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Books & Stuff

Stories to Go These are a great way for kids to get a curated selection of books on a single topic. Each bag comes with approximately ten picture books on a topic. 

Parent Shelf We have a special shelf just for parenting books in the kids room at the Downtown library. Stop in, or browse it online!

Tools Check out giant games, metal detectors, play animals, musical instruments, and more!
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The Saturday Show

The Saturday Show!

Good Morning! Well, no matter what time it is where you're at, its always Saturday morning at The Saturday Show. This is your one-stop shop for all things TSS (that's The Saturday Show for all you acronym decoders). 

Did you see a recipe on the show that you'd like to try? Are you stewing with excitement over that super awesome craft? Were you interested in finding out more about a book we featured? Well you'll be able to find written instructions for recipes and crafts, and catalog links to some of your favorite media here on The Saturday Show's web page.

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Blog Post

Teens Using Drugs: Education Series

by Beth Manuel

The Dawn Farms Education Series, "Teens Using Drugs: What To Know and What To Do" will resume in January, 2018. This is a free, two-part series that will be presented from 7:30-9:00 pm Tuesday, January 2nd (part one, "What to Know"), and Tuesday, January 9th, (part two, "What to Do"). The programs will be held in the "Exhibition Room" on the first floor of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Education Center at 5305 Elliott Drive, Ypsilanti. The sessions are presented by the Dawn Farm Youth & Family Services team. This program is targeted primarily to parents/caretakers of teens & young adults but is inclusive of other family members, teens, professionals, students, people who sponsor or support teens, and others interested. Please contact 734-485-8725 or info@dawnfarm.org or see the link to Dawn Farm for further information.

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Blog Post

Brainfuse: Live Tutoring & Homework Help

by Beth Manuel

Homework giving you a headache? You may want to log on to Brainfuse. Their Live Homework Help is available from 2:00 PM-11:00 PM everyday (except Federal Holidays) & the interactive Study Suite is accessible anytime with your aadl account log in information. For more information about all the amazing facets of Brainfuse read these FAQs. Using Brainfuse can make learning fun for parents & kids! College students and adult learners can benefit from it, too! Give it a try!

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Blog Post

Teens Using Drugs: Education Series

by Beth Manuel

The Dawn Farms Education Series, "Teens Using Drugs: What To Know and What To Do" meets again. This is a free, two-part series that will be presented from 7:30-9:00 pm Tuesday, November 7th (part one, "What to Know"), and Tuesday, November 14th, (part two, "What to Do"). The programs will be held in the "Exhibition Room" on the first floor of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Education Center at 5305 Elliott Drive, Ypsilanti. The sessions are presented by the Dawn Farm Youth & Family Services team. This program is targeted primarily to parents/caretakers of teens & young adults but is inclusive of other family members, teens, professionals, students, people who sponsor or support teens, and others interested. Please contact 734-485-8725 or info@dawnfarm.org or see the link to Dawn Farm for further information.

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Blog Post

Endangered Birds

by Lara

On July 4, 2017 I saw a bald eagle flying over the Huron River! It was the first time I had ever seen a bald eagle in the wild. During the past several decades bald eagles were a very rare sight in the Ann Arbor area. After reductions in the use of dangerous pesticides such as DDT and 40 years on the endangered species list, bald eagle populations have significantly recovered in southeastern Michigan and around the United States.

”Bald Eagle Numbers Soaring in SE Michigan” is a short article in The Daily Telegraph (published in Adrian, MI). It has information on the recovery of bald eagles in southeast Michigan.

You can find out more about both Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service website.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Birds of North America Online database is a very informative resource. You can find it by subject under “Science & Technology”, or you can find it alphabetically by name. For each bird species there are sections covering a variety of interesting topics including “Demography and Populations” and “Conservation and Management”.

12 Birds Back From the Brink by Nancy Furstinger highlights 12 different bird species that have made a comeback after being close to extinction. This book discusses both the reasons why species numbers declined to dangerous levels, and the actions that were taken to save them from extinction. It emphasizes the dramatic differences that human behavior can make in the survival or extinction of a species. Although intended for kids, the information in this book may be interesting to readers of all ages.

Here are some more kids’ books on endangered birds that both kids and adults may enjoy:

Endangered and Extinct Birds by Jennifer Boothroyd introduces both endangered and extinct birds. This book is easy to read and has lots of photographs.

Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot by Sy Montgomery tells the story of how scientists and volunteers are trying to save the unique and fascinating kakapo parrot of New Zealand. Like a number of other bird species in New Zealand, the kakapo parrot cannot fly.

Olivia’s Birds: Saving the Gulf by Olivia Bouler features Olivia’s colorful illustrations of many types of birds. As an 11 year old, Olivia used her artistic talent to raise money for the vast numbers of birds devastated by the catastrophic 2010 Gulf oil spill. This book shows that even young people can make a difference by taking action!

Parrots Over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore has information on how scientists are trying to save Puerto Rican parrots from extinction. Puerto Rican parrots are the only parrots native to the United States. This book includes fantastic collage artwork and information on the history of Puerto Rico.

A Place for Birds by Melissa Stewart has lots of colorful illustrations, facts about birds, and suggestions for how people can help birds to survive.

If you’d like to try drawing some birds, Draw 50 Birds by Lee J. Ames includes all types of birds: common, rare, recovering, and extinct. There are no written instructions in this book, just drawings.

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Blog Post

New Monster Books!

by manz

It’s that time of year when requests for spooky and fall books happen! Check out this new batch of monster books for kids. There are such cute monsters out there!

An A to Z of Monsters and Magical Beings offers fascinating facts about some of the most talked about mysterious beings! Everything including an alien, cyclops, dragon, kraken, minotaur, troll, werewolf, and more! Beautiful illustrations!

What Makes a Monster: Discovering the World’s Scariest Creatures is a nonfiction book that explores a variety of real animals that dare to scare. Read facts about the fangtooth moray eel, komodo dragon, and the Portuguese man-of-war, to name a few. Great photographs!

And don’t forget to check for:
If Your Monster Won’t Go To Bed
There’s a Monster in Your Book
I’m Not Little
I Want to be in a Scary Story

If you need even more, here’s a list of monster books, and here’s whole bag of Stories To Go: Monsters that features a stack of some classics.

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Blog Post

Mom Power Parenting Training

by iralax

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Mom Power is a ten week parenting program for moms under age 26 and their kids ages 0-6. Participants have been seeing real, meaningful growth in their parenting skills and mental health through their time in the program. The program is free. Lunch, childcare, and transportation are provided. It will take place at The Corner Health Center, 47 N. Huron St. Ypsilanti on Wednesdays starting in mid-October, 1:00-3:45 pm. To register or for more information please contact Nicole Bongers at 734-714-2226, nbongers@cornerhealth.org.

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Blog Post

Amazing geography/travel books for kids!! The "This Is" series by M. Sesek.

by -alex-

The "This Is" series by M. Sasek are all-around great works of children's nonfiction. Originally written between 1959 and 1970, the titles span the globe.

Here are some of our personal favorites:

"This is Paris"
"This is London"
"This is San Francisco"
"This is Hong Kong"
"This is Edinburgh"

Informative and entertaining for kids, the series teaches about the sights, sounds, and cultural landmarks of a total of 17 "must-see" places. Adults will enjoy these books too - the illustrations are perfect examples of mid-20th century graphic design at it's best, it's boldest, and it's most colorful.

All of the books in this series have been recently updated and re-released. Feel free take a look!!

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Blog Post

Audio Description Track on DVD!

by Beth Manuel

AADL continues to grow its collection of films that have a Descriptive Video Service or DVS feature. More films are being produced for children and adults that are Described Video Recordings for L Card users to borrow. When you look at this list, sort the items to show the newest DVDs first! Some DVDs are even available by mail to our WLBPD patrons as Free Matter for the Blind. If your vision isn't what it used to be, you may want to try watching a film with described narration. That way you don't have to ask other folks what's happening on the screen and can concentrate on the film.