Kids

Stop by the Books on the Go! display in the Children's Room to check out our new Series Starter bundles!

Each bundle contains the first few titles in one of our favorite children's series. Prepare to get hooked!  

Did you know that Summer Tutoring begins this Tuesday, June 18?  This program runs from 10:30-12 and will meet in the Children’s Programming Room.   High school students will be available to read, play games, or help with worksheets all in an effort to keep kids reading and thinking during these long weeks of summer.

Something is waiting for many children each summer and their parents don’t even know it’s out there.   It's called the "summer slide," and it describes what happens when young minds sit idle for three months.

As parents approach the summer break, many are thinking about the family vacation, trips to the pool, how to keep children engaged in activities at home, the abrupt changes to everyone's schedule—and how to juggle it all.   What they might not be focusing on is how much educational ground their children could lose during the three-month break from school, particularly when it comes to reading.

Experts agree that children who read during the summer gain reading skills, while those who do not often slide backward.   According to the authors of a report from the National Summer Learning Association: "A conservative estimate of lost instructional time is approximately two months or roughly 22 percent of the school year.... It's common for teachers to spend at least a month re-teaching material that students have forgotten over the summer. That month of re-teaching eliminates a month that could have been spent on teaching new information and skills."

Summer slide affects millions of children each year in this country—but it doesn't have to.  Bring your child to ELPL Tuesday mornings and keep their minds engaged!!

ELPL collects Graphic Novels for three different audiences:  kids, teens and adults.  These collections include fiction, non-fiction, biography, science, history and more.

New Kids Graphic Novels
New Teen Graphic Novels
New Adult Graphic Novels

I LOVE this book!  It is a perfect picture book and, therefore, I could share it with children everywhere I go, hundreds of times, and never tire of it—ever.  I read a lot of picture books.  I like and appreciate many of them for many different reasons but, once in a while, a perfect one comes along and I feel compelled to share it with everyone I know.  What makes a perfect picture book?  It’s a little different with each one, but the main factor, for me, is that I want to read it again and again and find it equally compelling each and every time.  I view the picture book as a challenging art form, so I truly appreciate what it takes to create one that impresses children and adults alike and I am always especially impressed when the author is also the illustrator.  Penguin and Pinecone is one of those rare gems!

Salina Yoon won me over with the first two pages when Penguin meets Pinecone and adventure ensues. Penguin’s altruistic attempts to take care of his new friend eventually lead him to discover that being the best kind of friend means being apart from Pinecone, even though it is clear that Penguin misses Pinecone considerably.  I don’t want to give away the best parts, so I will just say that Salina Yoon manages to share a tale of unconditional love and its power, through the perfect pairing of humorous illustrations and simple words, without the slightest hint of overdoing it (which sometimes happens in picture books).  If I were to sum this picture book up in one word, it would be charming (though adorable and hilarious are close contenders).

After Steve Jobs passed away in October 2011 at the age of 56, many biographies were written about this complex man who made most everyone in the world desire every product he created or influenced. His name is associated with many successful companies or products such as: Apple, Pixar, iMac, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, and iPad. While he was considered a genius, he was also extremely difficult to work with and was once fired from the top spot of his own company, had very different ideas about hygiene and diet, and at times had troubles with personal relationships with friends and family. This is a fascinating book about a very "different" man.

Although housed on the children’s shelves, this biography by Karen Blumenthal is aimed at readers ages 12 and up. It is very well-written and researched with added photos, a time line, author's notes, a bibliography, chapter notes, a glossary, and an index. It was an American Library Association 2013 Young Adult Library Services Association Finalist for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults as well as an American Library Association 2013 Children's Notable Book Selection for Older Readers.

August 21 from 2:00pm – 3:00pm

July 26, 11:00am – 11:45am

Come join the fun and DIG into reading with Tricia of Tunes ‘n Tales by Tricia. Children ages 2-10 will enjoy this interactive storytime program as they sing and act out the folktale, The Enormous Turnip. Then, they will DIG into a flower pot for clues for more singing and story adventures.

Paperboy by Vince Vawter
Beholding Bee by Kinberly Newton Fusco
Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Steam Train, Dream Train by Sherri Duskey Rinker
Bluebird by Bob Staake
 

Children of all ages will enjoy stories read by trained teen volunteers in the beautiful and vibrant setting of the Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden at Michigan State University. Now in its 15^th year, Stories in the Garden is a favorite summer program of many children and has won an award from the American Library Association as an Outstanding Program for 

Join us this summer for LEGO Club, one of our Children's Maker Programs.

Drop in to make a suggested project or create your own using our LEGOs. We'll put finished projects on a slide show to view on elpl.org. Did you know that playing with LEGOs actually contributes to literacy development by increasing attention span, memory, creativity, and language and vocabulary skills? LEGO play also lays the foundation for logical mathematical thinking, scientific reasoning and problem solving. The best part is, playing with LEGOs is just plain fun! 

There will be four LEGO Club sessions:

• June 20, 2-4pm
• July 11, 2-4pm
• July 25, 2-4pm
• August 8, 2-4pm

For ages 4 & up. No registration required.

Here are some fun LEGO sites to explore: Build Together, LEGO Bricks & More, LEGO Club,  and Pinterest LEGO Club.