Visual delight
Part guessing game, part counting book, part an environmental warning - it all adds up to another great book by Laura Vaccaro Seeger.
MADreads for Kids
Kids posts by Jane J
Let the festivities begin
The Wisconsin Book Festival is the state’s premier literary event and it's starting soon. The festival will feature representative voices from our communities and spark conversations from a wide range of perspectives. At the Fall Celebration, you'll learn about the effect anxiety is having on our society, discuss gender identity, and explore issues facing the public school system.
Here's just a sampling of some of the great events that are planned.
Becoming buoyant
Name-Calling
Eliana Elizabeth Montgomery-Hofstein
That's my name,
My bestie, Viv,
and my parents call me
Ellie or El.
But most people call me Splash
or some synonym for whale.
Cannonball into a pool,
drenching everyone,
and wear a whale swimsuit
to your Under the Sea birthday party
when you're a chubby kid
who grows up to be a fat tween
and no one will let you live it down.
Ever.
To Mars and back?
As with many of the books that land on my hold shelf or in the digital queue on my phone, I'm not sure where I heard about this charming, heartwarming, a little heartbreaking, gem of a book. Wherever it was or whoever it was who suggested it? Thank you.
Fresh off the farm
Garlic, of the title, is one of the vegetables brought to life by a witch named Agnes. They all work with Agnes in her garden and at her market stall. Garlic is happy and eager, but she's also anxious that she gets things right - at which she doesn't always succeed. One day after returning from the market Potato notices that there is smoke rising from the castle in the woods. Since the castle is supposed to be empty, the vegetables are alarmed. When Agnes tells them that it may be a vampire has returned, their alarm turns to panic.
So much bookish goodness
With the announcement of NPR's Books We Love I realized it's that time of year. The lists of best books are pouring in and I know that not only are we interested in them as readers ourselves, they also give us great ideas for books to gift to the other readers in our lives. So for those of you searching for your next read or even more desperately searching for that perfect gift, here is a by-no-means-comprehensive best lists to give you a start.
Now always available in Overdrive
Wisconsin's Digital Library just got bigger. There are now 300 magazine titles that have been added for you to check out from home. They range from popular and venerable (Us Weekly, The New Yorker, National Geographic, Cooks Illustrated) to the obscure (Cricket Skills and Secrets). The magazines include current issues and back issues.
Book news delivered to your mail box (digitally speaking)
Did you know that you can get MADreads review emailed to you weekly? Or that you can find out what new Book Club Kits have been added to the collection? Or learn what's new with the Wisconsin Book Festival? All of these, plus a whole lot of other book news, are options when you subscribe to the Library's Insider Newsletters.
Big reader of mysteries? You're covered. Someone who'd rather listen than read a print book? We've got your back.
Best books for a not so best year
If you ask anyone they'd probably tell you that 2020 wasn't their best year. I won't get into all the ways in which it was not good and really it was probably not good for each of you in different ways. But what was good was the books that were published. It's really been a stellar year for reading as demonstrated by all the awesome "best" lists that are coming out. If you don't believe me - and I'll admit to being a bit biased as I was on a panel that helped select some of the titles on one of these lists - take a look at a few of the lists that have come out so far.**
Every day is lucky
I've mentioned it before but when you're looking for something to read right now (in our digital world) you can always find something in the Lucky Day Collection on Overdrive (Libby). The books in this collection are checked out for a shorter amount of time and don't allow for anyone to place them on hold. As you can see from the graphic here (today's front page of available LD books) you'll see a little of everything.