Archives for Homepage Kids

Coding Workshops With The Techno Chix

Starting January 8, 2021, the Techno Chix, a group of young women in the Girl Scouts, will be teaching an 8 session workshop series on computer coding for Middle Grade students in grades 5-8. They will teach 8 one-hour workshops on Fridays, from 4:30-5:30 p.m., in January and February, covering the Python coding language. This is an in-depth course focusing on Python, and by the end of the workshops students will be familiar with Strings, User Input, Arithmetic Equations, Booleans, Loops, If/Else Statements, and Functions. Registration and attendance to all workshops is required. These workshops will be held on Zoom.
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Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. To celebrate the announcement of our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program, today’s Peculiar Picks features two titles about characters who absolutely love books. We hope your future Kindergarten students learn to love books just as much as Winston the Wolf and Leo the Knight. Winston the Book Wolf by Marni McGee, illustrated by Ian Beck Library Catalog Book lovers
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

2020 Best Book Lists

In case you're as curious as we are about what different publications deem the “Best Books of 2020,” we've compiled a list below. What were your favorite reads this year? Leave us a comment letting us know. Some of the titles named the Best of 2020 are listed below; you'll find a much wider selection at Overdrive, here. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid Library Collection: Print, Large Print, and CD audiobook OverDrive and Libby: eBook and audiobook The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson Library Collection: Print, Large Print, and CD audiobook OverDrive and Libby: eBook and
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

2020 Staff Favorites

The White Plains Library Staff have assembled their picks for the year, featuring cookbooks, DVDs, music, audiobooks, and plenty of plain old books. It's a wonderfully wide-ranging list, full of lots of surprises, and should help with your holiday shopping or just some entertainment for yourself. Enjoy! Below you'll find a list with links to the catalog or resource where they're available as well as a blurb on why staff enjoyed it. Books: Peace Talks by Jim Butcher Library Catalog OverDrive and Libby: eBook and audiobook Harry Dresden is a wizard living in modern day Chicago. Think of this book
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Categories: Authors & Books, Director's Corner, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

Celebrate Christmas and New Year’s: Children’s Books

Christmas and New Year’s are times to spend with family, and create memories. This year, the challenge to safely create family special moments is greater, but with a little ingenuity it can be done. Penguin Books has come up with 13 Festive Family Activities to Get You in the Christmas Spirit. They write, “The run-up to Christmas 2020 is certainly going to be a little different. But you don’t have to go to a Christmas market or a Santa’s grotto to experience the mirth and merriment of the season.” I really like the activities they list – they are safe,
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Reads Revisited: The Last Unicorn

Reads Revisited is a blog series where Trove and Edge Librarians revisit some of their favorite childhood stories. In today's column, Trove Librarian Caroline Reddy revisits The Last Unicorn (OverDrive; Catalog) by Peter S. Beagle. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle, is one of my favorite fantasy novels. In this timeless tale, a unicorn discovers that she is the last of her kind. She sets on a quest to find out what has happened to all of the other unicorns. In her hero’s journey, she must first free herself from the sorcerer, Mommy Fortuna, who collects magical creatures for
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Celebrate Kwanzaa with Books!

Kwanzaa, celebrated yearly from December 26th to January 1st, is a holiday that focuses on the importance of family and community for African Americans and Africans around the world. Founder of the holiday, Dr. Maulana Karenga writes, “As an African American and Pan-African holiday celebrated by millions throughout the world African community, Kwanzaa brings a cultural message which speaks to the best of what it means to be African and human in the fullest sense.” Kwanzaa – a Celebration of Family, Community and Culture, the title of the official Kwanzaa organization website, is a great place to learn about Dr.
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

New Books for Children and Teens

Ordering books for the children’s and teen collections is a rare part of our jobs that hasn’t changed too much over the past six months. While many other aspects of the workday look different now, it’s still a joy being able to select fantastic books and materials for patrons to enjoy. We’d like to take the opportunity to share some fresh new titles from our carts this month. The Trove My Rainbow by DeShanna Neal, Trinity Neal & Art Twink Preschool-Grade 2 Street Date: 10/20/20 OverDrive Library Catalog “In their #OwnVoices picture book debut, mother-daughter duo and transgender rights advocates
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

Grab & Go Kit: LED Creature

White Plains Public Library’s Grab & Go STEAM kits are a great way to unplug and be creative while learning about a STEAM concept. Edge Librarian Erik Carlson has put together a great STEAM activity for Grades 4-8 that allows you to create your own LED creature. The LED Creature Grab & Go kit will help young scholars learn some basic elements of electricity. If you have ever wanted to work on a conductivity experiment, or create a circuit bug or creature, here’s your chance! This kit will be available for pickup outside the Library's main doors on Monday, December
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Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

Books for Young Readers to Celebrate Hanukkah!

In 2020, Hanukkah begins at sundown on Thursday, December 10th, and continues through Friday, December 18th. PJ Library, a Jewish early literacy organization, writes, “Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, brings joy and sparkle during a dark time of the year. Beginning on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev, which falls in November or December in the Roman calendar, Hanukkah is a time to eat delicious latkes (potato pancakes), play dreidel (a traditional game featuring a spinning top), enjoy gathering with family and friends — and, of course, light Hanukkah candles.” The website nicely describes the origins of the
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Fall 2020 Events for Younger Kids

Trove Storytimes Storytimes for ages 2-6 with Trove Librarians – books, songs and fun! Note: The format may be changing as we move forward, so stay tuned for updates. Tuesdays, 11:00 a.m.: October 20, November 10, November 17, November 24, Thursdays, 11:00 a.m.: November 19, December 17 Storybook Dancing with Steffi Nossen School of Dance A creative, movement-filled program for ages 2-6 to hear stories and then dance them to life! Thursdays, 10:00 a.m.: October 8, October 22, November 5, December 3 Bilingual Music Time Nancy Hershatter presents a fun-filled musical bilingual program for kids in PreK-Grade 2. Fridays, 11:00
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Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

STEAM Picture Books: Technology

In this new monthly STEAM series, I will highlight some wonderful picture books that fall under a STEAM category: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics. This edition for the month of December celebrates the Hour of Code program. In this post you’ll find technology books, including biographies of notable figures in the tech field, books about coding, video games and robotics. These picture books can be found in our print collection at The Trove and on OverDrive. Please be sure to check out our coding programs for December. At the end of the post, you'll also find some fun and
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Rear End Reads. Tail Tales. Stern Stories. Great Glutes. Rump Recommendations. Peculiar Posterior Picks. In other words: Butt Books. I had so many fun names for today’s Peculiar Picks (including some I couldn’t include in this family friendly column) featuring the (probably) most laugh-inducing part of the body: the hilarious heinie. Chicken Cheeks by Michael Ian Black, illustrated by
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities: Chapter Books

White Plains is a wonderfully diverse community! Parents, children and teens have expressed an interest in titles that reflect the diversity in the community, and Ashley, Kathlyn, and Raquel's “Dive Into Diversity” column will spotlight noteworthy children's and teen titles that are inclusive, diverse and multicultural to fulfill that interest. Ashley's portion is aimed at readers in grades 4-6. Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte For children in grades 3-7 Library Collection: Print OverDrive: eBook In this historical fiction novel set in 1805, Mary Lambert and her family live in the town of Chilmark on the island of
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities: Children’s Books

The annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons was proclaimed in 1992 by the United Nations General Assembly. The United Nations website states the occasion “aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development, and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. The 2020 theme is “Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 World.” In her blog post “Representation Matters: 10 Children's Books with Disabled Characters,” Margaret Kingsbury, herself a disabled mother,
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Hey Kids! It’s a Snow Day!

Need some ideas for making the most of your snow day? See some of our staff recommendations below. Snow Day Activities Polar Express Train! Read The Polar Express (Hoopla; OverDrive) by Chris Van Allsburg and let your child’s imagination run wild. Make decorated tickets from paper. Build a snow train outside or use furniture and blankets and more to make a train inside. All aboard! Host Your Own Winter Olympics A snow obstacle course with snow mounds to climb over, snow tunnels to crawl through. A sled race. Distance and accuracy snowball throwing competitions – setup targets, such as a
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

STEAM Picture Books: Science

In this new monthly STEAM series, I will highlight some wonderful picture books that fall under one area of STEAM [STEAM = Science Technology Engineering Art Mathematics]. For the month of November we are starting with science. These books include diverse biographies, books about the solar system, chemistry, physics, environmental science (my personal favorite!), and even a scientific parody on Goodnight Moon. These picture books can be found in our print collection at The Trove and on OverDrive. At the end of the post, you'll also find some fun and educational STEAM websites for kids. What Miss Mitchell Saw by
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. There are many, many versions of The Three Little Pigs — from traditional retellings, to ones with other animals such as fish and sharks, to ones with other things like trucks or tamales, to, of course, several versions that tell how badly the wolf was maligned in the original tale. This being Peculiar Picks, however, I wanted to pick
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

It’s Cookie Time! Staff Recipes & Cookbooks

With holidays coming up, it’s the perfect time to think about cookies. While you might not be able to hold your usual cookie swaps this year, we thought we would take the time to share some well-loved family recipes from our staff in the hopes that it would inspire you to try out new recipes. Whether you're baking for yourself, your family, or sending goodies to loved ones, let us know what recipes you're making this year. Comment below, or tag us on Instagram at @whiteplainslibrary, or use the hashtag #WPPLcooks on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Below you'll find a
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Categories: Authors & Books, COVID-19, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

Creative Writing for Middle Grades

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is celebrated every November and encourages writers of all ages to pledge to write 50,000 words, or a novel, in one month. In the spirit of encouraging creative writing, White Plains Public Library will present a series of virtual creative writing sessions for children grades 4-8 at 4 p.m on Wednesdays November 4th, 18th and 25th. Instead of focusing on a specific word count, or finishing an entire novel, we will dive into the structure of stories, have fun with fanfiction, discuss personal experience with NaNoWriMo and provide free writing time using fun prompts as
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Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.