What are littleBits? littleBits is an open source library of discrete electronic components pre-assembled in tiny circuit boards. All logic and circuitry is pre-engineered in the bits. This pushes up the design process. Basically, a person who has little knowledge of electronics can now design something using electronics. The purpose […]
Celebrating the 1890s—Part Two: Who Was Claude Debussy?
Published on :Today we had a special program in the library’s auditorium, celebrating the life and music of French composer Claude Debussy. We examined his childhood, his musical influences, his friendships with impressionist and symbolist painters and composers, and the explosion of beauty and artistic expression that was the Belle Epoque in […]
Celebrating the 1890s—Part One: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Published on :Our Mother Daughter Book Club met last week and discussed the book The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly. It’s a beautiful book about a girl who is growing up in the late 1890s in a small town in Texas, where the education available to her is very backward […]
Kids’ Writing Workshop: Unlocking Your Great Vision
Published on :Today’s Kids’ Writing Workshop was all about discovering and unlocking our visions for the great work that we want to write. First, we talked about some famous writers who gave the world a consistent vision. Charles Dickens wrote about poverty and greed in Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol. Roald […]
Lucha Libros January 7, 2015
Published on :On January 7th, 2nd and 3rd graders came back for the third time to do battle in our reading competition, Lucha Libros! They did better than ever, scoring really high scores, and everyone got the bonus question right! That meant lots of fun at the prize tables. We discussed The […]
Celebrating El Deafo part 2 — Sign language and clues
Published on :continued from El Deafo Part 1 Sign Scavenger Hunt The program was geared toward kids ages 8-12, but all ages were invited to attend. We started out in the Story Room where our Sign Language professional on staff, Tiffany Duenas, spoke a little about deaf culture and taught basic sign language. […]
Celebrating El Deafo part 1 — Jeopardy & capes
Published on :In the spirit of One City, One Story, the Pasadena Public Library and Vroman’s Bookstore hosted programs centered around the Young Readers League (YRL) selection, El Deafo by Cece Bell. YRL is designed as a community-wide reading celebration by championing and geeking out over a single book. El Deafo is a hilarious and charming graphic novel memoir about a young hearing impaired girl […]
The Name of This Event is Secret
Published on :On 12-13-14… guests gathered in our auditorium for Pseudonymous Bosch, bestselling author of the Secret series. Mr. Bosch introduced the audience to his new book Bad Magic, performed some silly magic tricks, and made everyone laugh. The Secret series Activities In addition to meeting Mr. Bosch himself […]
Accordion Book Craft Program! – November 19
Published on :Last Wednesday the creative juices were flowing during the Accordion Book Craft program! Kids ages 5 & up (and some adults – you know who you are…) put together some magnificent works of art. Crafting activities aren’t just for fun – they do have […]
Getting your stories published
Published on :Our Kids’ Writing Workshop met today and learned all about the publishing process. To make things really easy and visual for them, I put together a packet of samples. A lot of beginning writers (especially kids) don’t understand what a good submission packet looks like and may get undue rejections […]