KDL Blog ‘Guys Read’ Category

Ultimate Beyblade Battle

Sunday, March 3rd, 2013

beybladeTest your skills and have fun competing in KDL’s first-ever Ultimate Beyblade Battle!

Bring your own Beyblades and arenas, or train and compete using the library’s equipment. This is for children ages 6 and older and is a Guys Read-approved event.

Schedule:

Saturday, March 16, 1:30 PM – Sand Lake/ Nelson Township branch
Tuesday, April 2, 1:00 PM – Englehardt branch
Wednesday, April 3, 2:00 PM – Cascade Township branch
Thursday, April 4, 1:00 PM – Walker branch
Thursday, April 4, 2:00 PM – Kentwood (Richard L. Root) branch
Saturday, April 6, 2:00 PM – Wyoming branch
Saturday, May 11, 11:00 AM – Tyrone Township branch

 


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KDL Top Ten – 3/1/2013

Friday, March 1st, 2013

Time to get silly!  View 10 of the most popular titles in Juvenile Humor at KDL — click on the link to the KDL Top Ten List!

Top Ten 3-1-2013 Juvenile Humor


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Bored? Build with Bricks!

Wednesday, February 27th, 2013

building bricksThe library is the place for building fun! Several KDL branches will host a Family Building Bricks Party this spring. It’s your chance to design, build and bond. Bring the whole family and create a towering monument using the library’s building bricks. The best part? There’s no big mess at home to clean up!

Schedule:

Saturdays, March 2, April 6 and May 4, 10:00 AM – Grandville branch
Saturday, March 9, 10:00 AM – East Grand Rapids branch
Saturday, March 9, 2:00 PM – Gaines Township branch
Saturdays, March 9, April 13 and May 11, 2:00 PM – Comstock Park branch
Saturdays, March 9 and April 20, 2:00 PM – Caledonia Township branch
Saturday, March 16, 10:30 AM – Tyrone Township branch
Saturday, March 23, 10:00 AM – Walker branch
Saturdays, March 23, April 20 and May 18, 10:30 AM – Alpine Township branch
Saturdays, March 30 and April 27, 2:00 PM – Plainfield Township branch
Monday, April 1, 1:00 PM – Englehardt branch

Get your creative juices flowing and join us for some creation mania at the library!

 


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Guys Read Approved: Soccer Documentary

Tuesday, February 26th, 2013

one_night_in_turinI recently watched One Night in Turin, an awesome sport documentary that focuses on the English soccer team during the 1990 World Cup.  It is narrated by actor Gary Oldman and includes match action as well as never before seen footage.

The Barclay’s Premier League is now a world-leading soccer league which attracts interest from foreign investors and spectators from all over the globe. But before the Premier League became the shining star that it is today, English football was in a state of shame, scarred by hooliganism and a struggling national team. That is, until Sir Bobby Robson took charge of the English National team and during the 1990 World Cup in Italy managed to restore the hope of the nation and faith in their national game.

KDL has lots of other great documentaries on DVD; be sure to check out your local branch and see what they have.

 


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KDL Top Ten – 2/22/2013

Friday, February 22nd, 2013

View 10 of the most popular titles in Children’s Nonfiction at KDL this month — click on the link to the KDL Top Ten List!  Kids really click with Lego!  If your youngsters like Lego too, come join us at one of our Family Building Bricks Parties!

Top Ten 2-22-2013 Children's Nonfiction

 


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Minecrafting at the Library

Wednesday, February 20th, 2013

minecraftGet your Minecraft fix and show off your world-building skills during a creative building competition. Please bring a personal laptop if possible. Newbies are welcome to use the library’s Minecraft license during these events. Pre-registration is required and space is limited. For teens and adults. This is a Guys Read-Approved event!

Schedule:
Saturday, March 9, 2:00 PM – Kentwood (Richard L. Root) branch
Saturday, March 16, 11:00 AM – East Grand Rapids branch
Tuesday, April 2, 2:00 PM – Cascade Township branch (for all ages)
Thursday, April 4, 1:00 PM – Englehardt branch
Thursday, May 16, 3:30 PM – East Grand Rapids branch
Saturday, May 18, 10:00 AM – Krause Memorial branch

* image: taringa.net


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World War II Fiction for Kids

Friday, February 15th, 2013

Do you love to read historical fiction, specifically World War II era fiction?  Do you have an upcoming class assignment where you need a book from a specific time period? Place a hold or stop by your local branch to pick up one of these WWII fiction books.

Willow Run (2005)

During World War II, after 11-year-old Meggie moves with her parents to Willow Run, Michigan, when her father gets a job in the B-24 bomber-building factory, she  learns about different kinds of bravery from the people around her.

An Elephant in the Garden (2011)

Lizzie and Karl’s mother is a zoo keeper; the family has become attached to an orphaned elephant named Marlene, who will be destroyed as a precautionary measure so she and the other animals don’t run wild should the zoo be hit by bombs. The family persuades the zoo director to let Marlene stay in their garden instead.

The Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941 (2011)

Eleven-year-old Danny Crane is alone on his favorite beach in Hawaii when the world is torn apart and World War II officially hits the United States. Does he have what it takes to find his way home in the midst of the bombs, the smoke and the destruction of the day that will live in infamy?

Don’t You Know There’s a War On? (2001)

In wartime Brooklyn in 1943, 11-year-old Howie Crispers mounts a campaign to save his favorite teacher from being fired.

 

Black Radishes (2010)

When Paris is captured by the Nazis, Gustave knows that Marcel, Jean-Paul and their families must make it out of the occupied zone. And when he learns that his new friend Nicole works for the French Resistance, he comes up with a plan that just might work. But going into Occupied France is a risky thing to do when you are Jewish. And coming back alive? That is nearly impossible.

A Faraway Island (2009)

In 1939 Sweden, two Jewish sisters wait for their parents to flee the Nazis in Austria, but while 8-year-old Nellie settles in quickly, 12-year-old Stephie feels stranded at the end of the world, with a foster mother who is as cold and unforgiving as the island on which they live.

 

War Games (2009)

What were once just boys’ games become matters of life and death as Petros and his older brother Zola each wonder if, like their resistance-fighter cousin, they too can make a difference in a Nazi-occupied Greece.

Jimmy’s Stars (2008)

In 1943, 11-year-old Ellie is her brother Jimmy’s “best girl,” and when he leaves Pittsburgh just before Thanksgiving to fight in World War II, he promises he will return, asks her to leave the Christmas tree up until he does and reminds her to “let the joy out.”

The Coastwatcher (2005)

While 11-year-old Hugh, his family, and his cousin Tom are spending the summer of 1943 on the South Carolina shore to escpe the polio epidemic, Hugh uncovers clues that point to a German plot to sabotage a nearby naval base.

Someone Named Eva (2007)

From her home in Lidice, Czechoslovakia, in 1942, 11-year-old Milada is taken with other blond, blue-eyed children to a school in Poland to be trained as “proper Germans” for adoption by German families, but all the while she remembers her true name and history.

 


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Endearing Audiobook Series for Teens

Sunday, February 10th, 2013

The Ruins of GorlanSometimes a series comes along that just gets better with each book.  The characters become friends and the next books feels like a reunion.  The Ranger’s Apprentice series has been that type of series for me.  I really did like the first book, The Ruins of Gorlan, but the second and third books have just made the whole series that much better!  Each book has a lot of adventure and action and the main characters — Will, the apprentice, and Halt, the ranger — just get more interesting to read about.  Plus Bloody Jackthe audiobook version really draws the reader into the action!

For a great audiobook series the might have more appeal for girls (since the main character is a girl), try Bloody Jack by L. A. Meyer.  What really makes this series great is the reader of the audiobooks, Katherine Kellgren.  The books just come alive because she vocalizes the songs and spunkiness of Jacky.  This is a historical fiction series so Jacky has to disguise herself as a boy to join the British navy.

Audiobooks are a great way to enjoy books everywhere you go and can be shared with a friend!


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KDL Top Ten – 2/1/2013

Friday, February 1st, 2013

View the 10 most checked-out titles in Children’s Fiction at KDL this week — click on the link to the KDL Top Ten List!  And tell us — What are some of your favorite children’s books and why?

Top Ten Children's Fiction 2-1-2013


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Guys Read Celebration

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013

Guys-Read-Logo-300x219Fun for guys big and small. Try out unique European board games, bring your Pokémon cards to trade and battle with friends and enjoy other great activities at 2:00 PM on Sunday, January 27 at the Cascade Township branch.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Cascade Library.

 

 

 


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