Read Books!

Make Something! Adults (& Families)

Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts

An A-To-Z Guide with Detailed Instructions and Endless Inspiration

A is for Albums, B is for Beading, G is for gilding, and M is for Mosaics! Woo-hoo!
If you like to craft, this is the book to check out! Each category of craft has several projects for you to try, all described to their last detail. (Full disclosure: Some projects suggest Martha Stewart craft products, and are built around using them - but it's certainly only some projects). There are hundreds of crafts in this encyclopedia, and some have suggestions of variations. Each project has at least one beautiful picture accompanying it, and each project has a little "About the Materials" section that talks about why you would use certain materials and not others.

Read This! Adult

The Painted Girls
by Cathy Marie Buchanan

 

 

This story takes place in Paris, beginning in 1878. The Van Goethem sisters are unsure of their futures, because their father has just died, and they are without money. The youngest, Marie, at 14, is working at the Opera House where she will be trained to be in the famous ballet. Antoinette, the older sister, finds work on the stage. Marie is eventually painted by the famous Degas, and Antoinette has her head turned by a disturbed man, and has to struggle with less-honest job opportunities on the streets of Paris.

This story embraces the time and culture of that period in French history. The sisters continually save each other, and their relationship falters and builds. This is a great period piece, and the characters of both girls/women will leave the reader with a bit to think about.

Program Tonight!

Read This! Grades 5-6

Tuck Everlasting
by Natalie Babbitt

The Tuck family once drank from a magic spring, and now they do not ever age - their life is eternal. They try to live life under the radar, so that no one finds out their secrets. 10-year-old Winnie Foster meets them in the forest and finds out about the spring and its results. Winnie's discovery, along with that of a malicious stranger, make things very hard for the Tucks. How will they keep the spring away from the public? How will they disappear again?

This story takes place in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Fans of fantasy and historical fiction will love this story. If you liked Anne of Green Gables, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe or The Mysterious Benedict Society, this may be a great title for you!

Read This! Picture Books

Doug Unplugged
by Dan Yaccarino

Doug is a robot kid whose robot parents plug him in every morning so he can download information and stay smart. Eventually, Doug unplugs from his download and discovers the world at large, running into pigeons and finding a friend, and seeing a manhole and smelling garbage. In the end, he learns to hug your parents to show them that you love them.
This is a cute story that I'm sure is saying something about technology, but I'm not sure exactly what. The illustrations are vibrant, and Doug is pretty cute. Kids who dig friendship stories and/or robots will be drawn to Doug Unplugged.

LEARN a LANGUAGE on your PHONE!!!

We've talked before about Transparent Languages, the language database that is available through our website or you can just click this link. Once you set up an account, using your library barcode, you can click on the GO MOBILE option at the top right corner of the screen. A 3 step process will open up.
Before going through this, you must download the Byki for IPhone Community Edition which is FREE at the App Store and the Android Market.
 The steps are the following:

1st, you will click the link that gives you a BYKI CLE user name.
2nd, you will enter the BYKI CLE user name into the Byki Community Edition app.
3rd, you will choose your language and download some lists to learn.

That's it! Awesome! Happy language learning, friends!