Tim Heller, avid chess player, hosts informal open play on the second and fourth Sundays of most months in the library Community Room, while providing instruction and pointers on improving your game.  Beginners are welcome.  The 4th Sundays include a tournament by "Library Chess Clubs."  For tournament information and registration, please email clubchess@wowway.com.

This is the last day you can nominate the Canton Public Library in LEGO Duplo and ALSC's Read! Play! Build! program.  It only takes a minute, and you help us win LEGOs for our early literacy area. You can nominate once a day through October 1, 2012.  Thank you for your support of Canton Public Library.  

Kids and Tweens in grades K-6, improve your reading skills and make a new friend by reading aloud to a dog. Sign up begins at 6:25 PM and is on a first come, first serve basis. Sessions are 10 minutes long.

Program Date: November 26, 6:30-8:30 PM

Post 9/11, and even prior, Sikhs have been the victims of multiple hate crimes, most recently a vicious shooting at a Sikh place of worship in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, the cause of most of these crimes is a lack of understanding about the Sikh identity. Come learn about the history of Sikhs in America, about their identity and beliefs, and their large presence in and contribution to the metro Detroit community. Meet your neighbors on Thursday, October 25 at 7:00 PM.

The perennially popular children's book Where's Waldo celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Kids have spent hours looking for the bespeckled explorer in his candy cane striped sweater and his friends. Now they can hunt for Waldo here at the Children's Library on Thursday, October 11th starting at 7:00 PM. This program is recommended for ages 7 to 10. No registration required.

[Waldo looks for himself courtesy of flickr user hcplebranch by a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license]

Calling all boos and ghouls! Join us Monday, October 29th at 7:00 PM in the Community Room for a night of creepy crafts, ghostly games, and spooky stories. Wear your costume and participate in our trick-or-treat parade around the library. Recommended for children age 4-9 years old. Registration begins Sept 25.
This program is sponsored by The Friends of Canton Public Library.

Are you in 5th, 6th, or 7th grade and looking for ways to fulfill your community service requirement for school? Join us and work as our Tween Service Corps. You can earn one hour of your community service time and also have fun helping out in the Children's Department. Our next date will be Saturday, October 13, 2012 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM. We look forward to seeing you!

Join us on Sunday, October 14 from 9:00 AM-1:00 PM at the Canton Farmers Market's Annual Harvest Celebration. Held at the historical Preservation Park, this celebration will include crafts, stories, and Halloween Parade, so come dressed in your finest costume garb. See you there!
[After our trip to the pumpkin patch by knitsteel is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0]

Join origami expert, Charles Esseltine, on Thursday, October 4 from 7:00-8:00 PM to learn about basic folds and shapes. Charles will demontrate a variety of origami models, including some fun, Halloween designs. All materials will be provided. All ages and experience levels welcome. Registration is required and will open on September 25. Little hands will need assistance from big hands. Warning: All attendants must arrive willing to have fun!
Photo used with permission by origamiguy1971. 

On Thursday, October 25 at 9:30-11:30 AM Starfish Family Services will be educating parents, grandparents and caregivers on the art of using conversation to develop launguage skills with the five years old and under set. They will be presenting support strategies for sharing intentional conversations and introducing new words into your child's vocabulary. Attendees are encouraged to bring their children into the Purple Room to play with Starfish's licensed daycare providers while the caregiver's program takes place in the Community Room.

Are you a creative kid? Are you in 2nd through 6th grade? Let your creative side flow in our new monthly program, Creatapillars. This exciting program will alternate between art themed and writing themed activities each month starting with an art themed activity on Monday, October 8, 2012 from 7:00 PM to 7:45 PM. Registration begins September 25, 2012. See you there!

[Caterpillar by Rickydavid is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0]

Join us October 27 2:00-5:00 PM for our Harry Potter Costume Party. Come as your favorite Harry Potter character, ghost, creature, or prop! We'll have prizes, snacks, and a showing of the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Plus, see the Harry Potter's World Exhibition, brought to you by the National Library of Medicine. For patrons 8 to 80. Registration required.

Scholastic Publishing is celebrating Clifford the Big Red Dog's 50th Anniversary. The popular childrens book series written and illistrated by Norman Bridwell now has more 100 titles and over 126 million copies in print.

Clifford's best pals by Norman Bridwell

Clifford and the dinosaurs by Norman Bridwell

Hey, mystery lovers! Aunt Agatha's Bookstore, featuring new and used mysteries, detective and true crime, will celebrate its 20th Anniversary on Wednesday, October 3 from 4:00-7:00 PM. Mystery lovers attending their open house will have an opportunity to meet well-known authors such as Steve Hamilton, Louise Penny, Sara Zettel, Deborah Morgan, Loren D. Estleman and more. Aunt Agatha's is in Ann Arbor at 213 S. Fourth Avenue. For more information call 734-769-1114.

Major League Baseball is jetting toward the World Series faster than vendors can toss hot dogs to the hungry crowd. This year the World Series begins on October 24, 2012, so only a little over a month away. Will the Detroit Tigers make it into the playoffs? Only time will tell. We are one game behind the White Sox, so keep your fingers crossed and check out our awesome books and dvd's hightlighting Detroit's finest. Go Tigers!

The Detroit Tigers: a pictorial celebration of the greatest players and moments in Tigers history by William M. Anderson

Here's some great news.  The entire Magic School Bus TV series has finally been rereleased on DVD.  We've made it easier to find by shelving it in the JDVD section.  Each disc has multiple episodes on it. With eight discs in the series there are lots of adventures to be had with Ms. Frizzle and her class.

In celebration Banned Books Week and our freedom to read, the Library will be showing a special movie Monday, October 1 at 7:00 PM. The movie will be determined in a readers' poll running until Friday, 9/21. What's your favorite banned book adaptation?

Just in case you're a Junie B. Jones fan, you should be aware of her seasonal titles appropriate for the upcoming holidays as well.

Junie B., first grader: boo!— and I mean it! by Barbara Park

Junie B. Jones, first grader: turkeys we have loved and eaten (and other thankful stuff) by Barbara Park

Junie B., first grader: jingle bells, Batman smells! (P.S. so does May.) by Barbara Park

Enjoy!

If you have enjoyed our awesome "Your Dream Library" Lego displays in the children's dept. you might also be interested in the Lego Kids Fest coming to Novi in October. Creativity for all to enjoy.

Many of the puppets in the children's department have gone on vacation for a few days to be cleaned and sanitized. They will be back soon, and look forward to playing with their many fans.