
• The True Story of the Three Little Pigs The very funny story from the wolf's perspective.
• The Three Little Wolves and the Big, Bad Pig Quite a cute twist on the story.
• The Three Little Javelinas Being from Arizona where there are many javelinas, I had to include this awesome version.
• Goldilocks and The Three Bears, another great James Marshall version.
• And here is a Jan Brett version! I love her stuff!

What are your favorite Fairy Tales?  Do you have a special way of telling them?  Get yourself prepared to share one with someone on Monday and enjoy the magic! 
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​This post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you.  All opinions expressed are our own.  Thank you for your support.
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​     I have made a goal this year to get back to one of the things I love the most, READING!  Life has gotten in the way of my time to settle in with a good book.  I've made a good start by starting and finishing my first book of 2018, but I asked you guys to please give me suggestions for other books I might want to be read throughout the rest of this year.  I am so thankful for the suggestions I have received. So, I have put together a list for you and maybe we can read some of these together this year! 
     Here is my disclaimer:  I haven't read any of these yet! You may be surprised because some of them have been around for awhile and have been very popular. But, as I said, I haven't been reading with my usual voracity of late.  Also, I take no responsibility for the contents of these books because I haven't read them, so I don't know yet what the language is like or if they are something I am going to love.  But, they have all been highly recommended by other readers, so that is a good start. I am including the Amazon link for each book to make it easy for you to either purchase the book or get the Kindle version.  I am an Amazon affiliate, but that in no way raises the price of the book for you.  Some of them may even be free or low priced on Kindle and many are available as audio books, and you can get two free books with your audible trial.

• Books by Kate Morton:  In this post, I talked about The Lake House by Kate Morton.  She has been a pretty prolific writer of late a couple of her other books were highly suggested and both have 4.5 stars on Amazon.  First, The Secret Keeper and Second, The Forgotten Garden both look and sound intriguing and are definitely going on my list this year.  I love Morton's writing style and she is one of my new favorite writers.  The Lake House had no questionable scenes and I can't remember a bunch of bad language, so I am hoping that this holds true in all of her books.

•      Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas. This one takes place during the Great Depression.  The description says this book is great for book clubs.

• Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosney takes place in France in 1942 and in 2002. 

• These is My Words by Nancy Turner is sent in the frontier of Arizona. The story is about the author's own family.

• Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman is a 1960's coming of age novel.

• The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian is a WWII story of Armenian devestation.

• News of the World by Paulette Jiles takes place after the Civil War in the 1870s. 

• The Rent Collector by Camron Wright is a story of the perseverance of the human spirit set in Cambodia.

• An unlikely conversion story by Al Fox Carraway, More Than a Tattooed Mormon is her own story. 

• Jacque Stevens is the sister of a friend of mine and she is a nurse who writes fantasy on the side. Some of her books look like something I could get into and her sister recommended these two to me: Winter Falls: A Tale of the Snow Queen  (free on Kindle) and The Stone Bearers.  (Also free on Kindle!)

• American Wolf by Nate Blakeslee has written a book that really is about a wolf, but deeper about controversy and drama that has taken place in relation to these animals in the American West. 

• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr is a Pulitzer Prize Winner that takes place in WWII and involves a blind French girl and a German Boy. It has been on the Best Seller List for two and a half years, so I should have read it by now! This one is definitely on my list.

• Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris is a humorous satire of office life.  The description kind of reminds me of the office, but the person that recommended it described it as "brilliant, funny, moving and real. Just like your own workplace. People you love to hate and hate to love. I have read it three times and it’s never boring. Meaty and just terrific."

• Finally, this book has been so highly recommended and is also a movie! Wonder by R. J. Palacio is a definite top of the list book.  (Even though it is on the bottom of this list!) :)

     I think that this list will really give me a great start on my reading this year! If you have already read any of these, let me know in advance (without spoiling) how you think I will like them! And, I am still open to more suggestions! 
​Happy Reading!