Morgan Grubola, author and Teacher of Tiny Toes: a creative movement class for young children, will lead "Tiny Toes" dance at Malletts Creek Library on Saturday, March 30, 2013. The program runs between 10:00 - 10:40 am. in the Multi-Purpose Room. Morgan is back after her fall 2012 program because people loved her. "Tiny Toes" is a program for children ages 1-6 years, and their guardian. Morgan is formally trained in Ballet. Her program/technique inspires children to form ballet positions, using imagery from animals, nature, and stories. Each segment is accompanied by classical music for pace and flow. It is a wonderful opportunity for little ones to exercise their big muscles.

The 4th Annual Dawn Farm Ride for Recovery is Sunday, April 28 with early registration through April 1st! This is a family fun and fitness event & a fundraiser for Dawn Farm. There many ways to participate at any fitness level; with 10k, 25 and 40 mile and 100 K bike rides; 5K and 10K walks or runs. There will also be food, tours of the working farm, kid’s activities in the Dawn Farm Community Barn, and more! In addition to a fun event that the entire family can enjoy, the Ride for Recovery provides an opportunity to support a critical community service. Dawn Farm is committed to helping people find recovery from addiction, regarding of their ability to pay. Community support for events like the Ride for Recovery helps to keep these vital services available for those who need them most! For more information call: 734-485-8725.

AADL continues to grow its collection of films that have a Descriptive Video Service or DVS feature. More films are being produced for children and adults that are Described Video Recordings for L Card users to borrow. Some are even available by mail to our WLBPD patrons as Free Matter for the Blind. If your vision isn't what it used to be, you may want to try watching a film with described narration. That way you don't have to ask other folks what's happening on the screen and can concentrate on the film.

The Downtown library has a shelf in the Youth Department known as the Parent Shelf. On this shelf you’ll find a variety of parent-child related books on a multitude of topics- including everything from language to tantrums to potty training to homework. These books are available for checkout, and can be found in the catalog when searching “parent shelf,” if you’d like to have one sent to a branch of your choice. Here you’ll find some great books that cover raising teenagers. Check out such titles as:

*The available parent : radical optimism for raising teens and tweens,
*Getting to calm: cool-headed strategies for parenting tweens + teens
*Uncommon sense for parents with teenagers
*Read on-- speculative fiction for teens: reading lists for every taste.

For additional titles, see here for a variety of parenting books.

Hello! Hello! by Matthew Cordell is a smart little picture book. And if you’re a parent with cell phone and a child both calling for your attention, this one’s a hoot. With few words the books tells the story of a girl saying hello to those around her, and everyone’s too busy with their phone, their iPad, their laptop, etc. The little girl then ventures outside and says HELLO to all things outdoors, and then she has a great idea! It’s a cute little story that’s appropriate for children growing up in device-filled times.

International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies. Now an official holiday in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

Amelia to Zora: 26 Women who Changed the World tells the stories of 26 diverse, 20th-century women who have made a difference in such varied fields as the arts, sports, journalism, science, and entertainment. The entries include Dolores Huerta, Frida Kahlo, Lena Horne, Maya Lin, and Patricia Schroeder. Determination, imagination, perseverance, and strength are what bind them together.

African Princess: the Amazing Lives of Africa's Royal Women The captivating stories of six of Africa's most remarkable royal women and the eras in which they lived - from 1473 B.C. to the present. Some lived in great luxury as the wives and advisers of the supreme rulers; others lived in exile as freedom fighters. The rise of the slave trade and the arrival of European colonists unsettled the entire continent and forced rulers to find ways to govern and protect their kingdoms. Consequently, many of these royal women ruled in extremely difficult times, marked by palace intrigue, foreign invasion, and harrowing adventure.

Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women In kitchens and living rooms, in garages and labs and basements, even in converted chicken coops, women and girls have invented ingenious innovations that have made our lives simpler and better. Their creations are some of the most enduring (the windshield wiper) and best loved (the chocolate chip cookie). What inspired these women, and just how did they turn their ideas into realities?

Rabble Rousers: 20 Women who Made a Difference Short, spirited profiles of 20 women who impacted life in America by speaking out against injustice and fighting for social improvements. The folksy, friendly narrative introduces such fascinating figures as Sojourner Truth, abolitionist preacher; Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War physician; Margaret Sanger, birth control pioneer; and Doris Haddock, a 92 year-old champion of campaign-finance reform. The book spans over two hundred years of American history and includes time lines for such important social movements as abolition, woman suffrage, labor, and civil rights. Readers inspired by these fiery women can use the civil action tips and resources in the back of the book to do some of their own rabble-rousing.

Here are more books to inspire and entertain you.

Homework giving you a headache? You may want to log on to Brainfuse. Their Live Homework Help is available from 2:00 PM-11:00 PM everyday (except Federal Holidays) & the interactive Study Suite is accessible anytime with your aadl account log in information. For more information about all the amazing facets of Brainfuse read these FAQs. Using Brainfuse can make learning fun for parents & kids! College students and adult learners can benefit from it, too! Give it a try!

Red Cat Blue Cat by Jenni Desmond is the story of two cats. Blue Cat stayed upstairs, and Red Cat stayed downstairs, and when they crossed paths they always hissed at each other. Blue Cat didn’t know that Red Cat secretly wished he were as smart as Blue Cat, and little did Red Cat know that Blue Cat wished he was fast and bouncy like Red Cat. One day they both come up with the best idea! Blue Cat will dress up as Red Cat and Red Cat will dress up as Blue Cat. Well, it doesn’t quite go as planned and in the end they find out that they like being themselves more than anyone else, and surprisingly, after all that ruckus, the two cats end up friends. It’s a super cute picture book with wonderful illustrations and a surprise ending that both small children and grown-ups will enjoy reading together.

Saturday, March 16 | 11:00-11:45 AM | Malletts Creek Branch | Ages 6 mos. – 2 yrs. w/ an adult

Join us this Saturday for a morning of sign language for infants and toddlers! Certified instructor Kathy Brady of Signing Smart will be presenting, and sharing her knowledge. She’ll talk about how to add signs into songs and play, and how to make signing easy and fun for both children and their caregivers. This event is designed for hearing infants and toddlers, ages 6 months to 2 years, with an adult. No older siblings, please.

For additional resources on sign language for children, check out this list of materials to get you started, as well as these titles for more information on signing.

The Downtown library has a shelf in the Youth Department known as the Parent Shelf. On this shelf you’ll find a variety of parent-child related books on a multitude of topics- including everything from language to tantrums to potty training to homework. These books are available for checkout, and can be found in the catalog when searching “parent shelf,” if you’d like to have one sent to a branch of your choice.

Here you’ll find some great books on how to deal with bullying. Check out such titles as The ABC’s of Bullying Prevention, Sexual Harassment and Bullying: A Guide to Keeping Kids Safe and Holding Schools Acountable, and The Parent’s Book About Bullying: Changing the Course of Your Child’s Life. For additional titles, see here a longer list.