Our library hosted its first Cosplay Costume Con in Columbia on Wednesday, July 22. All ages participated, from a teeny, tiny Superman baby to a Mizzou professor dressed as Edward Scissorhands. Brandy Cross, co-owner of Distant Planet Comics & Collectibles, volunteered to help myself and another staff member judge the costume contest. In addition to the catwalk antics of young and old, friends and strangers posed together in front of our cityscape photo op.
Continue reading “Our First Cosplay Costume Con!”
One of the first picture books I can recall with true clarity is about a young boy, a magic pasta pot and three kisses. For the longest time I remembered nothing more than the beautiful illustrations and the warm feeling I always got whenever my grandmother read it to me. Then one day the title suddenly came to me: “Strega Nona,” by Tomie dePaola. I have been pulling his books off the library shelves ever since.
For ov
er 40 years, Tomie dePaola has been writing and illustrating heartwarming books for children. He is best known for his clean, simple line illustrations, filled with bright, bursting colors. His human characters are immediately recognizable with their round faces and puffy-looking clothes. Collections such as “Tomie dePaola’s Mother Goose” and “Tomie dePaola’s Book of Poems” are rich with diverse characters, animal and people alike. One of his newer series, about the Barkers family, introduces Spanish vocabulary and blended, adoptive families. Continue reading “Books We Love: The Works of Tomie dePaola”
Summer is heating up, and unfortunately for us, mid-Missouri is about a thousand miles away from the nearest sunny ocean beach. But the library is here to help! Check out these books about the ocean and all the creatures that inhabit it.
“Under the Ocean” by Anouck Boisrobert is a beautiful pop-up book that takes a look at life above and below the surface of the ocean. As readers open the book, the delicate and detailed pop-ups open out and divide the pages between what’s above the surface – boats, fishermen and icebergs – and what’s below – schools of fish, coral reefs and scuba divers. Continue reading “Bring the Ocean to You!”
The library is closed on Saturday, July 4th, but all branches will be open on the 3rd, and the Columbia Public Library will be open its usual Sunday hours on the 5th! Try some of the Fourth of July crafts below – great for kids who want to get in on the fun but might not be old enough for fireworks.
A Handy Flag
Supplies
- Finger Paint (red, white and blue)
- Construction paper (any color aside from red, white or blue, i.e. typical flag colors)
- Star hole punch (or grab some star stickers)
- Take your star hole punch and punch out lots of little stars.
- Paint the palm of your hand blue.
- Paint your fingers alternating with white and red
- Make your handprint on a piece of construction paper.
- Wash your hands
- While the paint is still wet, put the stars all over the blue paint
- Let dry and wave your hand flag in the air!
This is a fun craft for kids to do during your Fourth of July celebrations. It will keep them busy for a little while … and who doesn’t like getting paint all over their hands!? Continue reading “July Fourth Fun!”
Our library hosted its first Cosplay Costume Con in Columbia on Wednesday, July 22. All ages participated, from a teeny, tiny Superman baby to a Mizzou professor dressed as Edward Scissorhands. Brandy Cross, co-owner of Distant Planet Comics & Collectibles, volunteered to help myself and another staff member judge the costume contest. In addition to the catwalk antics of young and old, friends and strangers posed together in front of our cityscape photo op.