Welcome to Aurora Public Library’s blog. A place where our library staff share their thoughts, insider knowledge and overall love of all things book and community.
Feel free to comment on posts, re-blog and enjoy. To ensure a civil and focused discussion, comments will be held for a brief period before being published.
December 2020 - Posts
Draw It! Elephant
with Kristin
Grab a pencil and paper - it's time to Draw It! 📝 Our staff member Kristin shows how to draw an elephant!
Welcome to Make & Learn!
with Sara
In this program, our librarians will be sharing easy-to-make games and activities that support cognitive development and practicing early literacy skills.
In this video, Miss Sara shares how to make a thumb piano, a fun way to encourage singing and practice fine motor skills.
Journey into Readers' Realm with a new genre each month
by Lisa
Our new online book club, Readers' Realm, explores a different genre/category each month and encourages middle school fiction lovers to share their favorite reads - and find some new ones along the way!
Each month, Readers' Realm will dive into a different genre/category. Beginning January 6, and every Wednesday after, a new question or discussion topic will be posted on the APL blog. Middle grade readers can respond any time, as many times as they want, in the comment section of the blog post; there will be no specific meetings. They can also read what other people post and respond to them to get a real discussion going.
And how exciting is this?? Authors S.A. Bodeen ("Shipwreck Island", "The Raft", and more), Dan Gutman ("The Genius Files", "My Weird School", and more), and Roland Smith ("Peak", "Beneath", and more) will occasionally blog with us!
The first genre/category for January is ADVENTURE! We've listed some suggested books below, but it is your choice what book you read – as long as it’s adventurous!
Get reading and get ready to blog about ADVENTURE books.
Family Book Club Year in Review: "Prairie Lotus" by Linda Sue Park
by Tess
Join Family Book Club on Monday, Dec. 28 at 5 p.m. as we meet to discuss our favorite book(s) from this year! Each Monday of December I will be posting a short book recommendation for four of my favorite novels that I read in 2020.
"Prairie Lotus" by Linda Sue Park
"Prairie Lotus" by Linda Sue Park is one of my favorite reads in 2020. This is a historical fiction novel about Hanna, who experiences tremendous racism due to being half-Chinese. Her mother has passed away and her father decides to move them east, away from Los Angeles, where is there is a large Asian community. The year is 1880 and Caucasian people considered themselves superior to all other races. Hanna's father, a white man, does his best to protect her but ultimately it is up to her to fulfill her dreams of getting an education and becoming a dressmaker in her father's shop.
I enjoyed this story because of it's authenticity. I am not very familiar with America in the 1880s and I love to learn about different time periods and other peoples' experiences. I loved Hanna. She is brave in the face of hatred and proves her worth to the town, even though she shouldn't have to.
"Prairie Lotus" is available in print and online as an digital audiobook via Overdrive with your library card.
Create It! Puzzle Wreath
by Karen
Have an old puzzle with missing pieces? Don't toss it - turn it into holiday decor! Karen shares an upcycle project that's fun for the whole family - puzzle wreaths!
|