NATIONAL SOUP MONTH

January is National Soup Month!  Soup makes a great meal to warm your belly on a cold winter day.  And, soup is a great, versatile dish that can please everyone's taste buds.  Soup is a mainly liquid food that is usually served warm or hot; however, there are cold varieties as well.  It is generally made by combining ingredients of meat and/or vegetables with a liquid base.  Celebrate soup this month with a soup dinner or add it to your meal as a side dish. 

Want to celebrate National Soup Month?  Check out one of these books and get cooking!

Soup Swap by Kathy Gunst
The Big Book of Soups and Stews by Maryana Vollstedt

The Women's Health Big Book of Smoothies & Soup by Lisa DeFazio
Soup: Fresh, Healthy Recipes Bursting with Seasonal Flavour by Vava Berry
The Soup Club Cookbook by Courtney Allison
Soup for Two by Joanna Pruess
The Soup and Bread Cookbook by Beatrice Ojakangas
The 30 Minute Vegan: Soup's On! by Mark Reinfeld
Soup Night by Maggie Stuckey
Soup of the Day by Kate McMillan

Pictures from https://ent.sharelibraries.info/client/en_US/evansint

DISCOVERY KITS

Our Discovery Kits collection is now available!  Earlier this year, we received a grant from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) - Region 4.  This grant allowed us to create circulating kits with materials for hands on learning.

The Discovery Kits include materials for learning on the topics of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  The purpose of this collection is to be a starting point for discovery and education.  They will provide engaging learning experiences for patrons both inside and outside of the library.  These kits can only be checked out at the Eager Free Public Library, and they can be checked out for two weeks at a time.  Renewals are allowed if no holds exist for the item.

You can search for these items in the SHARE catalog using the search terms of "discovery kit."  Here is a list of our currently available kits:

littleBits
Optics
Qubits
Ozobots
Snap Circuits Jr.
Makey Makey Classic
Meeper Bots
Bird City
3D Doodler
Simple Machines
KEVA Planks
Magna-Tiles
Makey Makey Go
Snap Circuits
Creek and Pond Life


More kits will be added in the next couple of months including a microscope, a telescope, a robot bee, and more!

App Review: Toca Hair Salon

App Name: Toca Hair Salon
Developer: Toca Boca
Cost: $3.99
Available on iOS and Google Play
Recommended for Preschool - Grade 2

This is the first app in a trio of hair salon fun by Toca Boca. Children will play hair dresser to a cast of six different characters. They can cut, color, comb, shave, and  blow dry to create different hairstyles. It's a very creative and kid friendly app that can be appreciated alone or in small groups.

This app also comes with an excellent "grown ups" section with background information about the app design and recommendations about using the app with children.

App Review: Toca Pet Doctor

App Name: Toca Pet Doctor
Developer: Toca Boca
Cost: $3.99
Available on iOS and Google Play
Recommended for Preschool - Grade 2

Like all of Toca Boca's apps, this app centers on play and imagination. In Pet Doctor, children to play veterinarian to a group of  adorable animals. Each animal is injured or sick and needs to be taken care of. There are a wide range of treatments including bandaging, applying medicine, and more.

This app also comes with an excellent "grown ups" section with background information about the app design and recommendations about using the app with children.

App Review: Toca Store

App Name: Toca Store
Developer: Toca Boca
Cost: $3.99
Available on iOS and Google Play
Recommended for Preschoolers - Grade 2

Toca Store is designed to encourage dramatic play. It's best played with a friend or caregiver. One person takes the role of the shop keeper and the other takes the role of the customer. Children will practice taking turns and basic math skills like counting.

This app also comes with an excellent "grown ups" section with background information about the app design and recommendations about using the app with children.

App Review: Jigsaw

App Name: Jigsaw
Developer: Nosy Crow
Cost: Free with in app purchases
Available on iOS
Recommended for preschoolers and older

This app is all about puzzles! When you download the app, you get to select 5 free puzzles. There are over 300 puzzles to choose from that are all created with artwork from other Nosy Crow apps - most of which are book and story related. You can purchase more puzzles (10 more for $0.99) and make jigsaw puzzles from your own photos. You also automatically receive any jigsaws from other Nosy Crow apps that you already own.

The best part about this app is that you can change difficulty of each puzzle from 4 to 300 pieces. You can also set the rotation of the pieces to make the puzzles more or less challenging. Both of these settings can be adjusted at any time.

We like this app because puzzles are great ways for kids to practice building strategies and setting goals. They can work together or with others to complete the puzzles in this app. While working on puzzles kids use their memories and find ways to solve problems.

Puzzles also provide some early literacy skill practice. For example, when searching for the right piece children sometimes look to identify shapes. Practicing shape recognition is important because it helps with letter recognition and reading later on. This app also involves quite a bit of hand eye coordination and fine motor skills to move and rotate the pieces into the right spot. This practice helps with the physical process of writing.

WHAT TO DO THIS WINTER

Winter in Wisconsin can be a pretty long season.  Whether you love or hate the cold months, you have a few still ahead of you.  If you are already wishing for spring, then you may want to try some of these activities to help you through the rest of the winter season.

Outdoor Activities:

Hiking

• Hiking Wisconsin
• Ice Age Trail Atlas

Snowboarding, skiing, and/or sledding

• Mastering Snowboarding
• Alpine Skiing

Ice fishing

• Fishing on Ice

Ice skating

• Ice Skating: Steps to Success

Photography

• Digital Photography: An Introduction
• iPhone Photography for Everybody

Indoor Activities:

Cooking and/or baking

• The Perfect Cookie
• Stock the Crock
• How to Bake Everything
• From Freezer to Table

Learn a new language

• Use Mango Languages!  Accessible from our website on our Resources page: als.lib.wi.us/EFPL

Writing

• Flash!: Writing the Very Short Story

Reading

• Continue to check our blog for book recommendations
• Stop by and browse the library's collection

Knitting, sewing, and/or crocheting

• Gradient Knits
• Crafty Little Things to Sew
• Learn to Crochet

Indoor gardening

• Container Gardening Complete
• Super Simple Indoor Gardens

And, you can always visit your local library!  Whether you want to stop in to check out materials or attend a program, we'd love to see you.  This winter we have added a couple of new collections to our library: Discovery Kits and early literacy apps.

The first phase of our Discovery Kits are now available for check out.  These kits include materials for hands on learning on the topics of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  Some of the kits currently available include Snap Circuits, Ozobots, and KEVA planks.  These kits were made possible through a grant from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Our early literacy app collection is up and running.  We have 3 iPads set up in the children's room that will feature different apps throughout the year.  This station will allow you to try new apps and learn about how the apps can be used to develop early literacy skills.

Picture from als.lib.wi.us/EFPL

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

New Year's Day is just around the corner!  This means it is time to start planning your resolutions for 2019.  This week's blog entry will focus on some of the most popular resolutions, and it will provide suggestions on how to get started.  Each topic will have a list of traditional library materials as well as online class options.  We offer access to Gale Courses and Lynda.com through our library website.  All you need is a library card to use these resources!

Healthy Eating
Healthy eating doesn't mean you have to give up everything you are currently eating.  It might mean making small changes to your diet or completely revamping it.

Gale Courses on Healthy Eating: Luscious Low-Fat, Lightening Quick Meals; Certificate in Food, Nutrition, and Health; Lose Weight and Keep It Off.

Books: Taste of Home Healthy Cooking Annual Recipes; Bobby Flay Fit: Food for a Healthy Lifestyle; Always Hungry?; Whole Cooking and Nutrition

Exercise More
Exercising more can be as easy as taking the stairs instead of the elevator or it can be something more demanding such as training for a marathon.  Exercise can be tailored to fit each individual's needs, and there are so many types of exercise that you can experiment until you find what works best for you.

Gale Course on Exercise: Lose Weight and Keep It Off

Books: Every Body Yoga; The Ultimate Treadmill Workout; Swimmer's Workout Handbook

DVDs: Jillian Michaels Killer Cardio; Billy Blanks Jr. Dance Party Boot Camp; Biggest Loser Power Ab Blast

Saving Money
Whether you want to save for a specific purchase or just want to create better spending habits, there are many ways you can work at saving more money.

Gale Courses: Where Does All My Money Go; Personal Finance

Lynda.com: Stay Ahead in Personal Finance; Financial Wellness for Couples & Families

Books: Get Money; QuickBooks 2018 for Dummies; The Financial Diet; The Infographic Guide to Personal Finance

Read More
Reading more can mean reading one book, setting a monthly goal, or trying to read more of a specific genre or topic.  If you want to read more, the library is the perfect place to start!

Gale Courses: Merrill Ream Speed Reading

Resources for Book Recommendations: NoveList; EFPL Blog; SHARE's Favorite Author Club

Other: Check out a wide variety of reading material from all of our collections or utilize our apps for e-books and e-audiobooks (Hoopla, Libby, and BiblioBoard).

Learning a New Skill or Hobby
Learning a new skill or hobby can be a lot of fun.  You can learn something new from a friend or family member, or you can try something on your own.

Gale Courses: Introduction to Photoshop CC; Designing Effective Websites; How to Get Started in Game Development; Drawing for Absolute Beginners; Genealogy Basics; Discover Digital Photography

Lynda.com: Leading with Purpose; Motion Graphic Design; Composition

Books: Container Gardening Complete; You Can Knit That; Flash: Writing the Very Short Story; Art of Everyday Photography; No Experience Required: Sketching and Drawing; The Can't Cook Book

Pictures from https://ent.sharelibraries.info/client/en_US/evansint

App Review: Peek a Zoo

This week we are debuting our new Early Literacy App Collection! This is a collection of apps for young children and beginner readers selected for their high quality content. These apps provide children the opportunity to practice early literacy skills like reading and writing, introduce science and math topics, and involve creative and interactive play. You can use the apps at the library in our Children's Room. Detailed reviews of our selected apps will be available here on this blog under the tag "apps". 

App Name: Peek a Zoo
Developer: Duck Duck Moose
Cost: Free
Available on iOS and Android
Recommended for toddlers and preschoolers

Duck Duck Moose has built a large range of education apps for kids and thanks to their partnership with Khan Academy they are all available for free!

This app is adorably designed. Kids will enjoy the variety of cute animals as they play the seek and find game. Answering prompts like "Who is crying?" or "Who is having a birthday" give kids a fun way to practice emotional literacy as they look for emotions on the animals' faces and for context clues to help them figure out the answer. 

This app reminds us of the picture book Who's Hiding by Satoru Onishi. Check this out and see which version of this game your family enjoys more!

App Review: Don't Wake Up Tiger

This week we are debuting our new Early Literacy App Collection! This is a collection of apps for young children and beginner readers selected for their high quality content. These apps provide children the opportunity to practice early literacy skills like reading and writing, introduce science and math topics, and involve creative and interactive play. You can use the apps at the library in our Children's Room. Detailed reviews of our selected apps will be available here on this blog under the tag "apps". 

App Name: Don't Wake Up Tiger
Developer: nosy crow
Cost: $0.99
Available on iOS 
Recommended for toddlers and preschoolers

This app is based on the book of the same title by Britta Treckentrup. You can find the original hard copy of the book in SHARE, too! The story is read out loud in the app and includes fun interactive elements like scratching the tiger's nose to keep him asleep, blowing on balloons to help the animals float by, and more. Young readers will enjoy participating in the story as it goes along.

The app also includes a video of "Happy Birthday" sung aloud for the tiger and two games: a matching game and a spot the difference games. The games can be enjoyed alone or with a friend or caregiver. 

App Review: Red in Bed

This week we are debuting our new Early Literacy App Collection! This is a collection of apps for young children and beginner readers selected for their high quality content. These apps provide children the opportunity to practice early literacy skills like reading and writing, introduce science and math topics, and involve creative and interactive play. You can use the apps at the library in our Children's Room. Detailed reviews of our selected apps will be available here on this blog under the tag "apps". 

App Name: Red in Bed
Developer: Pop Pop Pop LLC
Cost: $0.99
Available on iOS and Google Play
Recommended for toddlers and preschoolers

This app is an interactive version of the book, Red in Bed by Josh On. The story follows the colors of the rainbow as they go about their day coloring the world, except today red is not feeling well. The other colors try to help red out, but instead end up mixing everything up! The cute story is accented by musical notes that correspond to each color and reflect the moods of the characters and story action.

Picture spread from the story

The story text can be displayed in 5 different languages (English, Japanese, French, Spanish, and Hungarian). The text is not read aloud, so this app is best shared by a child and caregiver who can read the story to the child.

This story is enhanced through the interactive features developed into the app. Young readers will enjoy sharing this with a caregiver as they practice color recognition and predicting what will happen next. 

LITTLE WOMEN

The December pick for our book club is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.  Louisa May Alcott is an American novelist best known for the novel Little Women.  This book tells the story of the four March sisters as they grow up in New England during the 1800s.  Little Women has been adapted into a variety of formats including television, stage, and film.

Little Women Trilogy:
Little Women
Little Men
Jo's Boys

Want more of the March sisters?  Give one of these novels a try!

The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick - When the mothers of four 6th grade girls form a book club, the girls are obligated to join too.  Together they read and discuss Little Women and learn that they have more in common than they had thought.

Littler Women: A Modern Retelling by Laura Schaefer - This retelling of Little Women follows the March sisters as they make new friends, attend school dances, and develop first crushes.

Little Women and Werewolves by Porter Grand - This retelling of the classic, imagines a story in which Laurie is a werewolf.

The Spring Girls by Anna Todd - Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy live on a military base in this retelling of a modern day version of Little Women.

The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly - This novel explores the lives of Jo March's descendants.  The adventures of Emma, Sophie, and Lulu create a contemporary family story that reflects the sisterly bond found in Little Women.

Little Woman in Blue by Jeannine Atkins - This is the story of May Alcott, Louisa's sister.  May dreams of painting a masterpiece and finding love too.  When she reads her sister's popular novel, Little Women, she is hurt by Louisa's portrayal of her as the Amy character.  She decides to prove her talent and moves away from her home to make a new life for herself.  Can she succeed in achieving her dreams?

Picture from https://www.amazon.com/Little-Women-Puffin-Louisa-Alcott/dp/0147514010/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=95SYZ1T3YTE8X6EQJBZC