Reading African American authors with your kids

 

A post from Sydney and Ms. Lorraine.

One way to recognize and honor Black History Month is to read books with your family that feature the African American experience, and that are written or illustrated by African Americans.  Fortunately, there are plenty of amazing African American authors and illustrators to choose from on our library shelves!  There are so many that is hard to choose just a few to highlight here.  We highly encourage you try some of these with your family this month, and beyond! 

Picture Books:

We have to start with the wonderful Pinkney Family!  Jerry Pinkney is a Philadelphia-born author and illustrator.  He has illustrated over 100 books since 1964, including picture books, nonfiction titles and novels. Pinkney's works address diverse themes and are usually done in watercolors.  He has received multiple awards for his illustrations and his contributions to the field of children's literature. Jerry’s wife, Gloria Jean Pinkney, is also an author, and several of their children are prolific authors or artists as well.  Search for the name “Pinkney” in our catalog—you will be amazed at how many titles come up!

Here are just a few other ideas for picture books authors and illustrators:

• Kadir Nelson (e.g., We Are the Ship: the Story of the Negro Baseball League)
• Donald Crews (e.g., Freight Train)
• Faith Ringgold (e.g., Tar Beach)
• Natasha Tarpley (e.g., I Love My Hair!)
• John Steptoe (e.g., Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: an African Tale)

Chapter Books & Graphic Novels: 

Jacqueline Woodson has written books for all ages but may be best known for her works for middle grader readers: e.g., Harbor Me (a novel) and Brown Girl Dreaming (her beautiful memoir in verse).  You can read her many picture books--including The Day You Begin, Show Way, or The Other Side (illustrated by the equally wonderful E.B. Lewis)--with young children.  On their own, adults would enjoy Red at the Bone or Another Brooklyn.  Here are just a few more ideas if you are looking for African American authors for middle graders:

• Sharon M. Draper (e.g., Stella by Starlight
• Kwame Alexander (e.g., Crossover)
• Jerry Craft (e.g., New Kid)
• Rita Williams-Garcia (e.g., One Crazy Summer)
• Kwame Mbalia (e.g., Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky)
• Mildred D. Taylor (e.g., Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry)
• Christopher Paul Curtis (e.g., Bud, Not Buddy)
• Renee Watson (e.g., Ways to Make Sunshine)

Young Adult:  

It’s wonderful to see more and African American authors appearing on the YA shelves.  Sydney just read a recent publication, Legendborn, by Tracy Deonn, and highly recommends it for fantasy YA fans.  Here are a few more of authors to try—they offer contemporary fiction, fantasy, novels in verse. 

• Angie Thomas (e.g., The Hate U Give)
• Tomi Adeyemi (Children of Blood and Bone series)
• Elizabeth Acevedo (e.g., Clap When You Land)
• Jason Reynolds (e.g., Long Way Down)
• Bethany Morrow (A Song Below Water)
• Walter Dean Myers (e.g., Monster)

Are any of your favorites listed here?  There are so many more to choose from.  Commemorate Black History Month with us this month and check out some of these great reads. We think you'll discover some new favorites to keep enjoying all year! 

What we're reading: Catching up with Christmas gifts

A post from Sydney  (silly dog included in the photo above to catch your attention!)

When you were a kid, did you have that aunt who gave you books for every holiday?  Yeah, I'm that aunt.  It may be even worse for my kids: I am a serious book pusher, giving them for every holiday, every opportunity.  I don’t even wait for my kids to submit requests-- I already know what I think they would like, and they next thing they know, I’ve given them a copy, or grabbed it from the library, and then I am bugging them about what they think of it. 

I can understand how this might be a bit annoying….  But this year, both kids loved their Christmas books, so much so that they turned the tables on me and insisted I read them as well.  I really couldn’t say no, after all the reading I’ve foisted on them over the years, right?  

I just finished Legendborn, by Tracy Deonn.  This was the gift for my daughter who is a lover of all things fantasy and YA.  As soon as I finished that, I started The Crooked Hinge, by John Dickson Carr, which was the gift for my Sherlock Holmes-loving son.  My son is all about logic and deduction, so I thought this classic “locked room” mystery would be right up his alley.  He thought it was great and is eagerly waiting for me to finish it so we can discuss.  In the meantime, my daughter and I are gushing about Legendborn, because we just loved this book.

YA and fantasy fans—you need to get yourself a copy of Legendborn!  On a very basic level, I can describe it as a modern YA novel, where a young girl navigates college, boys, all while suffering through the grief of just having lost her mother in a tragic car accident.  But it is so much more than that.  Throw in the legend of King Arthur and some serious magic.  Now add in the twist that, Bree, the main character, is African American, and the action is set in the South, with all that you can imagine that entails. The author doesn’t shy away from showing the racism Bree faces today, or that her ancestors suffered through.  We loved Bree, Bree’s voice, the relationships between the characters, and the creativity behind this book.  It was enthralling, exciting, and we are very much looking forward to the next book in the series. 

Shake up your reading for 2021

A post from Sydney.

It's the end of the year!  I have a special place in my heart for this time of the year.  Obviously, I love the holidays.  But I also enjoy taking a moment to look back on the year that was, and make plans for the year to come.  This year in particular, I know we all are ready to wave goodbye to the mess that was 2020, and we look forward with cautious optimism to the beginning of a fresh 2021.  One goal I have decided on is to find new ways to shake up my reading for 2021.

I am facing the fact that I probably won't complete my Goodreads Reading Challenge for this year.  You would think that all that quarantine time would have let me read more, but it just didn't.  The disruption in my schedule, the strangeness of working from home, worry, and all sorts of other things wreaked havoc on my reading.  I thought it was just me, but apparently reading anxiety was fairly common this year.  How can we bring back our reading mojo?

Setting yourself a reading challenge might help.  For several years, I have set myself a numerical goal with the Goodreads Reading Challenge.  It's kind of fun to check in periodically throughout the year and see how you are doing.  You race against yourself from prior years, and it's not stressful.  But this year, it was also not really that inspiring. 

There are tons of other reading challenges that give you suggestions of genres to try.  These challenges help you break out your comfort zone by giving you a push to try something different.  They often have Goodreads groups or message boards where people suggest titles to each other, in case you need ideas.  I had no idea that "food memoirs" were a thing until it came up in the BookRiot Read Harder Challenge a few years ago. I read Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, by Gabrielle Hamilton to fulfill that challenge.  (It was unexpectedly fascinating--and the author grew up in my hometown. Bonus!)  

Here are just a few of the reading challenges out there.  You can find a lot more with a Google search!

• PopSugar Reading Challenge
• Back to the Classics Book Challenge
• British Crime Classics Reading Challenge
• Uncorked Reading Challenge
• Reading with Muffy Challenge
• The Calendar of Crime Challenge
• Pretty Mess Reading Challenge

Happy reading, and happy 2021 to all!

1,000 Books Before Kindergarten

What a great way to get your child ready for Kindergarten, and for a lifetime of enjoying books!  If you read just one book a day with your child, that's 365 books in a year.  Before you and your child know it, you'll have 1,000 books read.  

Conshohocken Free Library and MCNPL have a program designed to help for families with kids up to age 5 (or Kindergarten age) keep track of their reading.  Register for the challenge at http://mcnpl.beanstack.org, and then log your books.  This is the same platform we used for the Summer Reading Program online this year, and it's really easy to use.  You can log your reading on a computer or through the app on a mobile device. And YES, repeat reads count!  

Your child will reach milestones when you read 1 book, 25 books, 100 books, 250 books, 500 books, and 1,000 books.  Once you reach each milestone, come visit us at the Conshohocken Free Library for a special reward.  Conshy Kids who read the most books will have their names featured on a Wall of Fame at the library!  

We already have a few names for our wall--will the next one be YOURS?

Join the challenge at http://mcnpl.beanstack.org!

Try our new Playaway Launchpads!

 

We are excited to announce a new collection of Playaway Launchpads available for our patrons to borrow!  These are durable tablets preloaded with an assortment of educational games and digital storybooks, aimed at preschoolers, and kids in grades K-2 and grades 3-5.  Many have games to help with math skills, problem solving, language arts, and STEAM topics.  

Patrons with accounts in good standing can borrow a Launchpad for periods of 7 days.  Only one at a time per family, please!  As with everything else in our collection, Launchpads will be quarantined for at least 3 days after they are returned.  We also will wipe them down and make sure they are fully charged before being put back in circulation for the next borrower.

This collection was made possible by a donation from ASTM, International.

Here is a list of the Launchpads we have available.  Come on in the library to learn more!  

Aimed at preschoolers:

• A Day at the Zoo (Animals)
• ABCs Just for Me! (Language Arts)
• More Ways to Learn! (School review & prep)
• Build it. Fix It. Fun! (Building & Engineering)
• Beep Beep! Vroom Vroom! (Brain breaks - puzzles and fun)

Aimed at grades K-2:

• Minds in Motion! (STEAM)
• Meow the Cow! (Animals)
• Bridge to Creativity! (Building & Engineering)
• I'm All About it! (Brain breaks - puzzles and fun)
• Backpack of Fun (Life skills)
• I'm Here, I'm There (Adventure)
• Imagination Station (STEAM super-pack)

Aimed at grades 3-5:

• Smithsonian: Dino-Planet (Language Arts)
• Smithsonian: All Things Animal (Language Arts
• One Big World (Life skills)
• Problem Solved (STEAM)
• Are We There Yet? (Brain breaks - puzzles and fun)
• Piece of Cake (Critical thinking)

What do you know about the Justice Bell?

 

Do you know about the Justice Bell?  This replica of the Liberty Bell was commissioned in 1915 by a woman from Chester County. This replica of one of the most beloved symbols of American freedom was a great way to draw attention--Pennsylvania's suffragists took it on tour around the state as they sought support in their battle for women's suffrage.

Holly Holst, a member of the Friends of the Conshohocken Free Library, created this video to help us all learn more about the Justice Bell, and has graciously given us permission to share it with you!

Voting - how we got where we are

 

A post from Sydney.

This year marked the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote.  The 19th amendment, which provides that the right to vote "shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex," was passed by Congress in 1919, and became part of the U.S. Constitution in August, 1920, after being ratified by 36 states.  It took more than 70 years and multiple generations of women to make the dream of women's suffrage a reality.

In our library this year, we marked the anniversary with some special programs.  We were lucky enough to host a pop-up exhibit from "Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote," from the National Archives. We shared it outside on our walkway or our front porch as often as the weather allowed all month long. We hope that many of you got the chance to check it out when stopping by the library in August.  

Our book club read The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote, by Elaine Weiss.  We thoroughly enjoyed this book--even though we all knew how it was going to end (of course!), we were really impressed at how the author conveyed the incredible drama of the final push for ratification in the summer of 1920 in Tennessee.  That was one hot, contentious summer in Nashville, Tennessee, as all interested parties converged on the city to make their case for or against ratification.  What a political thriller this was, complete with illicit liquor and guys jumping off trains and sneaking out windows.  How is this not a movie?  

Susan B. Anthony tells her story

Finally, actress/historian Marjorie Goldman brought Susan B. Anthony to life for us in a program in August, telling us about the highs and the lows of her role in the struggle for the right to vote.  

With so much focus on the upcoming election, we decided to bring "Ms. Anthony" back to the library for a return visit on Tuesday, October 27 at 7:30PM.  If you missed her appearance in August, please join us!  You will never take your right to vote for granted again.

Many of us have strong feelings about who we plan to vote for, how we want to do our voting, and what issues are the most important to us.  In this context, it's important to remember how fortunate we are at this time in history to even have the right to vote.  Let's remember how hard some people fought to make sure that we have it at all.  

Special virtual programs for October

 

A post from Sydney

Thanks to a donation from ASTM International, the library is happy to be able to provide special programs this month focusing on our younger patrons.  These are stressful times for all of us, and we hope to help by giving kids a chance to express themselves creatively, and to keep themselves grounded physically and emotionally.  

We hope to see you at some of these exciting programs!  Register by clicking on the links below.

Creative Practices Virtual Art Programs with Amy Grebe, Tuesdays through October 27, 7PM
We have three sessions for grades K-4 and three more for grades 5-8. Sign up for one or for all in your age groups, and if you are "on the cusp" you may want to sign up for both age groups!  Design a mandala, weave a wall-hanging, learn how to bind your own journal, use recycled cardboard as an artistic medium ... there are so many ways to be creative!  Register to get the Zoom link and call the library to arrange pick up of your materials packets.

Little Yogis, with yoga home.  Wednesdays in October, 10AM
Even our littlest yogis find the physical, mental and emotional benefits of a yoga practice!  From stretching and strengthening immune systems to creating great sense of calm to boosting confidence, yoga can support your little one their development.  Using age appropriate games and storytelling, this class will give your child tools to help regulate their nervous systems in these uncertain times.  

The instructor, Allison Gold Russell, brings her Next Generation Kids Yoga training, parenting experience and joy of teaching to her classes.  Little Yogis is designed for children walking to pre-k.

Yoga for Teens, with yoga home.  Thursdays, starting October 8, 7PM
Recommended ages 12-16.  Students will practice movement to enhance flexibility, coordination, and more! We will also focus on breathing techniques and relaxation each class. Yoga taps into both the mind and body and allows us to act in a way that honors the best version of who we are.  Yoga can build self-confidence, connect you with your community and relieve stress.  

The instructor, Jennifer McCracken, brings her expertise as an educator, yoga and fitness enthusiast to her teaching. 

Curing the Quarantine Food Blues

a post from Sydney

On March 9 this year, my young adult children came home for spring break.  As usual, in anticipation of their arrival, I stocked up on foods they like when they are home: frozen waffles, spaghetti and meatballs, macaroni and cheese boxes, cereal.  Now that our kids are (mostly) grown, we try not to fight about food when they are home.  I save my tofu and brussels sprouts recipes to torture my husband with after everyone goes back to school.  

You know what happened next. Their days-long visit lasted weeks, then months. We had four people in the house, day in and day out, week in and week out, for three meals a day. We ordered the occasional take-out to support a local restaurant, but every other meal came out of my kitchen.

As happy as we were to have everyone safe, food got BORING. I wore out all my usual recipes. We needed to branch out. Sure, I could find recipes on the web, but sometimes you really want to page through a cookbook to find some inspiration. Fortunately, we have a great selection of cookbooks at Conshohocken Free Library--plenty to give all of us the chance to try something new!

There was a lot of talk about how everyone was baking bread over quarantine.  Did that include you?  Maybe you could use some baking books:

• The Bread Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum

• The Perfect Cake, from America’s Test Kitchen

• Baking All Year Round, by Rosanna Pansino

We gave in and jumped on the air fryer bandwagon over quarantine. Did you splurge on a fun new kitchen appliance?  We’ve got some books to help you use them: 

• Every Day Easy Air Fryer: 100 Recipes Bursting with Flavor, by Urvashi Pitre

• The Instant Pot Bible, by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarborough

• Fix and Forget It New Cookbook: 250 New Delicious Slow Cooker Recipes, by Phyllis Good

• Green Smoothie Revolution, by Victoria Boutenko

Want to try cuisine from another culture?  We can help with that!  How about….

• Indian for Everyone: the Home Cook’s Guide to Traditional Favorites, by Anupy Singla

• Italian Moms: Something Old Something New: 150 Family Recipes, by Elisa Costantini

• New French Table, by Emily and Giselle Roux

• The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook: 500 Vibrant, Kitchen-tested Recipes from Living and Eating Well Every Day, from America’s Test Kitchen

Do you have young folks in your house who are interested in cooking?  Try:

• The Complete Baking Book for Young Chefs, from America’s Test Kitchen

• Cooking Class: Global Feast: 44 Recipes that Celebrate the World's Cultures, by Deanna F. Cook

• United Tastes of America: an Atlas of Food Facts and Recipes from Every State!, by Gabrielle Langholtz

Maybe you’re inspired to try to change your eating and cooking habits in a fundamental way, whether it’s to eat more humanely, use more vegetables, avoid gluten, or just do more cooking from scratch.

• Modern Flexitarian, Plant-inspired Recipes You Can Flex to Add Fish, Meat, or Dairy, from DK Publishers

• Saladish: a Crunchier, Grainier, Herbier, Heartier, Tastier Way with Vegetables, by Ilene Rosen

• Whole Food Cooking Every Day: Transform the Way You Eat with 250 Recipes Free of Gluten, Dairy, and Refined Sugar, by Amy Chaplin

• Ultimate Paleo Cookbook: 900 Grain- and Gluten-Free Recipes to Meet Your Every Need, by Arsy Vartanian

• The Blue Apron Cookbook: 165 Essential Recipes for a Lifetime of Home Cooking, from the Blue Apron Culinary Team

And don’t forget dessert!

• Hello, My Name is Ice Cream: The Art and Science of the Scoop, by Dana Cree

• Candy is Magic: Real Ingredients, Modern Recipes, by Jami Curl

You can request any of these books and pick up in person or on the porch. We also welcome visitors to come in and browse the shelves during our open library hours.

Bon Appetit!