Author: Sharon Tyler

Crafting and Costume Guides for Halloween

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halloween kitty 1Are you one of the people that just loves Halloween? The decorations, movies, and dressing up can be great fun for adults and children of all ages. There are just so many activities and crafts that are great fun this time of year. If you are planning a Halloween party, looking for some good costume ideas, or just want to go crazy with the seasonal crafting, then here are a selection for books to get you started. I have broken the list down into two sections, one for the adults and one to give ideas for using with children.

Books for Adults:

1. Halloween: a Grown-up’s Guide to Creative Costumes, Devilish Decor & Fabulous Festivities by Joanne O’Sullivan. Finally, here’s a Halloween book that’s definitely for adults. It’s brimming with practical and inventive ideas for parties, decorations, and costumes, and with an amazingly atmospheric design that’s a luscious treat for grown-up eyes.

2. Halloween by Matthew Mead. A stylish celebration of Halloween for the entire family presents an array of holiday foods, spooky decorations, and entertaining suggestions that includes easy-to-follow instructions for pumpkin treat holders, personalized candy boxes, black cat cupcakes, black duct tape stencils, and other creative projects.

3. Better Homes and Gardens Halloween Pumpkins & Parties: 101 Spooktacular Ideas edited by Carol Field Dahlstrom. Half of this book features Halloween celebrations and entertaining, while the rest highlights creativity with pumpkins.All-new ideas for both crafters and noncrafters.One-of-a-kind Halloween how-to with detailed instructions, patterns, and recipes.Third in a series of highly successful Halloween books from Better Homes and Gardens.

4. Glitterville’s Handmade Halloween: a Glittered Guide for Whimsical Crafting! by Stephen Brown. A great book for intermediate to experienced crafters, Glitterville’s Handmade Halloween will delight readers as they make their way through the playfully photographed pages of the book, which include full, never-before-published instructions for making some of Glitterville’s most sought-after items, including Halloween candy garland and the studio collection of folk figures.

5. The Big Book of Halloween: Creative & Creepy Projects for Revellers of all Ages by Laura Dover Doran. This complete source book is the perfect treat—with lots of tricks, too! Adults and kids will enjoy the mixture of fun, food, and fright. There are 50 great projects and loads of imaginative ideas—everything from decorations to costumes, party ideas to pumpkin-carving patterns. A wealth of Halloween legend and lore help illuminate the holiday’s rich history.

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Book with Ideas to Share with Children:

1. 175 Easy-to-do Halloween Crafts: Creative Uses for Recyclables  edited by Sharon Dunn. Easy-to-follow directions and full-color photographs show young craft makers how to create frightfully funny decorations, pumpkins, gifts, masks, costumes, and so much more. All of the crafts are made of recyclable materials and everyday items found around the house.

2. Halloween Crafts by Fay Robinson. Provides information about the origins and customs of Halloween, ideas for celebrationg this holiday, and instructions for making a bat sock puppet, a construction paper haunted house, and a treat bag that looks like a coffin.

3. Celebrate Halloween by Deborah Heiligman. Trick or treat? Celebrate Halloween is a real treat. Vivid images and Deborah Heiligman’s lively, inviting text illuminate the spookiest night of the year.

4. Paper Crafts for Halloween by Randel McGee. Provides instructions for making paper craft items for Halloween along with a brief introduction to the holiday and its history.

5. Fun-to-Make Crafts for Halloween edited by Tom Daning. Each of these 150 craft projects for Halloween can be made from easy-to-find materials and the easy-to-follow directions include full-color photographs to help make the assembly simple.

6. Halloween Fun: 101 Ideas to Get in the Spirit! edited by Carol Field Dahlstrom. A spooky guide to Halloween fun contains an abundance of ideas, recipes, projects, and halloween cpl pumpkin 2instructions for creating frightening foods, devilish decorations, scary costumes, and much more.

As always, there are plenty more books about Halloween crafts, costumes, and fun here at the library. This includes scary stories, history, and books for all interests and age groups. Come check out the selection, unless you are scared? Oh, and have a fun and safe Halloween!

It Is Ask a Stupid Question Day!

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penguinfeetDid you know that September 28th is  Ask a Stupid Question Day?  No matter how much we are told that there are no stupid questions, there are times for each of us when we feel like a question that we need to ask might just qualify. Well, today is the day to get any of those questions you have been too afraid or bashful to ask off your mind.

 

To get things started here are some books that offer unusual facts, crazy questions, and some questions that just about everyone has but are afraid to ask out loud.boogers If none of these books answer your questions, then please ask at the reference desk and we will find you an answer!

1. Why Don’t Penguins’ Feet Freeze?: and 114 other Questions from New Scientist

2. Why You Shouldn’t Eat Your Boogers: Gross But True Things you Don’t Want to Know about your Body by Francesca Gould

3. Do Cats Always Land on their Feet?: 101 of the Most Perplexing Questions Answered about Feline Unfathomables, Medical Mysteries & Befuddling Behaviors by Marty Becker and Gina Spadaforiwhydomen

4.  You Blink Twelve Times a Minute: and other Freaky Facts about the Human Body by Barbara Seuling

5.Why Do Men Have Nipples?: Hundreds of Questions You’d Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg

6.Because I Said So!: the Truth Behind the Myths, Tales and Warnings Every Generation passes down to its Kids by Ken Jennings

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7.Can you Hear a Shout in Space?: Questions and Answers about Space Exploration by Melvin and Gilda Berger

8.Why Does Popcorn Pop? and other Kitchen Questions by Catherine Ripley

9.Do Tornadoes Really Twist?: Questions and Answers about Tornadoes and Hurricanes by Melvin and Gilda Berger ; illustrated by Higgins Bond

10.Do Fishes Get Thirsty? by Dr. Les Kaufman and staff of the New England Aquarium

momtattooFor even more questions and answers that you might have been afraid to bring up you might want to take a peek at; What Makes an Ocean Wave?: Questions and Answers about Oceans and Ocean Life by Melvin and Gilda Berger, Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex, But Were Afraid to Ask by Jack Rollins-Charles H. Joffe and Brodsky, Why is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?: and other Questions I Wish I Never Had to Ask by Jancee Dunn, Why Dogs Eat Poop: and Other Useless or gross Information About the Animal Kingdom dogsby Francesca Gould and David Haviland, Why Feet Smell and other Gross Facts about your Body  by Jody Sullivan Rake, Don’t Know Much about History: Everything you Need to Know about American History, but Never Learned by Kenneth C. Davis,  The New York Public Library Amazing Women in American history: a Book of Answers for Kids by Sue Heinemann, Why Do Men Fall Asleep after Sex?: More Questions You’d only Ask a Doctor after Your Third Whiskey Sour by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg

On Our Shelves: New Picturebooks

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Just in time for back to school, we have been cataloging new books in the children’s area like mad. In the process I have seen some great books, and had to check some out to read for myself and share with my own children. There have even been some that are staff storytime picks.  Here are some of my favorite picturebooks that have recently been added to our collection.

The Pigeon Needs a Bath! by Mo Willems. The  latest entry in the best-selling series that includes the Caldecott Honor-winning Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! finds a mussy Pigeon refusing to take a bath and insisting he had one a month earlier

Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won. Elevated from a bad mood when he receives an exciting new hat, Elephant cheers up his equally grumpy friend Zebra before marching to the homes of other downcast friends who join them in a fabulous hat parade

Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio and Christian Robinson. After a chance encounter at the park and a switch of places, Antoinette the bulldog and Gaston the
poodle learn that family is about love, not appearances, in an adorable doggy tale from a New York Times best-selling author.

Ninja! by Arree Chung. A little boy flexes his ninja chops in an adventure that finds him silently creeping through his home and overcoming formidable obstacles, like the coffee table, to pounce upon his unsuspecting father’s tummy.

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat. An imaginary friend waits a long time to be imagined by a child and given a special name, and finally does the unimaginable–he sets out on a quest to find his perfect match in the real world.

As usual, I cannot stop there. Here are some more new picturebooks,  and a few easy readers thrown in for good measure, as suggestions for some fun and family friendly reading. My New Friend Is So Fun! by Mo Willems, Brimsby’s Hats by Andrew Prahin, Poppy the Pirate Dog’s New Shipmate by Liz Kessler, Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot by Dav Pilkey,  Tulip Loves Rex by 
Alyssa Satin Capucilli, How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth by Michelle Robinson, Little Big Horse: Where’s my Bike? by Dave Horowitz, and The Loch Mess Monster by Helen Lester.

Ahoy, It’s International Talk Like A Pirate Day Again!

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Here is it, September 19 and my favorite holiday, International Talk like a Pirate Day! It is a day that always inspires the wearing of pirate hats and much shouting of ‘Ahoy! Matey’ and ‘Shiver me Timbers’ in my house. Thankfully my kids get into the day along side me, and so do a number of my friends and coworkers.
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Last year I created a list of picturebooks and related non-fiction children’s books to celebrate the day. We can revisit that post here. This year I am going to take a different look at pirates, and offer up a selection of adult non-fiction about pirates that will sate your desire for adventure and travel, and perhaps whet your appetite for even more information. If you are still looking for more after reading this post, we do have a display in the lobby, near the adult fiction, of pirate related books that just might catch your eye!

 

empireofbluewater1. The Pirate Hunter: the True Story of Captain Kidd by Richard Zacks

2.The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire by Susan Ronald

3.The Pirates of Somalia: Inside their Hidden World by Jay Bahadur

4.Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan’s Great Pirate Army, the Epic deadmenBattle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe that Ended the Oulaws’ Bloody Reign by Stephan Talty

5.Dead Men Tell No Tales: the Lives and Legends of the Pirate Charles Gibbs by Joseph Gibbs

6.Blackbeard: the Real Pirate of the Caribbean by Dan Parry

7. Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How blackbearda Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved out an Empire in the New World in their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom–and Revenge by Edward Kritzler

For even more pirate information you might want to explore; The World Atlas of Pirates: Treasures and Treachery on the Seven Seas, in Maps, Tall Tales, and Pictures by Angus Konstam, The Pirate Coast: Thomas thepiratecoastJefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805 by Richard Zacks, Expedition Whydah: the Story of the World’s First Excavation of a Pirate Treasure Ship and the Man Who Found Her by Barry Clifford with Paul Perry, The Honourable Company: a History of the English East India Company by John Keay, Savage Kingdom: the True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America by Benjamin Woolley or A Pirate Looks at Fifty by Jimmy Buffett.

 

Do You Want To Blog Like Us?

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Since you are reading this blog, you are at least partially aware of how many people, businesses, organizations, and so on have started blogging. Some people blog about their daily life, parenting, working, crafting, reading, or whatever interests they have. Others are blogging to promote themselves, their business, or a cause important to them. It is hard to making blogging fun while still reaching the desired audience.  Striking the balance of hard work and fun is hard, especially when you are hoping that others read and find value in your efforts.

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I find myself, at least on my personal blog, often ignoring the technical advice about SEO, algorithms, and all the important stuff that helps readers find your blog,  and writing what I would like to read. However, knowing the best tools and information, even if you do not necessarily subscribe to it, can only help your efforts. If you are interested in learning more about blogging or trying it out for yourself here are some books you might want to consider checking out.

 

 

 2. The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging by the editors of the Huffington Post

 

 

 

 

  6.Food Blogging for Dummies by Kelly Senyei

 

 7.Blogging for Dummies by Susannah Gardner and Shane Birley

 

 8.Mom Blogging for Dummies by Wendy Piersall

 9.Sams Teach Yourself WordPress 3 in 10 minutes by Chuck Tomasi, Kreg Steppe

 

 10.WordPress for Dummies by Lisa Sabin-Wilson

 

 And for even more information on social media, writing for the web, and blogging in general you might also want to check out; Writing for the Web : Creating Compelling Web Content Using Words, Pictures, and Sound by Lynda Felder, Social Media Marketing all-in-one for Dummies by Jan Zimmerman and Deborah Ng, New Media  edited by Albert Rolls, Get Rich Blogging by Zoe Griffin, Freedom is Blogging in your Underwear by Hugh MacLeod, Blogging by David L. Hudson Jr., Creative Blogging: Your First Steps to a Successful Blog by Heather Wright-Porto, or Blogging America: the New Public Sphere by Aaron Barlow.