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Love on the open road: Motorcycle club romances to fire up your summer

Posted in Explore and Discover on July 18, 2017 at 6:00 am

By Stefani Miller Rev your engine with these steamy, fast-paced motorcycle club romance series. They are perfect for a seasoned romance reader who is looking for the next guilty pleasure read or someone new to romance who likes books both steamy and action packed. These men may be outlaws, but you won’t mind it when […]

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Mystery reads for tweens & investigative adventures at the library

Posted in kids on July 11, 2017 at 6:00 am

  by Melanie Boerner Grab your spy glass and let’s dust for prints! Here are some great mystery reads for tweens to investigate this summer. The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman Nobody “Bod” Owens is the only living resident of a graveyard and has been reared by the ghostly inhabitants since infancy, after his parents […]

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Beyond dorks & wimps: Graphic novel hybrids after Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries

Posted in kids on July 6, 2017 at 6:00 am

By Sheri Boggs If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being responsible for stocking the sections for “Kids Books to Go” at the Library District, it’s the perennial popularity of comic book heroes and their antics. “Kids Books to Go” is a bookstore-style display of multiple copies of high interest titles. Since its launch, year […]

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Dance like You’ve Got Ants in Your Pants: Q&A with Eric Herman

Posted in kids, News on June 29, 2017 at 6:00 am

By Erin Dodge We’re ready for comedy, creativity, audience participation, and outrageously amusing songs this summer. And we hope you are too! Eric Herman performs his cool tunes at our libraries, July 17–21. I reached out to Eric with a few questions and learned a bit about how Siri, poets, and kids influence his music. I […]

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She screams loudest: Women’s dystopian tales

Posted in Explore and Discover on June 27, 2017 at 6:00 am

by Susan Goertz For me, there is no question that dystopian author Philip K. Dick was a visionary. And interestingly, the physical appearance of his female characters tends to have a direct correlation to their level of intelligence (I’ll let you discover which way the correlation falls out). Reading his novels and stories for a […]

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Bubbling beakers: Q&A with Kelli Crawford of Mobius Science Center

Posted in Explore and Discover on June 21, 2017 at 6:00 am

By Erin Dodge In my experience, if you tell kids that they get to go see a science show, the response might be worthy of a shoulder shrug (not true for all kids, of course). I get it. The words “science show” may not be very inspiring to a lot of kids. Now, if I […]

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Block play and kindergarten readiness

Posted in Parents and Teachers on June 20, 2017 at 6:00 am

By Mary Ellen Braks This article is second in a 2-part series. The first article is 7 stages of block play: Building and early learning. As a librarian my go-to choice for baby gifts has always been books. The more books you have around your house and the more you read to children, the more likely it is […]

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7 stages of block play: Building and early learning

Posted in Parents and Teachers on June 16, 2017 at 6:00 am

By Mary Ellen Braks Blocks! Kids love them and parents love them. Most preschool classrooms and child care centers have blocks. Building programs seem to be everywhere. In fact, we’re having a week full of block and building activities at our storytimes this summer. You may be thinking, “Great! But why!?” My answer would be […]

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Enraptured by raptors: West Valley Outdoor Learning Center

Posted in Explore and Discover on June 14, 2017 at 6:00 am

Guest Blog By Kim Brinkmann “I had no idea this place even existed!” This phrase is commonly expressed by first-time guests of the West Valley Outdoor Learning Center. The Outdoor Learning Center is tucked back in a corner on the grounds of Pasadena Park Elementary School, hidden among the towering cottonwoods, cedars, and aspens. It […]

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KERNEL at the Fairwood Farmers’ Market: making nutrition and exercise fun and delicious

Posted in Explore and Discover, kids, Parents and Teachers on June 6, 2017 at 6:00 am

By Rachel Edmondson My family loves to go to farmers’ markets. We love fresh, local produce, and we find it’s even more appealing when you are face to face with the people who grew it. Of course, farmers’ markets have a lot more than just produce—artisan foods, fresh meat, crafts, and brews—something for everyone. Last […]

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