The books are in for the next teen book group discussion! We are reading Bodies in Motion and at Rest, a collection of essays by Thomas Lynch. He is a funeral director from Milford, Michigan, so you’ve guessed it, he writes a lot about death and religion, which should make for a great discussion on Monday, January 9th from 7-8pm. So come sign up at the Downtown Library, receive your own copy to keep, and then join in on the discussion. On January 10th, Thomas Lynch will be speaking at the Neutral Zone from 7-9pm, and you can get your copy signed! A2 Public School students may be able to receive CR (Community Resource) credit for participating.

Well, what about tooth fairies? Want to know more? Try Dad, Are You The Tooth Fairy?; Fooling The Tooth Fairy; and Tooth Trouble.

Happy Birthday to You! Celebrate with Fairytale Cake; Oscar's Half Birthday; and Parent's Party Book.

What group will be remembered for being one of the most significant music creators of the twentieth century?
If you answered, the BEATLES, you'd be right. How many other music stars can put together a CD of just Number One Hits? Recently was the 25th Anniversary of John Lennon's death. Elizabeth Partridge, an award-winning author, wrote Lennon a photographic biography, with over 140 black-and-white photos bridging his life. There's also in-depth coverage of John's adolescence and stories from those who knew him best.

Today, December 10, marks Emily Dickinson’s birthday. She is a renowned American poet born in Amherst, MA. For the most part, she was a very reclusive woman who was consistently suffering from health problems. During her lifetime, only seven of her poems were published; it wasn’t until after her death that her sister discovered the rest of her poems and published them gradually over 50 years. Rediscover, or experience for the first time, her beautiful poems and letters with these books:

Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson, Emily Dickinson, Poems and Letters, Final Harvest: Emily Dickinson’s Poems, Poems for Youth, and more.

If you're anticipating a visit from Kris Kringle, what are you hoping to find
under your tree?

A pony?
A toy train?
An Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle?

I hope you don't find a lump of coal!

(Leave a comment with your wishlist ... you never know when Santa might peruse the AADL blogs!)

A spanking new website will now allow you to listen to your favorite English-language poets read their own works.
The Poetry Archive, under the auspices of Andrew Motion, the poet laureate of Britain, is nothing if not impressive.
You can browse by poets, titles, theme and poetic forms. Try out ones by Margaret Atwood; Seamus Heaney and Allen Ginsberg.
There is even an entire archive for children.

Frederick Douglass enrolls his nine-year-old daughter Rosetta, in an all white private school. She is put in a class by herself and is not allowed to play or learn with the other girls. After her famous father returns from a business trip, he confronts the principal and begins the process of integrating Rochester public schools. This fictional portrayal of Rosetta Douglass touches on the life and times of her famous father. A comprehensive timeline and a detailed synopsis of the great orator's life are included.

Today is Pearl Harbor Day, a "date which will live in infamy". Below are three recent titles to commemorate December 7, 1942: Lightning Strike: The Secret Mission to Kill Admiral Yamamoto and Avenge Pearl Harbor, by Don Davis, The Eagle and the Rising Sun: The Japanese-American War, 1941-1943, by Alan Schom, and the fictional Day of Infamy, by Harry Turtledove.

Starting in January, the United States Postal Service will be honoring some of children's literature's most beloved characters. Eight different animals will be featured on the 16-stamp sheets.

Appearing on the stamps will be Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar, Lucy Cousin's Maisy from Maisy's ABC, the Wild Things from Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, Curious George from Margret and H.A. Rey's Curious George Flies a Kite, the pig Wilbur from E.B. White's Charlotte's Web, Leo Lionni's mouse Frederick, Ian Falconer's Olivia and Dr. Seuss's tongue-twisting Fox in Socks.