Programs & Events for Kids
Library staff design a full schedule of engaging, entertaining, and educational programs and events for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-aged children. Various events – including options for early literacy, STEAM, gaming, and crafts – are offered year-round.
1KB4K: 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten
1KB4K is a library initiative that promotes reading 1,000 books to preschoolers before they begin Kindergarten. It’s easy to do, and the child gets a free book every time they read and report 100 books. Register and track their reading progress online with Beanstack, or visit the Youth Services Department for additional information or to register in person. You can also view the 1KB4K brochure here.
100 Club
The 100 Club is a fun way for kids to build their reading habits year-round – while earning prizes! Kids in kindergarten through 8th grade can join the club and track their progress on Beanstack. There’s no time limit for completing the challenge, but the goal is to read 100 books! The structure is simple: log books in any category and earn a prize for each 10 books read. Each month, a prize winner will be drawn from active readers, and readers who finish all 10 badges will earn a 100 Club completion prize and get to pick a free book to keep. Learn more about signing up in Beanstack at fondulaclibrary.beanstack.org/reader365 or ask a librarian for help and get your young readers involved in this awesome reading challenge!
Anytime Activities, Toys, & Games
Even when there’s not a program scheduled, there’s always something fun to do at the library! Stop by the desk in the Youth Services Department to learn more about the library’s current Anytime Activities – crafts, games, or projects kids can do whenever they visit the library. Additionally, the library offers a wide selection of board games and card games, as well as a train table, Lego table, puzzles, and a puppet theater to play with during your visit.
FDL Reads: Misfit Mansion
Misfit Mansion by Kay Davault
Reviewed By: Alice Mitchell, Youth Services Manager
Genre: Fantasy (graphic novel)
Suggested Age: Kids (7-12)
What is This Book About? Iris and her friends live in a “foster home for horrors,” including trolls, kelpies, and unicorns. She’s surrounded by friends who are all kept safe by Mr. Halloway’s rules to never leave the house, but she desperately wants to attend the local Harvest Festival in nearby Dead End Springs where “everyone is family.” When Mr. Halloway leaves to rescue a new horror, a local boy named Mathias accidentally breaks the house’s locking spell, releasing the horrors upon the town. The kids disguise themselves to explore the human world and make friends, but they don’t know that Mathias and his aunt are fierce paranormal hunters who wouldn’t mind ridding Dead End Springs of horrors for good.
My Review: This delightful book about fitting in and finding your people is sure to leave you with a smile on your face. Iris’ optimism is contagious, Kel is just the most precious gardening kelpie ever, and the rest of the horrors will make you want to move right in with them. Iris’ experiences as the only horror that Mr. Halloway was afraid of makes her stand out in a world where she was already shunned for being a horror in the first place. Davault mentions in an author’s note that this book is inspired by her experiences as an only child in a single-parent household, feeling like she doesn’t fit into the same mold as her friends and their “complete” two-parent households. She realized, as Ivy and the horrors do, that families come in all shapes and sizes. Readers will enjoy cute horrors, scary monsters, curious townsfolk, and an all-ages family drama.
Three Words that Describe this Book: hopeful, inclusive, family
Give This A Try if You Like… Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulson; The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag; The Moth Keeper by K. O’Neill; The Tea Dragon Society by K. O’Neill; TV shows She-Ra and The Owl House
Rating: 5/5
Library Card Sign-Up Month 2024
Beyond our community, Library Card Sign-Up Month is celebrated in September by the American Library Association and libraries nationwide to remind everyone that a library card is the first step towards academic achievement and lifelong learning. So this September, sign up for a new FDL card, renew your expired card, or replace your lost card to be entered into a prize drawing for an Amazon Fire tablet! Already have an FDL card in good standing? Use it to check out physical materials within FDL throughout September, and you could win an Amazon Fire tablet, too! Encourage your friends and neighbors to get their library cards, and discover all of the great resources and programs available at FDL!
For more information about how to sign up for your library card, visit fondulaclibrary.org/library-cards/.