Organizing Your Stuff!

Fri, 08/25/2017 - 3:44pm by PaulaG

Do you look around your home, and wonder where all of the clutter comes from? There have been books about whether or not your belongings bring you joy, and this is an important concept; many believe that streamlining your surroundings can also help bring order to other places in life. Let’s take a moment to look at organization in a more basic way, a way to be able to get through daily life, without being overwhelmed by the clutter.

AADL offers some alternatives to scouring the internet for popular organizational hacks. The complete book of home organization, gives you tips and tricks for organizing your home inside and out. In, Cut the clutter : a simple organization plan for a clean and tidy home, the author shares how to clean and de-clutter your home, and how to keep it that way. Here’s one for caregivers that need to de-clutter both adult and kid spaces, Secrets of an organized mom: from overflowing closets to the chaotic play areas : a room-by-room guide to decluttering and streamlining your home for a happier family.

Whichever method you choose, happy organizing!

Kid Bits - Going To School

Sun, 08/20/2017 - 4:06pm by ryanikoglu

School will START SOON! Time to get back into the school frame of mind.
Stories and Talking can smooth the way to a Happy start to the year.

Here are "Going To School" story Lists for PreK through Middle School.
Going To Preschool
Separation Anxiety - Grades PreK - 2
Social Skills - Grades PreK - 2
Going To School - Grades K-2
Going To School - grades 3-5
Going To School - Middle School
Safety Kids - Grades PreK - 6

Differing Abilities - Grades PreK -1
Differing Abilities - Grades 2-3
Differing Abilities - Grades 4-5
Differing Abilities - Middle School
ESL Experiences in Books for Kids - Grades K-5

Say Zoop! Or oh or ah.

Sat, 08/19/2017 - 3:48pm by manz

If you're a fan of Herve Tullet's book Press Here, and other interactive picture books, here's a new one for you! Author and illustrator Tullet's newest, Say Zoop!, invites the reader to press along with words that coincide with each spot. It ends up being a hilarious adventure of colors and sounds as you go from page to page pressing and saying silly sounds louder and softer as you go.

If this sounds great, check out more Press Here readalikes and interactive books that are similar! This style of interactive books are really great to read together with the little ones.

Storytimes: G is for Gardening!

Fri, 06/30/2017 - 8:29am by eapearce

This week at storytimes at Traverwood and Westgate, Elizabeth told stories about gardening! We heard about industrious Rabbit, who tricks lazy Bear in Tops and Bottoms. We also heard the story of the trickster Anansi the spider who doesn’t want to help with the community garden in The Talking Vegetables. We read the classic Planting a Rainbow, by Lois Ehlert and discovered what animals were hiding in our gardens in There’s Something in My Garden.

Preschool storytimes at the AADL are intended for ages 2-5 and are free and open to the public. You can see our full storytime schedule here.

PreK Bits - "M" is for Messy MUD

Wed, 06/28/2017 - 1:13pm by ryanikoglu

Ms. Rachel did Mud Stories in Storytime this week.
Ms. Rachel opened a PET WASH to "get the pets clean".
MOUSE SOUP has a story about "The Bees and The Mud", but Mouse solves the problem. Here it is in Spanish SOPA De RATON =-)

You can do more mud if you find these books:
Dirt Boy by Erik Slangerup.
Piggy In The Puddle by Charlotte Pomerantz.... And the same story on DVD in "Books And Stories" section under "R" for Reading Rainbow.
I'm Dirty by Kate McMullan.
Bubba And Beau Best Friends by Kathi Appelt.
This Is The Van That Dad Cleaned.
Big Smelly Bear by Britta Tekentrup.
The MUD BOOK: How To Make Pies And Cakes.
BEARS IN The BATH ... DIY book to get 4 muddy little bears cleaned up.
Have soap and water ready for when your done with Mud!

PreK Bits - "Q" is for quiet

Thu, 06/01/2017 - 11:17am by ryanikoglu

There is “quiet” and there is “LOUD”.
Can you tell the difference and make yourself proud?
You can practice with the book Quiet LOUD.

“Quiet” is a delicate concept.
Ms. Rachel brought “quiet” and “loud” to Storytime.
Ms. Betsy and Ms. Rachel led the action song “We're Floating Down The River” which has a quiet part and a loud part!
In the story PLAYTIME? … Little Gorilla needs to quiet down and take a nap.

If you want to read more "quiet" ( and “noisy”) favorites try the following:
The SQUEAKY DOOR by Laura Simms … a different telling with different pictures.
The QUIET BOOK … and The LOUD BOOK both by Deborah Underwood … wonderful lap books to observe and ponder. Truly favorites of Ms. Rachel!
TOO MUCH NOISE … a classic.
CLICK CLACK MOO … a case of farmland civil disobedience.
QUIET In The GARDEN ... amazing things to see when you are quiet and still.
QUIET ! ... a not so "quiet" lion story and BE QUIET MIKE ! a not so quiet monkey story.
THIS QUIET LADY ... a story of waiting.
TIPTOE JOE ... 'nuf said !

Books for the Birds!

Fri, 05/26/2017 - 4:10pm by manz

This week at storytime Ms Amanda told stories all about birds, birds, birds! B is for bird!

We heard the story Home Tweet Home, where two little birds decide to leave the nest for greener pastures, and find that there’s no place like home. We met A Funny Little Bird who discovered what was special about himself, and we read the books Birds and A Mother for Choco.

There are so many great books featuring birds! Here are a few sweet ones to suit your fancy: Nest, Hooray for Today, Beautiful Birds, and Some Birds.

Ann Arbor Arab American Parent Support Group Meeting

Wed, 05/17/2017 - 8:59am by Beth Manuel

The Ann Arbor Arab American Support Group, A2A2PSG, will be hosting their final meeting of the school year on Sunday, May 21, in the 3rd floor freespace of the downtown library.

The Ann Arbor Arab American Support Group:

• Promotes the success of all students in the Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) with special attention to students of Arab descent.
• Partners with AAPS staff to create an environment of respect and appreciation for diverse cultures within and beyond the school community
• Serves as a liaison between AAPS and students and their families

Coordinators of A2A2PSG typically meet in the freespace on the 3rd floor of the downtown AADL, once a month during the school year. You may contact the group at: annarborpsg@gmail.com, or for more information, visit: http://annarborpsg.wix.com/aapsghome (this site requires flash). New members are always welcome.

Ramadan Mubarak, Curious George!

Tue, 05/16/2017 - 1:06pm by evelyn

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts next week. If you have a little one who is curious about this holiday, check out our great selection of Ramadan materials for children!

Babies can start learning about Ramadan with the board book It’s Ramadan, Curious George, in which the little monkey celebrates with his friend Kareem.

Older readers will love the picture book Lailah’s Lunchbox. Ten year old recent immigrant Lailah is proud to be old enough to fast for Ramadan for the first time, but she is nervous about explaining it to her classmates. Lailah’s school librarian comes to the rescue with sage advice in this beautifully illustrated book.

Children who like Sesame Street can watch the Ramadan episode of Adam’s World, a television show in which puppets explain the Muslim world to kids.

For even more kids’ books on Ramadan (both fiction and nonfiction), take a look at this list!

Storytimes: S is for Snake! Sssssss!

Fri, 05/12/2017 - 3:46pm by eapearce

This week at storytimes at Traverwood and Westgate, Elizabeth told stories about snakes! Ssssssss! We heard Mama Hen’s Big Day, where Mama Hen has to find the perfect place to lay her beautiful egg, and The Gruffalo, where mouse plays a trick on all the forest creatures (including snake, of course!). We also read The Snake Who Said Shhh, by Jodie Parachini and heard the story of Samantha the snake who lost her silly snake siblings while babysitting and had to go search for them!

AADL storytimes are intended for ages 2-5 and are free and open to the public. For details about our storytimes at every location, visit the Jump page!