Tag Archives: Picture Book

Moon, Stars, Sun

A picture of the full moon through the branches of a tree

September is promising to give us a plethora of spectacular cosmic events.

The month was ushered in by a Super Blue Moon, while on the 17th of September, Venus will be at its brightest. The 19th will have Neptune at opposition (meaning the planet will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long via telescope). On the 22nd, Mercury will be at its highest point above the horizon in the morning. Look for the planet low in the eastern sky just before sunrise!

This year’s Autumnal Equinox will also fall on September 23rd, meaning there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. Finally, the last Super Moon of the year—the Harvest Moon—is set to rise in all its glory on the 29th. Meanwhile, Illuminarium at the Distillery District is offering an all-ages immersive event titled Space: A Journey to the Moon and Beyond!

In honour of these and other cosmic events, here are some lovely books all about the heavens above.

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2022 Spring/Summer Storywalks

Now that the snow has melted and the parks and trails are starting to become green and vibrant again, it’s time to go visit the StoryWalks once more! Starting in late May, you’ll find a nice surprise to greet you at each of the same trails as before, with new StoryWalk panels installed at select parks throughout Vaughan (one in each ward)! These are new titles, so if you made your way through all of them last year, be sure to check them out once again! If you haven’t heard about them before, VPL has partnered with the City of Vaughan’s Department of Parks to offer a different reading experience: you get to read a story as you make your way through the park. Who says reading is an indoor activity?

Image of Nature Backpacks in a row

And while you’re making your way out onto the trails, why not bring along one of our many Nature Backpacks with you? We have 7 different types of Nature Backpacks, each packed with themed activities, including magnifying glasses, binoculars, books and more! Do you go crazy for bugs? Check out Things with Wings, or maybe Creepy, Crawly Critters! Animal lover? You can learn how to identify Who’s Been Here? with our Nature Backpacks, so you’ll be able to figure out who’s visiting your local park or backyard. Or if you love seeing Spring bloom and grow, you might be interested in Buds, Blossoms & Leaves. And if you just love everything there is to know about the outdoors, you’ll want to get your hands on the Explore Outdoors backpack! In fact, the fun doesn’t end once Winter comes around again, so don’t forget about the Winter Outdoor Fun backpacks!

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Got preschoolers? Reading, and re-reading (and re-re-reading) in isolation, and beyond!

A photo of Kasey (the author of this post) sitting on the couch with their kid, and the book Toot Toot, Beep Beep, by Emma GarciaIf your youngest kids are even a little bit like mine (pictured at left courtesy of VPL’s Instagram, though she’s currently a much bigger year-and-a-half), now that Ontario has officially been in a state of emergency for just over two weeks, you’ve probably read every picture book in your house a good 50 times each by now (or at least, it feels like it!) It’s… a lot, right?

It got to be too much for me in a about a week, and I’m a children’s librarian! I actively chose a career that revolves around sharing books with children, because I genuinely love to do so! I’ve been running storytimes in a professional capacity for several years now, but I seriously hadn’t ever realized how much energy is required to perform a read aloud until I ran out.

Rest assured, it happens to the best of us. And I’m here to offer you some silver linings (though, if you’re desperate, you can jump to the end for some helpful resources, too!). Continue reading