Kid Bits - Stories from Haiti

Tue, 02/13/2007 - 4:51pm by ryanikoglu

Ann Arbor is reading and discussing life in Haiti. ANN ARBOR/YPSILANTI READS is based on the book Mountains Beyond Mountains and Dr. Paul Farmer's work in Haiti. It's a perfect time for the kids to join in the theme. In Picture books try Circles of Hope; Painted Dreams; and Running the Road to ABC. In chapter books try Behind the Mountain; or The Magic Orange Tree and Other Haitian Folk Tales.

Culture Bits - Chinese New Year

Mon, 02/12/2007 - 4:53pm by ryanikoglu

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Reading transports you into the Chinese-American experience. If you are reading chapter books in grade school, try Year Of The Dog; Day The Dragon Danced; Shanghai Messenger; Three Names Of Me; or The Traitor: Golden Mountain Chronicles 1885.

Holiday Bits - Gung Hay Fat Choy

Mon, 02/12/2007 - 4:35pm by ryanikoglu

Celebrate the Chinese New Year and share the Chinese-American experience! If the kids are preschool ages or early elementary school, read D Is For Dragon; The Runaway Rice Cake; A Dragon New Year; Fortune Cookie Fortunes; and make some crafts from Chinese New Year Crafts.

Dizzy by Jonah Winter

Wed, 02/07/2007 - 4:08pm by Tahira

There was a small boy who often got into fights. One day his teacher gave him a trumpet. He blew all his anger into that trumpet and thus one of the greatest Jazz musicians of all times was born. Dizzy Gillespie. Dizzy by Jonah Winter is a tribute to one of America’s most famous and loved musicians.

Exam Bits - Test Prep

Sun, 02/04/2007 - 2:28pm by ryanikoglu

Preparing for school exams? Is everything checked out at the library? Try Learning Express Library on our website.

If your Library card is registered through "My Account" you have access to the databases from home. Login with your username and password. Choose "Research" file at the top of the page. Choose "Learning Express Library" by name. You will find practice exercises for TOEFL, Civil Service, Citizenship, GRE, SAT, and more. You will also find standardized testing for elementary, middle, and high school ages. Study Up!

Kid Bits - Regarding the Klises

Sun, 02/04/2007 - 11:58am by ryanikoglu

The Kate and Sarah Klise have put out the next book in their middle school series of history/mystery adventures with Regarding the Bathrooms: a privy to the past. Other titles the sisters write and illustrate are Regarding the Trees: a splintered saga rooted in secrets; Regarding the Fountain. These are great fun for creative minds and school-system intrigue.

Kid Bits - Time Warp Trio

Fri, 02/02/2007 - 1:51pm by ryanikoglu

John Scieszka writes one more book for the Time Warp Trio series. Like to travel? Like Time Warps? Read Marco? Polo! and land in 13th century China. Kublai Khan! Xanadu! Marco Polo! Whooa!!

Favorite Picks for Black History Month by Tahira

Thu, 02/01/2007 - 3:14pm by Tahira

In honor of Black History Month here is a list of my favorite books with African American main characters:

Picture Books
Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold
Jamaica’s Find by Jaunita Havill
Sweet Music in Harlem by Debbie Taylor

Fiction
Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Watson’s Go to Burmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Stories Julian Tells by Ann Cameron
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt
Starring Grace by Mary Hoffman

Baby Bits - Go, Go, Go

Tue, 01/30/2007 - 12:28pm by ryanikoglu

We did "things that go" in Baby PlayGroup this week. You can go home with books like Beep Beep Let's Go; Sail Away Little Boat; Sheep In A Jeep; Jiggle Joggle Jee; Giddy-Up! Let's Ride; or I Love Trucks and GO some more.

Circle Unbroken by Margot Theis Raven

Fri, 01/26/2007 - 12:15pm by Tahira

Margot Theis Raven’s story of a grandmother teaching her granddaughter the tradition of basket weaving flows like the baskets that were weaved by the free peoples of Africa and then by slaves in the Americas in Circle Unbroken. The circle knot starts the basket and “when the finger talk just right the circle will go out again—past slavery and freedom, old ways and new, and your basket will hold the past.