Themed Bookshelves

Children all over the world typically go back to school following their summer holidays. This means that school starts in August or September in the Northern Hemisphere, and January or February in the Southern Hemisphere. But even though many kids start school at the same time, what it means to go back to school may be very different. In Caracas, Venezuela, children can take a gondola to school. In a remote region of Colombia, children get to school by riding a zip line. In the Philippines, there is a schoolhouse made almost entirely of recycled soda and water bottles. There are floating boat schools in Bangladesh and a school shaped like a giant cat in Karlsruhe, Germany. To celebrate Back to School Month 2023, here are some great books about different ways to go back to school! Read More

According to CNN, five million people every month search Google for “Spider-Man” – far more searches than for any other superhero.  When is National Spiderman Day?...Now you know. It's August 1st. Who is your favorite superhero?...Celebrate National Spider-Man Day 2023 with these great stories featuring other well-known (and not so well-known) superheroes. Read More

Lis Hartel was only 23 years old in 1944 when polio left her paralyzed from the knees down. Determined to still compete as an equestrian, Lis taught herself to ride again. In 1952, she earned a silver medal in dressage at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki – the very first year women were welcome to compete at the Olympic Games, and eight years before the first Paralympics (the largest international sports competition for athletes with disabilities) was held in 1960. Celebrate National I Love Horses Day on July 15, 2023, with these great books about horses and riders, including Jubilee: The First Therapy Horse and an Olympic Dream!   Read More

Ice cream has been a favorite food in the United States since the 1700s. In the 1800s, an ice cream maker was invented – it allowed people to hand-crank the ice cream inside a bucket of ice, mixing the ingredients until they slowly froze.  Today, there are electric ice cream makers, and huge ice cream factories make almost a billion gallons of ice cream in the U.S. every year! However, (according to our friend Google) you can actually make ice cream without an ice cream maker (electric or otherwise), if you have a few simple ingredients plus ice, salt, and two plastic bags. Here are some great books about making and enjoying ice cream in celebration of National Ice Cream Month 2023. Yum! Read More

Dolly Parton began singing professionally at age 10, and has gone on to write and perform almost 3,000 songs. Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, Dolly founded the Imagination Library to give books to children ages 0-5 years. Since 1995, the Imagination Library has gifted more than 200,000,000 books to children! In honor of World Music Day 2023, learn more about musicians like Dolly Parton, Jimi Hendrix, Selena, and “V” from BTS, by checking out these great books: Read More

Learn about the meaning behind the other colors of the Pride flag in Our Rainbow by Little Bee Books, and celebrate Pride Month 2023 with these great titles about important moments and people in LGBTQ history. Read More

When we think about cheetahs, the idea of these wild cats forming friendships with dogs seems extremely unlikely. But cheetahs can become anxious, particularly when interacting with humans in a zoo environment. The San Diego Zoo solved this problem by introducing one of their cheetah cubs, Arusha, to a Golden Retriever named Anna, and the animals became best friends. Arusha and Anna eventually became animal ambassadors, meeting thousands of visitors at the San Diego Zoo, and other cheetah/dog friendships soon followed. Here are some great books about unusual animal friendships to help celebrate National Zoo and Aquarium Month 2023: Read More

All tortoises are turtles. But not all turtles are tortoises! Tortoises like to live on land, while most turtles like to live in water as well as on land. Tortoises are shaped a little differently than most turtles, because they have thicker back legs and shells that are dome-shaped. And tortoises are herbivores (vegetarians) while most turtles are omnivores – they eat both plants and animals.  Celebrate World Turtle Day 2023 with these wonderful nonfiction books about turtles (including tortoises)! Read More

The average car releases almost a pound of carbon dioxide into the air every mile it’s driven. If you drove 365 fewer miles per year, that would be equivalent to planting four trees and having them absorb CO2 for ten years! Want to learn more about protecting our environment? Check out some of these great books!   Read More

You may have heard about teen activist Greta Thunburg and her work to help stop climate change, but have you met Marley Dias, Mya-Rose Craig, Zanagee Artis, Autumn Peltier, Litokne Kabua or Rebecca Sabnam? Read about these amazing young activists, and learn how you, too, can make a difference! Read More