Costumes, Candy, & Monsters: Halloween Stories for Kids

Halloween is coming up soon, and that means it's time for creepy creatures, costumes, and candy! It's the perfect time to check out one of these great picture books.

Monsters & Creepy Creatures
Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
Frankencrayon by Michael Hall
Have You Seen My Monster? by Steve Light
If You're a Monster and You Know It by Rebecca Emberley & Ed Emberley
Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems
Monster Mash by David Catrow
My Monster Maman Loves Me So by Laura Leuck
Tickle Monster by Edouard Manceau



 Dress Up & Costumes
Ant and Honey Bee: A Pair of Friends at Halloween by Megan McDonald
Birdie's Happiest Halloween by Jujean Rim
The Costume Copycat by Maryann MacDonald
Crafty Chloe Dress-up Mess-up by Kelly DiPucchio
Curious George Goes to a Costume Party by Margret Rey
Dora's Costume Party by Christine Ricci
Ladybug Girl and the Dress-up Dilemma by David Soman
Princess Super Kitty by Antoinette Portis

Candy & Treats
Bad Kitty Does Not Like Candy bu Nick Bruel
Beans to Chocolate by Lisa M. Herrington
Fancy Nancy's Candy Bonanza by Jane O'Connor
Five Little Monkeys Trick-or-Treat by Eileen Christelow
Julius's Candy Corn by Kevin Henkes
Hansel and Gretel by Rika Lesser
Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

STEAMpunks Reading List: Robots!

STEAMpunks is a popular program we host when there is no school for students in grades K-5. We do a variety of hands on activities on the themes of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. Find out more at our website: http://als.lib.wi.us/EFPL/. This month our STEAMpunks activities are all about robots! Here are a few books for extended reading on the topic:

Books for Beginning Readers (Grades K-2)

The Adventures of Otto Series by David Milgrim
Beep Beep Go to Sleep by Todd Tarpley
Cookiebot by Katie Van Camp
Helper Robots by Nancy Furstinger
My First Guide to Robots by Kathryn Clay
Real-Life Robots by James Buckley
Robots at Home by Jenny Fretland VanVoorst
Robots in Space by Nancy Furstinger
Robot Rumpus by Sean Taylor
Robot Zot! by Jon Scieszka

Books for Older Readers (Grades 3-5)
Drawing Robots by Carolyn Franklin
Everything Robotics: All the Robot Photos, Facts and Fun! by Jennifer Swanson
High-Tech DIY Projects with Robotics by Maggie Murphy
Little Robot by Ben Hatke
Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Rampage by Bob Pflugfelder
Robots by Melissa Stewart
Robots: From Everyday to Out of This World by the Editors of Yes Magazine
Zoobots: Wild Robots Inspired by Real Animals by Helanie Becker
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown


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Author Spotlight: Lois Ehlert

Lois Ehlert is an award winning author and illustrator from Wisconsin. She was born in Beaver Dam, studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and currently resides in Milwaukee. Many of her books for children are about nature and her artistic style is very distinctive. She uses many found objects in her art to create bright, textured, and interesting collages. You can learn more about her life in her wonderful book The Scraps Book: Notes from a Colorful Life.

Several of her books fit in the fall season. Find some inspiration in one of these books, and then go outside to gather your own collection of found objects to create with!

Fall Inspired Stories

Boo to You!
Leaf Man
Nuts to You!
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf

Other Great Books

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, illustrated by Lois Ehlert
Color Zoo
Eating the Alphabet
Lots of Spots
Planting a Rainbow
Rain Fish
Snowballs
Wag a Tail 
Waiting for Wings

THE GOLDEN PRINCE

Next month, our book club will read The Golden Prince by Rebecca Dean.  Rebecca Dean is the author of four historical novels, and she has written crime novels under the name Maggie Hudson.  The Golden Prince follows a young Prince Edward in the early 1910s, and you first meet Edward as he begins to feel the burden of his position as next in line for the throne.  Edward's later life is not covered in this novel, but he becomes king after the death of his father, George V.  He rules for less than one year, and abdicates the throne in order to marry Wallis Simpson, an American.  

For more information on Edward VIII, visit these websites:

http://www.biography.com/people/edward-viii-9542031 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/edward_viii_king.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/edward_viii/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-VIII

Rebecca Dean's Novels:

The Shadow Queen

Palace Circle

The Golden Prince

Enemies of the Heart

Books similar to The Golden Prince:

Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

Cavendon Hall by Barbara Taylor Bradford

The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin

Howard's End by E.M. Forster

Abdication by Juliet Nicholson

Gone with the Windsors by Lauren Graham

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FOOTBALL

Football is back!  Both college and professional football have started their regular season games.  The Wisconsin Badgers started off with a big win over LSU, and the Packers won their first game too.  Who knows how the season will continue to go, but right now it is nice being a Wisconsin football fan!

If watching football isn't enough, pick up one of these books today.

Adult Nonfiction:
The Pro Football Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Book by Joe Horrigan and John Thorn
Vince Lombardi on Football by Vince Lombardi
Endzone: the Rise, Fall, and Return of Michigan Football by John U. Bacon
When It Was Just a Game by Harvey Frommer
The Game Before the Money by Jackson Michael
Packers: Green, Gold, and Glory edited by Bill Syken
The National Forgotten League by Dan Daly
Alan Ameche: the Story of "the Horse" by Dan Manoyan
Paterno by Joe Posnanski

Adult Fiction:
The Total Package by Stephanie Evanovich
The Last Mile by David Baldacci
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain

Children's Nonfiction:
Football Numbers by John Perritano
Rose Bowl by Lauren Diemer
Clay Matthews by Jeff Savage
Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers: Super Bowl XLV by Michael Sandler
The Story of the Green Bay Packers by Sara Gilbert
Curly Lambeau: Building the Green Bay Packers by Stuart Stotts

Children's Fiction:
Dino Football by Lisa Wheeler
Football Hero by Tim Green
Football Double Threat by Matt Christopher
Don't Throw It To Me! by David A. Adler
Fall Ball by Peter McCarty
Game Changers by Mike Lupica

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WORLD WAR I

World War I lasted from July 1914 - November 1918.  This means that we are in the middle of the 100th anniversary of the war!  This global conflict, pinned the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire) against the Allied forces (Great Britain, United States, France, Russia, Italy, and Japan).

On Thursday, September 29th we will have a special presentation on World War I.  Historian Jim Gibbons will be here to give his presentation entitled A World Gone Mad: World War I.  This presentation will highlight significant events that brought the United States into the war.  It will also go over new weapons that were introduced during this time.

For more background information on World War I, you can visit these websites:

http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i
https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I
http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/

Want to read more about World War I?  Here are a couple of book lists to get you started.

Nonfiction:
Poets of World War I edited by Rupert Smith
World War I by Stewart Ross
World War I: the Definitive Visual Guide: From Sarajevo to Versailles edited by R.G. Grant
Women Heroes of World War I: 16 Remarkable Resisters, Soldiers, Spies, and Medics by Kathryn J. Atwood
Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I, the People's War by Alexander Watson
The War to End All Wars: World War I by Russell Freedman
The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport
Rin Tin Tin: the Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean
It Was the War of the Trenches by Jacques Tardi
Political Histories of America's Wars by Alan Axelrod


Fiction:
No Graves As Yet by Anne Perry

The Secret Language of Stones by M.J. Rose
A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith
Cavendon Hall by Barbara Taylor Bradford
No Man's Land: Fiction From a World at War: 1914-1918 edited by Pete Ayrton

TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
The First of July by Elizabeth Speller

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
Remember Ben Clayton by Stephan Harrigan
My Dear I Wanted To Tell You by Louisa Young

The Absolutist by John Boyne


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MORE BACK TO SCHOOL STORIES

School is back in session!  Labor Day weekend has come and gone, and everyone is getting ready for Fall.  What better way to ease yourself into the new school year and the change in season than with some more school-related books?! 

Young Adult Books:
A School for Unusual Girls by Kathleen Baldwin
School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins
Surviving High School by Max Doty
The Wheel on the School by Meindert De Jong
Confessions: The Private School Murders by James Patterson
Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr
Romancing the Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
Breaker by Kat Ellis
Promposal by Rhonda Helms
The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West
Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger
Seriously Wicked by Tina Connolly





Children's Books:
School of the Dead by Avi
Dr. Critchlore's School for Minions by Sheila Grau
From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess by Meg Cabot
Freedom's School by Lesa Cline-Ransome (Picture Book)
Chu's First Day of School by Neil Gaiman (Picture Book)
Rufus Goes to School by Kim J. Griswell (Picture Book)
New Monster in School by Sean O'Reilly (Graphic Novel)
Puddle's New School by Amber Stewart (Picture Book)

Angelina's New School by Katharine Holabird (Easy Reader)
I Love School by Hans Wilhelm (Easy Reader)
Back to School by Wanda E. Brunstetter
Sideways Stories From Wayside School by Louis Sachar



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