Are you ready to celebrate planet Earth? Earth Day is celebrated each year on April 22nd. All over the world, people come together to clean up, plant a tree, and learn about how to better care for our planet. The first Earth Day was established in 1970 and has grown to include over 190 countries, with over 1 billion people […]
Roses are red Violets are blue We love a good poem And we hope you do too! April is National Poetry Month! Come on down to Youth Services to check out a book of poems or a novel in verse. Don’t know where to start? We put together this list to get you started. In April 2020, the AAPLD staff […]
All Different Now by Angela Johnson In 1865, members of a family start their day as slaves, working in a Texas cotton field, and end it celebrating their freedom on what came to be known as Juneteenth. Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper Little Mazie wants the freedom to stay up late, but her father explains what freedom really means […]
Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders This book traces the life of the Gay Pride Flag, from its beginnings with social activist Harvey Milk and designer Gilbert Baker to its spanning of the globe and its role in today’s world. Also nominated for the 2022 Illinois Monarch Book Award. Sylvia and Marsha […]
Picture Books Right Now I Am Fine by Daniela Owen This book is a mindfully written self-help guide to aid children in dealing with stress and anxiety, by uncovering their emotions and following a simple calming routine. Star Wars: Search Your Feelings by Calliope Glass & Caitlyn Kennedy Happy, hopeful, lonely, sad, excited , anxious, guilty, mad. The […]
Picture Books The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale Who says princesses don’t wear black? When trouble raises its blue monster head, Princess Magnolia ditches her flouncy dresses and becomes the Princess in Black! Princess Grace by Mary Hoffman Grace wants to participate in her community festival’s princess float, but first she must decide what sort of a princess she wants to be–from an African princess in kente cloth robes to a floaty pink […]
National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry When words in verse are paired with the awesomeness of nature, something magical happens. Beloved former U.S. Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis curates an exuberant poetic celebration of the natural world in this stellar collection of nature poems. From trickling streams to deafening thunderstorms to soaring mountains, discover majestic photography perfectly paired with contemporary (such as Billy Collins), classics (such as Robert Frost), and […]
The Not So Quiet Library by Zachariah Ohora Oskar and and his bear Theodore must save the day when an angry monster barges into the library … and thinks it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet! Miss Moore Thought Otherwise by Jan Pinborough Once upon a time, American children couldn’t borrow library books. Reading wasn’t all that important for children, many thought. Luckily Miss Anne Carroll […]
Picture Books All My Stripes by Shaina Rudolph Zane rushes home to tell his mother about problems he faced during his school day, and she reminds him that while others may only see his “autism stripe, ” he has stripes for honesty, caring, and much more. The Girl Who Thought in Pictures by Julia Finley Mosca Describes the […]
A Kid’s Guide to Arab American History by Yvonne Wakim Dennis Each chapter focuses on a different group of Arab Americans including those of Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, Jordanian, Egyptian, Iraqi, and Yemeni descent and features more than 50 fun activities that highlight their distinct arts, games, clothing, and food. Kids will love dancing the dabke, constructing a derbekke drum, playing […]
