Register now for this exciting virtual event with Angela Joy, the author of the picture book, Black is a Rainbow Color. Join us on Zoom on Thursday, July 29 to learn about the historical messages embedded in this beautiful book. Angela Joy is an author, substitute teacher, Girl Scout Cookie manager, Troop Leader, fifth grade book club moderator, and music lover. We are so excited to meet her! This event is co-hosted by Mount Prospect Public Library and Des Plaines Public Library.
To learn more about Angela and her book, visit her website here: Angela Joy Books
Starting June 1, register for Reading Colors Your World to discover a whole world of fun! The program runs through August 15. You can join by visiting our Beanstack site or by coming into the library, starting Tuesday.
For kids entering grade 5 and younger.
Count the days you read or when someone reads to you. Each family who registers will receive a copy of the book Blue Sky, White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus (while supplies last). Every child who reaches 30 days will receive an additional book as well as a chance to win a Grand Prize, like a Nintendo Switch Lite. Keep reading beyond 30 days to earn extra prize entries and contribute to our goal of reading for 30,000 days! Participants can also explore how reading colors their world with activities for the whole family.
Go to our Summer Reading Challenge webpage for more information and to get started!
Today is a day where Star Wars fans celebrate everything about their favorite fandom. The website, StarWars.com has many resources for all ages including an activity book with crafts coloring pages, and puzzles.
StarWarsKids.com also have some great online games and other activities that will introduce young fans to the “galaxy far, far away.”
For off-screen time, check out one of the many books the Library has on Star Wars. To keep your place, you can make your own Star Wars Corner Bookmark.
For this, you will need a collection of random words, ideally written on little slips of paper. You can put these slips in a bag or mix them up in a pile. Pull words one at a time and write them down in the order that you pull them. You can also use an online word generator such as this one. Keep in mind that you might want to throw in a couple connecting words, like and, with, at, the, and a. You could also take an article from a newspaper and cut up those words to make into a poem. The lines of the poem and the poem itself end whenever you decide. Here is our dada poem:
“Could you grass?”
said light green cat,
Tired and smooth.
“Stop, try candy fluff.”
Write a poem using your five senses.
Take an object and describe how it feels, looks, sounds, smells, and even tastes (as long as it is something that’s okay to taste!).
Paint Sample Poetry
Write a poem on a paint sample slip like you can get from a home improvement store. The poem can be about the main color, or inspired by the names of the colors.
Write a borrowed poem.
Borrowed poetry is created by borrowing lines or phrases from another source, such as an article or another poem.
We learned about this from Kwame Alexander, a poet and educator (on the At Home with Kwame page). He uses the poem, This Is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams, which is basically about asking for forgiveness for something you aren’t really sorry for doing. Once you think of a time like that in your life, you can replace words in the poem to reflect your experience. For example:
This is just to say
I have no
homework
to turn in today.
Which you were
probably expecting
to count towards my grade.
Forgive me
I played outside instead
the sun was warm
and my friends were there.
The library has poetry books for every kind of person. Here are some of our favorites!
