Five Nice Mice – Staff Recommend
We can all make friends with someone different than us. Frogs and mice come together over music in this picture book in which mice hear beautiful music rising from the city. They investigate to find out the music is coming from frogs, ribbiting at the moon. When the mice visit, the frogs send them away because they are different. In the end, the two groups unite over song and everyone is friends. Author: Chisato Tashiro
- PBS Kids: Music
- Spoonful: Make Music & Instruments
- Dallas Symphony Orchestra: Kids
- New York Philharmonic: Kids
- San Francisco Symphony: Kids
- More Staff Recommends
Recommended by: Joe Fox, Wayne Branch
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Spring Break Fun Right HERE
IndyStar: Spring Break Fun Close to Home by T.J. Banes "Check out these "staycation" options in Central Indiana."
We agree! There are A LOT of fun things to do listed in this article including fun events at the library! Here are some more programs and workshops that are happening in our branches next week. For a full schedule of events available each day see our IndyPL Online Calendar of Events. Add to the adventure! Pick a branch you don't usually go to. IndyPL Locations and Hours.
IndyPL Events for Kids During Spring Break:
- Spades Park Mini Book Festival Details & Schedule
- Paws to Read at Lawrence, Eagle, Wayne
- Family Movie Days Details & Schedule
- Food and Fun Featuring Jose-Luis Orozco Details & Schedule
- Get Ready for Lemonade Day 2013: Kids Biz Workshop @ Central Library Details & Schedule
And here are even MORE fun library events, each one offered all over the city. Click on each picture for details & a schedule of dates and times:
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Report Reveals Reading Bad for Kids Before Age Five
April Fools!
Of course!
A little early, but hey, what good are websites and book titles if you don't see the ideas before you need them? You have six days to get ready, now go have a little fun of your own:
- Infoplease Almanac: April Fool's Day Origin and History
- Spoonful: April Fool's Day
- Parenting: 15 April Fool's Day Pranks (Librarian's choice: safety pin all of their undies together side by side. When one is pulled out, they all come out. You'll get a serious laugh for that one. Underwear always does it. Try Froggy Gets Dressed or Bear in Underwear or Aliens Love Underpants or Dirty Joe, the Pirate: a True Story. You'll see.)
- Food.com: Top April Fools' Day Prank Recipes
And just so we're clear:
Reading is GREAT for kids before age five. The BEST.
Plenty of reports show it, like these:
- Reach Out and Read: Importance of Reading Aloud
- Reading is Fundamental (RIF): Facts About Reading Aloud
- Reading Rockets: Reading Aloud (Scroll down for Research Reports)
Books:
Books Recommended by: Janet Spaulding, Selection Services
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Easter
This year, Easter is on March 31, 2013. On this Sunday families will gather to attend church, eat, hunt for Easter Eggs and many other family traditions. Here in the Indianapolis area there are several Easter activities for families including a trip to the library for your favorite Easter stories. Or, try a new one - there are a lot this year!
Favorite Books for Easter:
Websites
- Martha Stewart: Easter Crafts & Activities
- Martha Stewart: Decorating Easter Eggs
- PAAD Easter Egg Decorating Tips
- Official Website: Peeps
- White House Easter Egg Roll
Indianapolis Area Easter Egg Hunts:
Springtime in Indianapolis is a really beautiful time. This year, Easter is a little early so the weather could go either way. But cold weather or not, your kids are going to want to participate in an Easter egg hunt or two. Many local churches, parks and non-profit organizations host Easter egg hunts. If you aren't sure where to take the kids, this list may come in handy.
- IndyWithKids: List of Area Easter Egg Hunts
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway Kids Club Easter Event
- Indianapolis Propylaeum Easter Egg Hunt
- Post Road Christian Church Eggstravaganza Giant Indoor Easter Egg Hunt
- City of Greenwood Easter Egg Hunt
- Forest Park, Noblesville Annual Easter Egg Hunt
- Carmel Clay Parks and Recreation Spring Fever Easter Egg Hunt
- The Times of Noblesville: Hamilton County Easter Egg Hunts
- Beech Grove Easter Egg Hunt
- Asa Bales Park Easter Egg Hunt
- Brownsburg Easter Egg Hunt Arbuckle Park
- Plainfield Community Easter Egg Hunt - Followed by an UNDERWATER hunt at the Aquatic Park!
- Northminster Presbyterian Annual Easter Egg Hunt
- Avon Optimist Club Easter Egg Hunt
- Fishers Station Kiwanis Club 31st Annual Easter Egg Hunt
- North Central Kiwanis Club Easter Egg Hunt
- Danville Kiwanis Club Easter Egg Hunt
- Easter at Conner Prairie
- Zionsville EGGnormous Event
New Easter Books for 2013:
Easter eBooks:
- 10 Easter Egg Hunters
- Duck & Goose: Here Comes the Easter Bunny
- Easter Mice
- An Easter Prayer
- God Gave Us Easter
- Happy Easter, Curious George
- Happy Easter, Gus!
- Ollie’s Easter Egg
- The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes
- Easter in Harwick
- The Berenstain Bears and the Real Easter Eggs
- The Berenstain Bears’ Easter Magic
- An Egg-cellent Easter
- My Easter Bible Storybook
- Emma’s Easter
- The Easter Story
- The Story of Easter
- All New Crafts for Easter
- Easter
Easter Downloadable Audio:
Books Recommended by: Janet Spaulding, Selection Services
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Disabilities Awareness
March is Indiana Disability Awareness Month organized by the Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities. The Indiana Disability Awareness website has a lot of information including a free awareness kit and a recommended reading list for children.
Listed below are some selections from your own IndyPL Children's Librarians of their favorite titles that feature characters with disabilities.
Websites
- Indiana Disability Awareness
- Mayor Ballard: Celebrating Diversity: a Guide to Disability Etiquette
- Order your FREE Awareness Kit
- Children's Reading List (5th Link)
- Centers for Disease Control & Prevention: Kid's Quest on Disability & Health
- Best Buddies Indiana
| Describes a day in the life of a seeing eye dog, from going with his owner to the grocery store and post office, to visiting a class of school children, and playing ball. Also describes their three-hundred mile walk from Boston to New York. Young Hoosier Book Award, 2004-2005, K-3 Nominee.Looking Out for Sarah by Sarah Lean~Janet Spaulding, Selection Services |
| For the younger children there is Helping Sophia by Anastasia Suen (j179.9) about a young girl in a wheelchair whose classroom helper has to take time off to have a baby. The other kids in the class take turns and learn to help Sophia get around in her wheelchair. Thy find out it’s not easy, but gain understanding of Sophia’s situation.Helping Sophia by Anastasia SuenWhen Sophia's helper is absent, her fellow third-graders help out by learning how to push her wheelchair.~Linda Tegmeyer, Brightwood Branch Library |
| I really loved this year’s Schneider Family Book Award winner for the younger children category “Back to Front and Upside Down!” While the rest of the class makes birthday cards for the principal, Stanley struggles with his words and letters.Back to Front and Upside Down by Claire Alexander~Janet Spaulding, Selection Services |
| Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.Wonder by RJ Palacio~Barb Obergfell, Outreach Services |
| Nine-year-old Lila, born with xeroderma pigmentosum, a skin disease that make her sensitive to sunlight, makes secret plans to feel the sun's rays on her tenth birthday. And so, she plays at night with her friends – who might or might not be real.Cool Moonlight by Angela JohnsonBarb Obergfell, Outreach Services |
| Spider, a baby abandoned on an English farm, grows up to be mentally slower than other children but manifests a remarkable talent for communicating with animals as he comes of age during World War II, a slower child whose quiet, calm, kind nature is a gift to everyone.Spider Sparrow by Dick King-Smith~Barb Obergfell, Outreach Services |
| Wonderful! Having lost his mother and his hearing in a short time, twelve-year-old Ben leaves his Minnesota home in 1977 to seek the father he never knew in New York City, and meets there Rose, who is also longing for something missing from her life. Ben's story is told in words; Rose's in pictures.Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick~Erin Moehring, Southport Branch Library and Janet Spaulding, Selection Services |
| Fifth-grader Cally Louise Fisher stops talking, partly because her father and brother never speak of her mother who died a year earlier, but visions of her mother, friendships with a homeless man and a disabled boy, and a huge dog ensure that she still communicates.A Dog Called Homeless by Sarah Lean~Janet Spaulding, Selection Services |
| For the older boys and girls I highly recommend Sharon Draper’s Out Of My Mind( jFIC). It’s also a Young Hoosier Book – very well written and thought provoking. It’s about a young girl who’s body is deformed (wheelchair bound), she can’t speak and her body spasms uncontrollably at the most inopportune times. She is very bright and knows the answers to the questions teachers ask, but has no way to express her knowledge. Everyone, except her family thinks she is retarded or dumb. How frustrating that must be. Finally with the help of a special computer she is able to communicate. I couldn’t wait to read what happened next!Out of My Mind by Sharon DraperConsidered by many to be mentally disabled, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time. Young Hoosier Book Award, 2012-2013, 6-8 Nominee.~Linda Tegmeyer, Brightwood Branch Library |
| I recommend:The Kaleidoscope Kid by Elaine LarsonPresents a collection of poems pointing out the variety of intellectual strengths and personality traits possessed by children with Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism.~Joseph Fox, Wayne Branch Library |
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Passover
Passover this year is from March 25 - April 2, 2013. During Passover Jewish people remember how their ancestors left slavery behind them when they were led out of Egypt by Moses. The Passover celebration lasts for seven or eight days, depending on where you live.
On the night before Passover starts, there is a special meal called a Seder. Families read the story of how the Israelites fled from Egypt from a book called the Haggadah. An extra cup is on the table and the door is left open for Elijah. Jews believe that the prophet Elijah will reappear to announce the coming of the Messiah.
The books and websites on this page can be enjoyed by families celebrating Passover themselves or by families who would like to learn about the Passover traditions of their friends and neighbors.
Websites:
- Chabad.org: Passover
- Sesame Street: Shalom Sesame
- BBC: Passover
Favorite Passover Books:
New Passover Books:
Passover eBooks:
- Dinosaur on Passover
- Grover and Big Bird’s Passover Celebration
- Sammy Spider’s First Passover
- Only Nine Chairs
- Too Many Cooks
Book Recommendations By Janet Spaulding, Selection Services
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And Then It’s Spring!
And then it IS Spring! Finally! TODAY, March 20th, the vernal equinox. This is the day that the sun moves from south of the equator to north of the equator. Spring is in our hemisphere! The days, which have been getting longer since the winter solstice on December 21st, are now the same length as the nights. Equinox is latin for "equal nights."
When small children think of Spring, they think of lambs, chicks, ducklings, flowers and playing outside. There are a lot of books at the library to celebrate Spring: stories about baby animals and planting gardens getting outside again. Pulling a wagon to the library and filling it up with books is a great way to spend a pretty day!
You know what else is a sign of spring? Caterpillars. That means butterflies and moths are coming! Who better to usher in Spring than Eric Carle himself reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar for today, March 20th, the First Day of Spring as well as The Very Hungry Caterpillar Day, 2013!
Websites
- National Geographic Kids: Tiny Frogs Ring in Spring
- Martha Stewart: Kids Spring Crafts
- The Children's Museum of Indianapolis: Egg Balancing Myths and the Vernal Equinox
- TO DO: Indianapolis Zoo/Hilbert Conservatory: Butterfly Kaleidoscope Opens March 22, 2013! See over 40 species of butterflies!
- TO DO: White River State Park: Flight of the Butterflies 3D Downtown Indy IMAX movie follows the year-long annual migration cycle of monarch butterflies. Hundreds of millions of monarchs flying their migratory routes from Canada, across the U.S. and into Mexico.
- TO DO: Holliday Park, Indianapolis April and May 2013 Calendar of Events
Favorite Books about Spring
New Spring Stories for 2013
New Spring Non-Fiction for 2013
Book Recommendations By: Janet Spaulding, Selection Services
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The Tortoise and the Hare at The Children’s Museum
The Tortoise and the Hare
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis Lilly Theater
March 16–April 21
"Based on one of Aesop's Fables, this well-known tale concerns a boastful hare that ridicules a slow-moving tortoise and challenges him to a race. The hare soon leaves the tortoise behind and, confident of winning, decides to take a nap midway through the course. When he awakes, however, he finds that his competitor, moving slow and steady, finishes before him. The story teaches important lessons about humility and believing in yourself. 30 minutes, recommended for ages 4 and up."
There are lots of stories most kids can rattle off without thinking much – The Tortoise and the Hare, The Three Little Pigs, The Three Bears, Cinderella, etc. Some of these stories are so commonly told that children all over the world know them. Sometimes, storytellers like to just have fun with a traditional story. For example a storyteller might think, “what if Sleeping Beauty was a boy?” or “What if Cinderella wanted to play in a hockey game instead of go to a ball?” or “What if we heard the Big Bad Wolf’s side of the story?”
At the library, we have several re-tellings of The Tortoise and the Hare from a groovy modern one to a tale from the Southwest. Retelling traditional tales in new ways is really fun. If your kids like these kinds of fractured fairy tales try the IndyPL Kid's Blog Page: Fractured Fairy Tales. This page is a list of traditional stories that have a twist – the stories are either set in a different country, are told from a new point of view or have some kind of fun twist to make the story unique.
Here are some fun retellings of The Tortoise and the Hare:
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St. Patrick’s Day
- Indy St. Patrick's Day Celebration
- Spoonful: Crafts & Activities for St. Patrick's Day
- Pinterest Board: St. Patrick's Day Crafts & Decor
New Books:
eBooks:
And I should have included the e-books:
St. Patrick's Day Favorites
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Superheroes at The Children’s Museum
An invitation from The Children's Museum of Indianapolis:
"You’ve seen them on TV, read about them in books, and heard about them in folk tales. Superpowered characters from around the world might share similar powers, but it’s their stories that make them unique. Fly, teleport, or use your super-speed to make your way to the museum for a Superpowered Spring Break!"
Here is some of the fun stuff you can do at the Superheroes exhibit March 16 - May 5:
- Invent your own unique super hero and tell its story
- See amazing artifacts from our collection
- Meet Spider-Man: March 16
- Participate in "Be a Superhero" day: March 23
- Meet Batman: April 6
- Watch a brand new Bumblebee transformation program
- Put on a cape and mask and pretend to be a superhero
That sounds like a lot of fun! While you wait for your turn to go, here are some websites that show you how to have some superhero fun at home!
Websites
- Avengers Create Your Own Comic
- Online Game: Avengers Captain America
- Online Game: Hulk's Central Smashdown
- Online Game: Iron Man Flight Test 2.0
- SketchHeroes: How to Draw the Avengers
- Craft: The Avengers Bookmark
- Craft: myPaperHeroes Captain America
- Craft: myPaperHeroes Thor
- Craft: myPaperHeroes Black Widow
- Instructibles: Make Captain America's Shield; Cardboard & Duct Tape
- Indypl Ready to Read Pinterest Board: Easy Halloween Costumes
- Indypl Kids: If You Like the Avengers
And finally - here are some great superhero adventures stories. Find out the story of the real Superman or what it's like at Superhero School!
Books
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