Next time you’re confronted with riding a monster Cedar Point roller coaster, think of the Queen of the Falls and ease your racing heart. An aging charm school teacher in Bay City, Michigan, finds she must close her school because of dwindling student enrollment. Over the years she had traveled and taught but had not saved much money. Now in her sixties she needs a get-rich-quick plan.

Author and illustrator, Chris Van Allsburg sheds light on this surreal, true story of 63-year-old widow Annie Edson Taylor who hatches the idea of riding over Niagara Falls as a means of financially securing her retirement. In typical Van Allsburg style, he mysteriously unfolds the story of Annie as she persuades a local cooper to build a custom-sized barrel and how she “sells” a carnival worker to pitch her soon-to-be famous feat to newspaper folks in Niagara, NY. Van Allsburg uses his trademark sepia tones to transport the reader back in time and to cast a sense of unbelievability – features that so many of his books are known for.

As the pages turn, the tension builds. Will Annie succeed? If so, will she also win the hearts and dollars of thousands of fans? Open this book and hold onto your hat!

All those fantastic library craft programs from the past have made for lots of leftover scraps and arts and crafts treasures. Bring your imagination and create a pipe cleaner character with buttons and ribbons, or a paper roll creature and paper bag puppet with all kinds of fun texture and color! Summer might be over but the play and fun continues for Kindergarten through fifth graders on September 8 at 4:00 pm.

In These Hands, a grandfather tells his grandson some of the things he used to be able to do with his hands while he teaches him how to tie his shoe, play a tune on the piano, hit a line drive and shuffle a deck of cards. He also tells him what his hands were not allowed to do; touch the bread dough at the Wonder Bread factory. His hands were only allowed to sweep the floor of the factory where he used to work. Margaret H. Mason tells a story of how many hands working for a common cause can make a difference in this inspiring picture book.

If you missed this year's 6th Annual LEGO contest held at Weber's Inn last night you missed the highlight of some Ann Arborites' year! Breaking all previous records this year's contest was the biggest ever with 206 entries in 6 categories: Preschool, Grades K-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12 and Adult. And about 600 people attended the awards ceremony last night too! Thanks to all of this year's participants and we look forward to seeing you next year. Sometime soon there will be photographs of every winner's LEGO project linked here and permanently found on our contest page. Without further ado, the winners (after the jump).

Have you been waiting to watch some of the newest youth DVD releases? Has your family been wanting to see Rio and other popular movies that were in theaters recently? Well, the AADL has some great new and popular youth DVDs! Stop in at the downtown youth department or at any of our branch locations to check out or put a hold on some of these awesome titles. Here are just a few of them:

Rango
Tangled
Gnomeo & Juliet
The Chronicles of Narnia. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Hopefully you have been working hard on your LEGO project for this week's upcoming 6th Annual LEGO Contest held at Weber's Inn this Thursday! If you haven't be sure to read the rules and guidelines and get cracking! Preschoolers all the way through Adults are invited to enter or come look at this always exciting contest. The doors will be open for the public to come take a look from 6:00-8:00 PM with the Award Ceremony to immediately follow at 8:00 PM. As always there will be gift cards to Target for the winners, special ribbons and LEGO trophies! Hope to see you there! Check out our video of some of last year's winners.

When I was teenager I saved up my money and walked to the store around the corner praying that the latest issue of Tiger Beat and Right On was still there. Otherwise I would have to beg my best friend to let me borrow her copy. Of course I had to promise not to tear out the pictures of David Cassidy and Rick Springfield. Now girls can find magazines suited to their tastes and styles at the Ann Arbor District Library.

New Moon Girls for ages 8 and up is advertisement free. Girl writers, editors and artists from around the world contribute to the publication. Hopscotch for Girls is a wholesome magazine for girls ages 5 – 14. The magazine is filled with award winning stories, arts and crafts, science and math, cooking, poetry, puzzles and more. Three of the most popular magazines for girls are American Girls ages 8 – 12, Discovery Girls ages 8 and up and Girl’s life for girls10 and up. Teen girls will also enjoy a variety of magazines like Teen Vogue, Seventeen, Audrey, Lucky and Teen Voices. Libraries have certainly come a long way!

The experience of slaves traveling along the Underground Railroad to freedom is told with few words in Underground by Shane W. Evans. The tension and joy of the journey are artfully crafted in this elegant picture book. Dark lined illustrations depict a child’s eye view of hiding in the night.

So far this summer we've had a magician and a juggler. Now it's time for a ventriloquist. Join us this Tuesday, July 26 at 2:00 p.m at the Pittsfield Branch for a great show by ventriloquist Vikki Gasko and her charming friends from around the world. The show will be repeated at the Downtown Library at 7:00 p.m that evening.

Have you ever tried ventriloquism? Start here.

“I” was in Ms. Rachel’s letter box, so Preschool Storytime was brought to you by the letter "i" and "insects". You can repeat one of the stories or explore related titles from the following:
Go To Sleep Gecko is an Indonesian folktale about ecology that begins with fireflies.
Tiny Little Fly and Old Black Fly ... they never catch the fly!
Sing "Ants Go Marching" and other songs with the 50 Silly Songs CD.
You can learn real information by browsing books from two very popular series:
Insect, which is a DK Eyewitness Book, and
Insects, which is a True Book.

Take a field trip to Traverwood Branch Library and view the glass case with Cecropia larvae munching on walnut leaves. This display is from the Leslie Nature Center.