Back by popular demand, Victoria Duranona will lead us through yoga poses while we play and sing on December 27th at 2 pm at the Downtown Library. Kindergarten through third graders will enjoy all the action, while learning how to focus and relax. While you are here, check out new Parenting and Yoga books to help children become comfortable and productive individuals.

Join Joe and his fans for clever songs about ecology on December 29 at 2 pm at the Downtown Library. Audience participation is key and the whole family will be bopping to the beat and working off holiday calories, while enjoying Joe’s tunes that celebrate our natural world.

Steven Spielberg directs the animated film adaptation of The Adventures of TINTIN. This first of a planned triogy is base on a very popular comic book series created in 1929 by a Belgian artist who called himself Hergé. Clever and ever-curious, TINTIN is a reporter-turned-detective whose pursuit of villains, criminals, treasure and the occasional artifact takes him all over the world, along with a colorful cast of friends. Hergé based his stories on real-world events and cultures - from space exploration to Arab oil wars.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is adapted from Jonathan Safran Foer's critically acclaimed novel in which 9 year-old Oskar Schell embarks on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York in order to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts on an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey.

I was perfectly happy with the original film adaptation of Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first in his Millennium Trilogy. But I could be persuaded to take in the American remake coming this month with some irresistible big names (Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer) and a sizzling newcomer (Rooney Mara).

Benjamin Mee's memoir is adapted in the feature film We Bought a Zoo. Benjamin Mee, a former newspaper columnist, known for his humorous "Do It Yourself" column in the UK’s Guardian Weekend moved his family to an unlikely new home: a dilapidated zoo in the English countryside. Mee had a dream to refurbish the zoo and run it as a family business. Nothing was easy, given the family’s lack of experience as zookeepers, and what follows is a magical exploration of the mysteries of the animal kingdom, the power of family, and the triumph of hope over tragedy.

From his humble beginnings to world Champion, the story of Joe Louis is told in the pictoral biography. The fight between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling is highligted as color lines are crossed to support Joe Louis on the eve of World War II. Kadir Nelson’s illustrations are stunning.

Children love stories, reading them, hearing them, telling them. Stories help children experiment with language while practicing their ability to both imagine and describe their world.
Before your child is ready to write themselves, but when they are old enough to read and listen to stories, combine their love of your stories with your literacy to help them create their own book. Dictating stories for your child is an excellent way to practice their Vocabulary and Narrative Skills, both identified as Key Early Literacy Skills.
Staple together a couple of pieces of paper with their favorite crayons and markers nearby. Ask your child to tell you a story, which you then write down onto the paper. Don't worry too much about editing, since it is important that the child see that the story is their writing from their words.
After you’ve written down their story, have the child illustrate their story. They may want to have some of their favorite books nearby, so that they can emulate the style of those works. Be ready to read for them bits of their story from each page so that they can more closely match the picture to the part of the story.
After the story has been illustrated, take the time to have one or both of you read the story aloud, giving extra attention to the accompanying artwork and allowing the child to further embellish and explain that artwork and their story.
When finished, make sure to keep your child’s work, to be used as both a reading resource and as a memory of their writing life.

Remember the good old fashioned, Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, which was originally broadcasted in 1973? Re-live the magic and check out this DVD to watch with your family for this year's Thanksgiving! The library also has the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving in Blu-Ray format. If you are looking for fun, yet informational DVDs that teach children about the first Thanksgiving, we have those too. Take a look at Rabbit Ears : Squanto & The First Thanksgiving. This DVD tells the story of Pawtuxet Indian who was captured and then escaped and returned to his childhood home. He then helped the Pilgrims establish the colony of Plymouth. Or, check out William Bradford : First Thanksgiving if you and your children want to learn more about the history of the first Thanksgiving. If you are feeling like you just want to warm up to a children's holiday favorite, check out Winnie The Pooh: Seasons of Giving, which includes "A Winnie The Pooh Thanksgiving."

This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the airlift that eventually brought 14,000 unaccompanied children from Cuba to this country. While Miami celebrates with a Conference and Fiesta, you can read the fictional story, based on the author's own experiences, of 3 brothers who were evacuated from Cuba in 1961. History comes alive through dazzling use of visual imagery and humor, which ranges from light to dark. For younger readers, Kiki: a Cuban Boy's Adventures in America, tells the story of an 8 year old "Pedro Pan" who encounters his first American puzzle, the automatic door; meets new animals, such as the raccoon; and is frightened by a ghost on what he later learns is Halloween.

Here's a link to the Official National Charitable organization founded in 1991 by the former unaccompanied Cuban children. It was created to fulfill the Pledge of Thanksgiving given in 1990, "in which we honor the sacrifice of our parents and this noble nation that welcomed us, and the person that made it all possible, Monsignor Bryan O. Walsh. We felt it was our duty to pay back the kindness by helping today's needy children...."

Here's an exciting announcement from Bookshare: They now serve over 150,000 student members & have over 125,000 books in their collection. Of these, 80,000 are educational titles that continue tostream into the library from publishers, as well as hundreds of student textbook requests that are fulfilled every month!

These major milestones have been achieved a year ahead of schedule as part of the 5-year Bookshare for Education (B4E) award from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).

To this end, Benetech, the parent nonprofit for Bookshare, has received a new 1-year award from OSEP for a project called Leveraging Impact Through Technology (LIT).

Have you checked out or placed holds on some of the exciting new DVDs that we have in our growing Youth DVD Collection? Do you or your children love the Star Wars, The Clone Wars TV series? We now have the entire 3rd season on disc! Star Wars, The Clone Wars Season 3 Disc 1, Star Wars, The Clone Wars Season 3 Disc 2, Star Wars, The Clone Wars Season 3 Disc 3, and Star Wars, The Clone Wars Season 3 Disc 4 can all be checked out now! The season takes place immediately after the events of Star Wars-Episode II: Attack of the Clones and follows Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker in addition to introducing some new characters. Come to the Downtown Youth Department or any of our branch locations to place a hold or check these DVDs out now!

You can feel the fairy buzz at the AADL fairy door in anticipation of our Halloween Party. The fairies are hoping to see Tinker Bells, Tooth Fairies and more! Join us at 10:30 am or 11:30 am for stories, songs and then head to Main Street for trick-or-treating!