It is National Kazoo Day. True story! Here's what National Today has to say about it:
National Kazoo Day’s here. It all began when Joyful Noise Kazoo Band member Chaplin Willard Rahn founded the day in 1983. National Kazoo Day is meant to celebrate all the ways that playing (and listening) to the kazoo bring happiness to people of all ages. So on January 28, celebrate by listening to kazoo bands or by playing your own. But just maybe, like me, you are thinking that you aren't a fan of a kazoo (totally no judgement here!). In that case, check out the link below so you can celebrate National Kazoo Day by making your own instrument instead of going crazy to the sound of a kazoo! This book is filled with tons of instruments you can make with items that are likely just laying around your house!
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January is National Brain Teaser month! Here's some info on why we celebrate this month from the website Days of the Year:
People always talk about physical stimulation and keeping your body healthy, but where’s the brain gym to help keep your wits sharp? Most people don’t realize that engaging in mental stimulation is just as important as keeping your body in shape, but that’s what brainteaser month hopes to change. Everyone loves a good riddle. Brain teasers are an excellent way to keep our minds sharp and focused. Many teachers have their students practice them in class, but have you done many as an adult? There are plenty of great puzzles out there to challenge every level of thinking. For daily teasers, there are several mobile apps that offer daily reminders and challenges. And if you don't want an app, we have some books at the library that will do just fine! Check them out via the link below... Check out this week's new books! There's a little bit of everything here including the newest Last Kids on Earth book and the newest Dog Man book! Be sure to get on the catalog and place your holds! Also be sure that your account is clear. You can check if you have items overdue by looking at the "checkouts" link in the menu. I am super excited to share this book with you today! It will be PERFECT for you if you liked Into the Woods or any of the April Henry books! It's got that dark, serious mystery feel. Check out the trailer...and then check out the book! Today is all about medicine! COVID has definitely changed lives around the world in the last year. Today your library has several new books on COVID that cover how doctors are managing it to what it is and how to cope with our new normal. Along with that, we also have new books on the plague! I know that many of you have been reading about the plague and its similarity to COVID (in terms if how it took over the world super swiftly and changed life for millions). So we also have some new books on that if you prefer learning about a more historic pandemic rather than the current one. While you are at it, check out our health books in general! We have a huge section that covers everything from how your body works to how to maintain a healthy lifestyle to the history of medicine and disease! So you will be sure to find something that fits your interests! The BEST way to search this section, since it is so varied, is to follow these steps once you are logged into the catalog:
Penguins are ridiculously adorable! While that may be why you think there is a National Penguin Awareness day, it's not. Get ready to be sad (sorry), but not too sad because everyone can make a difference that may lead to a big change!
According to Daysoftheyear.com, Penguin Awareness Day is a time to celebrate and commemorate penguins, but unless we do something as a collective to help penguins thrive in the wild, there may be none left in the near future. That’s why the main focus of Penguin Awareness Day is to educate people on their situation, learn how climate change has affected them and also learn about the different species and where they live. Penguins are a barometer of the effects of human activity on the poles, according to scientists from institutions around the world. Raising awareness about them, therefore, is seen by many as a way to communicate with people about the impending dangers of climate change. If people can see how these birds are being affected, perhaps they will make changes to their lives. Laboratories and scientific institutions worldwide became increasingly interested in Penguin Awareness Day after 2010. Their main aim is to highlight their penguin-related research and get the public interested in conservation. For instance, Polito Lab released a video talking about what it was doing to study the lives of these lovable birds in Antarctica in 2017. LSU College of the Coast and Environment also jumped on the bandwagon, posting video content on Facebook. It featured short clips of penguins getting up to their usual antics with important messages posted over the top about how they live. According to the informational piece, penguins spend the majority of their lives either on the ice or in the water. Their colonies vary in size considerably, from just a few dozen to millions. Their diet is mainly krill and fish, and they create so-called “penguin highways” through the ice to make it easier to collect food. Penguins, however, picky eaters. When you live in Antarctica, you have to consume whatever calories you can find, even if it is shrimp caught in the ice from years. Penguins need to consume specific types of food to keep their feathers and eggshells healthy. Scientists now say that they can take samples from these components and determine the quality of their diet. Now that’s quite an achievement! In 2020, Cincinnati Zoo jumped on the Penguin Awareness Day bandwagon following the Twitter frenzy on the subject. The public amenity released a press release about the new habitat it had created for its blue penguins. Penguin Awareness Day is, for that reason, an opportunity for everyone involved in the life of penguins to chip in and talk about this vital creature. Remember, the penguin is the largest animal to venture into the heart of Antarctica to breed. It is a tough little cookie and worth celebrating. How to celebrate Penguin Awareness Day Celebrating Penguin Awareness Day usually involves visiting a penguin exhibit at a local zoo. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about penguins, what they eat, how they socialize and also the environment they live in. However, it’s also a good opportunity to learn more about how climate change has affected them and what can be done to help their situation. You might get suggestions on charities that help penguins and donations are always appreciated to help their cause. However, if you don’t have a local zoo nearby, then celebrating Penguin Awareness Day can be done indoors, even with your children. Penguin documentaries are a great way to learn more about penguins if you have teenage children, but if they’re still young and are expecting something fun and quirky for Penguin Awareness Day, then you could watch a penguin-related film together, even if it’s a cartoon. You can also watch videos on YouTube that talk about penguins and their situation to learn more about the wonderful species. You can also think about donating to charities that specifically cater to the needs of penguins. The Global Penguin Society, for instance, does conservation work designed to protect the penguin’s natural habitat. It also advocates for the protection of the Southern Oceans – the principal place where penguins live. It wants to protect all eighteen species of wild penguins found throughout the southern hemisphere so that future generations can enjoy them. Some charities also let you “adopt a penguin,” for a small amount of money every month. In return, you get regular updates on how your penguins are doing. And you can find out more about ongoing efforts to reduce fishing encroachment on their feeding grounds. Penguins are susceptible to fishing stock depletion so conservationists need to manage this carefully. Lastly, you can also use the hashtag #PenguinAwarenessDay on social media to either learn more about penguins or even educate others about penguins and their situation. Want to learn more about global warming (or just penguins in general)? Check out the link below for books I can check out to you! Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. So we're all kinds of excited to have a day off school and sometimes we forget why we are celebrating a day. If you would like to read more about the Civil Rights Movement, scroll down and click the button to check out the library books you can hold! Here's how he directly impacted the United States: It’s because of Martin Luther King and the efforts of his supporters that America came to understand the power of nonviolent protest. When his nonviolent efforts were met with violence, it actually garnered empathy and support for his cause. The public was swayed to such a magnitude that major acts of Congressional power were set in motion. King was largely responsible for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Civil Rights Act banned discrimination in the workforce and public accommodations based on “race, color, religion, or national origin.” The Voting Rights Act protects African Americans’ right to vote. He also played a major part in the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. This prevents people from banning black people from any sort of housing, be it a rental or a sale. Even until the day he died, King never allowed fear to triumph. He unified people together under a common goal. Today, you won’t find black people and white people forced to sit in separate sections on a bus or drink from separate water fountains in a public space. Although prejudice remains, the tide is shifting in a way where the racists of the world are scorned, and not innocent African Americans. (Click here to read more: https://biography.yourdictionary.com/articles/martin-luther-kings-vision-change-world.html) You can also check out this fun Kid President video! This is a great read for a snowy day...kinda like today! It was a finalist to be a Mark Twain nominee, so we have three copies (#nowaiting)! This is an excellent story if you like family stories, school stories, and stories about kids who have parents in the military and who have to move as a consequence. THe characters in this book are super relatable and the setting is in a town a lot like Pleasant Hill. I think you will love it! If you do, place a hold on it and I will deliver it to you! So today is national Dress Up Your Pet day! It's no secret that I'm an animal lover, so if your pet doesn't want to be dressed up, don't force it. Your pet may not like you so much if you are too forceful or it may bite you. However, if you have a super chill pet (I do!) then go all out! Here's some history and ideas on how to celebrate from National Today:
Celebrate by dressing up your furry family member in comfortable pet clothing — maybe even get matching outfits, if you want to get crazy. If it were any normal day, people would be staring at you at your dog in the street. However, on National Dress Up Your Pet Day, matching outfits are not only accepted, but also encouraged! Who’s the angel responsible for this holiday? National Dress Up Your Pet Day was started in 2009 by celebrity pet lifestyle expert and animal behaviorist Colleen Paige. It celebrates pets and helps to support the pet fashion community. The chance only comes once a year to wow the neighbors and to unleash the inner diva of your favorite pooch, so make sure your dog is dressed for the occasion! If you don't want to go all out dressing up your pet (or if you don't have one), check out the pet books we have at PHIS with the link below! We have lots of new books this week! Many of our new titles are part of a series, so if you haven't read the others, be sure to check those out first. Arlo Finch and the Valley of Fire is the first book in a new series we have in the library. Here's a quick description of this great start to a new series: Arlo Finch thought becoming a Ranger meant learning wilderness skills, like camping and knots. But upon arriving in the tiny town of Pine Mountain, Colorado, Arlo soon learns there's so much more. His new friends Indra and Wu teach him how to harness the wild magic seeping in from the mysterious Long Woods―a parallel realm of wonder and danger. We also have the 3rd book in the Book Scavenger series! The first book (The Book Scavenger ) was a Mark Twain nominee a couple of years ago so I'm betting many of you will have already read it, so be sure you pick up the first 2 books in the series. We also have several books on volunteering and making the world a better place this year if you are looking to do some good in 2021! |
AuthorHi! I am Areadingwoman (otherwise known as Melissa Arenson). I just love books! I have a bachelor's degree in 9-12 English education, a master's degree in literature, and a specialist's degree in library science. Archives
January 2023
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