Posts by Caroline, Children's Librarian

National Trails Day

National Trails Day

One fun activity that has kept us grounded is hiking. Hiking is free, fun, and adventurous, so why not plan a trip for National Trails Day (June 6)? According to the American Hiking Society, spending some time outdoors is great for mental and physical health. Also, if you have children, you can make a day trip by putting together a wonderful picnic to take on your journey. I also love taking photos, so I decided to create a scrapbook of our hiking adventures since it has brought us so much joy during COVID-19. To create a scrapbook you need a
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June 2, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Hiking, National Trails Day, and Observances and Celebrations.

National Road Trip Day

National Road Trip Day

As spring and summer approach, it is becoming harder to stay at home. Even though the world is slowly opening up, a lot of zoos, museums, and national parks remain closed. Experiencing life to its fullest is the preferable way to live; however, we still have to be cautious about what we do. Why not celebrate National Road Trip Day (June 3rd) and try to do a virtual road trip with your family and friends? Museums, zoos, landmarks, aquariums, and national parks are all offering videos and tours that you can access from your home. This is a new reality
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May 29, 2020 1:24 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: National Road Trip Day and Observances and Celebrations.

Author Visit: Erika Liodice

Author Visit: Erika Liodice

On Wednesday, June 10th at 4:00 p.m., author Erika Liodice will join us for an author visit to read her book Rookie of the Year, part of the High Flyers series. Rocket’s got speed. He’s got talent, along with two blue racing stripes on his wings. There’s only one thing standing between this rookie racing pigeon and his dream of scoring a spot on the High Flyers racing team: ground school. I interviewed Erika over email, and here's what she had to say about her career: “I’ve had a curious mind and heart and wrote my first book when I
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May 28, 2020 3:17 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: author visit, Erika Liodice, events, and High Flyers.

STEAM at Home: International Dinosaur Day

STEAM at Home: International Dinosaur Day

Dinosaurs roamed the earth sixty five-million years ago and children are fascinated by these ancient creatures. Whether it’s because of their size, movie lore, history or extinction, dinosaurs have always been popular among children. To celebrate International Dinosaur Day (June 1st), I'll guide you through our latest STEAM at Home experiment. One of my favorite STEAM activities is the Frozen Dino Egg experiment. For this experiment, you need a few items: miniature dinosaurs balloons water scissors First, try to stretch the top part of the balloon and place a miniature dinosaur in it. Next place the balloon right at the
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May 27, 2020 2:07 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: International Dinosaur Day, Observances and Celebrations, STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, and STEM.

STEAM at Home: Magic Milk Art

STEAM at Home: Magic Milk Art

To celebrate International Museum Day (May 18), I decided to experiment with creating magic marble milk using simple household items. Magic Marble Milk is an easy and fun experiment, and the science behind it is really fascinating. If you happen to have watercolor paper, you can cut up the pieces of paper and create little mini portraits of Magic Marble Milk! For this experiment, you’ll need: A deep tray or dish A smaller bowl Milk (whole milk works best) Dish soap Q-tips Food coloring Watercolor paper or regular drawing paper (optional) First, pour a layer of milk into the tray.
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May 18, 2020 2:06 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: International Museum Day, Observances and Celebrations, STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, and STEM.

May Virtual Open Mic

May Virtual Open Mic

On Saturday, May 30th, the Library will host another Virtual Open Mic. This event will take place from 5:00 to 5:50 p.m. To attend, access Zoom with this link on 5/30. If you submitted anything for our comic or poetry prompts, or for our Documenting COVID-19 collection and would like to share your pieces at the event, please join us. Writing is a solitary activity, and as we are socially distancing it can become even more solitary if we don’t have a place to share our work collectively. In the past I have done readings in Westchester and New York
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May 18, 2020 11:45 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: events and virtual open mic.

STEAM at Home: Creepy Candy

STEAM at Home: Creepy Candy

To celebrate Eat Anything You Want Day and Twilight Zone Day (May 11), I thought it would be fun to experiment with creating some creepy candies: dancing worms, growing gummy bears, and rainbow candy art. I have always been fascinated by creepy crawlies and I have a sweet tooth, so a project that combined experiments with candy sounded like lots of fun. I also love researching STEAM projects and learning the creative science behind the process. As an adult, it’s a really fun way to get in touch with your inner child. And as a parent or caregiver these experiments
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May 11, 2020 1:23 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Observances and Celebrations, STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, and STEM.

National Paranormal Day

National Paranormal Day

As a kid, my journey into reading and loving books began with the paranormal. I devoured Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy books along with R.L Stine’s Fear Street. I quickly moved to comic books like The Maxx, horror books by Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and my favorite author Robert R. McCammon. I also began to venture into manga, especially CLAMP, an all-female Japanese writing group that wrote Cardcaptur Sakura, xxxHolic, and Tsubasa. Most of their manga has elements of Japanese mysticism and the occult. With the popularity of Stranger Things, we can see that the paranormal can be a coming
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April 30, 2020 2:11 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: eBooks, Observances and Celebrations, Paranormal Day, and staff recommendations.

STEAM at Home: Phases of the Moon

STEAM at Home: Phases of the Moon

The First Friday in May is National Space Day. To celebrate, you and your family can create a fun activity that is also tasty! For a Phases of the Moon Craft you will need a pencil, strips of paper (to write down the phases of the moon), a marker, paper towel, paper/regular plates and cream filled cookies to twist open. Twist off all the cookies and practice math skills by explaining that you now have eight cookies to create your craft. Start with The New Moon by scraping the cream off. Explain that a New Moon is when the moon
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April 30, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Observances and Celebrations, phases of the moon, Space Day, STEAM activities, and STEAM at home.

STEAM at Home: Origami Yoda

STEAM at Home: Origami Yoda

I had never seen Star Wars until my freshman year in college. My roommate, Elizabeth, decided that we needed a marathon. So it began-my introduction to The Force, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Obi One Kenobi, Han Solo, Jabba the Hut, R2D2, Darth Vader, Ewoks and many phrases that everyone is familiar with: “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.” and “May the Force Be With You.” I also became fascinated with Joseph Cambell’s “The Hero's Journey,” from his seminal work, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, which George Lucas used as inspiration for creating Star Wars. If you’re
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April 29, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: craft, May the 4th Be With You, May the Fourth Be With You, Observances and Celebrations, Origami, Star Wars, STEAM, STEAM at home, and yoda.

Virtual Open Mic for Kids & Teens

Virtual Open Mic for Kids & Teens

“Perhaps the mission of an artist is to interpret beauty to people—the beauty within themselves.”—Langston Hughes To celebrate National Poetry Month, On Thursday April 30, the Library will host a Virtual Open Mic for kids and teens. This event will take place from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. If you have submitted poetry please join in to read your poems! Attend the program by accessing Zoom with this link on 4/30. Writing is a solitary activity, and as we are socially distancing it can become even more solitary and lonesome if we don’t have a place to share our work collectively.
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April 24, 2020 4:44 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: national poetry month, poetry, and virtual open mic.

STEAM at Home: Earth Day

STEAM at Home: Earth Day

Earth Day is here, a day to work collectively to celebrate the planet we call home and improve the environment. Even though we are isolating ourselves, we can recycle, plant and garden, and make sure not to litter (especially masks and gloves!). Now, more than ever, small acts of love and kindness can make the world a better place. We can also spend time with our family and teach them how to become more self-sufficient and sustainable. For example, you can create a fun Earth Day tree STEAM project by using found items such as twigs, lentils, dry beans, rice
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April 22, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Earth Day, everyday STEAM, Observances and Celebrations, STEAM, STEAM activities, and STEAM at home.

Everyday STEAM: Bouncy Egg

Everyday STEAM: Bouncy Egg

Creating a bouncy egg is fun and easy. All you need is white vinegar, an egg, and a jar or a cup. The first part of the experiment has you simply placing the egg gently in the jar and pouring vinegar into the cup. Next, a caregiver can explain that the process of creating a bouncy egg will take twenty four hours. For that reason, it’s good to do this in the morning so that the child can be present for the experiment and experience of a bouncy egg.   After twenty four hours you can carefully take the egg
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April 14, 2020 2:55 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: experiment, STEAM, STEAM activities, and STEAM at home.

Seashell Craft

Seashell Craft

By Caroline Reddy, Trove Librarian. Like many people living under strict guidelines during this global pandemic, I am finding new ways to be creative with what materials I have available. In addition, I have also become more conscious of how to conserve supplies and use leftovers: especially food. For a sandcastle craft, you will need a few items: a piece of blank paper a pencil with an eraser cereal (like the shredded ones) and seashells if you have them First, have your child trace a castle (you can find a picture online) or use the provided link. Next, gather the
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April 7, 2020 1:49 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: craft, seasells, and STEAM.

PandemiComic

PandemiComic

Calling all writers and artists! White Plains Public Library is collecting comic strips that illustrate a day in the life of social distancing. We're accepting submissions from adults, kids, and teens. Check out the prompts below for your age group. KIDS/TEENS: Here are some things to think about… How are you learning from home? Is it interactive/fun? Have you picked up any new hobbies like cooking, reading, playing a new game? How are your caretakers/siblings/relatives dealing with the pandemic? What are some pros and cons of spending so much time with family? Aside from the big stuff, what unexpected changes
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April 1, 2020 10:00 am | by | 1 Comment
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: art, comic submissions, comics, kids, and teens.

Nowruz: Persian New Year

Nowruz: Persian New Year

For many Iranian-Americans, Nowruz is a time of celebration, spring and fertility. It is also a time of letting go of any negativity, and starting fresh, with a sense of hope and new life. Nowruz also has some ancient folkloric rituals, including creating a Haftseen–which literally means the Seven S’s in Farsi. All of the items have symbolic representation for the coming year; for example, Sabzeh (wheat or lentil sprout growing in a dish) symbolizes rebirth. The rest of the items include Samanu (sweet pudding from wheat germ representing affluence), Senjeh (dried silverberry for love), Sir (garlic for medicine), Sib
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March 19, 2020 2:51 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Nowruz, Persian new year, and spring.

Writing Tips for Young Writers: Writing Blocks

Writing Tips for Young Writers: Writing Blocks

Caroline's “Writing Tips for Young Writers” column will feature fun writing prompts/props to motivate students in grades 3-6 to pursue creative writing. This month's column is “Writing Blocks: Find a Writing Buddy!” Do you find yourself hitting a writing block—a feeling of not being able to write—even if you have to work on an assignment? Do you love to write for fun but feel as if you are climbing Mount Everest with each blank page? As someone who loves to read and has been published, I still feel intimidated by the blank pages that await me. However, I’ve learned that
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February 7, 2020 11:22 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: creative writing and writing tips.