Books and stories are great tools to help kids understand big issues going on in our country today. These titles, ranging from picture books to chapter books, can be great conversation starters about diversity, racism, activism, and empathy.
Picture Books
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Hello, young scientists! Get ready to take a look at some crazy chemical reactions! Absolute Science puts on shows and workshops for kids and families to learn all about science (and have fun while doing it). Since we can’t be together in person, Absolute Science recorded a video of their laser show so you can watch at home. You’ll see how heat can create sound, learn what high-powered lasers can do, and more. Enjoy!
Use these resources to discover more and try your own science experiments at home (with adult supervision)!
Welcome to the secret world of Booklandia, where characters like Hermione Granger and Greg Heffley can step out of their books to visit other stories, as long as they’re back to their original story by midnight. But tonight, their books are locked — the characters can’t get back to their own stories! Who locked them out? Will all of the characters be gone forever?
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to solve the puzzles and crack the codes to help the characters get back where they belong before it’s too late.
This interactive game was designed with kids ages 8 and up in mind and may be most fun when families solve it together. Click on the door to begin. Good luck!
Want more mysteries to solve? Check out these middle grade eBooks and audiobooks!
Join Mikaela for a fantastical story time with this reading of Beatrix Potter’s classic The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher! Then make a silly frog of your own, or try the printable Beatrix Potter coloring pages. You can also explore Beatrix Potter tales available online from our hoopla collection.
The wonderful thing about using our imaginations is that we can visit faraway places, even the bottom of the ocean! Follow the steps below for a fun sea-themed story time!
You might know Baby Shark, but what about Baby Beluga? Listen to track one on Raffi’s Greatest Hits, available on hoopla. Sing along to the “Baby Beluga” chorus! This can lead to a fun letter game as well. Spend the rest of the day trying to find things that start with the letter “B.” How many can you find?
Check out the videos on the Shedd Aquarium’s Facebook page. Watch ocean animals swim and dig, and discover how they’re cared for by aquarium staff. You’ll learn interesting facts along the way. Did you know that eels yawn? What else did you learn?
Try out these fun different crafts using just coffee filters and supplies you likely have at home. Haley will lead you through the steps to creating your own tie-dye art, a water-color sun catcher, a 3-D flower, or all three!
Diffusion Art:
You’ll need a tray, a coffee filter, washable markers, and water.
Optionally, you can also use card stock to create a fun painting.
Color the coffee filter with markers. White spaces are fine, as the color with spread out once we add water.
Take the coffee filter and lay it on the tray. (If you want to use the card stock go create a colorful painting, place that under the coffee filter now.)
Spray or gently pour water onto the coffee filter and let it sit until the colors have stopped spreading (about 10 to 20 seconds).
You can let this dry on the tray, on a flat surface, or on the card stock. Do not dry these on top of paper towels, as they will soak up most of the color.
Watercolor Sun Catcher:
You will need a tray, a coffee filter, watercolor paint, a paint brush, and a cup filled with water to rinse the brush .
You can use the marker method for this craft if you do not have paint at home.
Optionally, you can add a paper cutout to your sun catcher that will look like a shadow once light shines through it. For this, you will need a piece of dark blue or black construction paper, a writing utensil, scissors, and glue.
Place the coffee filter on the tray.
Use the watercolor paint and paintbrush to color the coffee filter, leaving little to no white space.
Let this dry on the tray or another flat surface.
Your sun catcher is ready to be taped or otherwise secured to a window! If you want to add the shadow design, continue through the next steps.
Trace a design on your construction paper.
Cut out the design.
Glue the cut-out to the sun catcher.
Flowers:
For every flower you make, you will need 1 to 4 coffee filters depending on the thickness you want and 1 pipe cleaner. If you don’t have pipe cleaners at home, a staples or scotch tape will work.
You can leave the coffee filters white or follow either the marker or watercolor methods used in our first two crafts to color your coffee filters.
If you’re using colored coffee filters, make sure they are dry before you begin.
Decide how many filters you want to use for your flower (1 to 4).
Stack the filters on top of each other.
Fold the filters in half.
Fold them in half a second time.
Grab one side and fold over as if you will be folding the entire stack a third time, but then fold the piece you are holding back on itself.
Flip the stack over and repeat the previous step. You should have a triangular piece with two long, straight sides and one short, curved side.
Hold the stack vertically with the thickest side facing upward. About 1.5 to 2 inches above the skinny end, secure your pipe cleaner to the flower by wrapping it tightly around the filters until you have a stem.
If you don’t have pipe cleaners, use a stapler or piece of scotch tape to secure your filters together in the same place so the flower stays together.
Gently peel apart the layers of the flower and spread them out until the flower looks as full as want it to. You’re all finished!
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is an extremely popular video game right now, and it can be a surprisingly good tool for getting children interested in animals and nature. One of the best parts of the game is finding all of the items for the museum. It’s exciting to spot a new insect or dig up a missing fossil and hear the curator, Blathers, share a fun fact about each of those items. Kids who want to become experts like Blathers on insects, dinosaurs, and more should check out these nonfiction books from our online collections.
What is This Book About?: “I’ve been locked up for 264 days.” This is the intriguing beginning of Shatter Me. Kept in a cell 144 square feet in size, teenage prisoner Juliette Ferrars has no idea of her location and has had no human contact since her incarceration began. Juliette believes that she is being held in an asylum due to a unique ability she has been cursed with from birth. But her situation is quickly going to change when her tiny cell gains an additional occupant – a surly teen boy. Is he friend or foe? And what do they both have to do with the new Reestablishment government that is responsible for their incarceration?
My Review: This book is rather terrifying. Juliette is afraid of herself, afraid of her special ability. This fear increases exponentially with the introduction of her new cellmate. Juliette is certain that she deserves her fate but yet longs for human kindness. Mafi expertly describes Juliette’s self-loathing and longing through the text, descriptions, and “visual representations” in the text. The author equally adeptly draws us in as Juliette begins to understand what is going on in the outside world and comes to terms with her ability. The reader walks side-by-side with Juliette as she learns about the harsh, oppressive Reestablishment government and solves the mystery of her friend-or-foe cellmate. Highly recommended!
Three Words That Describe This Book: Shocking, empowering, exciting
Give This a Try if You Like… Veronica Roth’s Divergent series or The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
Click on the book cover and listen to The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? on Hoopla. Why did Duckling give Pigeon his cookie? Why do you think Duckling was able to get a cookie simply by asking? What do you think Pigeon could have done to get a cookie of his own? Why is it so important to use good manners?
How can we not sing “Wheels on the Bus” after watching the Pigeon try to drive the bus?!
Step 4: Make a craft Follow these tutorials to make Pigeon-themed crafts at home. Make Pigeon & Duckling, a cookie, or a hot dog using materials like paper plates and recycled CDs. These are great props to use to act out the stories yourselves.
You can also learn to draw Pigeon from the author, Mo Willems! Check out Lunch Doodles with Mo to learn how.
I am a former language arts teacher who now works in a public library. I’m especially fond of children’s books about kayaking and canoeing, and I have quite the collection of them. While quarantined at home due to COVID-19 and daydreaming about being out on the water in my kayak, I decided to share some reviews of books that I have on my shelf. I highly recommend these three children’s books for their illustrations and creativity. These books can be found in some local libraries and online. Until next time, I wish you good health and joyful reading.
– Deb, Circulation Assistant
Yellow Kayak by Nina Laden is a gorgeous picture book. Stunning illustrations combined with poetic verse tell the tale of a child and his special friend who take an amazing adventure in a yellow kayak out on the sea. He learns the best part of an adventure is coming home with stories to share.
Can I Kayak, Daddy? by Joyce Duggan Autrey is a beginning chapter book. The story takes place in Alaska and tells the tale of a little girl who has Down Syndrome and who wants to kayak with her daddy. Though he is reluctant to take her as he feels she is too young and not ready, he demonstrates various skills while she stands on the shore and watches and sometimes sings. Eventually the day arrives when she is lowered into the cockpit with her daddy, and they happily paddle away from the shore. Included in this book is sheet music featuring the songs that she sings.
Kayak Girl by Monica Devine is a picture book about a little girl who also lives in Alaska. The main character’s mother passes away, and she becomes so sad that she loses interest in everything. Her grandpa comes to visit to try and cheer he up, but his visit doesn’t help. Before he leaves to go back home, he carves a small wooden kayak for her which he takes back home with him. He releases the kayak into the water from his home and tells his granddaughter to look for it on the water at her home. For several days she waits at the water’s edge hoping to see the kayak which she names Kayak Girl because her grandpa also carved a wooden girl in the kayak’s cockpit. When the kayak is missing for several days, she worries that Kayak Girl is lost, lonely, and afraid. But then she recalls what her mother once told her to help her with these worries, and she starts to feel better. Finally, Kayak Girl washes up on the shore, and the girl is relieved and happy. She paints Kayak Girl, and then she releases her back into the water symbolizing the relief that she feels from her sadness.
Watercolor Sun Catcher:
