BUNNIES AND MAGICIANS A HIT OLD STANDARDS HELP LIBRARY GET KIDS EXCITED ABOUT READING.

Byline: RICK COCA Valley News Writer

Kids in the Sherman Oaks Library's summer reading program have seen a tarantula, falcon, albino rabbit and centipede up close and personal, thanks to a visit from the Los Angeles Zoo's mobile program, Animals and their Amazing Adaptations.

When the kids were done ``oohing and ahhing,'' Children's Librarian Beth Jacobsen made sure there were plenty of books about the featured animals prominently displayed.

And that's the point of the city-wide program. Schedule fun and interesting topics and speakers in order to get the kids reading.

Jacobsen said that finding books for the Golden Apple Yo-Yo Team's recent yo-yo demonstration was a minor challenge.

``The books on yo-yos tend to be really old,'' Jacobsen said.

With 72 branches throughout Los Angeles, performers and presenters for the summer series are selected by each library from a list of pre-approved performers and groups provided by the library's Children's Services, she said.

Today's guest at the Sherman Oaks branch will be artist David Orozco, who will teach children drawing techniques in his ``make a book'' presentation, beginning at 3 p.m.

On Aug. 23, magician Tony Daniels will perform. Jacobsen said the magic shows are always popular.

``We tend to have two magic shows a year,'' Jacobsen said. ``There's always at least 80 people. The kids love it.''

While yo-yo's popularity peaked in earlier decades, Jacobsen said other things never seem to lose their appeal to children.

``What's kind of interesting, the things that I did growing up, kids are still doing the same things,'' Jacobsen said. ``Magic, pets, drawing books, comic books -- kids still want to read `Peanuts' as much as they do `The Simpsons' or graphic novels. I think a lot of the things kids liked 20 years ago, they still like today.''

Firefighters continue to be popular with children and at 3 p.m. Aug. 9, firefighters from the local fire station are scheduled to show up to talk about their jobs and fire safety, as well as read a few books to the youngsters.

The library also offers a preschool reading program every Monday at 10:30 a.m., for 2-to 5-year-olds. For older kids, the library has a teen program, which currently has about 10 young people involved, Jacobsen said. Besides working on their own programs, teen program participants help her put together the 3 p.m. storytime and crafts session for younger kids each Wednesday.

For third, fourth and fifth graders, there's the Children's Book Group, which will next meet at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 11 to discuss ``Phantom Toll Booth,'' by Norton Juster. Jacobsen said that the club meets once a month and is very informal. Children who want to participate only need to read the assigned book and show up.

``For most kids, it's the first time they've been in a book discussion (group),'' Jacobsen said. ``(It's the) first time they've read a novel, cover to cover.''

Increasing their chances of becoming lifelong readers, Jacobsen added one more advantage for the children in the program.

``For some of the kids, their parents like to read the books along with them, so they're having discussions at home, too,'' she said.

For information on programs at the Sherman Oaks Library, call [phone].