With December right around the corner and the holiday season kicking into high gear, it’s time to start thinking about all the wonderful crafts we can make to add festive cheer to our family celebrations. Paper garlands, strings of popcorn and cranberries, glittered pinecones…these are the things that come immediately to mind. But why not branch out this year and explore some new holiday crafts with your children? Try printing with sponges, corks, corrugated cardboard, or other found objects to create your own wrapping paper. Basic brown paper bags can be transformed into spectacular gift bags by layering on paper, ribbon, buttons, and beads. Customize a plain gift tag with a drawing or collage, or decoupage a photo frame for someone special. The possibilities are endless!
Last week, young adult author 
While the majority of books sent out to libraries and bookstores by American publishers are originally written right here in the United States, we are lucky enough to see a number of titles from overseas also make their way to our shelves. Books from other countries can help all of us, children and adults alike, by opening new windows of understanding into other cultures and peoples.
January is such an exciting time for children’s literature fans! Later this month, the Association for Library Service to Children will announce the winners of their prestigious book and media awards. These national awards such as the 
December has a smell all of its own. Pine needles, smoke from either fireplaces or if it’s warm enough a fire pit or cooking especially that of baking. Ginger. Cinnamon. Melted sugar. It might be time to bring out Great Grandma’s beloved buñuelos recipe. Or those killer brownies that everyone dreams of the whole rest of the year.
The cars are coming to Austin on November 16! Not just any cars, but F1 race cars to be exact. It's going to be an exciting weekend. To celebrate this first time event let's zip over to the shelves and flag down some speedy reads. We have everything from a biography of the NASCAR legend Louise Smith to a hot-rodding hamster. Don't forget to hit the DVD shelves for 
Tired of mystery meat? Hate those slimy things that pretend to be vegetables? Have your parents been bugging you about eating healthy? Embarassed by your lunch box and want some new menu ideas? Look no further! There are plenty of websites and books that can get you started on being the envy of the school lunchroom!
There are many things to celebrate in April: April Fool’s Day, Earth Day, National Library Week, and even the possibility of April Showers bringing May Flowers. All of these things can be heralded with poems since April is also National Poetry Month! What better way to start than 
awards honor the most distinguished contributions to the field of American children’s literature published in the preceding year. There was a lot of eager speculation about who would win. We're covering the Caldecott and Newbery this month, but we'll cover the rest of the awards in future blog posts. So, without further ado,
