Blog Post
The Bureau of Misplaced Dads
by manz
The Bureau of Misplaced Dads is a charmingly weird and beautifully illustrated picture book in which a young boy has misplaced his dad and cannot find him around the house. So naturally he happens upon the Bureau of Misplaced Dads and searches for him there. Is his dad hiding among the dads with beards, dads playing checkers, dads named Michael, or the dancing dads? The book is a bit bizarre and silly, and grown-ups are sure to enjoy it as much as, if not more, than the kiddos.
Blog Post
Halloween Fun with Batman, Mickey Mouse & Monster High!
by manz
It's that time of year for Halloween tricks or treats in video form! The library has many children's videos with Halloween, spooky and monster themes, beyond your basic Scooby Doo! Be sure to have a peek and see what looks good to you and your little ones! Here are some of the NEW movies and TV shows headed to our collection:
Thomas & Friends: Thomas' Halloween Adventures & Thomas Gets Tricked
Are there really ghosts in the fog and mist on the Island of Sodor? Thomas,Toby and Henry believe there are! But things are not always as they appear. Gordon and Percy encounter other mysteries on the Island. Can Thomas help explain them? Join all of your Island of Sodor friends as they solve Halloween mysteries that are exciting all year round!
WordWorld: Halloween Fun
Sheep and Bear are lost in the jungle and must hunt for letters to create a map. Next, Duck breaks a lamp, a lever and Frog's log. Will their friendship be broken too? Then, Fly and Duck dream of becoming firefighters and go in search of smoke in WordWorld, but can they discover what's really smoke to find the fire? And, when PIG gets a pot stuck on his face, Sheep takes over his cooking show?
Peg + Cat: A Totally Awesome Halloween
It's Halloween and Peg and Cat have a big problem! Someone has left the park full of trash and the costume parade might be canceled. Don't freak out, Peg and Cat save the day by sorting and recycling. Then, they discover they've been trick-or-treating with a real, live tiger!
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Monster Musical
Put on your favorite Halloween costume and get set for a spooktacular full-length adventure! Visit the creaky castle of kindly "Count Mickula" and help your Clubhouse pals solve a puzzling riddle: Who, or what, is making a curious clanging, banging noise? With the right Monster Mouseketools and help from YOU, this mystery will soon be history!
Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem
It's Halloween in Gotham. To celebrate, the city's spookiest villains have all joined forces and gone on a crime spree. Batman swings into action to stop them, joined by Green Arrow, Cyborg, Nightwing and Red Robin. But it seems that the fiends are working for the clown prince of crime himself: The Joker, who has a surprise of his own. A computer virus that makes all technology laugh and obey his every command! Can the heroes stop the virus before it turns all of Gotham into Jokertown?
Monster High: Boo York, Boo York
Its fright lights, big city when the Monster High ghouls head to Boo York. Cleo de Nile is invited to attend a fancy gala celebrating the return of a magical comet and, of course, she brings along her beast friends. But their trip isn't all fun and frightseeing because Nefera, Cleo's sister, uses the comets powers for her own spooktacularly sneaky plans. Can the monsters unwrap the mystery of the comet in time to stop Nefera?
Monster High: Scaris, City of Frights
When Clawdeen Wolf gets the chance to apprentice for the legendary fashion designer Madame Ghostier, she and her best ghoul friends immediately pack their bags and hop on a plane to beautiful Scaris, France. As Clawdeen competes against two worthy opponents, Skelita Calaveras and Jinafire Long, her pals Frankie Stein and Rochelle Goyle uncover clues to a spooktacular secret hidden deep beneath the cobblestone street.
Blog Post
The Little Gardener is a treat!
by eapearce
Oh my goodness! What a treat of a new picture book. The Little Gardener, written and illustrated by Emily Hughes, is completely charming. An unnamed miniature boy lives and works in a giant, colorful garden with his little worm friend. The two tend to the garden and get their food and shelter from it. But such little creatures working in such a big garden get tired! The tiny boy and the worm get more and more worn out and their garden starts to wilt and die. One evening, the little boy makes a tiny wish… for just a bit of help. Then he and his worm buddy fall asleep. They are so tired that they sleep all day… all week… all month! While they are sleeping a human girl sees one of the beautiful flowers that is growing in the garden and gets inspired to tend to the garden herself. She waters and weeds and makes everything healthy again! When the tiny boy wakes up, he is rejuvenated and amazed. His garden is flourishing again! He happily goes back to work at his labor of love. The beautiful illustrations and simple, carefully worded text really make this a wonderful picture book, both for young readers... and the adults reading to them!
Blog Post
Geronimo!
by manz
And Thea, too!
Some of your favorite chapter book characters are now on DVD with more adventures of Geronimo Stilton and his sister Thea. The animated series centers on the life and adventures of the famous Geronimo Stilton, head of a media empire, a peaceful mouse and klutz extraordinaire, and his fearless nephew Benjamin Stilton. Adventure always comes knocking on their door, launching them paws-first into capers in New Mouse City or in exotic locales around the world.
If you’re a fan of the book series check out Geronimo Stilton: Going Down to Chinatown and Other Adventures, as well as Geronimo Stilton: Operation shufongfong, and the newest one Geronimo Stilton: Top Model Thea
Blog Post
Ninja Red Riding Hood
by PizzaPuppy
In Ninja Red Riding Hood, the fearsome wolf of the forest can no longer catch any prey for his dinner. Frustrated, he sneaks into ninja school to train hard in the ancient art, so that he is once again able to catch a good meal. After his training, the wolf runs into Little Red Riding Hood in the woods, and he begins to plot against her. He sneaks into the house of Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother and impersonates her in order to catch the girl unaware. However, Little Red Riding Hood not only sees through his disguise, but was also trained as a ninja herself! These evenly matched opponents face off in a battle of wits and stealthy skills in this hilarious take on the classic Little Red Riding Hood story.
Author Corey Rosen Schwartz has hit gold once again in this funny and action-packed fractured fairy tale. The illustrations are bold and colorful, and the book is written with a lively rhyme scheme. This book is a companion to his earlier work, The Three Ninja Pigs, with Schwartz's Goldi Rocks and the Three Bears nicely rounding out the collection.
Interested in more fractured fairy tales? Take a look at this excellent list for a plethora of great books: Fairy Tales Retold - Youth Fiction/Picture Books.
Blog Post
Goodbye Stranger, by Rebecca Stead
by manz
Rebecca Stead, author of Newbery Medal winning When You Reach Me, has a new youth fiction novel out, and it’s delightful! Goodbye Stranger is a story of friendship, love, family, and betrayal set in New York’s Upper West Side. Bridge, Em and Tab have been BFFs forever and they Twinkie swore “no fighting.” Then 7th grade hits. The main character Bridge was in a car accident in 3rd grade which left her immobile for a year, and she struggles with wondering why she survived and what her purpose is.
Now that it’s 7th grade things are changing. Em has new curves, Tab is involved in civil rights, and Bridge is enjoying hanging out with a boy named Sherm, but they’re “just friends.” It’s a good mix of teen angst and innocent wonder. Em gets into some hot water over texting things she shouldn’t be texting and it spits fire on the friendship – even though they Twinkie swore.
The novel is told in the 3rd person, with some chapters told in 2nd person from an unidentified character’s POV, as well as a few chapters with letters Sherm writes to his grandfather.
As a middle grade pre-YA novel it does a good job featuring kind adults and teachers, and while some of the kids come from families of divorce it doesn’t overwhelm the novel. It’s a good one if you’re looking for an easy breezy middle grade novel with a bit of teen drama and lots of beautiful writing.
Blog Post
Two Delightful New Picture Books
by eapearce
The AADL always has lots of fun new picture books on our shelves, but I was particularly pleased with two brand new books that I discovered just the other day.
Under a Pig Tree, by Margie Palatini and Chuck Groenink, is a hilarious mixed-up book, where the word and picture "fig" is replaced with the word and picture "pig." Initially an educational tale about the history and prominence of the delicious fig fruit, the story becomes a whole lot funnier when one imagines PIGS growing on trees instead! "Nothing is better than a pig right off a tree," states the book. "Look for the ones on low branches. They droop a bit, but feel nice and soft." This is accompanied by an image of a cheerful couple picking a plump, enthused pig off of a tree. At the end of the book are delicious recipes (using FIGS, not PIGS) that readers will want to try out!
In Mr. Postmouse's Rounds, an adorable little mail-mouse makes the rounds to the homes of other animals delivering letters and packages. The illustrations are the true standout of this book: each animal lives in a home perfectly suited to their needs, and author/illustrator Marianne DuBuc has drawn the homes in cross-section so that readers can see inside! From moles and ants, to snakes, bears, octopi, turtles and penguins, the diversity of animals and animal-homes pictured in this book are fun and fascinating. And, the packages that Mr. Postmouse delivers are clever and will amuse readers of all ages!
Check out these, and our other great new picture books in the NEW areas at all our locations!
Blog Post
Mamas and Babies
by manz
This week at preschool storytime Ms. Amanda told and read stories featuring mamas and babies. The babies were of the pig, kangaroo and human variety.
In Piglet and Mama, little pig strayed a little too far from mama and he spends the story checking in with many animal friends to see if they’ve seen mama, all the while he cries “I want my mama!”
What Shall We Do With the Boohoo Baby? is a silly story where a baby does nothing but cry BOOHOOOO. We changed the baby, fed it, played with it, and the baby still cried. Eventually the baby stopped crying – can you guess how we made that happen? It’s adorable.
In Nighty, Night Cooper a small kangaroo is being put to bed by his mother, but he wants her to sing “one more song.” So she continues to do so. The songs featured in the story are ones that have new lyrics and classic tunes your little ones might recognize. So cute! And by the author of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie!
Blog Post
2015 Kate Greenaway Medal winner- Shackleton's Journey
by gulickb
The British Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals awards one illustrated text each year with the prestigious Kate Geenaway Medal for outstanding illustrations in a children's book. This year the winner was Shackleton's Journey by William Grill.
Shackleton's Journey is the story of the final expedition in the "Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration" which spanned almost 50 years! It is also the story of Earnest Shackleton who wanted to "do something better" and to "make a name" for himself. While the story of the expedition is fantastic (in many senses of the word!) the reason that it won the award was for its breathtaking illustrations.
It is very hard to make a picture book where the illustrations capture the scope of something as big as this expedition, which included 69 dogs and a stowaway!!!
This book will keep you interested with it's beautiful mixture of words and illustrations.
Blog Post
Summer Game 2015 GAME OVER Gala!
by erin
Monday August 31, 2015: 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm -- Downtown Library Lobby
Let's take the Summer Game out with a bang with a building-wide scavenger hunt, badge coloring, a free photo-booth and light refreshments to commemorate the 2015 summer game! Check out the new digs at the Downtown library and get a chance to meet other summer game players!