Starting a new year is like opening a brand new box of crayons. There’s a freshness, an excitement, a promise of limitless possibilities. Maybe you have a vision or a plan. Or, you just want to doodle and see what happens. Either way, on day one you start to color in the pages. Chances are, as you continue and the days unfold, you’ll also discover new things about yourself.
A quote attributed to twentieth-century poet and pacifist, Edith Lovejoy Pierce, says it all. “We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
Every new year can be a time to start over, to make changes and adjustments to our lives. At the same time, this yearly milestone presents an opportunity to encourage our children to think about what, if any, changes they may want to adopt. Do they want to:
As 2020 comes to a close, we have the joy of looking ahead at new picture books that will make a debut in 2021. Below is a sneak peek at a handful of titles that I think are sure to become fan favorites.
“Oona” written by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Raissa Figueroa
This comical and heartfelt picture book is a winning celebration of invention, creativity and friendship. With gorgeous underwater scenes and a crowd-pleasing tale, this is one little mermaid who is here to make a splash! Publishes January 12, 2021
Yep, it’s that time of year again! The DBRL youth services staff have come up with a list of the best of the best children’s books that came out this year. Make sure to check out these awesome titles and comment below with your favorite books of 2020!
🌟This symbol means this is an incredibly popular book, because more than one staff member nominated it!
Tears and big emotions are everywhere this year. This book is a gentle guide through the storm, reminding us that all emotions are valuable and that when feelings come and go, they connect us to our knowing.
Zura loves her grandmother but is afraid grandma’s tribal facial markings will cause Zura’s classmates to treat Nana unkindly. This is a lovely story about a child and a grandparent who talk over a problem and find a solution. Continue reading “Best Children’s Books of 2020”
One of my favorite things as a parent was to delve into a subject my kids were interested in and experience learning new things with them. My favorite subjects they learned about were ancient history and archaeology. Before there were pyramids and mummies in ancient Egypt, there was another civilization, Sumer, in Mesopotamia.
The Sumerians ruled Sumer during the 3rd millennium BC, about 5000 years ago. One of their great cities was the city of Ur, located in the south of modern day Iraq. Ur was originally built on a harbor that connected it to the Euphrates river and from there to the Persian Gulf. It was a major trading center in its heyday. Continue reading “Ancient Family Games: The Royal Game of Ur”
Hi! I’m Jessica, and normally, in a pre-COVID-19 world, I was in charge of finding iPad apps for the kiosks in the Children’s Services areas at our branches. Unfortunately, we live in a minimal-touch world right now, so, instead of switching out the apps like I normally would, I decided I would list out a couple of my favorite STEAM apps for iPads so you can play fun, STEAM-themed games at home!
I tried to include both paid apps and free apps from our library iPads. This is not a paid promotion; these are resources that come directly from library usage.
The Composer’s Sketchpad has been one of my favorite apps to offer kids. It allows them to try out different instruments, compose music, save their work and make edits later. No musical experience is required! It allows kids to try things out for themselves, experiment with sound and share their work.
Of my recommendations today, this one is the hardest to engage with at first. It’s got a little bit of a learning curve, but once kids have mastered the basics, it’s really fun to jump right in and create!
I just love painting! There’s something so satisfying about turning a blank canvas into a unique piece of art. I used to go to guided painting classes all the time—that is, until I bought all of the supplies to paint at home. All of this practice has given me the skills I need to guide a painting class for you!
Each of us is a member of many different kinds of communities. A community is a group of people who share something in common. Your community can be your neighborhood, your classroom, your place of worship, your town, your city, your state, your country or your world. The more you can find in common with others, especially those who are different from you in some way, the easier it is to establish peace and harmony. To introduce your child to the idea of communities, check out these resources.
Books
“Daniel’s Good Day “by Micha Archer
As Daniel takes a walk, he asks the people he sees the question, “What makes a good day for you?” He gets a variety of answers from a diverse group of people, all who live or work in his neighborhood. Continue reading “Virtual Activity Bundle: Community”
I’ve been keeping busy, ordering all kinds of delightful books for the library! Once I order them, our Technical Services team processes the books and gets them ready to go on the shelves. We usually process books in the order we receive them but…can I tell you a secret? If you place a hold on a book, we’ll move it to the front of the line! So if any of these books catch your eye, put it on hold and you’ll get it that much sooner. Ready to read about some awesome books?
A young bear finds a friend and loses it in this gorgeously illustrated book. Bear wakes up from a nap to see a beautiful red balloon floating towards him and is filled with delight. Bear and the balloon are soon doing everything together dancing, climbing trees and rolling down hills. Yet Bear discovers that not all squishable things should be hugged and is overcome with sorrow at the loss of his friend. “Bad bear, he thought. Bad, bad bear.” Though it seems the bear is all alone now, the moon reaches down to him that night, gently stroking his fur and telling him, “Good bear. Kind bear. Don’t worry, bear.” I love that this book starts with joyful exuberance, transitions into grief and loss, and ends with self-love and forgiveness. This is a great choice to share with a little one as a bedtime story or an opportunity to talk through hard emotions. Continue reading “Brianna’s Books: November Favorites 2020”
Little felt birds are fun to sew and decorate. For this project, you’ll learn how to sew a simple bird out of plain and patterned felt. Birds can be decorated with buttons, beads, feathers and simple embroidery stitches. Add a ribbon to make a hanging or wire it to a grapevine wreath for a fun winter decoration. I recommend this for kids (and kids at heart) ages 7 and up. Younger children may need help from a grownup.
You will need:
Felt
Pins or tailor’s chalk
Scissors
Embroidery floss
Embroidery needle
2 Buttons or beads (for eyes)
Natural or synthetic fiber (for stuffing)
Print and cut out the “sew a songbird pattern.” Place it on your felt. I used a plain color for the body and patterned scraps for the wings.
Pin or trace around each pattern piece, then turn the pattern pieces over and pin or trace each one again. You should now have two of each pattern piece in felt, and they should mirror each other.
November is National Novel Writing Month, during which people are challenged to write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days. NaNoWriMo (as it’s abbreviated) is mostly done by adults, but kids can also take the challenge by writing their own stories. (They don’t have to be 50,000 words — just a few pages is enough to tell a great story). But what kind of story do you want to tell? Something personal, fantastic, mysterious, romantic, funny, scary or all of the above? And what’s the best way to tell your story? In prose or poetry? With illustrations? Maybe as a graphic novel? And how do you even know where to start? The books below will hopefully provide some helpful and inspiring tips for writing unique and captivating stories.
Starting a new year is like opening a brand new box of crayons. There’s a freshness, an excitement, a promise of limitless possibilities. Maybe you have a vision or a plan. Or, you just want to doodle and see what happens. Either way, on day one you start to color in the pages. Chances are, as you continue and the days unfold, you’ll also discover new things about yourself.
Yep, it’s that time of year again! The DBRL youth services staff have come up with a list of the best of the best children’s books that came out this year. Make sure to check out these awesome titles and comment below with your favorite books of 2020!
Each of us is a member of many different kinds of communities. A community is a group of people who share something in common. Your community can be your neighborhood, your classroom, your place of worship, your town, your city, your state, your country or your world. The more you can find in common with others, especially those who are different from you in some way, the easier it is to establish peace and harmony. To introduce your child to the idea of communities, check out these resources.
“
