Blog Post
Dental Screening Day!
by Beth Manuel
On Saturday, February 2nd, the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and the Washtenaw District Dental Society will be providing a free Dental Screening day. This is happening on the 2nd Floor Pediatric Dentistry Clinic. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and will close after the first 100 participants have registered. Children ages 5-12 years welcome but must be accompanied by their parent or guardian.
Blog Post
Preschool Expo
by manz
Are you in the market for a preschool? Are you looking for a good place to start your search? Then you should come to the Preschool Expo on January 27th! What is the Preschool Expo? It’s an event that brings representatives from many area preschools to one location, on one date. That way, it’s easy to gather information on preschools and talk with schools in order to find a good fit for your child! This free event is co-sponsored by the Ann Arbor District Library, Washtenaw Success by Six Great Start Collaborative, Child Care Network, and U-M Work/Life Resource Center. Come explore your options at the Preschool Expo!
Date: Sunday, January 27th
Time: 1:00 – 4:00p.m.
Place: Palmer Commons on the U-M Campus
100 Washtenaw Ave.
(Located at the intersection of Central and Medical Campuses)
Parking: Free parking available in the structure across the street from Palmer Commons
Blog Post
ALA Announces 2013 Newbery, Caldecott, and other Youth Media Awards
by esti
Every year at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting, librarians from across the continent gather for the most exciting event on the youth fiction calendar--the announcement of the ALA Youth Media Awards. These awards, from the venerable Newbery medal to the relatively new Stonewall Book Award, are awarded to what can only be termed the rockstars of the youth media world, and the enthusiasm surrounding the event carries out this comparison. Books nominated for these prizes are enshrined in their own sections of libraries, assigned in schools, and treasured by decades of readers, young and old. The 2013 winners were announced this morning in Seattle, Washington.
The 2013 Newbery Medal for the most outstanding children's literature of the year was awarded to Katherine Applegate for her book The One and Only Ivan.
The Caldecott Medal, celebrating its 75th year of honoring the best of the best of children's picture books, was awarded to Jon Klassen for This Is Not My Hat.
The Coretta Scott King Book Award for an outstanding publication that represents the African American experience was given to illustrator Bryan Collier for I, Too, Am America and author Andrea Davis Pinkney for Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America while The Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement recognized Demetria Tucker, librarian and youth media advocate, for her longstanding contributions.
The Pura Belpré Awards for works that best represent the Latino experience honored Martín de Porres: The Rose in the Desert for David Diaz's illustrations, and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz for text.
The Michael L. Printz Award for the best book written for young adults was awarded to Nick Lake for In Darkness.
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for a lifelong contribution to children's literature in the United States was awarded to Katherine Paterson, author of Bridge to Terabithia and many other beloved books, and The Margaret A. Edwards Award for contribution to teen literature went to Tamora Pierce for her quartets The Song of the Lioness and Protector of the Small.
For a full list of winners and honorable mentions, visit the American Library Association's awards page or the ALA Youth Media Awards Facebook page, and be sure to check out our section of award winning children's books in the Downtown Library youth room.
Blog Post
KinderConcert this Friday!
by StoryLaura
The littlest ones will love this celebration of the most well known instrument in the orchestra, the violin. Join Barbara Sturgis-Everett, Principal Second Violinist in the A2SO, pianist Kathryn Goodson, and child movement specialist Gari Stein to dance, sing, listen and learn this Friday, January 25 at 9:30 and 10:30 am!
Blog Post
An Audiobook for Young Harry Potter Fans
by skcramer
Fans of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and especially fans of the audiobooks narrated by Jim Dale may be interested to learn about The Worst Witch audiobook by Jill Murphy.
Like the Harry Potter series, The Worst Witch takes place at a school for young witches (though no young wizards here), complete with broomstick lessons, potion tests and uniforms with house colors. At Miss Cackle's Academy, we meet Mildred Hubble, dubbed the worst witch at the school because of her talent for getting into trouble. What kind of trouble? How about turning a rude classmate into a pig! (She meant to turn her into a toad, you see.) It's a short but magical story -- and very funny too.
Oh, yes, and did I mention that it's narrated by Miriam Margoyles, whom you may remember as Professor Sprout in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets?
The audiobook series continues with The Worst Witch Strikes Again and The Worst Witch All at Sea.
Blog Post
Chickadee wins 2013 Scott O'Dell Award
by mossing
Louise Erdrich's Chickadee has received the 2013 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, announced on January 16. This award was established in 1982 by Scott O'Dell to encourage writers to focus on historical fiction, and it is awarded annually to an author for a "meritorious book published in the previous year for children or young adults," according to the award website. To be eligible for the award, the book must be published by a U.S. publisher and set in the Americas.
Chickadee is the fourth installment in Erdrich's Birchbark House Series and takes place in the nineteenth century, chronicling the kidnapping of Chickadee, an eight-year-old Anishinabe (known today as Ojibwe) boy, and the adventures that follow as Chickadee tries to return home and his family leaves home to look for him.
Some previous Scott O'Dell Award winners in the library's collection:
In the historic town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Jack Gantos spends the summer of 1962 grounded for various offenses until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a most unusual chore involving the newly dead, molten wax, twisted promises, Girl Scout cookies, underage driving, lessons from history, typewriting, and countless bloody noses.
In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.
The Storm in the Barn (Graphic Novel)
In Kansas in the year 1937, eleven-year-old Jack Clark faces his share of ordinary challenges: local bullies, his father's failed expectations, a little sister with an eye for trouble. But he also has to deal with the effects of the Dust Bowl, including rising tensions in his small town and the spread of a shadowy illness. Certainly a case of "dust dementia" would explain who (or what) Jack has glimpsed in the Talbot's abandoned barn - a sinister figure with a face like rain. In a land where it never rains, it's hard to trust what you see with your own eyes, and harder still to take heart and be a hero when the time comes.
Click here for a complete list of previous O'Dell Award winners.
Blog Post
Once Upon a Winter's Day
by kidlit
Join us on Sunday, January 20, 2013 at the Pittfield Branch at 2:00 p.m. for a cozy winter celebration. We'll have winter stories, songs by musician Sara Keller, a faux fireplace, hot chocolate and a fun craft.
We'll warm you up with this enjoyable family event. For children preschool through Grade 5 along with their grown-ups.
For some winter stories, click here.
Blog Post
Extra Yarn
by manz
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett is one beautiful picture book. It has the potential of winning a Caldecott Medal, thanks to Jon Klassen's beautiful illustrations. The story features young Annabelle who comes across a box containing some yarn. But a magical thing happens! She knits and knits and knits and the yarn never seems to run out. So she knits sweaters for dogs, and people, and trees, and cars, and soon the entire monochromatic town is awash in color thanks to her handiwork. The greedy archduke decides to steal her magic box, which leaves Annabelle in a bit of stitchuation. Will she knit her way out of it?
Blog Post
Let's Party with Gemini!
by StoryLaura
Let’s celebrate with my dear friends, the awesome Gemini, on Sunday, January 13 at 2 pm at the Downtown Library with music and stories galore! I knew the first time I met these talented twin boys, when we were just young punks, that they would bring harmony to A2 on so many levels. Even when I moved far away to Boston, my family danced to the Deli song before we had ever tasted a Zingerman’s Gemini sandwich and my daughter convinced us to get a dog by singing the Puppy Love song until we had to give in! See you there this Sunday!
Blog Post
Family Science Workshop: Just Like Me?
by OneillT
Saturday January 12, 2013: 10:00 am to 11:00 am -- Pittsfield Branch: Program Room
What makes us different? What makes us the same?
Families will learn about the biological reasons behind skin color, hair texture and explore other inherited genetic traits like the ability to taste certain compounds. Families will also get to perform a DNA extraction.
This event is for grades K-5 with an adult.