Whitefish Bay Public Library

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month

by Valerie Morris on Nov 9, 2022

November was designated as Native American Heritage Month in 1990 by President George H. W. Bush. This time of year is a great opportunity to learn more about our native people of the past and of the present day. With Thanksgiving around the corner, it is also important to read about this beloved holiday from the perspective of Native Americans. I have gathered a list of some good reads to help you celebrate Native American Heritage Month. Also visit the library for a larger selection of books for all ages, from picture books to young adult.

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Just a Few New Fun Picture Books

by Valerie Morris on Aug 19, 2022

Check out some of our new picture books!

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New Nonfiction for kids

by Valerie Morris on Feb 24, 2022

The Youth Services department has a plethora of new nonfiction books for kids! There is a wide range of topics for all interests from coding, forensic science, oceans, and ancient history to origami, modern art, American history, and biographies. Listed here are a few of the books that stand out on our “new” shelf.

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Take and Tinker: Sewing Machine

by Valerie Morris on Sep 3, 2021

Sewing is a fun, creative, relaxing, and easy (once you get the hang of it) craft to learn. It is also very satisfying to create something with your own hands for yourself and for others. You can sew clothes for yourself or your kids, home décor, stuffed animals, and much more! Sewing is also a great craft to teach children for building on creativity and problem solving abilities to practicing fine-motor skills.

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Into the Woods!

by Valerie Morris on Apr 28, 2021

There is an easy way to relieve our daily stresses from work, school, technology, and the Covid pandemic. The answer is a walk in the woods. The naturalist John Muir once said “Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the green deep woods. Sleep in forgetfulness of all ill.”

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Make It and Play it: Mancala Game Instructions

by Valerie Morris on Oct 19, 2020

Here are the instructions to make a Mancala at home! Check out Miss Valerie's video on our Facebook page to see it in action.

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Take and Make: Origami Instructions

by Valerie Morris on Sep 28, 2020

Origami Take and Make Instructions (If you didn't get a Take and Make kit, you can still follow along with these instructions using regular printer paper. Just make sure you have squares for the first two projects and a rectangle for the third project!)

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New! Youth Services Education Collection

by Valerie Morris on Sep 22, 2020

The Youth Services Department has gathered together a collection of educational books to help support our families and students. This new collection is currently on display in our department. It includes books covering a wide range of needs from homeschooling and alternative-schooling strategies, reading and writing guides, educational philosophies, emotional/social learning, study skills and time management and much more. Here are some highlights from our new collection!

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New Middle Grade Fiction

by Valerie Morris on May 5, 2020

Looking for some new books for your third to sixth grader? Here are only a few of the new titles that we received before the library closed due to COVID-19. This is a list of historical fiction, fantasy/adventure, science fiction and realistic fiction that you can get from the library via the library’s curbside pickup! Give us a call at 414-964-4380 to place a hold on these or other items currently available at the library. You can also visit our website at https://www.wfblibrary.org/about/curbside_pickup.php for more details on curbside pickup!

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Yut-Nori: Korean Board Game

by Valerie Morris on Apr 2, 2020

During this period of “Safer at Home”, we have all been looking for things to do to keep ourselves and our kids busy. So I thought that I would share a traditional Korean board game called Yut-Nori. This game is easy to make and fun to play with the family using materials you have at home.

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Audiobooks for Family Road Trips

by Valerie Morris on Nov 1, 2019

With the snow falling early this year, I thought it was a good time to recommend some favorite audiobooks that the whole family can enjoy during the upcoming vacation road trips. This is a collection of audiobooks covering mystery, fantasy, realistic fiction, and adventure and recommended for 2nd grade and up.

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Picture Books about Art & Community

by Valerie Morris on Sep 5, 2019

Art is the self-expression of feelings, a vision, beauty, or a stance. Art can also unite communities when that art is placed in public view or brings the neighborhood together to create. This is a collection of picture books about inspired individuals and communities that used art as a way to improve their neighborhoods, share, and make a statement. These books are a great way to inspire children to create art of their own and have a voice.

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Biographical Picture Books

by Valerie Morris on Jul 10, 2019

Are you looking for some summer reads to share with the kids? Here is a list of some wonderful and inspiring nonfiction picture books that are new on our shelves. These books are perfect for kids in grades 1-5.

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Classic Children's Literature

by Valerie Morris on May 18, 2019

The Whitefish Bay Public Library’s youth services department is excited to add to the collection some classic children’s literature that you have probably never heard of but that you and your children will find delightful! We received a generous donation, from the local group Literary Journey, to make the purchase of titles from the New York Review Children’s Collection. Listed below are a few highlights.

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Picture Books Galore!

by Valerie Morris on Jan 22, 2019

The Whitefish Bay Public Library’s Youth Services department has completed the reorganization of the picture books by subject! We started this project at the end of July 2018 and have finished this month after reading and reviewing thousands of books and making thousands of decisions on the best place for our patrons to find the books they need and want! We are excited for our patrons to browse our picture book collection and read new discoveries.

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Hygge = Cozy + Mystery = Cozy Mysteries for Kids

by Valerie Morris on Nov 15, 2018

Hygge (hoo-guh) is the Danish word for the mood of being cozy, comfortable, and wellness. It is the time of year for hygge when we light candles to stave off the darkness of winter and wrap up in a fuzzy blanket against the cold. Why not add a book to your hygge?! There is a genre of books called “cozy mysteries” that I think would be perfect for practicing hygge. A cozy mystery is a subgenre of crime fiction where the violence is toned down, the detective is an amateur, and the suspect remains unknown until the very end to allow the reader to figure out, or try to, the “whodunit”. Think of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple for example. So wrap your kids up in a warm blanket and reach for one of these kid-friendly cozy mysteries!

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What in the World is Happening with the Picture Books?

by Valerie Morris on Sep 1, 2018

If you have visited the Youth Services department recently, you have probably noticed that your favorite picture books are not where they used to be; there are a lot of empty shelves; and there are new colored labels. Youth Services staff is reorganizing the picture books by subjects or categories instead of by the author’s last name. The collection is under construction!

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Everyday Diversity in Children's Picture Books

by Valerie Morris on Jan 19, 2017

In the world of children’s picture books, there still exists a lack of diversity in the illustrations and themes available to children. Improvement has been made over the last few years due to increased awareness through organizations like We Need Diverse Books. It is vital for children of all colors and cultures to read books with multicultural faces and characters that reflect the world around us. While there are multicultural picture books that are written and illustrated to reflect a theme specific to a culture there is also a movement toward books with everyday diversity that depict diverse characters doing everyday activities. The most famous and earliest example of everyday diversity is the book The Snowy Day by Jack Ezra Keats. Here a few of my favorite everyday diversity picture books.

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Summer Reading Suggestions for Kids

by Valerie Morris on Jun 19, 2018

It is summer reading time which means that all of your favorite books are off the shelf! You want to read Captain Underpants? All checked out. Diary of a Wimpy Kid? Empty shelf. Dork Diaries? Sorry. Harry Potter? Nope. So what can you read? Well, you can try these other series books! Or you can ask the librarian for suggestions! We are here to help!

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Middle Grade Summer Reads

by Valerie Morris on Apr 22, 2018

Truly, summer is coming! Here is a list of some great summer reads for the kids to read in the hammock, at camp, or in the car. These are nice easy reads with humor, mystery, and adventure.

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Why Kids Should Learn Coding

by Valerie Morris on Apr 27, 2017

What is the hullaballoo about coding? For a start, learning about coding and computer science is all about building life skills like logical thinking, problem solving, computational thinking (the ability to break down a large task into smaller manageable tasks) and creativity. As of right now, 71% of all new jobs in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) are in computing and coding skills are needed in all industries. Programming is the fastest growing occupation. Our daily life is filled with code, we are consumers of code, from our telephones, televisions, all of our apps and websites and so much more. Learning to code allows kids to build skills to ready them for the future no matter what occupation they choose.

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Historical Fiction for 4th Grade and Up

by Valerie Morris on Mar 16, 2018

We, as readers, have the wonderful opportunity to live the lives of others through books. As a lover of history, I feel we have so much to learn from our past; to know where we came from, to learn how far we have yet to go, and to understand other peoples’ lives and perspectives. Listed here are some of my favorite historical fiction books for those in fourth grade and up (adults too).

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Picture Books by Native Americans

by Valerie Morris on Jan 4, 2018

Recently I have been reviewing the Whitefish Bay Public Library’s picture book collection focusing on books by and about Native Americans/First Nations. Unfortunately, many of the books reinforced stereotypes of Native Americans and many more told native stories inaccurately and disrespectfully. So, I would like to share this list of picture books written by Native American writers that we have in our collection.

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