Leo Dillon who with Diane, his wife of 55 years, won multiple awards for their collaborative illustrations, has died.

The Dillons met at the prestigious Parsons School of Design in NY and became instant, fierce competitors. Ms. Dillon said their marriage was a 'survival mechanism to keep us from killing each other.' They attributed the success of their artistic sharing to the presence of It who helped wed their two styles.

The couple won multiple awards, including two back-to-back Caldecotts. When they won the 1976 Caldecott for Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Folktale, Mr. Dillon, of Trinidadian descent, became the first African American to win that award. The very next year, the Dillons won the Caldecott again, this time for Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions.

Their ouuvre of children's literature illustrations accompanied an equally significant reputation as illustrators of science fiction covers. Five years before their first Caldecott, they captured the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artists.

"Towel Day", "Glorious 25th of May", or "Star Wars Day", whatever you prefer to call it, May 25th is Geek Pride Day and what better way to celebrate it than by visiting your local library? You don't have to be a Sci-Fi geek, or a math geek to celebrate Geek Pride Day, just celebrate whatever you "geek". "Whatever you geek, the public library supports you." Geek The Library reminds us that "No matter who you are, there are things you are passionate about—things you geek. The Geek the Library project is a community public awareness campaign aimed at spreading the word about the vital and growing role of your public library, and to raise awareness about the critical funding issues many U.S. public libraries face." Think of all the resources your library has to offer, be they entertainment like Star Wars or Douglas Adams books or movies, Homework Help or Test Prep, Foreign Language Materials or Foreign Language Learning from our Services and Research pages that you have access to through our website, our super nifty new Orion Starblast 4.5 Astro Reflector Dobsonian Telescope, or one of our neat Science To Go Kits from our Unusual Stuff to Borrow collection.

The Downtown library has a shelf in the Youth Department known as the Parent Shelf. On this shelf you’ll find a variety of parent-child related books on a multitude of topics- including everything from phonics to tantrums to potty training to diet. These books are available for checkout, and can be found in the catalog when searching “parent shelf,” if you’d like to have one sent to a branch of your choice.

If you’ve got a child who can’t get enough reading, or if you're looking into ways to enhance their reading skills and comprehension, check out some of these titles to get you going, and see here for more.

Humpty who?: A crash course in 80 nursery rhymes for clueless moms and dads

Shelf-esteem

Family of Readers : The book lover's guide to children's and young adult literature

Mommy, teach me to read!: A complete and easy-to use home reading program

Yellow brick roads: Shared and guided paths to independent reading 4-12

Thursday May 10, 2012: 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Celebrate Children's Book Week with a theatrical performance featuring humor and audience participation with Michigan's Magic Carpet Theatre. They encourage children to use their imaginations to become better readers by combining literature and performance.

Magic Carpet Theatre brings top-quality literature to life and engages children in a live theatre experience that is interactive, creative, and educational. Their performance includes favorites like "Where the Wild Things Are," "The Fisherman and His Wife," and the "Sneetches." This event is for grades K - 5.

The Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts will be having its 20th Anniversary Benefit Gala on Saturday, May 12th at the Michigan Theater. There are two events to which the public may purchase tickets. The first is the gala, which will begin at 2:00 p.m. and will have music, cocktails, and hors d’oeuvres. Tickets for this event also include admission to the concert that will take place after the gala at 3:30 p.m. The concert will feature performances by the Junior String Orchestra, the Sterling String Orchestra, and the Youth Symphony Orchestra. The concert will feature classical works by such composers as Vivaldi, Haydn, and Holst, as well a selection from The Dark Knight among other selections.

Date: Saturday, May 12th
Time: 2:00 p.m. –VIP Reception
3:30 p.m.—Concert
Place: The Michigan Theater
Tickets: Gala and concert--$125.00
Concert only-- $10.00 for adults
$5.00 for students and children

eLibrary Elementary is an extremely useful tool for kids doing research. Offered through ProQuest, this database offers a wide range of articles from magazines, books, and newspapers. Geared towards kids, this highly accessible research tool features a bright, user friendly interface with plenty of helpful hints for young researchers. eLibrary Elementary also provides pictures, maps, video, and audio as well as transcripts of TV and radio shows. While the eLibrary is built to appeal to the Kindergarten - 6th grade set, people of all ages may find this resource helpful.

Access to this and any of our other reference databases and resources is available at every branch of the AADL, as well as from outside the library with a valid AADL library card. For access from an outside location, please sign in to your library account, visit our reference database page, and navigate to the desired resource. To access eLibrary Elementary, go to the research page, and select eLibrary Elementary from the Kids category.

The Downtown library has a shelf in the Youth Department known as the Parent Shelf. On this shelf you’ll find a variety of parent-child related books on a multitude of topics- including everything from phonics to tantrums to potty training to diet. These books are available for checkout, and can be found in the catalog when searching “parent shelf,” if you’d like to have one sent to a branch of your choice.

There are some great books on food and nutrition for children that offer advice and guidance on topics such as dealing with picky eaters as well as nutrition facts. Check out Start fresh: your child's jump start to lifelong healthy eating, 44 things parents should know about healthy cooking for kids, or perhaps Healthy food for young children and these other nutrition books for some fresh ideas on food and children.

Jennifer Holm is the author of several critically acclaimed books for children and young adults, including three novels that have received the prestigious Newbery Honor: Our Only May Amelia, Turtle In Paradise, and Penny From Heaven. Holm is also recognized for her popular youth graphic novel series, Babymouse.

Holm will be participating in the Sarah Marwil Lamstein Children's Literature Lecture as a part of the Zell Visiting Writers Series on March 29th, 2012. The event starts at 5:10pm and will be located in the The Helmut Stern Auditorium on the ground floor of the University of Michigan's Museum of Art (UMMA) at 525 South State Street on the U-M's Central Campus.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Craving LEGOS? Join the community of Ann Arbor for some FREE Lego fun at the 2012 Brick Bash!

The event will feature displays of Lego creations crafted by talented Lego hobbyists from near and far! Even you can get in on the fun - there will be tables piled high with thousands of LEGO, Duplo, and Bionicle pieces for you to craft your very own creations. In addition, Bricks for Brains will have fun and educational building projects for everyone to take part in. For more information, see the list of featured exhibits and activities.

The event will take place at Morris Lawrence Building on the campus of the Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan and last all day Saturday, March 24th from 11am to 6pm. Both admission and parking are free!

This Valentine's Day, you can send a card to patients at the Veterans Hospital and C.S. Mott Children's Hospital! Make or buy a Valentine's Day card, fill it out, and drop it off at any AADL location from February 5 - 11. You can specify which hospital or let AADL staff decide. We will make sure it arrives safely!

Please avoid glitter and leave the envelope unsealed. Because many of the patients at these hospitals are long term, please do not include any messages about getting well or feeling better.

Thank you for making this Valentine's Day a little better for children and veterans!