Cooking with Kids

January is a great time to check out the j641 section at the library. The Chester County Library has a wealth of resources for cooking with children as well as recipes for kids to try on their own. Whether your child wants to be the King of Soup, Queen of Cupcakes or an authority on Italian, Mexican or Japanese cooking, the library has the cook books for you!

The Spatulatta Cookbook
Here is an basic cook book to get kids started on the cooking path. With descriptions of cooking tools, terms and ingredients as well as both easy and difficult recipes, children will be ready to cook after viewing this cookbook for kids.

Super Simple Lunches
by Nancy Tuminelly
Is your child ready to start preparing their own school lunches? This book is full of no-bake recipes that children can prepare for their own brown bag lunch.

Smart Cookie
by Dana Meachen Rau
Party Time! Maybe your child is looking to provide an awesome treat for a party or other special event. This book is filled with great ideas for baking and decorating that special event dessert.

Fix-it and Forget-it Kids Cookbook
by Phyllis Pellman Good
This is a crock pot recipe book for kids. Put that crock pot to good use by having the kids prepare a meal. With 50 easy to read recipes and ingredient lists, the children may be able to plan a meal a week!

Cool Mexican Cooking
by Lisa Wagner
Practice your cooking skills with this book that contains the recipes for six Mexican favorites. From taquitos to tortilla soup this book will describe what the young cook needs to know to cook delicious Mexican dishes.



Get cooking with these and more children's cook books at the Chester County Library!

And The Winner Is.......

Over the last two weeks child visitors to Chester County Library have been voting for their favorite picture book character. While adults were voting for the President of the United States, children were voting for Clifford or Madeline. While the race was close for a while, the winner is......

for more Biscuit books, or books with any of the favorite characters, please visit the Chester County Library or the library website. Happy Election!

Fall is time for FUN!

Halloween and other fall events are around the corner. Are you looking for a great costume or party idea? The Chester County Library has wonderful resources for sewing a costume, treats and games for children’s parties, and decorations for family events. Stop into the library and take a peak.

Make Costumes! By Priscilla Hershberger

This book gives step by step instructions on making popular dress up costumes. By using common school and household goods the costume making is a snap. With 10 or more costumes to choose from there is something for everyone.

A Halloween how-to : costumes, parties, decorations, and destinations
by Lesley Pratt Bannatyne

This book has all you need to know about the history of Halloween, planning events, decorating and even where to see the best pumpkin chuckin’ contest!

Crafts to Make in the Fall
by Kathy Ross

Every family needs a few crafty ideas for the fall season. Check out this book that contains 29 easy to make projects. A gift, a family craft night, a scout troop; there are craft ideas for everyone!





Sometimes, all you need is a great fall story.

Pumpkins by Mary Lyn Ray

In this beautifully illustrated story a man gives up everything he has to grow pumpkins to save a field. His good work spreads pumpkin cheer worldwide.

Halloween Fraidy Cat by Abby Klein

In this Ready Freddy! story Freddy is scared of the haunted house where his friend is holding a Halloween party. Freddy doesn’t want his friends to know how frightened he is, but he still wants to go to the party. What will he do?





Remember, the next session of story time registration starts on October 23, through Eventkeeper. Visit our website at www.ccls.org, visit the library, and enjoy this fall season!

Rhythm and Rhyme Make A Great Story Time!

We are Growing Readers at the Chester County Library! Fall story time registration began today! You must register online for all age-specific story time programs. To register, go online to Chester County Library Eventkeeper and find your child's specific story time session.

There are thousands of great picture books for young children. But what makes a good storybook a great read-aloud? An engaging story keeps children interested. Beautiful or striking pictures are also a big draw for children. But, I find that a wonderful story with a predictable rhythm and rhyme help a good story become great. Here are some of my favorites for each age group.

Great for one year olds - Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown. This bedtime story is great to read at anytime during the day! But when it is time for bed, we must say goodnight to everything. "Good night kittens and good night mittens..."

Great for two year olds: Belly Button Book, by Sandra Boynton. What two year old doesn't like to show their belly button. Now there is a book about those amazing belly buttons! Celebrate your child's belly button with some rhyming hippo friends.

Great for three year olds: My Truck is Stuck, by Kevin Lewis. When a truck gets stuck in a hole, many vehicles try to rescue it. But the gophers aren't helping, they are stealing from the back of the truck!

Great for four year olds: Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom is a classic picture book by Bill Martin, Jr. While four year olds are beginning to play with the letters of the alphabet, who would have thought the letters could climb a coconut tree?

Great for five year olds: The Donut Chef, by Bob Staake. Rhythm, rhyme and a story about about donuts, what could be better? After two chefs open donut shops, the donuts get stranger and stranger as both chefs begin creating donuts with odd shapes and flavors. But whose donuts are the best? You decide!




Look for these and other great books at the Chester County Library!

The Olympics are AWESOME!

Olympic fever has swept the nation! Are you excited about the athletes representing the United States at the London games? At the Chester County Library we have resources about some of the top athletes from our country and around the world. We also have great books about some sports you may have seen that were new to you.

Michael Phelps
by Barbara Sheen
This biography of Michael Phelps discusses his life with ADHD, his start in the sport of swimming, and his work toward a gold medal in the Olympic Games.

The World’s Greatest Olympians
by Michael Hurley
This book includes profiles of many famous Olympic athletes including track and field stars Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis, and Michael Johnson.

The World of Olympics
by Nick Hunter
If you want to learn about the history of the Olympic Games, the symbolism of the Olympic Rings, or the past host countries of the Games, this book is a great start.

Great Moments at the Summer Olympics
by Matt Christopher
This fact filled book recalls historical moments by American athletes at the Olympics. Was it amazing? It may be in this book!

The 2012 London Olympics
by Nick Hunter
If you are wondering about where this year’s Olympics are being held, check out this selection. This book explains how the Olympic preparations have taken over London and the surrounding areas. It discusses locations of events, changes in technology, as well as the Paralympics that will follow the 2012 Olympic Games.


And just for fun… even world class athletes can act silly and have a great time. Check out this version of Call Me, Maybe by the United States Olympic Swim Team, just click here!

Have the Olympics got you excited about a sport, about broadcasting, about travel? You can find information about it all at the library! Get inspired @ Chester County Library!

Is it August Already?

Summer is half over already! The Summer Reading Club is already past day 40 and many children may need an exciting topic to keep them reading during the hot days of August. What could be more exciting than MONSTERS?

Monster stories read by a trusted adult are not so scary and can really be fun! While some monster stories are creepy and scary, most picture books for children use the monsters as child-like characters or to teach a lesson. Here are a few wonderful monster books. Miss April will be reading several of these during Tell Tale Tuesday, on Tuesday, July 31.

Leonardo the Terrible Monster
by Mo Willems
Leonardo is not a very good monster, he has trouble scaring people. After meeting a boy named Sam, Leonardo decides that he is really good at something…friendship.

Go Away Big Green Monster
by Ed Emberley
On every page the monster gains a scary part, long bluish green nose, purple hair, a green face. But then it is the child’s turn to tell the monster to Go Away!

I Need My Monster
by Amanda Noll
When Ethan’s monster goes on vacation, he interviews some other monsters to fill the place under his bed. But none of the monsters are his monster. Will Ethan ever get his monster back?

Maybe your child doesn’t want to read about monsters, maybe he or she wants to create their own! 5 Steps to Drawing Monsters can help them learn how to draw a monster by copying shapes. Drawing vampires, ogres and a Cyclops is a side benefit!




No matter what your child is dreaming about, a visit to the library or to the library website will help you find books about most any topic. Keep reading all summer long and we hope to see you browsing the shelves or at one of our Summer Reading Club events!

2012 SUMMER READING CLUB

June 11, 2012 marks the first day of the Summer Reading Club at the Chester County Library! Come in on June 11th or after and pick up your Summer Reading Club packet. Our theme this year is

That's right, we are Dreaming Big with special activities focused on what children may dream about. Some may be dreaming about stars and planets, others may dream about what goes bump in the night. The library has fun activities planned that touch on all aspects of dreaming big including bedtime stories and nocturnal animals as well!

Join us this summer and DREAM BIG at the Chester County Library!