Upcoming Kids & Family Events
Help us bring in the New Year 2025 with crafts, games, and more! Activities designed for ages 5-11. Other family members welcome.
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Photography and Video Policy
By registering for this event, you or those attending with you may be photographed or recorded on video that will be used for library promotional purposes. If you or a member of your group would not like to be photographed, please alert a staff member at the program.
Play, socialize, and learn while making connections. For families with children ages birth-2.
Registration opens two weeks prior to the program date.
Disclaimer(s)
Photography and Video Policy
By registering for this event, you or those attending with you may be photographed or recorded on video that will be used for library promotional purposes. If you or a member of your group would not like to be photographed, please alert a staff member at the program.
A monthly STEAM-themed educational activity. Ages 6-11. This month, we will learn about Maryland’s largest land animal - Black Bears!
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Photography and Video Policy
By registering for this event, you or those attending with you may be photographed or recorded on video that will be used for library promotional purposes. If you or a member of your group would not like to be photographed, please alert a staff member at the program.
Plan, reinvent, and engineer for sustainability! Ages 6-11.
Educational activities for homeschoolers and children in non-traditional school settings. (Repeat program offered on Jan. 15th at 3:00 p.m.)
Disclaimer(s)
Photography and Video Policy
By registering for this event, you or those attending with you may be photographed or recorded on video that will be used for library promotional purposes. If you or a member of your group would not like to be photographed, please alert a staff member at the program.
Build and play with playdough while learning early academic concepts! Ages 2-5.
Registration opens two weeks prior to the program date.
Disclaimer(s)
Photography and Video Policy
By registering for this event, you or those attending with you may be photographed or recorded on video that will be used for library promotional purposes. If you or a member of your group would not like to be photographed, please alert a staff member at the program.
Books for Babies
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Hello, ocean friends : a high-contrast book
Promotes early eye development while helping babies make connections between images on a page and the real world, depicting two-color images of sports figures and balls on bold, single-color backgrounds.
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Look Look Outside
A black-and-white board book just right for baby's eyes
There's a world of wonder outside baby's window in this fourth board book in the popular Look, Look! series. In striking black-and-white images perfect for infant eyes, ladybugs fly, cars zoom, and clouds float. With bold, simple text and art, this board book makes an ideal learning experience for very young babies and a perfect shower gift. -
Hello World!
Babies can see black-and-white images from birth, and this captivating series has been specially designed to delight even the youngest readers.
Babies will love to experience the appealing, high-contrast black-and-white images in this engaging board book. With a tactile die-cut cover and super-bright fluorescent inks on every page, which feature simple black-and-white illustrations, this series has been specially designed to capture your little one's attention. Babies will meet a host of friendly, familiar characters, such as the sun smiling and saying hello, a cheerful flower, a happy bee, a sleepy ladybug, and more fun creatures and sounds.
Happy Baby introduces adorable baby animals and other happy friends with engaging black-and-white board books! Each page features minimal text and a black-and-white, high-contrast picture with a bright burst of color. -
Indestructibles: Taste the Fruit! (High Color High Contrast)
Indestructibles is the trusted series for easing little ones into story time. Beloved by babies and their parents, Indestructibles are built for the way babies “read” (i.e., with their hands and mouths) and are:
- Rip Proof—made of ultra-durable tight-woven material
- Waterproof—can be chewed on, drooled on, and washed!
- Emergent Literacy Tool—bright pictures and few or no words encourage dialogic reading
- Portable—lightweight books can go anywhere, perfect for the diaper bag and for travel
- Safe for Baby—meets ASTM safety standards
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Hello Head to Toe
Meet adorable animals that are here to help baby learn about their own body parts - from their eyes and ears to their nose and toes! Hello, Head to Toe is the perfect first baby book and introduction to making connections to their body that's written in a rhythmic read-aloud text for parents. Every lino-cut artwork and high contrast design is intentional for a baby's developing eyesight to make visual connections with simple shapes in simple black and white. Also included is a surprise mirror at the very end of the book to give your baby the opportunity to look at themselves - something babies just love to do!
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Sweet Baby: Breakfast/El Desayuno
Give your little one's developing brain some food for thought! Adorable images introduce mealtime vocabulary to babies and toddlers. Newborns and young infants will be captivated by the black and white aspects, and older babies will be able to perceive the high-contrast colors as they learn mealtime vocabulary.
- High-contrast images stimulate babies’ vision and brain development.
- Provides an engaging activity for tummy time.
- Makes a perfect gift for a baby shower or for new parents.
- Series also includes Sweet Baby: Lunch/El almuerzo, Sweet Baby: Dinner/La cena, plus all three titles in English-only versions.
Adorables imágenes introducen el vocabulario de la hora de comer a bebés y niños pequeños. Los recién nacidos y los bebés pequeños quedarán cautivados por los aspectos en blanco y negro, y los bebés mayores podrán percibir los colores de alto contraste a medida que aprenden el vocabulario de la hora de comer.
- Las imágenes de alto contraste estimulan la visión y el desarrollo cerebral de los bebés.
- Proporciona una actividad atractiva para el tiempo boca abajo.
- Es un regalo perfecto para un baby shower o para nuevos padres.
- La serie también incluye Sweet Baby: Lunch/El almuerzo, Sweet Baby: Dinner/La cena, además de los tres títulos en versiones solo en inglés.
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My First Words
Babies can see bold, high-contrast images from an early age. Help to strengthen your child's developing eyesight with this engaging board book! Bright, colorful artwork and photographs as well as black-and-white illustrations introduce children to fun first words and other babies. Children will meet a variety of objects in a baby's busy day and night, such as a stroller, a bottle, a pacifier, a crib, pajamas, a diaper, and many more.
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Hello Baby Animals!
Babies can see black-and-white images from birth, and this captivating series has been specially designed to delight even the youngest readers.
Babies will love to experience again and again the appealing, high-contrast black-and-white images in this engaging board book. With a tactile die-cut cover and super-bright fluorescent inks on every page, which feature simple black-and-white illustrations, this series has been specially designed to capture your little one's attention. Babies will meet a host of friendly baby animal characters.
Happy Baby introduces adorable baby animals and other happy friends with engaging black-and-white board books! Each page features minimal text and a black-and-white, high-contrast picture with a bright burst of color. -
Tummy Time!
A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of 2023
The perfect gift for newborn babies!"Tummy time - placing a baby on his or her stomach only while awake and supervised - can help your baby develop strong neck and shoulder muscles, and promote motor skills." - Mayo Clinic. And this book will keep babies' brains busy, too, while their muscles are hard at work. The high-contrast images on one side are mesmerizing because, although young babies' vision is blurry, they can see bold patterns with sharp light-dark contrast and saturated color. Babies are also hard-wired to recognize faces, so there are baby photos on the other side to delight your baby, and an embedded mirror - because babies love looking at themselves! The book can be spread out in front of them, or read like a book so you can enjoy reading time together.
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Now That You're Here
From bestselling Feminist Baby and It Had to Be You creator Loryn Brantz comes a fun-filled high-contrast black-and-white board book that celebrates the experiences kids of all abilities may have with their loved ones
Now that you're here, there's so much we can do. We've been waiting so long for the chance to show you!
From blowing bubbles to exploring in the park, these moments and more are cherished in this sweet poem from caregiver to baby. With playful text perfect for fans of You Are My Happy and Guess How Much I Love You, bestselling Feminist Baby creator, Loryn Brantz, compliments her poem with black and white illustrations that babies can actually see!
Now That You're Here is a must-have addition to every baby's nursery and a perfect gift for baby showers, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Valentine's Day.
Also available in the LOVE POEMS YOUR BABY CAN SEE series:
- It Had to Be You
- For Your Smile
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Black Cat & White Cat
Can black cat and white cat find a way to play together? Find out in this clever black-and-white board book!
Black cat and white cat are friends. But in a world of black and white, someone is always hard to see! Can they find a way to play together without someone disappearing?
In the face of adversity, friendship prevails and black cat and white cat set off to find a place where they can play happily together. -
Hello Baby: Faces
Roger Priddy's Hello Baby: Faces is a high-contrast board book with lots of different faces for little eyes to discover!
Babies love to look at faces – looking at and learning the different types of faces and their expressions forms the cornerstone for the development of later social skills.
From a happy face to a sad face, all of the pictures in this high-contrast board book are designed simply so that they are easy for baby to focus on, and are illustrated in strongly contrasting black and white with splashes of color to stimulate baby's developing sight. -
Baby sees colors! : a totally mesmerizing high-contrast book for babies
Babies as young as six weeks old can appreciate the bold shapes and colors in BABY SEES COLORS! and will benefit from hearing a parent's voice, and the bonding that naturally occurs when a loving adult reads to a baby. Receptive language skills develop right from the start, as babies soak in everything they hear, and eventually learn to associate particular sounds with familiar people and things. Hundreds of thousands of parents in Japan have already discovered the power of this little book, and now American parents can too!
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Hello Happy Faces
Say "Hello!" to the animals of the world with this beautiful board book designed specifically for babies! From alligators and elephants to lions, sloths, and frogs, Hello, Happy Faces is the perfect first baby book. A great early introduction to animals for your baby, every linocut artwork and high contrast design is intentional for a baby's developing eyesight to make visual connections with simple shapes in simple black and white. Also included is a surprise mirror at the very end of this adorable baby animal book to give your baby the opportunity to look at themselves - something babies just love to do! Easy wipe clean board book pages with rounded corners are perfect for children as young as six months.
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Tummy Time: My Farm
Make the best of tummy time with your baby with this two-in-one fold-out book featuring beautiful illustrations of life on a farm.
This sturdy accordion book opens up to stand alone in a crib, on the carpet, or on a bed, making it easy for your baby to enjoy tummy time, all the time. One side feature vibrantly illustrated friendly cows, chicks, and ducks, and the opposite side has high-contrast black and white patterns, perfect for baby's developing eyes. And with two reflective pages, your baby can see him- or herself and practice those future smiles!
Since the American Academy of Pediatrics and other top pediatric organizations around the world recommend tummy time to help ""build the strength and coordination needed for rolling over, crawling, reaching, and playing"" this book is not just fun, it's also good for your baby.
Featuring:
- Two-sided fold-out panels
- Sturdy pages allow the book to stand alone in a crib, carpet, etc.
- High-contrast black and white images to help baby with eye development
- Two reflective pages
- Round corners for extra safety
Also available: TummyTime(R) Happy Baby
Also available: TummyTime(R) Animal Parade
Also available: TummyTime(R) Love Is All Around
Pawsome Pets
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I Want 100 Dogs
A young girl proclaims, "I want 100 dogs." In a twist, her parents agree, but they have just one question: Where will 100 dogs sleep? Our protagonist revises her request to 90 dogs. But how does one walk 90 dogs? A silly, subtractive counting tale and an over-the-top ode to the joys (and woes) of canine company, this sweet and surprising story proves that no matter how boundless your enthusiasm, when it comes to finding the perfect pet, sometimes less really is more.
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Pets and Their People: the ultimate guide to caring for animals--whether you have one or not
You don’t need to own a pet to become a pet expert! With author and vet Dr. Jess French you’ll gain fascinating insight into the adorable animals that capture the hearts of billions of people across the world. Plus, you’ll learn how we can understand our pets and give them exactly what they need (and want!). From playful puppies and cuddly cats, to fluffy guinea pigs and noisy chickens, there are many fascinating animals to meet.
We see them playing in our parks and snoozing on our sofas, but how much do we really know about the lives of our beloved pets? Have you ever wondered why cats meow at us but not at each other? When will a dog wag its tail at you? What should you feed a pet snake? And how can a hamster store so much food in its cheeks? Find out all these things and much, much more as you turn the fact-filled pages of this book.
From fluffy and friendly to scaly and shy, our pets are all wonderfully unique, so let’s find out how to take good care of them so they feel just like part of the family! -
Pet Detectives: Rodents
"Meet some of the planet's smallest mammals, from mice and rats to cheeky hamsters and fluffy chinchillas"--Back cover.
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Cone Dog
One day, Emma the dog leaves the vet with a giant plastic lampshade on her head. It cuts off her corners, dulls her digging, and makes Garson the greyhound gawk. One thing is clear--the cone is not good, and the only thing left to do is sulk.
When Emma's human tries to cheer her up with a game of fetch, Emma discovers that the cone miraculously catches every ball she fumbles! Emma realizes the cone has other surprising advantages too, from serving as a helmet during her hallway hurtles to helping her dig at triple-speed. Best of all, the cone plays a pivotal role in Emma's master plan to scare off the sneaky neighborhood squirrel, Keith.
Eventually, the cone comes off and Emma is free, but the important lesson she learned from her cone days remains: cone or no cone, it's Emma's inventive spirit that make her the Best. Dog. Ever. This fresh and funny follow-up to Cone Cat is a charming ode to ingenuity and making the best out of a ruff situation.
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The amazing adventures of the DC super-pets!: Magical Mischief
Krypto is definitely Superman's best friend. But when the evil Mxy unleashes his magical mischief, the canine crime fighter becomes the Man of Steel's worst enemy. Will Superman be able to save his Super-Pet?
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Don't Trust the Cat
Fifth-grader Poppy McBean likes rules and order. She's a follower, and she's totally okay with that. And if you judge her for that, she's okay with that too! But after falling prey to her friends' bullying one too many times, Poppy makes a wish to be happy--and it comes true in a very unexpected way: She wakes up in the body of her cat, Mitten Man.
Mayhem ensues as Poppy-the-girl attempts to navigate the wilds of the wilderness as a cat . . . and her free-thinking, groundbreaking kitty has had it with his owner's timidity. He's out to put the purr in perfectionist and take over middle school--as Poppy.
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A Brave Cat
Olivia is an indoor cat--a brave adventurer, a tireless traveler, and a fearless explorer who is never afraid. From hunting fierce shoelaces to climbing all the way to the top of the bookcase, Olivia has always been able to count on her bravery. But will it be enough to help her face the big, uncertain world outside her home?
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Dog's Colorful Day
Poor Dog. Somehow he always manages to be underfoot when someone makes a mess. Red jam, blue paint, pink ice cream, orange juice -- the history of his day is splattered on his bright, white coat. And by evening, there are ten colorful spots for children to count before the careless canine must have his bath.
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Do Cats Moo?
Do cats moo? Do cats chow? All I know is cats go MEOW This novelty board book, with fun text and colorful illustrations, features adorable puppies, hamsters, and bunnies, as well as the cuddly title cat and other favorite pets. Kids will happily lift the flap on each big animal "mouth" to uncover what sound it makes. For a grand finale, all the animals appear together peering out from behind two gatefolds, so children can sneak a peek and squeak, chirp, sniff, and snuffle once again
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Bad Dog
"Look what I got for my birthday! A pet dog!" says a little girl holding a . . . cat? Rocky doesn't listen or obey like all the other dogs. (Because Rocky is a cat.) And Rocky hates her leash and doesn't seem to like other dogs. (Probably because Rocky is a cat.) And rather than play fetch, Rocky prefers to . . . lick between her toes? Ew. Rocky is a bad "dog"! BUT Rocky doesn't bark, and is so cute when she sleeps in sunny spots. Maybe Rocky IS a good dog? (Or, you know, maybe Rocky is a cat.)
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Pets on the loose!: The Great Pet Escape
The class pets at Daisy P. Flugelhorn Elementary School want OUT . . . and GW (short for George Washington), the deceptively cute hamster in the second-grade classroom, is just the guy to lead the way. But when he finally escapes and goes to find his former partners in crime, Barry and Biter, he finds that they actually LIKE being class pets. Impossible!
Just as GW gets Barry and Biter to agree to leave with him, a mouse named Harriet and her many mouse minions get in their way. What follows is class-pet chaos guaranteed to make readers giggle . . . and maybe look at their class pets a little differently in the future. -
The Kitten Story
Finally, it's time for this family to adopt a pet of their own! But big decisions remain to be made. The two children, Tulip and Rosie, definitely want a kitten. But Daddy insists an older cat is best. No one can agree about what name to give the new family member, either. When Mommy and Rosie visit a shelter to choose their pet, yet another problem arises and they must go home empty-handed.
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My Weird School: Class Pet Mess! (Wonderbook)
Alexia is delighted when Mr. Cooper brings in Bob, a hognose snake, as class pet, but when Bob keels over, is Andrea's toy poodle or Alexia's neglect to blame?
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