Bob Book Sets Are Here
Developed by teacher Bobby Lynn Maslen, Bob Books provide a phonics-based, sequential method of learning how to read. If your child is ready to start reading on his or her Read more...
Posted by Adrian L. on May 29, 2015
Paper Cowboy
I am very much a native of the western suburbs of Chicago. My only homes have been in Downers Grove and Westmont, and I’ve always felt that suburbia was a Read more...
Posted by Adrian L. on May 1, 2015
Mouse Mansion
Each week, I feel privileged to share some beautiful, fun, and educational picture books with large groups of children in our storytimes here at the Westmont Library. Lately, though, a Read more...
Posted by Adrian L. on April 3, 2015
Storytelling and The Matchbox Diary
I love made-up stories about worlds and people that can only exist in our imaginations. But I love real stories, too. Real stories about real people – especially people I Read more...
Posted by Adrian L. on December 12, 2014
What If?
What would happen if everyone on Earth stood as close to each other as they could and jumped, everyone on the ground landing at the same instant? From what height Read more...
Posted by Adrian L. on November 14, 2014
The Long Road
There is a stretch of road I travel often that has a tendency to put me into a sleepy stupor. I-57 from I-80 South to Champaign is beautiful in a Read more...
Posted by Adrian L. on October 15, 2014
Survival is Insufficient
Station Eleven. Taken from a Star Trek episode, they are painted on the lead wagon for the Traveling Symphony and Shakespeare Company. This motley group of actors and musicians roams Read more...
Posted by Adrian L. on September 19, 2014
Courage
Courage takes different forms – physical or emotional, extraordinary or simple. One might think a child’s act of courage to be much different than an adult’s, but that’s not necessarily Read more...
Posted by Adrian L. on September 8, 2014
The Last Policeman Trilogy
What would you do if you were 100% certain the world was going to end in six months? An asteroid is on a direct course to Earth and not only Read more...
Posted by Adrian L. on July 25, 2014
Forbidden Island
My brother Matt was a board-flipper. Perhaps you know someone like that. You’re in the middle of playing a board game when the game turns sharply in your favor and Read more...
Posted by Adrian L. on June 27, 2014
Paperboy by Vince Vawter
Paperboy, a 2014 Newbery Honor Book, accomplished both. An 11 year-old boy growing up in Memphis in 1959 takes over his best friend’s paper route for a month. While throwing Read more...
Posted by Adrian L. on May 30, 2014
The Giver Quartet
As both a book lover and a movie fan, I have much to look forward to in 2014 since quite a few book-to-movie adaptations Read more...
Posted by Adrian L. on February 7, 2014
What is Real?
It was Christmas Eve and I was four years old. As I was sitting on the couch, my older sister handed me a present from under the tree. I eagerly Read more...
Posted by Adrian L. on December 13, 2013
The Sixty-Eight Rooms
As a very young child, before I can even remember, I apparently caused trouble by playing in my older sister’s dollhouse. Fortunately, I had a mother who understood the undeniable Read more...
Posted by Adrian L. on September 18, 2013