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Cozy up to slow reading this winter
Posted in Explore and Discover on November 27, 2018 at 6:00 am
By Melissa Rhoades One specific morning in fourth grade still stands out in my memory. I arrived early to class, sat at my desk, and opened a novel I was midway through. I don’t remember now what book it was, but I do remember becoming completely engrossed, sinking into the world on the page. Which […]
Tags: authors, books, close reading, deep reading, diverse books, fiction, health, nonfiction, parents, patience, print books, reading, reading comprehension, reading diversely, reading resolutions, slow, slow reading, teens, tweens
Fanfiction primer: Reading and writing what you love
Posted in Explore and Discover on November 13, 2018 at 6:00 am
By Caitlin Wheeler THE DETECTIVE Tired of writing serial mysteries, Arthur Conan Doyle had just unceremoniously shoved Sherlock Holmes over a cliff mid-wrestling match with a never-before-mentioned arch nemesis. Fans were incensed, devastated, or both. Many of them turned to writing apocryphal works (writings of dubious authenticity), pastiches (im […]
Tags: adaptation, adults, apocrypha, authors, booklists, books, community, fan fiction, fandom, fanfiction, hobbies, homage, interpretation, movies, parody, pastiche, reading, teens, YA
Great digital reads for the whole family
Posted in Explore and Discover, kids, Parents and Teachers, Teens on November 6, 2018 at 6:00 am
By SHERI BOGGS November marks the time of year when families start drawing close together for the holidays and you know what that means—lots and lots of family time! The Library District has got you covered with several themed booklists available on our popular OverDrive digital platform. FOR KIDS We Are Family is a handpicked […]
Tags: adults, audiobooks, booklists, books, devices, digital collection, digital library, eBooks, family, fiction, kids, Libby app, mobile, mobile devices, nonfiction, overdrive, reading, science fiction, technology, teens, tweens, YA, young learners
A new voting ritual
Posted in Explore and Discover on October 30, 2018 at 6:00 am
By Dana Mannino When I was small, accompanying my parents to the poll was a family ritual. My parents would get shoes and coats on all of us, which was quite a feat, as there seemed to be an additional child with every presidential election cycle, and we would walk down the polling station. Some […]
Tags: ballot boxes, ballot measures, candidates, election, Election Day, elections, local elections, polling booths, propositions, voter's pamphlet, voting, voting ballot, voting party
Let’s craft: Getting cozy with crochet
Posted in Explore and Discover on October 16, 2018 at 6:00 am
by Abra Cole As we are entering the Season of the Scarf once again, I’m developing a new obsession with a certain yarn-based craft. I consider myself an artistic person, but I have never dabbled in the realm of fiber arts. Until recently, that is! Two years ago, cross stitch became my gateway craft, and […]
Tags: amigurumi, art, books, crafting, crafts, crochet, DIY, hobbies, hooks, yarn, yarn-based crafts
School’s back in session: Picture books about new challenges and situations
Posted in Parents and Teachers on October 9, 2018 at 6:00 am
By Rachel Edmondson There are lots of wonderful books about first-day school jitters. But reading to our kids about school doesn’t need to end once school is in full swing. There are all sorts of challenges that kids face while at school. Fortunately, there are also a wealth of books that cover situations such as […]
Tags: accidents, art, back to school, booklists, books, bravery, bullying, courage, creativity, embarassed, embarassment, family, fiction, fitting in, friends, kids, kindness, parenting, parents, playing, reading, teachers, teasing, young learners
Taking care of you: Modern day self-care
Posted in Explore and Discover on September 27, 2018 at 6:00 am
by Susan Goertz September means many things to many people—leaves changing color, shortening days, pumpkin spice everything. Did you know that September is also Self-Care Awareness Month? You wouldn’t think people would need tips on how to take it easy and pamper themselves. How hard can it be to slow down and breathe, right? Yet […]
Tags: adults, aromatherapy, books, breathing, clutter, downsizing, fidgety, fidgety meditation, health, healthy happy, meditation, mindful eating, mindfulness, parents, relaxation, science, self-care, self-caregiver, skeptics, sleep, stress, walking, yoga, yoga breathing
Banning books silences stories: Reading a banned book celebrates your intellectual freedom
Posted in Explore and Discover, Parents and Teachers on September 18, 2018 at 6:00 am
by Melissa Rhoades Banned Books Week is September 23–29 this year. Did you know that at least 23 of the 100 books on PBS’s 2018 Great American Read book list have been banned or threatened with a ban in the United States? That means almost one-fourth of America’s “most loved” novels (as determined by popular […]
Tags: adults, ALA, American Library Association, banned books, Banned Books Week, book challenge, books, censor, censorship, fiction, intellectual freedom, kids, nonfiction, parents, reading, teachers, teens, tweens, YA
Five early reader books for fall school jitters
Posted in kids, Parents and Teachers on August 28, 2018 at 6:00 am
By Sheri Boggs Most of us are not strangers to the first-day-of-school jitters—that delightful mix of excitement and mild apprehension as one contemplates what the new school year might bring. Such a feeling has as much to do with our need to connect and to be accepted as it does with our need to discover […]
Tags: back to school, book list, books, early literacy, early readers, getting along, kids, literacy, multicultural, parents, reading, young learners
How to Identify a Dragon
Posted in Explore and Discover, kids, Parents and Teachers, Teens on August 21, 2018 at 6:00 am
by Caitlin Wheeler When I was young, I loved C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. I especially loved The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, a book that, in my eight-year-old estimation, had everything a book ought to: quests, nightmares, magic spells, enchanted islands, warrior mermaids, anthropomorphized stars, and of course, dragons. Eustace Claren […]
Tags: adults, authors, booklists, books, dragon, dragons, fairy tale, fairy tales, fantastical, fantasy genre, kids, reading, speculative fiction, teens, tweens, YA
