Blog Post
The Silver Spoon for Children: Favorite Italian Recipes
by PizzaPuppy
Have you been dying to learn to cook authentic Italian food, but didn't know where to begin? The Silver Spoon for Children: Favorite Italian Recipes is a great way to introduce older children to the art of cooking. This book is specially adapted for kids from the famous The Silver Spoon, the "best-selling bible of Italian cooking" first published in 1950.
The first few pages of this simple and illustrated guide explain basic cooking and cutting techniques, as well as common kitchen equipment and utensils. This first section emphasizes safety above all else, which is essential for a young person who is somewhat new to cooking. The rest of The Silver Spoon for Children consists of easy and delicious recipes. Learn to make a beautiful mozzarella and tomato salad or a hearty minestrone soup. Try your hand at linguine with pesto, lasagna, or potato gnocci. You can even learn to make your own pizza dough and pizzas! Desserts round out this full collection, with recipes for delicious hazelnut cake, banana cream or fruits of the forest ice cream.
This book is recommended for older children looking to learn more about cooking. It includes easy-to-follow instructions and full-color photographs, as well interesting and artsy illustrations on every page. This beautiful book is a must have for any aspiring future chef.
Blog Post
Fairy Tales and Journeys Across the Sea
by Rachel S.
Set in 19th century Norway, West of the Moon tells the story of 13 year old Astri, who has just been sold to a cruel goat farmer by her greedy aunt. Clever and determined, Astri makes a daring escape to reunite with her sister and find a way to America. Remembering the heroes in fairy tales told by her mother gives Astri the strength to persevere in her journey and uncover family secrets.
Margi Preus was inspired to write the novel after reading a mysterious diary passage written by her great-great grandmother, Linka Preus, who immigrated to America in the 19th century. Fascinating images and information about Linka’s world are included in the Author’s Note.
For other retellings of the fairy tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon, try East or Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow. If you’d like to read the Norwegian fairy tales mentioned in the Preus novel, check out East of the Sun and West of the Moon: old tales from the North.
Blog Post
New Nonfiction for Kids: Why'd They Wear That?
by eapearce
We’ve all seen pictures and paintings of people wearing some pretty crazy clothing and fashions over the course of history. Why have clothes changed so much over time? What caused different accessories and styles to come into fashion… and to fade back out again? If questions like this pique your interest, National Geographic’s Why’d They Wear That? is the book for you! Filled with amazing fashion facts and the reasons behind some of the more obscure style trends we’ve seen over time, this awesome book is also packed with great pictures of clothes and the people that wore them.
Did you know that in the 1700s in France, women’s hoop skirts were so wide that they had to turn sideways to get through doorways? After the storming of the Bastille, these cumbersome skirts quickly went back out of fashion—women couldn’t hope to escape with their lives if they couldn’t even get through a door!
And, before the 1860s, shoes weren’t mass produced with left and right feet: they were all just straight! So, wearing shoes was often very painful. You could only custom order right and left-footed shoes if you were very wealthy. Finally, it 1865, this problem was remedied when appropriately designed shoes were made widely available.
Why’d They Wear That has information like these crazy facts you just read, and so much more. And, for another cool book on fashion and style over time, try The Fashion Book.
Blog Post
AADL is an Ann Arbor Film Festival Community Partner
by valerieclaires
The Ann Arbor Film Festival is here again, and with it comes another year of films, events, and community partnership. AADL will once again be an official AAFF community partner for Films in Competition 4, on Saturday March 28 at 11 am at the Michigan Theater, which features films especially for viewers and filmmakers age 6 and up.
You can check out the list of films playing and buy tickets on the Ann Arbor Film Fest’s website. Make sure to enter the code AAFF53_AADL for half off your advance ticket – normally $6!
When you come to the screening, you’ll even have a chance to hear the premieres of the film scores participants created in our Making Movie Music workshop, held in conjunction with the AAFF.
The Ann Arbor Film Festival is the longest-running independent and experimental film festival in North America. The 53rd AAFF takes place March 24-29, 2015 and presents over 200 films from across the world with dozens of world premieres. For more information, please visit the Ann Arbor Film Festival’s website.
Blog Post
Home: a work of art for children and adults
by eapearce
The concept of “home” has meant a lot of different things to people over the ages and is still unique for each one of us today. Artist Carson Ellis makes her solo debut with a beautiful picture book, titled simply Home, that explores the meaning and concept of home. A snail shell, a covered wagon, an igloo, a castle surrounded by a moat… all are or have been home to something or someone at a given point in time. Ellis even weaves in fantastical homes: fairy houses, boots, and more are included in this wonderful book. In some of the mythical houses, Ellis does not include a description of who lives there, but instead asks readers to imagine what sort of creature they think would be suited to the structure. The clever combination of traditional, non-traditional, and fanciful homes will inspire children (and adults!) to think of “home” in a new way.
You may recognize Ellis’ work: she is the illustrator of the Wildwood series and the artist for the band The Decemberists. You can visit her website to see more of her awesome talent!
Blog Post
Library Lists: 10 Interactive Books for Kids
by eapearce
Books aren't just for reading! Awesome books like the ones on this list allow you to be inventive and engaged by using and interacting with them!
Kaleidoscope: With a built-in spinning kaleidoscope lens, every page of this book is transformed into a visual delight. Simple rhymes describe the changing seasons, making this lovely and inventive book a unique and colorful journey through a year.
Mythology: the gods, heroes, and monsters of ancient Greece: This fascinating book on Greek mythology uses newspaper clippings, letters, and photographs from the “past” to impart information about famous myths. Other great books in the series include Dinosaurology, Alienology and Pirateology.
Alphablock: What a fun way to learn the alphabet! Thick pages in this book are cut into the shape of each letter, allowing children to peek-through the letters and guess them based on both their form and words associated with them.
Press Here:This creative book encourages kids to perform actions on each page: pressing dots, shaking the book, turning it upside down, and more. The result of each action is demonstrated on the next page. Kids love “influencing” the story and seeing the effects of their actions!
Panorama: a foldout book: Simple text and beautiful illustrations invite readers to view different places around the world. Then, the pages can be folded out to see the same scenes at nighttime.
Book-o-Hats, A Wearable Book: You can become a chef, a firefighter, a pirate, and more in this book that features wearable hats with fun rhyming text. There’s more wearable books in this series too, including Book-o-Teeth, Book-o-Beards, and Book-o-Masks!
What Happens When…: This lovely book allows readers to explore what happens to things that are lost or let go through text and illustrations on fold-out pages. I love how this book—originally published in French—offers simple solutions to some of the most common questions, such as “what happens when I let my balloon go?”
Guess what?—Food: This lift-the-flap book allows young readers to see familiar foods transformed into unexpected animals! Author Yusuke Yonezu is also the author of Guess What?—Fruit, an equally cool lift-the-flap book for young ones.
Small Smaller Smallest is a great way to learn differences in sizes and quantity. Each page has a pull-tab for children to tug on to see phenomenon like a flower growing from tall to taller to tallest and snowflakes falling low… lower… lowest.
Pinwheel allows readers to spin different wheels to create colorful scenes of natural areas. Like in Kaleidoscope, Salina Yoon’s simple poetry reminds readers of the beauty around us every day.
If you want even more great interactive books for children, check out this more extensive list!
Blog Post
Dojo Daycare!
by PizzaPuppy
Dojo Daycare is a hilarious new addition to our picture book collection. With its digitally drawn comic style illustrations and rhythmic rhyming, Chris Tougas' first foray into the world of picture books is a pure joyride.
When adult ninjas leave the house, their little ninjas are dropped off at the Dojo Daycare. The Dojo Master tries to instill values of kindness, respect and honor in the young ninjas, but they have other plans. KABOOM! KAPOW! With kids kicking, jumping, and screaming, the Dojo quickly descends into chaos. The Dojo Master attempts to regain control but cannot get through to his little ninjas. When the little ninjas see that they have saddened the Dojo, they quickly regroup to furiously clean the Dojo and restore peace to the Daycare.
This adorable and funny book puts an emphasis on personal responsibility and respect for your peers. For other interesting and off-beat stories about good manners, try A Quest for Good Manners or Rules of the Wild: An Unruly Book of Manners.
Blog Post
Please, Mr. Panda
by manz
Here are two super cute picture books that involve manners.
Please Mr. Panda is a new picture book and features a panda with a box of donuts to share, but his friends aren’t asking for them very nicely. It’s a simple book with few words and lively illustrations all about the word please.
Thank You, Octopus offers a hilarious dialog between a boy getting ready for bed and his octopus friend. There is a lot of thank you and no thank you between the two that will enduce much laughter.
If this sparks further dialog with your little one, check out more picture books all about manners.
Blog Post
At the Art Table: She’s Like a Rainbow
by manz
This month at the art center in the youth department downtown we’re making rainbows! This will help to spread spring cheer! What colors make up a rainbow? Why are they always the same color? Explore rainbows and ROYGBIV with art and make your own rainbow.
Here are a few books about rainbows to help get you in the mood.
Blog Post
A Pond Full of Ink
by PizzaPuppy
" 'Would you like to come out walking?' said the table to the chair,
'I've been standing here forever, and I'd like to take the air.'
'Now you mention it, I'd love to come, ' the chair at once replied.
'Why, we both have legs beneath us that we've never even tried.' "
Looking for something a little silly? A little goofy? A little bizarre or 'out-there'? Turn to A Pond Full of Ink for a quirky display of poetry with unbelievable illustrations. This poetry collection by Dutch author Annie M. G. Schmidt contains 12 funny and nonsensical poems, which are paired with fantastical images. These sketch-like illustrations are the true star here, and remind me quite a bit of Quentin Blake's great illustrations for Roald Dahl's books.
While reading A Pond Full of Ink, I was immediately reminded of the late great Shel Silverstein. If you have yet to check out this brilliant author, take a gander at some of his best works, including Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up.