parenting

  • Cabin Fever? Let Virtual Story Times Come to Your Rescue!

    With the weather being so contrary this time of year, kids and their caregivers are likely to be experiencing cabin fever. Getting out and about and visiting the library can be tricky on icy days and you may have exhausted your bag of home entertainment tricks. How about introducing a virtual story time? The Seattle… Continue reading

  • Books for Giving 2009 – Children’s Nonfiction

    Children’s nonfiction is not what it used to be – thank goodness!  Today’s nonfiction is exciting, fun, and full of vibrant illustrations, as well as informative. Here are some appealing choices for all levels of readers and explorers:   Animal Science: Caribou Crossing: Animals of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, by Andrea Helman; photographs by Art… Continue reading

  • Learning to Be Thankful

    Parents often come into the library looking for books that will help their children learn to share, make friends, use better manners, get involved in community service, etc. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, there are lots of opportunities to share values and demonstrate kindness through actions, giving children living examples of thoughtful behaviors that… Continue reading

  • Veteran’s Day: What it Means for Children Today

    Veteran’s Day has become a very tangible holiday. Not so long ago, most children did not have a close, personal connection to a veteran. Veterans of war were people who were older, grandparents or distant relatives who had served in wars that children could not remember or identify with. It was a fuzzy concept; a day off from school… Continue reading

  • More Staff Favorites for Children: Chapter Books II

    George’s Secret Key to the Universe, by Lucy and Stephen Hawking J HAWKING George’s parents do not approve of computers – or any other technological amenities.  So, when George stumbles into the lives of his neighbors, he discovers a brave new world.  Annie and her scientist father, Eric, have a computer which produces a portal… Continue reading

  • School Days for the Grade School Crowd

    Though summer is still upon us, it is time to begin preparing our children for the start of yet another school year – both mentally and physically.  Some kids are raring to go, eager to go school shopping, looking forward to the return of structured days and the busy classroom social scene, while others are… Continue reading

  • Ricki Lake: Birth Advocate

    In early 2008, I attended a screening of Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein’s documentary, The Business of Being Born. Ricki Lake was there to introduce the film, and you could tell that the film was a passion project for her. While this may not be common knowledge, Ricki Lake, actress and former talk show host,… Continue reading

  • Researching names for babies, characters and all kinds of cats

    Earlier this year a group of librarians offered to help one of our pregnant coworkers name her babies (yes, babies—as in two!). Although she graciously declined our assistance, the conversation continued and headed, as it so often does when librarians confab, to research—in this case researching names for babies, pets and characters in novels.    … Continue reading

  • Parenting in the Wired Age

    Parents today have so many networks and resources available to them. It can be daunting, but it can also be reassuring. There are so many decisions to make, so many styles to choose from. Do you breastfeed or bottle-feed, or both? What bottles should you use? Cloth or disposable? Co-sleeping or crib? Those first months… Continue reading

  • Books for new moms

    New moms barely have time to bathe or eat. How could they possibly have time to read?! They make the time, that’s how — during their children’s naps, while nursing or as they wait in line at the doctor’s or the grocery store. Reading other moms’ stories, whether fact or fiction, can ease the isolation… Continue reading