Where’s the good stuff?

So, you’re standing on the library’s threshold with
the towhead of your heart beside you. The youngster looks up in dismay and
speaks the words that will haunt your childrearing nights: “So, where’s the
good stuff?”

All Monroe County libraries are organized using the
Dewey Decimal system, which arranges non-fiction according to a primary subject
tied to a number from 0 to 999. This means that books about automobiles are
together under 629 (though race cars are at 796). Hardback fiction has a
distinct section; while mysteries, science fiction, short stories, and
paperbacks are sometimes shifted to nearby shelves.

Within these sections, books are in alphabetical
order by author. Biographies are alphabetized by subject matter (for example, Little Monsters, the Real Story of Pikachu by
Kitty Kelley is under “P”). The libraries have a separate area for juvenile
books, imitating the adult section with divisions for non-fiction and fiction.
Adolescent fiction is usually placed in a Young Adult area.

The trick is to have some sense of what will appeal
to your child. Use questions like, “What do you think of when I say the words
‘baby pandas’?” or “Have I ever told you about the time Abbott and Costello
saved my life?” Once you’ve defined the good stuff, it’s time to turn to:

City Newspaper Handy-Dandy Cheat-Sheet for Finding the Good Stuff
in the Library

 

Good Stuff

Look

Note

Recommended

Animals (baby ducks, moose,
ocelots, etc.)

590s

Juvenile books usually have
more pictures; animal care is at 636

DK Eyewitness books are
cool

Aztecs, Mayas

970 to 973

Some art books may be at
709

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Want to be an Aztec Sacrifice! by Fiona MacDonald

Board books

Fiction

Look for bucket or some such
in J area near toys

Whatever is not too chewed

Books about movies

791

Browse through nearby
shelves also; best bet is the Adult section

 

Camembert cheese

641

Nothing on Camembert in
catalog; plenty on cooking

The Star
Wars Cookbook by Robin
Davis

Comics, graphic novels,
cartoons

741

Little in J section, but
often special area in YA; also look in Adult where children’s and adult’s mix

“It Was
a Dark and Silly Night” edited by Art Spiegelman & Françoise Mouly

Construction vehicles

628, 629

 

Truck by Donald Crews (picture book)

Crafts

745 to 748

Huge collection downtown

Squashing
Flowers, Squeezing Leaves by the editors of Klutz

Dinosaurs

567

Good dino stuff could be in
Juvenile or Adult non-fiction

Dinosaurus by Steve Parker

Drawing

741

How-to are mostly in Adult

Ed
Emberley’s Big Green Drawing Book

Fairy tales

Fiction

Sometimes on own shelves
near picture books

The Frog
Prince, Continued by
Jon Scieszka

Ireland, Mozambique,
Vietnam, etc.

900s

Travel, history, and
geography organized by continent and country

 

Knights, armor

623, 940

 

Knights:
Warriors of the Middle Ages by Aileen Weintraub

Mad Magazine, Nintendo Power, Teen People, YM

Periodicals

Mags on fancy shelves on
every floor downtown; in each section at branches

 

Magic tricks

793

 

Card Magic by Nicholas Einhorn

Myths and legends

291, 398

 

The Illustrated Book of
Myths retold by Neil Philip

Picture books

Fiction

Many shelves in J

Rain Player by David Wisniewski

Pop Characters: Pokemon,
Digimon, Scooby Doo

Fiction, 791

Often mixed in with series
books

Scooby-Doo!:
the Essential Guide by
Glenn Dakin

Series Books: Goosebumps,
Geronimo Stilton, etc.

Fiction

Look for special area for
series books and check in both the Juvenile and YA areas

Warriors: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter

Short stories

Fiction

Consider stories that cross
all ages: Arthur Conan Doyle, Stephen King, Mark Twain, and Flannery O’Connor

Curses, Inc.
and Other Stories by
Vivian Vande Velde

Sports: Minnesota Twins,
Soccer, etc.

796

Specific athletes may be in
biography section

 

Science: Why is there air?

001, 500s

Browse through 500s,
starting in J section

Popular
Science Almanac for Kids

Videogame guides

Periodicals

Some branches even have
games

Fairport receives Tips
& Tricks

Zombies, vampires, mummies

001, 028, 398

 

A Natural History of the
Unnatural World by Joel Levy

— Craig Brownlie

This article appears in Aug 24-30, 2005.