Books for Back to School

School is back in session! Check out these new books that can inspire kids about the first week of school and prepare them to get back in the classroom.

The King of Kindergarten
By Derrick Barnes

Starting kindergarten is a big milestone—and the hero of this story is ready to make his mark! The day will be jam-packed, but he’s up to the challenge, taking new experiences in stride with his infectious enthusiasm.

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Lola Goes to School
By Anna McQuinn

Spunky Lola is ready to embark on a new adventure—the first day of school! Don’t miss this comforting, cheerful read that demystifies the school day for preschoolers and kindergartners.

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The Pigeon HAS to Go to School
By Mo Willems

Why does the Pigeon have to go to school? He already knows everything! And what if he doesn’t like it? What if the teacher doesn’t like him? Find out what’s in store for Pigeon in this irresistible comedy.

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Get ready for the classroom with these picks.

Art and How It Works: An Introduction to Art for Children
By Ann Kay
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Math Learn and Explore: 1st Grade
By Linda Ruggieri
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The New Children’s Encyclopedia
By DK Publishing

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Aquatic Adventures for Kids

Just keep swimming, we mean reading! The Read to Reef Book Club is back this month and Enoch Pratt Free Library is excited to offer these fun books that are sure to make a splash.

Not familiar with Read to Reef? In March, the program allows Baltimore-area children in fifth grade and younger to receive a Read to Reef bookmark at their local branch of Enoch Pratt Free Library (while supplies last).

After students read five aquatic or conservation-themed books they can exchange their completed bookmark for up to four admission tickets to the National Aquarium. For a full list of the instructions and details on Read to Reef, please visit here.

Dive into these picks:

Dolphins! Strange and Wonderful
By Laurence Pringle

With fascinating facts and detailed, illuminating artwork, dolphin species are introduce to readers of all ages.
Read here
Exploring the Deep, Dark Sea
By Gail Gibbons

Dive deep into the mechanics and discoveries of deep-sea exploration.
Read here
Hey, Water!
By Antoinette Portis

Join a young girl as she explores her surroundings and sees that water is everywhere. 
Read here
Hello, World! Ocean Life
By Jill McDonald

Told in clear and easy terms with featuring bright, cheerful illustrations, babies and toddlers learn about the world under the sea.
Read here

You might want to also check these books out.

Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid
By Jeff Kinney
Read here

Planting Stories : The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré
By Anika Denise
Read here
Ten Rules of the Birthday Wish
By Beth Ferry
Read here

Happenings at the Enoch Pratt Free Library Children’s Stage

School has started and the air is crisp, which can mean only one thing…the Baltimore Book Festival is back! Find something interesting for booklovers of all ages September 28-30, 2018, 11:00a.m. to 7:00p.m. at the Inner Harbor in downtown Baltimore. The Pratt has exciting programming all weekend, featuring interactive programs for the whole family, with popular local and nationally known authors of books for children and teens. Staff will be available all weekend for library card sign-ups to start your journey at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. You’re Free to Bmore #atthepratt. Check out the schedule below!

Friday, September 28

12-1pm             Zumbini with Miss Kelly

Join Miss Kelly, children’s librarian at Southeast Anchor Library, for a Zumbini® demo! Zumbini® is a music and movement class for children 0 to 3 that will have dancing, singing and instruments. It will feature the theme: “Kalino Finds the Music”! Please register online at Zumbini.com to attend the demo class.

1:30-3pm          Paper Magic with Mr. Matt

Learn how to make magical toys out of simple pieces of paper with Central Library children’s librarian Matthew Hickey. Flexagons are paper toys that have the magical quality of changing images as they are flexed or folded. In this program we will learn how a simple piece of paper can be transformed to make flexagons, exquisite corpses, and accordion style booklets.

3-4:30pm          Open Works Mobile Workshop

Open Works Mobile (OWM) is Baltimore’s first and only mobile maker-space offering an introduction to “maker” based education. The workshop on wheels travels to schools, community centers, and community event sites to demonstrate basic digital fabrication technology with a desktop 3D printer, CNC machine, and Laser engraver. Join them today for a brief demo and the 3d printing pen activity.

 

Saturday, September 29

12-1pm             Nita’s First Signs Storytime for Families

American Sign Language makes it easy to communicate with your child. Come and discover how with Kathy MacMillan, author of Nita’s First Signs, a lively family story that teaches 10 basic ASL signs! We’ll celebrate with stories, songs, and more. Appropriate for all ages.

1-2pm               Whose Book Is It Anyway?: Picture Book Edition

Face off against six wily picture book authors and illustrators and win a signed book!  Can you spot which book excerpts are real and which are clever fakes?  Don’t miss this lineup: Lulu Delacre (Turning Pages), Patricia Valdez (Joan Proctor, Dragon Doctor), Laura Gehl (I Got a Chicken for My Birthday), Liz and Jimmy Reed (Sweet Success), Rachel Kolar (Mother Goose: Nursery Rhymes for Little Monsters), Moderated by Rebecca Evans (Masterpiece Robot and the Ferocious Valerie Knick-Knack). Co-sponsored by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators MD/DE/WV Region.

2-3pm               Read to Reef Book Club featuring Ricardo Cortés’s, Sea Creatures from the Sky

New York Times best-selling illustrator author Ricardo Cortés reads from Sea Creatures from the Sky, a touching story of a misunderstood shark. Hear the story before reading it in the National Aquarium and Pratt Library’s Read to Reef Book Club in October. Following the reading, dive deeper into the shark’s watery world with Aquarium educators who will be on hand with real shark artifacts to explore and an interactive presentation about these toothy predators.

3-4pm   We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices panel featuring Carole Boston Weatherford and Jeffrey Weatherford, and publishers Wade Hudson & Cheryl Willis Hudson, hosted by Deborah Taylor

We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices publishers, Wade Hudson, inductee into the International Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent, and Cheryl Willis Hudson, inductee into the International Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent, discuss their anthology, We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices, with contributors  Carole Boston Weatherford, New York Times best-selling author and NAACP Image Award winner, and Jeffrey Weatherford, illustrator and founder of global hip hop collective known as “TRiiiBE Worldwide”. Hosted by Deborah Taylor, school and student services coordinator at the Pratt Library.

4:30-5:30pm     Brigid Kemmerer, More Than We Can Tell, in conversation with Nisha Sharma, My So-Called Bollywood Life, moderated by Matthew Winner of The Children’s Book Podcast

Nisha Sharma grew up immersed in Bollywood movies, eighties pop culture, and romance novels, so it comes as no surprise that her first novel My So-Called Bollywood Life features all three. Brigid Kemmerer is the author of dark, contemporary Young Adult romances like More Than We Can Tell and Letters to the Lost as well as paranormal YA novels like The Elemental Series and Thicker Than Water.

 

Sunday, September 30

1-2pm Children’s Picture Book Panel hosted by Paula Willey featuring Sarah Jacoby, Forever or a Day, Minh Lê, Drawn Together, and Elizabeth Lilly, Geraldine

Paula Willey, librarian and organizer of the annual KidLitCon conference, interviews three fantastic picture book authors: Sarah Jacoby, award winner from the Society of Illustrators (Gold Medal), Creative Quarterly, and Communication Arts, Minh Lê, author of Drawn Together illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat and Let Me Finish! named an NPR Best Book of 2016, and Elizabeth Lilly, whose debut, Geraldine, received a starred review from School Library Journal.

2-3:30pm          Dear Martin, Nic Stone in conversation with Letrice Gant of Baltimore Ceasefire

OneBook Baltimore is a new initiative that provides opportunities for Baltimore City 7th and 8th graders, their families, and community members to connect through literature by reading the same book. This year’s book is New York Times bestseller Dear Martin by Nic Stone. Growing up with a wide range of cultures, religions, and backgrounds, Stone strives to bring these diverse voices and stories to her work. Baltimore Ceasefire 365 is a self-determination movement started by residents in Baltimore City to reduce murder and celebrate life by calling quarterly Ceasefire weekends.

3:30-4:30pm     Kate Reed Petty, Chasma Knights, in conversation with Elissa Brent Weissman, The Length of a String

Kate Reed Petty is a 2018 Rubys Artist grantee in Literary Arts and a 2018 Edith Wharton Writer-in-Residence. Elissa Brent Weissman is an award-winning author of novels for young readers. Best known for the popular Nerd Camp series, she and her books have been featured in Entertainment WeeklyThe Washington PostThe Los Angeles TimesThe Huffington Post, NPR’s “Here and Now,” and more.

4:30-5:30pm     Tony Medina, I Am Alfonso Jones, in conversation with Matthew Winner of The Children’s Book Podcast

Dr. Medina, Pushcart Prize-nominated poet, professor of creative writing at Howard University, and two-time winner of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, discusses his graphic novel, I Am Alfonso Jones with Matthew Winner of The Children’s Book Podcast.

RSVP on the library event page.

New Titles for Children: Back-To-School Edition!

It’s that time of year! These new books, DVDs, and online resources will help prepare your kids to get back in the classroom.

Children’s Books About School

Children’s Reference Books For English

  

Children’s Reference Books For Math

See a full list of new children’s titles here.

Watch and learn with these educational DVDs

Practice reading online with our new online resource, BookFLIX

Use BookFLIX at your local library or at home! With colorful animation, rich audio, and interactive games, BookFLIX is a perfect resource to engage and support readers from Kindergarten to 3rd grade.

BookFLIX includes:

  • Classic video storybooks matched with a related nonfiction eBook
  • Spanish language versions of many pairs of matched videos and eBooks
  • Read Aloud support
  • Educational games and activities
  • Recommended, age-appropriate links to allow students to extend their learning on a subject
  • Meet the author section

Try it out now here!

 

 

 

Just in time for Back-To-School: Prepare your kids for the classroom with BookFLIX

Introducing BookFLIX, Enoch Pratt’s newest electronic resource for kids in grades K-3

Use BookFLIX at your local library or at home! With colorful animation, rich audio, and interactive games, BookFLIX is a perfect resource to engage and support readers from Kindergarten to 3rd grade.

BookFLIX includes:

  • Classic video storybooks matched with a related nonfiction eBook
  • Spanish language versions of many pairs of matched videos and eBooks
  • Read Aloud support
  • Educational games and activities
  • Recommended, age-appropriate links to allow students to extend their learning on a subject
  • Meet the author section

Try it out now here!