The Alamo lives again in Van Alstyne, Texas!  On Thursday evening, the Children’s Library and VA Fourth Grade students performed “Time Warp Alamo” and a readers theatre version of Voices of the Alamo. A total of thirty-two students graciously gave of their time and talents to portray William Barret Travis, Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, Susanna Dickinson, and other famous Texas heroes. This unique play portrayed the history of the Alamo as if it had happened today, complete with pagers, cell phones, IVs, Visa cards, eBay, and a SWAT team! 

The evening activities ended with the pledge to the Texas flag and singing our state song, Texas, Our Texas.These wonderful fourth graders stepped up to the plate for this program with only limited rehearsal time and produced a fantastic event. 

We would like to give a huge thank you to Mrs. Carnley and the other fourth grade teachers for allowing the students to audition and participate in rehearsals.  Thank you, as well, to Mrs. Billups and the staff of the elementary school for allowing us to use the facilities.  

As the sky darkens we will provide telescopes for the families to actually view the moon and constellations discussed during the lesson.  In case of rain, we will provide another date for this fun evening. 

From Young Adult Librarian Judy Spence: For Teen Council if the calendar says “April” then that means we are getting ready for another Art Contest.  This year is no exception as we start preparations for our 5th Annual Art Contest.  

As in years past, our Art Contest is open to teens from Van Alstyne, Howe and Anna who are in Middle School or High School.  We expect to have some great prizes and every contestant is eligible to sit with the judges following the Awards Ceremony for a private critique.  

The deadline for art to be turned in is Wednesday, 6:00pm, April 30.  Rules and entry forms may be picked up from your art teacher or here at the library.  The entry fee is $3 and must be paid at the time the entry is submitted.  The Awards Ceremony is the following day, Thursday, May 1, starting at 5pm.  

The next Mother-Daughter Book club will meet here at the library, Tuesday, May 6 from 6pm – 7pm. The book we will be discussing is “Ramona the Pest” by Beverly Cleary. 

We invite mothers and their daughters in the 4th – 7th grade to come for refreshements and lively discussion.  This book club is a bit different than your usual book club in the sense that we do not focus primarily on the book being discussed itself but use the content as a segue to discussion of whatever social issues the character and thus, our young ladies are facing today. 

We are striving to create an atmosphere where open discussion between peers and mothers and daughters are strengthened.  Just figuring out who we are at this age is tough enough but toss in the usual mix of gossiping, bullying, and drama and life for young ladies in this age range can get pretty tough. 

What better way to tackle a problem and makes some new friends than with a good book.