Blog posts by Hasina

Library Card Sign Up Month!

Hasina, ; Elizabeth

September is National Library Card Sign Up Month!  While this year may look pretty different from past years, and your library experience may look different as well, there are still ways to celebrate all the wonderful resources you and your family can access with a library card. If you live here in New York, you can get a Brooklyn Public Library eCard that works for electronic resources. With a library card, you can access digital materials like e-books and e-audiobooks for the whole family.  You can also access databases to help with remote learning activities, or even answer a…

Kids Explore: Magical Adventures with Fairies

Hasina, ; Elizabeth

BACKYARD FAIRIES. Copyright © 2018 by Phoebe Wahl. 
  The theme for Summer Reading 2020 is Imagine Your Story. It’s a way to celebrate reading whatever fun stories spark your imagination. And it’s also a way to celebrate the creatures of folklore and myth, of fantasy and wonder. We’re bringing a little magical sparkle to your summer with this celebration of fairies. Some of them may be small, but each one has a lot of magic to bring into the world, by sharing their talents. (Does that sound like any young kiddos you know?)  These books,…

Kids Explore: Flag Day

Hasina, ; Elizabeth

Wikimedia Commons
June 14th is the celebration of Flag Day, which was established as an official holiday in 1916. It marks the day in 1777, when the men writing the Articles of Confederation (a precursor to the Constitution) passed a resolution that “the flag of the United States be 13 stripes, alternate red and white,” and that “the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” As new states came into the United States, the flag gained new stars. And here’s an interesting story: In 1958, a high school student from Ohio named…

National Loving Day

Hasina, ; Elizabeth

Mildred and Richard Loving in 1967. Image from Wikipedia
On June 12, join us in commemorating the anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, and in celebrating diverse families. In June of 1967, Richard Perry Loving and his wife, Mildred Delores Jeter made United States history for being brave enough to love, and to marry one another. In order to have the freedom to be together and be married, the two of them had to take a civil rights battle all the way to the United States Supreme Court.  You see, Richard was white, and his beloved wife, Delores, was black…

Kids Create: Ramadan Crafts

Hasina, ; Elizabeth

During Ramadan, Muslims around the world fast from sunrise to sunset. Muslims follow a lunar calendar, a calendar that follows the phases of the moon.  Every year Ramadan’s dates change. Ramadan may be 29 or 30 days and the dates change every year, moving ahead by approximately 11 days.  This year Ramadan began on the evening of April 8, 2022and will end on Monday, May 2.  These easy Ramadan crafts are a fun way for children to decorate their home or learn about Ramadan. Ramadan Crafts Ramadan Crafts for Kids from KidsWorldCitizen.org   12 Beautiful…

Kids Explore: Wildlife

Hasina, ; Elizabeth

National Wildlife Federation
In celebration of National Wildlife Week, we're sharing some resources to help you explore nature and wildlife right from home. Try a Virtual Zoo Visit Observe animal behavior through the following links. Bronx Zoo’s Instagram Webcams from the National Zoo California zoos and aquariums  These are just a sampling of what is available. Search for "virtual zoo" or "animal webcam" and you'll find many more!   Free Educational Materials Enjoy free access to National Wildlife Federation’s award-winning…

Celebrating Tomie dePaola

Hasina, ; Elizabeth

If you’ve ever read to a tiny kid, or been a tiny kid getting read to, chances are, you’ve encountered a book by Tomie dePaola. He was the author and illustrator of over 270 books, including childhood favorites like the tales of Strega Nona, and his most recent publications, Quiet, Wings, with Cheryl B. Klein, and I Will Talk to You, Little One with Phyllis E. Gann. His career spanned over 50 years of writing and illustration. Toie dePaola passed away on March 30, 2020. To honor and commemorate his memory, we wanted to share these resources:…

BKLYN Kids Presents: National Wildlife Week

Hasina, ; Elizabeth

National Wildlife Week starts today, April 6th. We know that it may not be easy right now to find ways to get outside and explore nature and wildlife. With these crafts, books, and other resources, you will be able to bring the wildlife exploration closer to home! Kids Create  New York Zoos and Aquarium: Build Your Wild Self (Based on an Activity from the Bronx Zoo) You can choose to do this on paper or on the computer.  Start by drawing yourself, and replace some of your features with aspects of different animals: What kind of eyes do you have? Cat eyes that see in the…

BKLYN Kids Presents: National Physicians Week

Hasina, ; Elizabeth

Doctors, nurses, and medical professionals are working tirelessly around the clock to keep us all healthy, especially now.   To celebrate National Physicians Week from March 25-31, 2020 we have come up with a booklist, crafts, and activities to inspire you.   Here is a list of books you can read with your kids, including some they can read independently, to help answer questions about what doctors do, and what a child can expect at a doctor visit. Kids Create Cotton Swab Painting:  Super fun and easy, all you need is cotton swab / cotton balls , paper…

Kids Explore: Virtual Farm Tours

Hasina, ; Elizabeth

To wrap up National Agriculture Week, we're sharing a few ways to explore and enjoy farm life from home!  

photo courtesy of Northern Solstice Farm
Take a virtual walk with Alpacas at the Northern Solstice Farm in Maine. Truffles, Isadora, and Sperry are just a few of the 35 adorable Alpacas you'll meet while virtually touring the farm. We could spend hours watching them graze in the pasture and relax in the barn!  
photo courtesy of Dutch Hollow Farm
Take a dairy farm tour from Dutch Hollow…

Library Lab: Be a Home Botanist

Hasina, ; Elizabeth

In honor of National Agriculture Week, we're showing you how to Grow your Own Green Onions! Depending on who you ask, green onions are called scallions or spring onions. They are sold at various markets with the roots intact. Normally, you use everything but the roots. To save money, save time, reduce waste, upcycle and show off your green thumb you can easily regrow green onions! Here’s a super easy way to regrow spring onions so you can get an almost endless supply. A perfect way to make use of kitchen scraps. All you need are the following materials: a jar (reused a salsa…

Book Talk: National Agriculture Week

Hasina, ; Elizabeth

Signs of spring are starting to show: the days are brighter and warmer. Green shoots are popping up in gardens, on sidewalks and windowsills. Take part in National Agriculture week from your own backyard, windowsill or kitchen.   March 22 through 28 marks National Agriculture Week 2020, a time to celebrate the essential role of the farmers and growers of the nation.  Whether you have an expert green thumb, a budding interest in getting started with urban gardening, or you love to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, this list of electronic resources will have something for you to…

Commemorating the Apollo 11 Moon Landing

Hasina,

Saturday, July 20, 2019 will mark the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. A great book that explores one of our space station greatest accomplishments is Brian Floca’s Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11. Floca is the author and illustrator of Locomotive, winner of the 2013 Caldecott Medal. It comes as no surprise that the images in Moonshot are unique to his style and very detailed. He uses art to explore Apollo 11’s legendary moon landing. There are details about the spacecraft’s that were built and used. The book also explores the science and technology used to make the moon…

Summer Reading Family Feature: The Kantrowitz Family from Windsor Terrace

Hasina,

Thank you to Children's Librarian Hasina Islam for submitting this Summer Reading story from the Kantrowitz Family! Meet the Kantrowitz Family Cara: I was born in Brooklyn, but didn't actually grow up here. My husband and I moved here after I finished graduate school and started working for the Department of Education. I've always loved to read. I immediately got a library card and was constantly maxing out the number of books on hold at a time. Now that our kids are (almost!) 5 and 16 months, we spend SO MUCH time at the library. We meet friends, attend story…

Summer Reading Family Feature: Tatyana and Sofiya from Windsor Terrace

Hasina,

As Summer Reading 2018 comes to a close, we'd like to feature some of our all-star patrons who participated in the program! Meet Tatyana and Sofiya My family came to the USA from Ukraine 25 Years ago. To start a new life was not easy at all. But everyone was full of hope and desire to learn, work, and succeed. Friends introduced my daughter to the Windsor Terrace Library. That was a lot of help for her. She was a very shy teenage girl. With support from the librarians, she started reading books. High school studying was very challenging, but she never gave up. My mother-in-law was…