
Kids Winter Reading Program
Stop by the Youth Services Desk beginning January 30, 2023 for a Reading Program Bag with a Bingo board to complete. Or, get started online here.
A weekly drop-in Crafty Kids will be held on Wednesdays in February, 9:00am-7:30pm.
Teen Winter Reading Program
Stop by the YA Area beginning January 30, 2023 for a Bingo board to complete. Or, get started online here.
Complete the program to win free books, gift cards, and other goodies!
Weekly teen events will be held on Thursdays at 6pm in February.
Winter Reads for Children
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Wild Winter Creatures! (Wild Kratts)
The Wild Kratts take off to investigate how different animals survive in the cold in this leveled reader featuring shiny stickers!
PBS’s successful animated show Wild Kratts joins the adventures of zoologists Chris and Martin Kratt as they travel to animal habitats around the globe. Along the way, they encounter incredible creatures while combining science education with fun. Boys and girls 4 to 6 will love learning to read as the Kratts investigate the different ways in which certain creatures live and survive in cold climates in this Step 2 Step into Reading leveled reader. Bonus stickers add to the fun! Step 2 Readers use basic vocabulary and short sentences to tell simple stories. For children who recognize familiar words and can sound out new words with help. -
Little Homesteader: A Winter Treasury of Recipes, Crafts and Wisdom
This charmingly illustrated seasonal treasury of nature-based crafts, baking recipes, and gardening projects for the winter celebrates the homesteading lifestyle with self-sufficient and eco-friendly fun.
Locally printed on 100% recycled paper, Little Homesteader: A Winter Treasury of Recipes, Crafts and Wisdom offers:
- Easy yet delicious winter recipes and treats that introduce young readers to local and seasonal eating. From berry cookies, to hot cocoa recipes to warm up after a winter walk, the easy-to-make recipes will inspire kids to get into the kitchen.
- Suggestions for using up unloved parts of produce, such as carrot tops to make a kitchen windowsill garden, demonstrate a naturally zero-waste way of living.
- Accessible and fun crafts, such as making salt-dough ornaments and foraged foliage wreaths, have instructions broken down into clear steps illustrated in AnneliesDraws’ cute and wholesome style.
- The seasonal gardening and growing projects, such as planting bare root berry bushes in the ground or in containers, can be done in a big back yard or on a balcony, making this eco-friendly activity book a fun resource, whether readers are based in town or country.
Woven alongside the cooking, crafting, and planting projects are little snippets of seasonal information and self-sufficient wisdom from homesteading teacher Angela Fanning of Axe and Root Homestead, with a focus on enjoying and celebrating the best of what the winter season has to offer.Find even more nature-centered seasonal fun in: Little Homesteader: A Fall Treasury of Recipes, Crafts, and Wisdom.
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Sliding in the Snow
Grab your gloves and snow boots, it’s time for an adventure in a frozen wonderland—right in your own backyard! Here are fun twists on classic winter pastimes, like sledding and making snowmen. Learn how to design your own backyard winter Olympics.
Things to make and do include: • Saving a Snowflake Forever • Wacky Snow Creations • Making Your Own Snowshoes • Making a Snowball Launcher • Sidewalk Curling • Skijoring • And more!
MELISSA DYMOCK is a ski instructor for children ages 3 to 12 and has mastered getting six 5-year-olds dressed and on skis before any of them have to go the bathroom again (most days). For more outdoor adventures, find her at weekendwomanwarrior.com. She lives in Utah.
FRAN LEE has a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Printmaking and a freelance graphic designer and illustrator (www.coatimundistudios.com). She has designed and illustrated many children’s activity books and has been the Art Director for Chicago Review Press and Creative Director for Hello Kitty (Sanrio Inc.). She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband.
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The Ice House
With shades of When You Reach Me, The Thing About Jellyfish, and Bridge to Terabithia, and a big, timely climate hook at its core, here is a heartfelt middle grade debut about the inevitability of change that will resonate profoundly during these extraordinary times.
Spring has arrived, and yet an unyielding winter freeze has left Louisa snowed into her apartment building for months with parents coping with extreme stress, a little brother struggling with cabin fever, and--awkwardly--her neighbor and former close friend, Luke. The new realities of this climate disaster have not only affected Louisa's family, but when Luke's dad has an ice-related accident and it's unclear if he'll recover, both families' lives are turned upside down.
Desperate to find an escape from the grief plaguing their homes, Louisa and Luke build a massive snow fort in their yard. But their creation opens up an otherworldly window to what could lie ahead, and sets them on a mission: to restore the universe to its rightful order, so the ice will melt and life will return to "normal".
With a deft combination of heartfelt prose and a touch of magic, Monica Sherwood's affecting debut novel is a relatable story of families grappling with--and emerging from--a different kind of quarantine. -
A Long Road on a Short Day
A tender story of a father-son adventure with themes of community and kindness, in short chapters with vivid full-color illustrations, by bestseller and Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt and acclaimed artist Eugene Yelchin.
In a story of perseverance and determination told with warmth and sparkling with humor, a short winter day finds Samuel and Papa walking a long road on Samuel's first trading trip. Meeting strangers, practicing good manners, and proud to be in Papa's company, Samuel watches and learns as Papa trades up from almost nothing to the milk cow Mama is yearning for. Simple text combines with vivid illustrations for a satisfying tale that will resonate with readers who enjoy an adventure with dad.
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Brian's Winter
From three-time Newbery Honor-winning author Gary Paulsen comes a beloved follow-up to his award-winning classic Hatchet that asks: What if Brian hadn't been rescued and had to face his deadliest enemy yet--winter?
In the Newbery Honor-winning Hatchet, thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson learned to survive alone in the Canadian wilderness, armed only with his hatchet. As millions of readers know, he was rescued at the end of the summer. But what if that hadn't happened? What if Brian had been left to face his deadliest enemy--winter?
Brian Paulsen raises the stakes for survival in this riveting and inspiring story as one boy confronts the ultimate adventure.
“Paulsen picks Hatchet’s story up in midstream; read together, the two books make his finest tale of survival yet.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred
“Breathtaking descriptions of nature . . . Paulsen fans will not be disappointed.” —School Library Journal
Read all the Hatchet Adventures!
Brian's Winter
The River
Brian's Return
Brian's Hunt -
Bramble and Maggie: Snow Day
“Haas does a particularly good job of expressing the horse’s point of view as fully as Maggie’s. . . . A beautifully crafted book for beginning readers.” — Booklist (starred review)
The sky is white, the air is cold, and snowflakes are falling. By bedtime, Maggie and her family are ready for the storm. But Bramble is too excited to sleep; she wants to be out in the white, wild world. Luckily for Bramble, she has a shaggy coat to keep her warm. And luckily for Maggie and her family and friends, when morning comes, Bramble can help dig through the deep snow that has most of the neighbors stuck in their homes, turning the snow day into a block party complete with marshmallows, cocoa, and lots of friends. -
Heartwood Hotel, Book 2 The Greatest Gift (Heartwood Hotel, Book 2)
Mona the mouse has finally found a place to call home, the cozy Heartwood Hotel, where she works as a maid and sleeps snuggled up in a room with her best friend. Following the festive St. Slumber celebration, most of the guests have settled in to hibernate, and the staff is looking forward to a relaxing winter. But disruptions abound, from a difficult duchess to a mysterious midnight snacker. As the snow stacks higher, Mona will have to gather friends both old and new to keep the peace, finding help in some of the most unexpected places.
The second book in the enchanting Heartwood Hotel series, The Greatest Gift will warm your heart with its endearing characters and exquisite illustrations. Praise for the Magical Animal Adoption Agency series "[This] gentle tale of magic and self-reliance will entertain confident new independent readers. Clover's sweet story is a good next step for lovers of the Magic Tree House."
-Kirkus Reviews
"Readers will be envious of the world of magic that Clover becomes ensconced in and eager to read future installments."
-Publishers Weekly
"[A] charming story, delicately written, with a winning heroine. . . [and] a conclusion that will satisfy young readers."
-Booklist Online
"Graduates of sparkly chapter-book series will be right at home and looking for the next installment posthaste." -Kirkus Reviews "[T]he gentle but intrepid Clover continues to charm." -Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books -
A Thing Called Snow
In this follow-up to the holiday hit The Tree That's Meant to Be, a fox and hare discover the magic of a first winter snowfall.
Fox and Hare were born in the spring, but the seasons are changing and they hear snow is on the way. "What is snow like?" they ask all the forest animals, and each gives a different answer ("Snow is white, like your fur."). But their questions are soon answered when thick, fluffy flakes start to fall. SNOW! Young readers will share the magical feeling of a first snowfall as they see the two best friends marvel in nature's beauty.
This is a charming holiday story that feels instantly classic and yet fresh and new at the same time. With heartfelt themes of friendship, curiosity, and the wonder of nature, it's a story families will love cozying up with together. -
Once Upon a Winter Day
A boy learns that nature is full of stories to tell when he finds and follows a mouse's tracks in a wintery wood.
Milo wants a story, but his mom is too busy to entertain him. Instead, she encourages him to go out and play in the snow. At first, Milo is disappointed - he doesn't want to play outside, he wants a story.
But when he starts to follow a trail of mouse-prints, he discovers signs of activity all around, prompting him to ask, "What happened here?" Before long, he's using his imagination -- depicted in lush wordless spreads that capture the vividness of Milo's fantasies -- to fill in the gaps. By the time Milo comes home, he's the one with stories to tell.
A must have for the winter season, Liza Woodruff's Once Upon a Winter Day is a fun read-aloud that shares details about animal behavior from a child's perspective.
A Bank Street Best Childrens Book of the Year!
Winter Reads for Teens
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Not If I Save You First
A heart-pounding story about a girl stranded in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness with the boy who wronged her... as an assassin moves in.
Maddie thought she and Logan would be friends forever. But when your dad is a Secret Service agent and your best friend is the president's son, sometimes life has other plans. Before she knows it, Maddie's dad is dragging her to a cabin in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness.No phone.No Internet.And not a single word from Logan.Maddie tells herself it's okay. After all, she's the most popular girl for 20 miles in any direction. She has wood to cut and weapons to bedazzle. Her life is full.Until Logan shows up six years later . . .And Maddie wants to kill him. But before that can happen, an assailant appears out of nowhere, knocking Maddie off a cliff and dragging Logan to some unknown fate. Maddie knows she could turn back- and get help. But the weather is turning and the terrain will only get more treacherous, the animals more deadly. Maddie still really wants to kill Logan. But she has to save him first.
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Love and Other Train Wrecks
A Today.com Best Pick for Valentine’s Day * An Amazon Best Book of the Month
A whirlwind twenty-four-hour romance about two teens who meet—and perhaps change their minds about love—on a train ride in the middle of a snowstorm. Leah Konen’s Love and Other Train Wrecks is perfect for fans of Emery Lord and Jennifer E. Smith.
Noah is a hopeless romantic. He’s traveling home for one last chance with his first love, and he needs a miracle to win her back. Ammy doesn’t believe in true love—just look at her parents. If there’s one thing she’s learned about love in the last year, it’s that it ends.
That is, until one winter night when Noah and Ammy find themselves in the same Amtrak car heading to Upstate New York. After a train-wreck first impression between the two of them, the Amtrak train suddenly breaks down—in the middle of a snowstorm.
Desperate to make it to their destinations, Noah and Ammy have no other option but to travel together. What starts off as a minor detour turns into the journey of a lifetime, but come morning their adventure takes an unexpected turn for the worst.
Can one night can really change how they feel about love...and the course of their lives forever?
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A Winter's Promise
Amazon Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book of 2018
One ofEntertainment Weekly's 10 Best YA Books of 2018
One ofPublishers Weekly's Best YA Book of the Year
A National Indie Bestseller
Longlisted for Irish YA prize Great Reads Award
Lose yourself in the fantastic world of the arks and in the company of unforgettable characters in this French runaway hit, Christelle Dabos' The Mirror Visitor quartet.
Plain-spoken, headstrong Ophelia cares little about appearances. Her ability to read the past of objects is unmatched in all of Anima and, what's more, she possesses the ability to travel through mirrors, a skill passed down to her from previous generations. Her idyllic life is disrupted, however, when she is promised in marriage to Thorn, a taciturn and influential member of a distant clan. Ophelia must leave all she knows behind and follow her fiancé to Citaceleste, the capital of a cold, icy ark known as the Pole, where danger lurks around every corner and nobody can be trusted. There, in the presence of her inscrutable future husband, Ophelia slowly realizes that she is a pawn in a political game that will have far-reaching ramifications not only for her but for her entire world.
The World of the Arks
Long ago, following a cataclysm called the Rupture, the world was shattered into many floating celestial islands, now known as arks. Over each, the spirit of an omnipotent and immortal ancestor abides. The inhabitants of these arks each possess a unique power. Ophelia, with her ability to read the pasts of objects, must navigate this fantastic, disjointed, perilous world using her trademark tenacity and quiet strength.
An unforgettable heroine, a rich and bountiful universe, intrigue and suspense:A Winter's Promise is perfect for readers of Margaret Rogerson'sAn Enchantment of Ravens, Melissa Albert'sThe Hazel Wood, V.E. Schwab's "Shades of Magic" series, Tomi Adeyemi'sChildren of Blood and Bone, Kenneth Oppel's "Airborne" series, and N.K. Jemisin "Broken Earth" series.
Extract:
I think we could have all lived happily, in a way, God, me and the others, if it weren't for that accursed book. It disgusted me. I knew what bound me to it in the most sickening of ways, but the horror of that particular knowledge came later, much later. I didn't understand straight away, I was too ignorant.
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The Winter Duke
She survived the curse. Now she must survive the throne.All Ekata wants is to stay alive--and the chance to prove herself as a scholar. Once Ekata's brother is finally named heir to the dukedom of Kylma Above, there will be nothing to keep her at home with her murderous family. Not her books or her experiments, not her family's icy castle atop a frozen lake, not even the tantalizingly close Kylma Below, a mesmerizing underwater kingdom that provides her family with magic. But just as escape is within reach, her parents and twelve siblings fall under a strange sleeping sickness, and no one can find a cure.
In the space of a single night, Ekata inherits the title of duke, her brother's captivating warrior bride, and ever-encroaching challengers from without--and within--her ministry. Nothing has prepared Ekata for diplomacy, for war, for love...or for a crown she has never wanted. If Kylma Above is to survive, Ekata must seize her family's magic and power. And if Ekata is to survive, she must quickly decide how she will wield them both.
The Winter Duke is an enchanted tale of intrigue by Claire Eliza Bartlett, author of the acclaimed feminist fantasy We Rule the Night. -
Stealing Snow
From Danielle Paige, the New York Times bestselling author of Dorothy Must Die, comes a re-imagining of "The Snow Queen" fairy tale.
Seventeen-year-old Snow has spent the majority of her life within the walls of the Whittaker Institute, a high security mental hospital in upstate New York. Deep down, she knows she's not crazy and doesn't belong there. When she meets a mysterious, handsome new orderly and dreams about a strange twisted tree she realizes she must escape and figure out who she really is.
Using her trusting friend Bale as a distraction, Snow breaks free and races into the nearby woods. Suddenly, everything isn't what it seems, the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur, and she finds herself in icy Algid--her true home--with witches, thieves, and a strangely alluring boy named Kai, none of whom she's sure she can trust. As secret after secret is revealed, Snow discovers that she is on the run from a royal lineage she's destined to inherit, a father more powerful and ruthless than she could have imagined, and choices of the heart that could change the fate of everything . . . including Snow's return to the world she once knew.
This breathtaking first volume begins the story of how Snow becomes a villain, a queen, and ultimately a hero.
"A lush and addictive fantasy woven from threads of magic, romance, and adventure by a master storyteller. Danielle Paige raises the bar with Stealing Snow."
--Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures & author of The Lovely Reckless
"A magical, exciting adventure full of secrets, thieves, and witches, with a unique, fresh twist on an old legend."
--Jennifer L. Armentrout, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wait for You
"Just as a blizzard turns a familiar landscape into something both dazzling and deadly, Stealing Snow transforms the 'Snow Queen' into an adventure that's hauntingly beautiful and dangerously seductive."
--Kass Morgan, New York Times bestselling author of The 100
"Eerie, edgy and enchanting, Stealing Snow will transport you."
--Amie Kaufman, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Illuminae
"One of my favorite fairy tale retellings! Danielle Paige is a master storyteller!"
--Melissa de la Cruz, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Isle of the Lost -
After the Snow
A chilling debut novel about a time in the future when global warming has sent the world into a new Ice Age.
“After the Snow is a coming-of-age novel, first and foremost—a brutal, tough and sometimes truly transcendent one.” —The New York Times Book Review
The oceans stopped working before Willo was born, so the world of ice and snow is all he's ever known. He lives with his family deep in the wilderness, far from the government's controlling grasp. Willo's survival skills are put to the test when he arrives home one day to find his family gone. It could be the government; it could be scavengers—all Willo knows is he has to find refuge and his family. It is a journey that will take him into the city he's always avoided, with a girl who needs his help more than he knows.
Don't miss the prequel:
One Crow Alone by S. D. Crockett
Praise for After the Snow:
“Crockett has created a voice that gets inside you, a voice that, though limited in vocabulary and perspective, achieves remarkable emotional range. And Willo proves the perfect narrator for this harrowing tale about the dangerous new world of Crockett's invention. . . . After the Snow is a coming-of-age novel, first and foremost--a brutal, tough and sometimes truly transcendent one.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Suspenseful and powerful.” —VOYA
“In this powerful first novel, global warming has killed the North Atlantic Current, sending the U.K. and much of the U.S. into a new ice age.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“A sentimental tale of hardships, resilience and first-time experiences that illustrates a universal truism: Hope springs eternal in the young.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Marks Crockett as a writer to watch.” —Booklist
“What elevates Snow is the voice Crockett uses to tell the tale.” —School Library Journal, starred review
S.D. Crockett on narrative voice and an especially cold winter:
What was your inspiration for After the Snow?
Well, apart from the unbelievably cold winter during which I was writing—in an unheated house, chopping logs, and digging my car out of the snow; I think much of the inspiration for the settings in After the Snow came from my various travels.
In my twenties I worked as a timber buyer in the Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia, and that work led to travels in Eastern Europe and Armenia. As soon as I step off the plane in those places it smells like home.
It may sound strange to say when After the Snow is set in Wales, but really the practical dilemmas in the book come directly from places I've been, people I've lived with, and the hardships I've seen endured with grace and capability. I was in Russia not long after the Soviet Union collapsed and I've seen society in freefall. Without realizing it at the time, I think those experiences led me to dive into After the Snow with real passion.
What would western civilization look like with a few tumbles under its belt? What would happen if the things we took for granted disappeared? I wanted to write a gripping story about that scenario, but hardly felt that I was straying into fantasy in the detail.
What do you want readers to most remember about After the Snow?
We all have the capacity to survive, but in what manner? What do we turn to in those times of trouble? Those are the questions I would like people to contemplate after reading After the Snow.
How did Willo's unique voice come to you?
Willo's voice appeared in those crucial first few paragraphs. After that it just grew along with his world and the terrible situations that arise. I think his voice is in all of us. We don't understand, we try to make good—maybe we find ourselves.
How did you stay warm while writing this novel?
I banked up the fire—and was warmed by hopes of spring. -
Wintersmith
When the Spirit of Winter takes a fancy to Tiffany Aching, he wants her to stay in his gleaming, frozen world. Forever. It will take the young witch's skill and cunning, as well as help from the legendary Granny Weatherwax and the irrepressible Wee Free Men, to survive until Spring. Because if Tiffany doesn't make it to Spring—
—Spring won't come.
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Shiver
From a dazzlingly talented young writer, a haunting and original supernatural romance in the vein of TWILIGHT.
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.
Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.