Archives for October

Have a Spooktacular October!

Have a Spooktacular October!

Checkout some of the great spooky events we have going on in October! Saturday Cinema Saturdays, 2:00 p.m. Library Auditorium Fun family-friendly spooky films! October 5:  The Witches (1990, PG) October 12:  Scooby-Doo (2002, PG) October 19:  No movie today October 26:  Hocus Pocus (1993, PG) Day of the Dead Workshop Series / Taller del Día de los Muertos Children in Grades 2-5 & Their Families / Para niños en grados 2-5 con sus familias Thursdays, October 10th, 17th, & 24th at 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm / los jueves 10, 17 y 24 de octubre a las 4:30 – 5:30 pm Location
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September 24, 2024 10:44 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: children's events, Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos, events for children in white plains, halloween, October, and Spooktober.

Celebrate Spooktober 2023!

Celebrate Spooktober 2023!

We 🧡 Halloween in Youth Services at the Library and we have some great events coming up to celebrate the spookiest of months, October.  Also, be sure to check out some of our older Halloween blog posts for great ideas for Halloween activities and reads! K-2 STEAM: Zombie Edition Grades K-2 Thursday, 4:30 p.m. – October 19 Ticket required.  Please pick up tickets in the Trove starting 30 minutes before the program. Halloween Grab & Go Kit Grades K-3 Available while supplies last starting Tuesday, October 24. Family Storytime: Ghosts & Ghouls Ages 3+, Families Wednesdays, 7:00 p.m. – October
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October 16, 2023 8:30 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: events for children, events for teens, halloween, halloween crafts, Observances and Celebrations, October, and Spooktober.

Pick a Treat

Pick a Treat

The Trove put together a fun Halloween display: mystery books for kids to choose (there's a summary and intended age range on the package) and unwrap at home, for multiple ages and all decorated with cats, bats, spiders and/or mice. So stop by The Trove this month and pick out a treat!
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October 10, 2023 2:49 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Book Display, halloween, Observances and Celebrations, and October.

October Book Bunch

October Book Bunch

Tuesday, October 25, 4:30 p.m. Grades 4-8 Story Trove in the Trove Registration required. Click here to register. Join Caroline and Donna for a book discussion and trivia game for 4th through 8th graders! We will be reading Fake Blood, by Whitney Gardner. This is a perfect read for a Halloween treat! Fake Blood, by Whitney Gardner, is a coming-of-age story of a young man who wants to win the approval of his crush Nia. When AJ and Nia become partners for a project on Transylvania, AJ finally has a shot at proving he isn’t an ordinary kid. The Trove
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October 16, 2022 10:15 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: book bunch, book discussion, Book discussion for kids, book discussion for middle grade students, halloween, Observances and Celebrations, and October.

Spooky (But Not Too) Scary Stories

Spooky (But Not Too) Scary Stories

Saturday, 10/15: 11:00 a.m. Children, families Library Auditorium Master Storyteller Jonathan Kruk brings children tales for Halloween! They'll meet the witch who puts happiness into Halloween, see “Rolly-Head” and go on a spooky interactive walk with the “Old Lady Who is Not Afraid of Anything. They will listen, laugh and leap! There's no violence nor gore, just fun, spooky tales! About Jonathan Kruk Master storyteller Jonathan Kruk earned a B.A. in English from Holy Cross College and an M.A. in Education from New York University. He studied creative drama in England, got coaching at H.B.Studios by Bill Hickey, and performed
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October 1, 2022 9:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: halloween, Halloween events in Westchester, Halloween events in White Plains, Jonathan Kruk, and October.

Jump Into Halloween! with Jumpin’ Jamie

Jump Into Halloween! with Jumpin’ Jamie

Saturday, 10/29: 2:00 p.m. Children, Families. Library Auditorium. Kindie rock musician Jumpin' Jamie returns with his puppet friends to celebrate “Spooky Season” with a high-energy show filled with music and magic including the hit song “Ghost In My House” which has been ranked by Yahoo, Time Out NY, and Good Housekeeping as a “Top Halloween Song”. Jumpin' Jamie has performed thousands of shows for audiences as varied as birthday parties for 12 people to stadiums for 12,000. Jumpin' Jamie's debut album “Kookie” was released in 2018 and features appearances from members of They Might Be Giants, the late Peter Tork,
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October 1, 2022 8:30 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: events for children, events for kids, halloween, Halloween events in Westchester, Halloween events in White Plains, Jumpin' Jamie, music, Observances and Celebrations, October, puppets, and trove events.

Jonathan Kruk’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”

Jonathan Kruk’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”

Saturday, 10/15: 1:00 p.m. Ages 10+, teens, adults Library Auditorium “His spirited, candlelit one-man show has become a fixture of Halloween” – The New York Times Washington Irving's classic as a dramatic solo show with live music! A ghost of a Hessian soldier, decapitated at White Plains during the American Revolution, gallops after a Connecticut Yankee schoolmaster. Written in 1819 by Washington Irving this gothic romance went “viral,” bringing the author wealth and fame. “The Legend’s” iconic Headless Horseman continues to haunt us today. Master Storyteller Jonathan Kruk’s solo show offers a dramatic retelling of this American classic. True to the
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October 1, 2022 8:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: halloween, Halloween events in Westchester, Halloween events in White Plains, Jonathan Kruk, October, Sleepy Hollow, and the legend of sleepy hollow.

Have a Spooktacular October 2022

Have a Spooktacular October 2022

I love October: the weather, the foliage, the crunch of leaves underfoot, and, of course, Halloween and all it entails. From the spooky to the macabre; the decorations and the costumes; the tricks and treats – it’s my favorite time of the year. Here’s some great programs, reading lists and resources to help you have a spooktacular October filled with skele-tons of fun. On October 15th, at 11:00 a.m., Master Storyteller Jonathan Kruk brings Spooky (But Not Too) Scary Stories to children and their families! Afterward, children 10+, teens, and adults can join Kruk for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
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October 1, 2022 5:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Events, Homepage Kids, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Day of the Dead, day of the dead celebration in white plains, Dia de los Muertos, halloween, Halloween Books, Halloween events in Westchester, Halloween events in White Plains, Halloween Movies, Observances and Celebrations, October, Spooktober, and westchester day of the dead celebration.

SF/Fantasy and Horror on Audio

SF/Fantasy and Horror on Audio

This content is taken from the October issue of Booklist Reader. You can find the full issue here. Magic, mayhem, and menace are some of the building blocks of these enchanting sf, fantasy, and horror novels for adults. Masterful narrations, both from individual narrators and cohesive full casts, are another. Read more about each of these superb audiobooks below. For more spooky reads, see our “Witch, Please!” and “Horror Stories” collections on OverDrive. Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre. By Max Brooks. Read by a full cast. 2020. 10hr. Books on Tape. OverDrive & Libby: Audiobook A
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October 6, 2021 9:55 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books and Library News.
Tags: Booklist reader, fantasy audiobooks, halloween, Halloween Books, horror audiobooks, October, science fiction audiobooks, Spooktober, and staff recommendations.

Tiny Tales: Big Pumpkin

Tiny Tales: Big Pumpkin

Welcome to our new series of Tiny Tales videos! Tiny Tales are short “bite-sized” song and story videos. Watch one for a short early literacy break, or a few for a whole storytime! You can find all of our Tiny Tales videos, including the thirty six videos in the previous series, right here! Today’s video features Trove librarian Ms. Raquel presenting “Big Pumpkin.” Tiny Tales are made possible with support from the White Plains Library Foundation.
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October 5, 2021 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: halloween, library storytime recording, library storytime video, Observances and Celebrations, October, online library storytime, Spooktober, storytime, The Trove, Tiny Tales, video, videos, virtual library storytime, westchester libraries, westchester library storytime, white plains library, and white plains new york.

Spooktober Book & Movie Pairings

Spooktober Book & Movie Pairings

Are you looking for something scary to read or watch this Spooktober? Adult Services Librarian Kristen compiled a list of books and movies that compliment each other's plot and/or themes. Some of these are sure to scare your socks off, so readers/viewers beware! If you're a fan of haunted houses… Read: Home Before Dark by Riley Sager Library Collection: Print / Large Print OverDrive/Libby: eBook / Audiobook Bells that ring themselves. Record players that turn on an play music to empty rooms. Ghosts that can climb out of wardrobes… Maggie Holt doesn't believe in these things, even though they are
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September 30, 2021 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books and Library News.
Tags: halloween, Halloween Books, horror, horror films, horror novels, Observances and Celebrations, October, Spooktober, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Great SPOOKY Podcasts

Great SPOOKY Podcasts

Here are some great spooky podcasts to get your kids and teens (and you!) in the Halloween mood. All of these should be available on any service you use to listen to podcasts, such as Apple Podcasts, Apple Music, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, etc. If you have some great podcast recommendations, leave them in the comments below! For additional (non-spooky) podcast recommendations, click here! FOR KIDS & FAMILIES The Creeping Hour If your kids like Goosebumps, then The Creeping Hour horror anthology series from NPR is going to be a hit. Recommended for ages 8-12 and families, these are some
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September 29, 2021 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Great Podcasts, halloween, Halloween Books, Observances and Celebrations, October, podcasts, Spooktober, spooky podcasts, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Dive Into Diversity: Spooky Stories

Dive Into Diversity: Spooky Stories

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. School has begun again and the weather will turn chillier as we head into fall and the spooky season! When I was a kid, I was a big fan of watching Are You Afraid of the Dark? and reading the Goosebumps
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September 24, 2021 3:33 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: books for children, books for kids, children's literature, Dive into Diversity, halloween, Halloween Books, Observances and Celebrations, October, Spooktober, spooky stories for kids, and stories to read in october.

Dive into Diversity: Witches!

Dive into Diversity: Witches!

In 2021, my Dive into Diversity posts about young adult books will focus on a different genre each month. I’ll highlight books with characters that represent a range of experiences and identities. I’ll also feature authors who share an aspect of their characters’ identity as much as possible. In honor of Halloween, this month's post is a roundup of YA fiction starring… witches! This month I read a popular graphic novel, The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner. It's about 13-year-old Moth Hush, who lives in Founder's Bluff, Massachusetts, and loves all things witchy. While working on a school play about
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September 23, 2021 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Dive into Diversity, halloween, Halloween Books, October, Spooktober, staff picks, staff recommendations, witches, YA Fiction, and YA literature.

Peculiar Picks

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. ‘Tis the season for… spooky reads! Today’s books are not (necessarily) outright scary but provide some suspense-filled fun, and only one of them is specifically a Halloween title. I recommend breaking out your best creepy “horror movie” voice. Need some inspiration for your spooky reading voice? Vincent Price reads Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven Christopher Lee reads Poe’s Tales
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October 22, 2020 10:35 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: children's books, children's literature, halloween, Halloween Books, Observances and Celebrations, October, Peculiar Picks, picture books, Spooktober, spooky reads, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Halloween at Home

Halloween at Home

There are a lot of decisions having to be made this year that are very personal decisions for a family. Having already made the big decision of full remote learning for our daughter this school year, it became an easier choice to make the smaller decision that neighborhood trick-or-treating is just not what we are doing this year. Instead, we're going to make a full day of at-home Halloween themed fun. Whatever you decide to do, I hope you have a ghoulishly great day! If you do decide in favor of Halloween at Home, I hope the following ideas can
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October 21, 2020 2:16 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: activities, arts & crafts, at home learning, crafts at home, fun, halloween, Halloween Books, Observances and Celebrations, Observances and Holidays, October, Spooktober, and staff recommendations.

Horror Stories: Books & Movies

Horror Stories: Books & Movies

To celebrate Halloween and a favorite genre to read and watch in October, we've put together a list of recommended reading and watching available through our catalog and digital resources. Find our curated list of frightfully creepy reads for Halloween and beyond on OverDrive here. For something a little less scary, find our list for “Halloween Treats for a Spooky Night In” list here. Books The Year of Witching by Alexis Henderson Library Catalog OverDrive and Libby: eBook “Immanuelle’s mother dies in childbirth, proclaiming, with her dying breath, that her baby is ‘a curse.' Now a teenager, Immanuelle can’t find
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October 9, 2020 3:51 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books and Library News.
Tags: book recommendations, books, film, halloween, Halloween Books, Halloween Movies, horror, horror films, Observances and Celebrations, October, Spooktober, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

STEAM at Home: Puking Pumpkins!

STEAM at Home: Puking Pumpkins!

Halloween is a time to celebrate creepy crawlies, eat your favorite candies, dance like zany zombies and carve plump pumpkins! Halloween is also the perfect time to show off your creativity! Why not wear black nail polish to bring out the goth in you? Use purple Manic Panic to dye your hair! Wear your ghost or goblin costume and feel free to be a bit ghoulish! Have you ever been to Sleepy Hollow? If not, I highly encourage you to visit Sleepy Hollow with your family this year; it’s a great Halloween destination. You could take pictures of the Old
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October 7, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: halloween, halloween crafts, Observances and Celebrations, October, Spooktober, STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEAM learning, and STEM.

Halloween Reads

Halloween Reads

Are you looking forward to Halloween as much as I am? This year we might be limited in our normal Halloween activities due to COVID, but there are still some fun things to do. You can dress up and take photos with your family! In the past two years, I have had fun dressing up as Wednesday Addams and Punk Eleven from Stranger Things Season 2, Chapter 7: “The Lost Sister.” You can also treat yourself to a movie marathon. Some of my favorites include Beetlejuice, Practical Magic, Shaun of the Dead, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and It’s the Great
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October 7, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: book recommendations, eBooks, fun, graphic novels, halloween, Halloween Books, juvenile fiction, Observances and Celebrations, October, picture books, Spooktober, staff picks, staff recommendations, and YA Fiction.

Local History: Ghost Stories

Local History: Ghost Stories

The Hudson Valley seems to have been created with autumn in mind. During October and November, the area's increasingly hostile weather and abundant cultural history blend, creating a potent sense experience. The skittering of dead leaves behind you too easily becomes the footfalls of a disgruntled spirit and the bare tree branches resemble skeletal fingers grasping for diminishing portions of daylight. Even with these natural advantages, our imaginations need fuel, and that is where ghost stories come in. Westchester's most famous ghost story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, is known around the world. Less well-known, but no less spooky, is
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October 28, 2016 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Local History.
Tags: charles pryer, dutch history, ghost stories, halloween, Halloween Books, hudson valley history, huguenots, local-history, new rochelle, October, Spooktober, the legend of sleepy hollow, washington irving, and white plains history.