Blog Entries

I just read it this morning and couldn’t put it down.  When I did, all I could think was, “Wow.”

Long ago, a boy named Otto was lost in the woods and rescued by three sisters imprisoned there by a witch’s curse.  In return for their help, he promises to help break the curse by carrying their spirits hidden in a magical mouth harp—what we know today as a harmonica, and passing the instrument along to the right person at the right time.    This harmonica ties Otto with three other children—Friedrich in Germany during the Thir...

Being a working mother with 2 children, 2 jobs, and a messy chef as a partner, it is often difficult to commit the time and effort to reading larger works of fiction. I recently discovered the benefits of short stories and novellas for this very reason. They give me the satisfaction of storytelling, but on a simplified scale. The novella, Camp Olvido, certainly does just that.

          A “Hispanic Heritage” read, it takes place in California in 1932, at a migrant labor camp, where a majority of its workers toil i...

Our young protagonist DOES NOT  like snakes.  She REALLY REALLY does not like snakes—which the rest of her reptile loving family does not understand.  As she goes through the list of things she does not like about snakes, one-by-one, her family refutes her arguments, explaining why the thing she does not like (i e: they're icky, slimy, scaly skin), is in reality what makes snakes REALLY REALLY cool.   Being a fair young lady, she listens to her family’s arguments favoring snakes, and eventually decides that, yes, snakes are really pretty nifty creatures....

The beloved writer and illustrator was born on this date in 1902. Visit your library and choose your favorite Dr. Seuss title to read today.

Curl up and wait for spring with The Adventures of a South Pole Pig: A Novel ofSnow and Courage by Chris Kurtz.

Click here to find this book in our catalog.

This sequel of sorts to the bestselling memoir, “Not Without My Daughter,” is full of local interest. Mahtob was the young daughter in that story, and her memories stretch from Tehran to Saginaw.

In 1984, Mahtob’s Iranian-born father took her and her mother to his homeland for what was supposed to be a short vacation with relatives. At the end of the two weeks, he confiscated his family’s American passports and told his wife and daughter they weren’t leaving – ever. Mahtob was very young at the time, but she remembers a lot from her eighteen months...

February 29 is known as Leap Day and occurs in most years that are divisible by four. Use your extra day this month to visit your library.

Funny, sad, or enlightening, celebrate the power of words by reading something aloud today.

Visit the Public Libraries of Saginaw to check out these great reads and more!!!

All aboard!  Two perennial childhood themes combine in this delightful title.  Hop on and chug through the alphabet with rhymes featuring both general and specific trains from around the world.  Young train enthusiasts will appreciate the soft realistic illustrations that incorporate both capital and lowercase versions of each highlighted letter.  A brief glossary provides additional information at an appropriate level.  Whether to read before bed or as part of a storytime, Alphabet Trainsis sure to have everyone whistling with pleasure. 

Reviewed by Je...

Jack Quinlan has secrets. Lots of secrets. Upon returning to his hometown after a close relative suffers a serious accident, the reality Jack has created and shared with his wife, Sarah, for years quickly begins to unravel. What really happened to Jack’s parents all those years ago? Just how much is Jack hiding? Sarah Quinlan must find out. But will she be able to fill in all the missing pieces before it’s too late? Sarah enlists the help of locals to get to the bottom of Jack’s dark secrets, which all seem to lead to the cellar in Jack’s childhood home. 

Learn some interesting facts about our United States presidents and maybe find out if you have what it takes in So You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George.

Click here to find this book in our catalog.

For a very funny story about NOT liking Valentine’s Day, check out Here Comes Valentine’s Cat by Deborah Underwood.

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This snow is the color of watermelon and also smells like watermelon.  But don’t eat it, because it gets its color and smell from tiny algae that love to grow in sub-zero temperatures.

 Need some winter ideas for playing in the snow? Come check out some of our books like Snow Play: How to Make Forts & Slides & Winter Campfires by Birgitta Ralston.

Click here to find this book in our catalog.

Ring in the Year of the Monkey by reading The Magical Monkey King: Mischief in Heaven:Classic Chinese Folktales by Ji-Li Jiang.

Click here to find this book in our catalog.