Parenting and Kids Blog
News, events and resources.
There are more and more great books with CDs or DVDs included. What a great idea! A picture book based on a song with a CD to sing along. A picture book with a DVD might have a short video or animated feature that enhances the book for you and your child to enjoy together. Non-fiction books with DVDs may include moving images such as archival footage. Or a book about visual art for children might have a CD of pictorial music. Don’t forget read along picture books – you know, the ones with page turn signals. These are better than ever in digital form. We’ve put black dots on these so you can find them more easily in the books with CDs/DVDs section of the Children’s Room.
Books with a Bonus!
Do things like mutant animals, villainous scoundrels, a bird-drop artist, and magical inventions spark your reading appetite? Do you think your family is weird? Have you ever wanted to go to a boarding school and never come home?
Then, you need to read the book by Kelly Easton titled The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes, a new book in the Children’s collection at the Library.
Ten-year-old Liberty (Libby) Aimes can answer “YES” to all of the above questions. Merriam-Webster’s definition of the word “outlandish” may help you decide whether you might want to join Libby or not. According to this on-line dictionary, the word outlandish means “strikingly out of the ordinary” or “exceeding reasonable limits”. Libby eagerly searches for the key to her father’s basement laboratory, tries out some of his potions and crèmes, and searches with here-to-fore unheard of energy for the Sullivan School where she hopes her life will be turned around and she will be a “normal” 10-year-old for the first time in her life.
Readers who enjoyed Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events, Dan Greenburg’s Secrets of the Dripping Fang stories, or Lauren Baratz-Logsted’s Sisters 8 series will eagerly join Libby Aimes in her off-the-wall adventures and will hope for a sequel!
The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes
With the Summer Reading Games party just behind us, we're remembering all the fun programs that you participated in over the summer. Missed some programs along the way? No need to worry when more fun is right around the corner. Fall storytimes start up in September! Some programs require registration. Others, like Baby Storytime, Family Storytime and Storytime with Mr. Steve and Friends require no registration at all. An adult caregiver must accompany babies and toddlers up to 3½ years. Questions? Talk to your children’s librarian. Bookmark the KPL Kids Calendar and we'll see you there!
Storytime Programs at KPL
My six year old son, four year old daughter, and I all loved the new graphic novel Johnny Boo: the Best Little Ghost in the World by James Kochalka. Johnny Boo and his cute, little ghost friend Squiggle talk about their Boo and Squiggle Power and encounter a hilarious looking ice cream monster. The very simple story packed in an enormous amount of laughs. It was great for my son who is learning to read, because it included a small amount of words that repeated many times. I hope the further installments in this series are as well done as this one.
Johnny Boo: the Best Little Ghost in the World
We had a full house for our Cartooning Workshop on Monday. Ruth McNally Barshaw, author and illustrator of the Ellie McDoodle books, offered an hour worth of drawing tips to twenty-five eager artists.
The program was so popular that we hope to bring Ms. Barshaw back to the library some time in the future so check our children's events calendars if you missed the workshop on Monday.
Ruth McNally Barshaw
Ever read a book, watch a movie, or listen to a recording you loved so much you want to tell everyone all about it? Now you can create your own book reviews for the Kalamazoo Public Library website!
And, if you want, you can record your review with your own voice. We'll post your book review on our website!
Love that book? Didn’t like it so much? Be Creative and tell the world all about it! It’s easy.
- Write a short review of a book you read. You can do it right from our website or come to your neighborhood KPL branch to write your review.
- Come to library and we’ll help you record the review you wrote. You need to have a parent sign a release form before we can put your voice on our website.
Listen to an example. You can write and record a review about anything you read and make it your own with your own voice. Have fun with Summer Reading Games this year!
Create Your Own Book Reviews!
Seventy-three teams representing eleven public and private schools competed in school challenges in March. Over the last two weeks, the eleven advancing teams from each of the school challenges were narrowed down to five teams at the branch challenges. Now those five teams will compete at the final challenge of the season - the District Challenge at 7 pm on Thursday, April 30, at KPL’s Central Library.
Each year, the Global Reading Challenge brings together 4th and 5th grade students from across the city to read ten books selected by KPL Children's Librarians and to answer factual and short answer questions about the books. It’s a compelling blend of book club and competition. When the contests are in play, it’s clear to see that the kids want to win. What’s also evident is the level of enjoyment students get just from reading the books. Any school in the KPL service district is eligible to field teams for a school challenge. Parents and teachers play a vital role serving as coaches as teams are recruited and begin to read the books. To get a taste of what Global Reading Challenge is all about, come to the District Challenge on Thursday night! And get ready for Summer Reading Games - they're right around the corner!
Catch the Excitement!
Global Reading Challenge-Photo by Amy Clark