Month: December 2018

Stuck Between the Pages

Posted on by Shelby

Calling all young adults! Stuck Between the Pages will return in February, and we need you!

Do you like to read? Do you like to discuss what you read with others who like to read? Are you ready to make new friends from all over? Do you like snacks? (Because we always have snacks.) We’re always looking for new members to join our group!

If you’re in high school or college and would like to join Stuck Between the Pages, just stop by the Aurora Public Library to sign up. Then you can pick up your copy of the book for the following month’s meeting at the upper level desk! February’s book will be Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. Stop by anytime after the first of the year to sign up and get your copy. Click here for a brief excerpt from Goodreads.

Meetings always take place the second Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. in the teen area upstairs at the Aurora Public Library. Even if you haven’t read the book but are interested in joining, come to one of the meetings to see what it’s like. Meetings usually last about an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the discussion. (Did I mention we have snacks? Because we always have snacks.) The first meeting of 2019 will take place on Tuesday, February 12 at 6 p.m.

Join us on Thursday, February 7 at 6 p.m. for a viewing of the movie Me Before You, starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin. Even if you don’t have time to read the book, come to the movie and discussion to compare and contrast the movie and the book. (Once again, there will be snacks!)

If you still need convincing, be sure to talk to one of our staff members!

Ideas for Snow Days

Posted on by Peggy

It’s that time of year again where we all need a little help with the snow days. This article from January 2017 has some great ideas!

You know it’s coming! Sooner or later, there will be another snow day and your kids will need something to do. Here are some snow related books and activities that will be fun for the whole family.

April Pulley Sayre’s newest book Best in Snow will inspire you to explore the natural world. Can you safely get outside? Maybe you can try to find places in your neighborhood where the snow or ice look like the photographs in the book. Snowy days are also great for bird-watching. Fill up your feeder or throw out some crumbs and keep track of how many different birds you see during the day.

The Secret Life of a Snowflake provides a fascinating look at the science of snowflakes. This would be a good choice to read along with Snowflake Bentley. Bentley is famous for his work in photographing snowflakes. Taking a black or dark blue paper outside will make it easier for you to see the shape of snowflakes as they land.

  

What kind of animal tracks could you find out in the snow? Where do all the animals go when it snows? A “no school” day is the perfect time to help your kids find the answers to all their questions. You may want to use your phone to take pictures of tracks you see, so you can investigate when you get back in the warm house. Here’s a great web page with pictures of snow tracks of common animals.

The poems in Joyce Sidman’s book Winter Bees provide lots of information about animals in the winter. Each double-page spread contains a poem, beautiful artwork and additional information about the animal.

    

When you’re too cold to spend another minute outside, you could try making artificial snow inside. Here are some recipes you can try; you probably have all the ingredients at home.

Why not use a cold day to learn about the polar explorers? Animals Robert Scott Saw will be interesting to kids of all ages. For older kids, we also have great books on Matthew Henson, Richard Byrd, and Robert Peary. Use World Book Online, which you can access with your library card number, to find information on Roald Amundsen, Ernest Shackleton, Sir James Ross or others.

When you’ve learned about the real polar explorers, check out these two kid’s chapter books about the South Pole.

    

Time for a cup of hot cocoa and a snowy fairy-tale! Before you begin the book, ask your kids to describe what they think the story will be about by looking at the amazing cover art.

Here are some additional books with fun wintertime activities. Check them out now, so you’ll be all ready when the bad weather hits!

     

 

Originally Posted on January 2017. 

Aurora Public Library District 2019 Reading Challenge

Posted on by Ashton

The Aurora Public Library District challenges you to 52 individual book challenge to test your love of reading.

  1. A book written by H.G. Wells
  2. A book written by a debut author
  3. A book recommended by a librarian
  4. A book from an author you don’t know
  5. A bestseller from the year you were born
  6. A nonfiction book about a controversial topic
  7. A book with a child narrative
  8. A book you chose based on the cover
  9. A science fiction book
  10. A book from a genre you haven’t read before
  11. A book from a two person narrative during two different times
  12. A books set in the past
  13. A book written in a point of view you don’t normally read
  14. A book with a day of the week in the title
  15. A book that has been translated
  16. A book published the month you were born
  17. A fiction book written by an actress/actor
  18. A book about murder
  19. A ‘classic’
  20. A YA book with a male hero
  21. A fantasy book
  22. A book on your TBR list
  23. A book that became a film
  24. A book written for kids (JFic)
  25. A True Crime Book
  26. A book you’ve already read
  27. A graphic novel or manga
  28. A memoir
  29. A book about royalty
  30. A book written by an author living in a different country
  31. A book to improve your mental health
  32. A book from our Staff Picks on the homepage of eapld.org
  33. A popular book club book
  34. A book published in 2019
  35. A book you think should be turned into a movie
  36. A book inspired by mythology
  37. A book with Love in the title
  38. A book about family
  39. An ‘own voices’ book
  40. A sequel to a series written by a different author
  41. A book from 2005
  42. A book based during a war
  43. A book that has someone’s name in the title
  44. A book you read as a child and loved
  45. A romance set in the future
  46. A book with nature on the cover
  47. A book written with an author that has the same initials as you
  48. A book that has a vampire in it
  49. The first book in a series with more than 4 books
  50. A book talked about in one of the blogs on eapld.org
  51.  A book with more than 400 pages
  52. A thriller written by two authors

Think you can do it?

Feel free to come into the library and ask for any recommendations or any clarifications! I’ll be doing this challenge with you as well and I will blog about it! If you want to talk about a specific book you fell in love with because of this challenge, find me and I will gush with you!

Carpe Librum!

Inspirational Quotes from literature for the New Year!

Posted on by Michaela

From To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 

“People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for.” 

From Lemony Snicket’s a series of unfortunate events

“If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives.” 

From Stephen King’s Different Seasons 

“Get busy living, or get busy dying”

From The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

“None of us really changes over time. We only become more fully what we are.”

Christmas break is just around the corner!

Posted on by Michaela

It is almost here! Christmas vacation.

Which means you may have some little ones to entertain.

If you need some ideas for activities we have you covered!

First of all, stop into one of our branches and grab a whole stack of books the little ones to read. 

The right books can keep little ones entertained for hours, especially when you are trying to get ready for dinner or guests.

While you are in pick up one of these titles for activities to do together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Ornaments Kids Can Make

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Decorations Kids Can Make

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas unwrapped : a kid’s winter wonderland of holiday trivia

Or grab a book on cooking with kids to whip up something tasty to enjoy with one of the holiday favorites you can borrow from our shelves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Housekeeping kids bake 100+ sweet and savory recipes.

Whatever you decide to do this holiday season take a deep breath and enjoy the moments before they pass you by! 

Marvelous Magazines

Posted on by Shelby

The Library has magazines!

While this isn’t anything new, one might not necessarily know that one can check out magazines from the Aurora Public Library District — I’ll admit, magazines aren’t the first materials I think of when I think about the items available to check out. But we do have them, and you can check out up to ten magazines at a time for two weeks, just like a book.

We have all sorts of magazines available, too, from history magazines, DIY magazines, celebrity and entertainment magazines, cooking magazines, science magazines, automobile magazines, animal magazines, magazines for children, health magazines, fiction magazines, news magazines, and so much more! There’s bound to be something to pique your interest!

Magazines are a great way to get the non-reader to read more because they can trick one into reading the articles with their glossy photographs and pages; you might not even realize that you’re reading when you’re casually thumbing through a magazine, just waiting for something to jump out at you. Since the writers of magazine articles have to stick within a strict word count to maintain the layout of the pages, the information is handed to the reader quickly, allowing the reader to jump from article to article as they interest them.

As we are thrown right into the thick of the busy holiday season, magazines are a great way for you to keep reading without consuming much of your time. Not to mention, they’re a great way to look up unique recipes and gifts for get-togethers everyone will be sure to love. You can’t go wrong!

Now you can check out magazines with OverDrive. If you haven’t already, download the OverDrive app to your device as well as the Libby app, which will make reading and checkout so much easier for you. The best part (besides no late fees)? There is no wait time for magazines! As soon as you check out a magazine, it will be available for you to download, even if other patrons have the magazine checked out. You will never have to wait!

Happy Reading!

Stan Lee 1922-2018

Posted on by Ashton

Stanley Martin Lieber, aka Stan Lee, was born on December 28, 1922 in NYC to two Romanian immigrants. During most of his childhood, he grew up during the Great Depression with his younger brother, Larry. Stanley Lieber, who later changed his name to Lee, went on to be hired as an assistant at Timeley Comics in ’39 and quickly became an acting editor for the company in the early 1940s. Lee also served in the Army during World War 2 from home, working as a writer and illustrator.

 In the early 1960s, Marvel Comics (Timely’s new name) called upon Lee to create a new series that could compete with Justice League of America, from Marvel’s rivals, DC Comics. Lee cites that he was influenced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Jules Verne, while receiving encouragement of his wife, Lee did away with the normal conventional ideas of a superhero and with the help of co-creator Jack Kirby, came up with Fantastic Four in 1961.

Following the Fantastic Four, was a huge group of new characters from Lee and his Marvel legions. This includes the Hulk, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Daredevil and the X-Men.

He was mainly known for imbuing his characters with a sense of humanity, tackling real-world issues like drug use and bigotry, which continues to influence comics. As an outgoing and humorous man, Lee developed many slogans including a “Excelsior!”, a Latin word to rise.

As Marvel Comics grew in popularity, Stan Lee was promoted to editorial director and publisher in ’72. He eventually moved to the West coast to be more involved in Marvel’s films and he eventually retired but could continue to be chairman of Marvel.

Eventually, Lee became involved in many different multimedia projects while serving as an ambassador for Marvel, even while filing lawsuits against the company and the subject of debate over appropriate compensation for comic creators. Lee has watched Marvel develop into a leading entity by inspiring blockbuster films in entertainment like X-Men and the Avengers franchises.  He started his own company called POW! Entertainment in 2001 and eventually published his autobiography, Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee. 

He eventually received the Medal of Arts honor from President Bush and launched Stan Lee’s Superhumans  on the History Channel. The show looked at people with remarkable skills and remarkable abilities.

The very active 90 year old, Stan Lee lost his wife of nearly 70 years, Joan, in July of 2017. He then checked into a hospital with an irregular heartbeat and shortness of breath the following January giving many comic book fans and movie fans a scare! He was shortly discharged and announced he was ready to continue as Black Panther, was soon to be released.

On November 12, 2018, the world lost a magnificently creative man. The world weeped as the knowledge of never seeing another cameo of Stan Lee in anymore Marvel movies came to light.

The Aurora Public Library District owns many Marvel movies and currently has a display up on the first level in the JFic area. Please, feel free to check any item on the display out to celebrate Stan Lee’s life!

 

Information Derived from the following websites:

https://www.biography.com/

https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/stan-lee/