Story Jamboree

Tue, 09/02/2008 - 4:01pm by StoryLaura

The first Downtown preschool storytime of the fall will begin on a silly, sleepy note with Go To Sleep Gecko and other tales of grumpy creatures who can’t get any sleep. Join us for stories, songs and other surprises beginning Tuesday, September 9th at 10:00 am and Wednesday, September 10th at 11:00 am at the Downtown Library Youth Department Story Corner!

Kid Bits - Back To SCHOOL

Fri, 08/29/2008 - 5:03pm by ryanikoglu

Here are some "Back to School" books for young children: Ready, Set, Preschool!, It's Time For School With Tallilah, I Love School!, Bunny School: A Learning Fun-For-All, Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten, The Bus Stop, D.W.'s Guide To Preschool. If you'd like to know what professionals suggest for parents, you may explore the Discovery Education web site or, PBS Parents web site.

Fighting, action, adventure for a 'tween

Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:55am by annevm

This summer our 12-year-old son is crazy about The Five Ancestors series by martial artist Jeff Stone. The books are named for the animal Kung Fu styles of a young gang of orphaned warrior monks, including Tiger (Fu), Monkey (Malao), Snake (She), and Crane (Hok). Wikipedia has more about this series, which moves very fast and offers frighteningly high levels of fighting, action, and adventure. On BOCD Kiki Barrera is a wonderful reader. I told a youth librarian with expertise in 'tweens of our son’s enthusiasm, and she also recommends Archer’s Quest.

Sign Language for Infants and Toddlers

Mon, 08/25/2008 - 10:24am by battlem

Learn how and when to sign with your baby or toddler to improve communication! Join us at the Mallett’s Creek Branch on Saturday, March 27 from 11-11:45am as Kathy Brady of Signing Smart guides you and your young one through games, songs, and other activities that make learning signs fun and easy.

WHoa! Wild Animals! - Jeff Corwin Books

Tue, 08/19/2008 - 1:32pm by ryanikoglu

You see him on TV! Here's the Jeff Corwin Experience on our NEW BOOKS Shelves.

Into Wild Amazonia;
Into Wild Galapagos;
Into Wild Africa;
Into Wild Madagascar; and more.

If you LOVE to read about wild life, checkout the Kids Magazines:
ZooBooks;
Cousteau Kids;
Ranger Rick;
National Geographic Kids.

Looking for gift ideas?
Magazine subscriptions make a wonderful gift that goes all year!

Basket 101 - Wed Aug. 13 @ Downtown

Tue, 08/12/2008 - 1:23pm by ryanikoglu

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Another session of BASKETS 101 will be on
Wednesday, Aug. 13, 10-11:30 am,
in the Youth Department of the Downtown Library.
This program was most rewarding for kids in upper elementary grades.
Younger grade kids can succeed if they come with a dedicated "Helper".
Middle School and High School ages enjoy this activity,
and are welcome to join in.

Cuentos en Español con Teresa Satterfield

Fri, 08/08/2008 - 3:38pm by StoryLaura

Join us for stories in Spanish for the whole family. Teresa Satterfield will share lively tales with audience participation on Thursday, August 14 at 7:00 pm at the Downtown Youth Story Corner. Unase a nosotros para disfrutar de historias y canciones en Español con Teresa Satterfield!

2nd Annual Manga Drawing Contest Winners!

Tue, 08/05/2008 - 9:50am by erin

Our 2nd Annual Manga Drawing Contest has drawn to a close! This year our hard working judges were Jerzy Drozd and Shannon Towsend. They each spent hours judging the entries and providing feedback to each and every entry - thank you! In case you don't know what manga is click here. If you missed this year and are looking to find other places to post your work Jerzy made a great resource sheet. You can check out all the entries in this year's contest in our image gallery.

Click Read More to see the list of the winners!

Grades K-2 Category:
1st Place – Angela Wang
Runner-Up – Susanna Wu
Honorable Mention – Desiree Lu
Best Fan Art – Kareem El-Tawil
Best Original Character – Oliver Mayman

Grades 3-5 Category:
1st Place – Rosa Chen
Runner-Up – Natalie Liu
Honorable Mention – Alice Wu
Best Fan Art – Eric Ren
Best Original Character – Sally Lee

Grades 6-8 Category:
1st Place – Angela Wang
Runner-Up – Angela Huang
Honorable Mention – Zbyszek Sikora
Best Original Character – Genna Liu
Best Fan Art – Rujia Zha
Best Comic Strip – Connor Quigg

Grades 9-12 Category:
1st Place – Caitlin Dooley
Runner-Up – Lena Ji
Honorable Mention – Tracey Fu
Best Original Character – Lauren Houser
Best Fan Art – Stephanie Mannheim

5th grade reading UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Mon, 08/04/2008 - 11:04am by ryanikoglu

Are you going into 5th grade this fall?
SCARY! Try Double-Dare To Be Scared: Another Thirteen Chilling Tales.
ROYALS! Try Marie Antoinette or Jahanara: Princess of Princesses in the Royal Diaries series, by American Girl Publishers.
ADVENTURE! Try National Parks Mysteries with Deadly Waters set in Everglades, or Valley Of Death set in Death Valley.

3rd Annual LEGO ® Contest Winners!

Thu, 07/31/2008 - 10:35am by erin

Once again our annual LEGO® contest was a blast! Families dropped off their entries on Tuesday night and all day Wednesday, the judges deliberated for almost 3(!) hours and then we packed the house with people wanting to look! This year we had over 130 projects entered into the contest - making it tougher for the judges to decide. Thanks to our judges Eli Neiburger, AADL Associate Director of IT and Product Development, Eric Klooster, AADL IT Component Developer and finally Duane Collicott, local LEGO® enthusiast and Brick Bash Master. Those that placed 1st Place, Runner-Up and Honorable Mention each got gift cards to Toys R Us, plus an award medal. Award medals were also given to those who placed in the special categories. NEW this year! Stay tuned later this summer for the LEGO® Contest Photo Gallery of every project submitted!

Without further ado behold the winners!