Sometimes I like to make a video mashup of clips from these workshops, especially now that we have a digital camera that will take both photo and video. So before I go into how amazing and fun and rewarding last week’s creative writing workshop with Elana K. Arnold was, why […]
Mother Daughter Book Club: A Snicker of Magic
Published on :Tonight’s Mother Daughter Book Club discussed the book A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd, a magical realism book about a contemporary girl who has an extraordinary ability to see words everywhere that other people don’t see. It’s also about a charming Tennessee town which fell under a curse and […]
Kids’ Writing Workshop: Writing Engaging Beginnings
Published on :This month our workshop focused on that cardinal rule of writing: hook ’em with your first sentence! The activities we did got the kids writing actual first sentences and getting feedback from their peers. Here’s the handout I gave the kids. I’m a big believer in drawing inspiration from current, […]
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 […]
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. […]
The Wig in the Window by Kristen Kittscher
Published on :Sophie Young is a smart girl who is in love with everything about Chinese culture. Grace Yang, her best friend, is a cunning and clever superspy-wannabe. Together, they are Young and Yang, unstoppable sleuthing duo! There’s something…OFF… about their school counselor Dr. Agford, but every time they think they know […]
Feliz Dia Del Libro!
Published on :In the Spanish-speaking world, today is International Book Day, in honor of William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes, and Garcilaso de la Vega, all of whom died on or around the same day, April 23, 1616! Why not celebrate International Book Day by checking out one of these great Spanish or […]
Preschool Storytime, March 8, 2014: Ducks
Published on :Today’s storytime was all about ducks! We sang “Six Little Ducks” with Raffi, and “Five Little Ducks” with a felt board. Parents, if you want to make a toy that will reinforce counting skills and pair with an excellent preschool song, you can create your own Five Little Ducks finger puppets (made […]
March is Women’s History Month!
Published on :Be sure to drop by the Children’s Room or your local branch library for great books about women who have made a difference! Here are some of our picture book recommendations to commemorate this month — click the pictures to find them in our catalog!
Wordless Picture Books
Published on :I love wordless (and mostly wordless) picture books. In 1992, David Wiesner, a master of wordless picture books, won the Caldecott medal (the award for the illustrator of the most distinguished American picture book) for his book Tuesday. That book, about a night of adventure for frogs on hovering lily […]