Kids & Parents
1000 Books Before Kindergarten (or 1KB4K) is a program that rewards parents and kids for reading stories aloud. Reading aloud not only creates a positive bonding moment between an adult and child, but also helps children develop language skills.
Continue Reading "1KB4K: Reading 1000 Books Before Kindergarten" →
Staff Picks
Eight films are up for the Best Picture award at the 87th Academy Awards on February 22. (Check out the full list of nominees here.) A few of them, like The Grand Budapest Hotel and Boyhood, are already available on DVD/Blu-ray for checkout at the library. But if you enjoyed any of the nominated films and want to see more like them, here are some recommendations for further viewing.
(By the way, we chatted about this very topic last night for Pint & Click, a monthly meetup group for culture-lovers that congregates at Tap House Grill in Des Plaines. Check out the group on Meetup.com or Facebook to hear about future shindigs!)
Continue Reading "Love this year’s Oscar movies? Here’s what to watch next" →
Spotlight
Last week, while Chicago excavated itself from the blizzard or 2015, I sat down coffee in hand with snow drifting outside and children still asleep in their beds, and viewed the live webcast of the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards.
Spotlight
"Read 'em and weep." That phrase usually means you just won a hand of poker. In this case it describes what might happen to you when you read the letters of a young World War II soldier serving in the Pacific to a girl back home in Des Plaines.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Des Plaines History Center and Des Plaines Memory are presenting compelling stories of the people of Des Plaines who made selfless contributions to the war effort by serving abroad and on the homefront.
Continue Reading "Dear Gloria: WWII love letters to Des Plaines" →
Kids & Parents
The first book I've read to all three of my children was a wordless picture book, a book where the story is told through illustrations, without words or few words. Each one of my kids' continually changing reponse to Alexandra Days' Carl's Afternoon in the Park, has convinced me to recommend sharing wordless books to any parent. These books pack a powerful array of tools to develop the literacy skills needed to become a great reader.
We open at 9:00am today.