"Shoo, Fly Guy!" written and illustrated by Tedd Arnold, boasts short chapters, easy vocabulary, lots of humor, and colorful illustrations for beginning readers to enjoy.

Not every child is an instant fan of reading, but that doesn't mean they can't be.

Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to find the right books a child will be enthusiastic about.

The important thing is to keep trying, and visiting your local library every week should be on your "to do" list. Make sure you allow the child to select books as well as those you add to the pile, and check out as many books as you can so you have plenty to choose from.

If the book isn't of interest, don't insist on finishing it; move on to the next. Sooner or later you're bound to find a genre of books that sparks an interest, and once that seed is planted, the doors will open to a wider variety of reading materials.

Every child deserves the opportunity that reading provides. Make the effort to make that happen. A child is counting on you.

The following book is available at many public libraries.<B>"Swamp Angel"</B> by Anne Isaacs; illustrated by Paul Zelinsky; Dutton Children's Books; 40 pages; full color illustrations; read aloud: ages 4 and older; read yourself: ages 7 to 8 and older.When Swamp Angel was born, no one imagined she would be anything out of the ordinary. As time pressed on she began to hold promise.At 2 years of age she built her first log cabin. By the time she was twelve she was plucking covered wagons out of swamps they had become stuck in. Her greatest challenge, though, was when Swamp Angel decided to rid the wilderness of Thundering Tarnation — the huge bear that had a voracious appetite for settler's grub.Could this giant of a woman stop the ferocious, savage bear? Countless men had tried and failed. Was Swamp Angel big enough, brave enough and clever enough to outwit the terror of the mountains?Wildly exaggerated and loaded with irony, knee-slapping humor and tall-tale fun, "Swamp Angel," is delightful entertainment, start to finish.

<B>Library:</B> Saxonburg Area Library, 240 W. Main St., Saxonburg<B>Library Director:</B> Steve Twentier<B>Children's Programmer:</B> Judy O'Brokta<B>Choices this week:</B> <B>"The Snowman Who Wanted to See July"</B> by Nicole B. Estvanik; <B>"Wombat Stew"</B> by Marcia K. Vaughan; <B>"Hatchet"</B> by Gary Paulsen

The following books are available at favorite bookstores.<B>"A Series of Unfortunate Events Book the Thirteenth: The End"</B> by Lemony Snicket; illustrated by Brett Helquist; HarperCollins, 2006; 337 pages; $12.99 hardcover; read aloud: age 8 and older; read yourself: age 9 to 10 and older.Lemony Snicket fans — prepare for perhaps the most bizarre, wild and twisting tale in "A Series of Unfortunate Events Book the Thirteenth."After washing up on the shores of an island whose inhabitants imprison Count Olaf and they and their leader claim their island to be the only safe haven left on Earth, free from the treachery of the world, the Baudelaire orphans (Violet, Klaus and Sunny) begin to think that perhaps their series of unfortunate events have finally come to an end.Of course, that wouldn't be a fitting end to "The End," and soon the orphans sense flaws and danger in the "perfect" way of life, ultimately placing their lives in the balance.Loaded with peculiar characters, clever threads from the previous books, suspense, sinister plots, and a real tour de force of vocabulary, wordplay and humor, readers will find "The End" a fitting and satisfying finale.<B>"Shoo, Fly Guy!"</B> written and illustrated by Tedd Arnold; Scholastic, 2006; 30 pages; $5.99 hardcover; read aloud: age 5 and older; read yourself: age 6 to 7 and older.Buzz's pet, Fly Guy, is a fly. One of Fly Guy's favorite things to do is to eat, and his favorite food is "brown, oozy, lumpy and smelly."When Buzz and his family go on a picnic, Fly Guy buzzes around the neighborhood looking for his favorite dish. But Fly Guy finds he isn't welcome on a boy's hamburger, a girl's pizza, a dog's bone or a bird's roadkill. Exhausted, Fly Guy presses on until he finally finds Buzz, and Buzz has precisely the dish he is looking for — Shoo Fly Pie!Boasting short chapters, easy vocabulary, lots of humor and colorful illustrations, beginning readers are certain to love "Shoo, Fly Guy!"Nationally syndicated, Kendal Rautzhan writes and lectures on children's literature. She can be reached via e-mail at kendal@sunlink.net.