Wild Swan Theater: Under the African Sky

Fri, 01/24/2014 - 12:28pm by annevm

Mark your calendar for Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 1 pm, when Wild Swan Theater presents Under the African Sky in Towsley Auditorium. The other three performances already are sold out. The play is a humorous collection of well- known African tales including Why the Sky is Far Away, The Talking Vegetables and Tug-of-Vine. Performers will use acting, storytelling, and drumming, with instruments including a balaphone, a djembe, and a talking drum. The show is for children age 4 to third grade and there will be plenty of chances for audience participation.

Preschool Expo

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 10:14am by manz

Are you searching for a preschool for your child? Join us this Sunday for the 5th annual Preschool Expo. Hosted by AADL, the Expo brings representatives from area preschools to one location, on one date. This year we will have 35 schools from Washtenaw County ready to discuss their programs and features in order to help you decide what suits the needs of your family.

Sunday, January 26 | 1-4pm | Palmer Commons on the UM campus (100 Washtenaw Avenue) | Free parking across the street in the parking structure

Kid Support, Teen Time & Parenting with Cancer

Mon, 01/20/2014 - 11:30am by Beth Manuel

Cancer affects a lot of people and when it's a parent or a child, it is particularly delicate for the entire family. Cancer Support Community provides groups for kids & teenagers who have a parent or loved one with cancer, either in treatment or post, or for children who have cancer themselves. This 4-week session begins Saturday, February 1st, and runs from 10:00am-12:00pm. This is a feel-good, positive group with age-appropriate activities. For more information and to learn about how to register for these free groups, click here.

Now Available Through AADL: Downloadable Issues of Midwestern Gothic

Tue, 01/14/2014 - 1:32pm by mariah

Literary journals can be a marvelous way to discover work by writers you might not already be familiar with — a gateway to some of the most interesting new writing. Midwestern Gothic is "a quarterly print literary journal out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, dedicated to featuring work about or inspired by the Midwest, by writers who live or have lived here."

Is this limiting? The breadth of work collected in Midwestern Gothic — issue after issue — proves that it's not.

The journal, now on its twelfth release, "aims to collect the very best in Midwestern fiction writing in a way that has never been done before, cataloging the oeuvre of an often-overlooked region of the United States ripe with its own mythologies and tall tales." An August interview with AnnArbor.com gives more insight into the journal's background and its founders, Robert James Russell and Jeff Pfaller.

We're happy to report that now you can read every issue of Midwestern Gothic by downloading them directly from AADL's website! A dozen issues are currently in our catalog, and new issues will be added upon release.

If you like what you read in Midwestern Gothic, their MG Press imprint will be celebrating the release of the novel Above All Men with an event at Literati Bookstore on Monday, Feb 17 at 7pm.

Donald Lystra, Ann Arbor author, has written a 2014 Michigan Notable Book

Thu, 01/09/2014 - 10:29am by sernabad

Donald Lystra, an Ann Arbor resident and University of Michigan alum, is once again on the Library of Michigan's Michigan Notable Books list.

Lystra's electrical engineer career morphed into fiction writing in the 1990s. His debut novel Season of Water and Ice (2010), was not only a Michigan Notable Book in 2010, but it also won the Midwest Book Award that year.

This year's entry, a short story collection, Something that Feels Like Truth (2013), is on this year's Michigan Notable Books.

Mr. Lystra and his wife, parents to two grown children, split their time between Ann Arbor and northern Michigan farm.

Arborwiki Edit Night At Arbor Brewing

Wednesday April 23, 2014: 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Arbor Brewing - 114 East Washington

Being Homeless In Washtenaw County

Wednesday March 19, 2014: 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Arborwiki Edit Night

Wednesday March 26, 2014: 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Downtown Library: aadlfreespace
Adults And Teens Grade 9 And Up

National Homemade Bread Day is November 17th!

Tue, 11/05/2013 - 3:02pm by eapearce

I was surprised to learn that on November 17th, in two weeks, we get to celebrate National Homemade Bread Day! This special day is a great excuse to learn about baking bread, discover information about its history, and experience the many delicious breads that the local bakeries in Ann Arbor have to offer.

The AADL has tons of great books to help you create delicious homebaked breads in your own kitchen. Check out The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Bread Baking and Flour Water Salt Yeast: the Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza for tips on how to get started. We also have Gluten-free and Vegan Bread: Artisanal Recipes to Make at Home and many other vegan and gluten-free oriented bread and baking books for those who have dietary restrictions. Beard on Bread has been a favorite of bread bakers since the 1970s and has more than 100 recipes in it, along with illustrations that kids (and adults!) may enjoy.

Of course, “homemade” doesn’t have to mean made in your own home. National Homemade Bread Day can be celebrated with other people’s homemade bread too! Try out Jefferson Market and Cakery for some delectable baked goods and swing by Angelo’s for a slice of their thick homemade raisin bread along with your brunch.

Enjoy your homemade feasting!

'Tis the Season to Hang on to Reason!

Mon, 10/28/2013 - 1:11pm by Beth Manuel

Learn why we spend the way we do during these coming months, followed by a discussion of how to find alternative ways to enjoy the holidays. Taught by renowned speaker & local budget guru, Kathryn Greiner, Director of Education at the University of Michigan Credit Union, these sessions are free and open to the public: Saturday, November 2, 10:00-11:30 AM and Thursday, November 7, 6:00-7:30 PM. Pre-registration is required. Click here to pre-register. Both sessions will be held at the University of Michigan Credit Union, 4440 Jackson Rd., Ann Arbor, between Wagner and Zeeb Roads.