Kids

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  Not only is it almost Christmas, but it's almost time for a new season of Homeschool Hub.  In fact, registration for the first session opens today, December 22, 2021.

Learn all about Mary Blair Art on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at 2 p.m.  Miss Grace will introduce you to the woman whose vibrant colors and stylized designs pervaded Disney animated films from 1943 to 1953 (Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan).  Miss Grace will also lead everyone in an art project inspired by Mary Blair's work on Disneyland’s IT’S A SMALL WORLD attraction.  Registration is required for this K-8th grade event.  You can sign up online or by phone (205-444-7830).  

Looking for a new book to add to your holiday reading list?  Here are the latest Christmas books for kids and teens.

BOARD BOOKS
Blippi: Merry Christmas! by Thea Feldman
Happy Trollmas! by Kurt Estes
Jingle Bells = Navidad by Susie Jaramillo
This Is the Way We Trim the Tree: A Christmas Nursery Rhyme by Arlo Finsy
This Little Piggy’s Night Before Christmas by Joe Rhatigan 

December 17 is Wright Brothers Day.  It commemorates the first successful flights in a heavier-than-air, mechanically propelled airplane.  Orville and Wilbur Wright's The Wright Flyer took to the skies near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903.  There are a ton of biographies about the brothers and their historic achievement in the Kid Zone's nonfiction section, under JB WRI.  But I particularly want to highlight a new book that tells a different story with the same characters.

I've been eagerly awaiting the sequel to Shirley & Jamila Save Their Summer.  The publishing date has been bumped twice . . . TWICE! . . . due to pandemic-related supply issues.  But it is finally coming . . . in the last week of the fall season.  Luckily, graphic novels are perfect for any season.

Shirley & Jamila's Big Fall by Gillian Goerz (12/14/21)
As Jamila settles into the rhythms of classes and after-school basketball practice, Shirley has a new mystery on her mind. Her old enemy Chuck is up to his usual tricks: He’s been blackmailing kids all over school, and Shirley knows that she and Jamila can put a stop to it.  They hatch a plan: They’ll break into his house late one night and recover all the notes Chuck’s been using to blackmail innocent kids.  But while Shirley and Jamila are at the house, another intruder arrives—an intruder who can help them put a stop to Chuck’s crimes once and for all.

Season's Greetings to our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders!  Join in our Reindeer Games this Christmas with a special grab-and-go pack that includes five activities to keep you busy during the holidays.

1. flying reindeer STEM activity
2. yarn-wrapped candy cane reindeer art project
3. jingle bell-nose Rudolph musical instrument
4. clay pot reindeer ornament craft
5. reindeer math game with dice

Reserve your pack today by registering online or by phone (205-444-7830).  Once registered, you can pick up your pack from the main Kid Zone desk anytime December 18-23, 2021.

Since 2004, every December 13th has been declared the National Day of the Horse.  The commemoration was established to encourage U.S. citizens to be mindful of the contribution of horses to the economy, history, and character of the United States.  As if we needed to be reminded that horses are AWESOME!  We are all well aware.  If you don’t have access to actual horses (which sadly most of us don’t), you can still celebrate the exemplary equine with one of these galloping good reads!

PICTURE BOOK
On the Day the Horse Got Out by Audrey Helen Weber

Mark your calendars!  Next Thursday, December 16, 2021 is a big night here at Hoover Public Library – Hoops with Santa!  Join us on the Library Plaza from 5-7 pm for a photo op with both Santa Claus and two members of the new G league NBA basketball team, the Birmingham Squadron.  That’s double the Season’s Greetings!  Of course, we’ll also have a couple of basketball games set up for you to show off your skills – free throws and a preschool dunk challenge.  And the answer to that all-important-question is . . . . yes, we will be serving refreshments.  No need to reserve your spot at this ho-ho-hoops spectacular.  All Christmas and sports fans are welcome.

BASKETBALL BOOK BONUS!
I put together a couple of basketball book lists for my Space Jam 2 blog post back in July.  But there have been some additional books added to our collection that I think you’ll want to know about.  Take a look!

I really loved Girl Giant and the Monkey King, a fantasy adventure about a human girl with super strength and the trickster god she thought only belonged in the myths she learned in her Vietnamese family.  If you’re a fan of the authors Roshani Chokshi and Sayantani DasGupta, you’ll definitely love this series by Van Hoang.  Yes, series!  There is a book #2!  And it came out today!

I spent much of my childhood in Germany, so my family celebrates a Christmas tradition that you might not.  It is called Nikolaustag, or St. Nikolaus Day.  On the evening of December 5^th, children place their shoes outside of their door.  If they have been good all year, those shoes will be filled with treats from St. Nikolaus when they wake up on the morning of December 6^th.  Of course, my sister and I were ALWAYS very good, so we would discover candies and small toys in our shoes every year.  And, though we’ve grown up, we still participate in the tradition.  But instead of a visit from St. Nikolaus (or, as Americans would refer to him, St. Nicholas), we receive a special delivery from our parents via the United States Postal Service.  No, they do not mail us a shoe filled with goodies.  But they do tuck a picture of a shoe inside the package.  Every. Single. Time. 

It's the holiday season.  And, by definition, a holiday should be a time to slow down, relax, and do what you want.  Instead, we tend to fill it with things we think we have to do.  I encourage everyone (myself included!) to take a different approach.  And the books featured in this blog can help you do just that.

Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations without judgment.  Practicing mindfulness relaxes the body and mind and reduces stress.  And you can start at any age!  Here are the latest children's books that can help folks of all ages become more mindful.