If you haven't heard about the Preschool Prep DVD series, you are in for a real treat! This series began back in 2004 with "Meet the Letters" and "Meet the Numbers" using colors and graphics to familiarize children with letters as they begin to talk. Since then, they have branched out into colors, shapes and phonics. You can find this series in our Parenting collection, that is when they aren't checked out!

Preschool prep company [videodisc]: Meet the colors

Preschool prep company [videodisc]: Meet the letters

Nominations for the 84th annual Academy Awards were announced January 24. Several of the nominated films and performances are already available in the Library's collection. Among the nominees for Best Picture ready to check out are:

The Help [videodisc]

Midnight in Paris [videodisc]

Moneyball [videodisc]

The tree of life [videodisc]

2011 North American Hammett Prize nominees have been announced by the International Crime Writers Association — North American Branch. The organization will name the Hammett Prize winner, during the Bloody Words Conference, in Toronto, June 1-3, 2012. The winner will receive a bronze trophy, designed by sculptor Peter Boiger.

Feast day of fools: a novel by James Lee Burke

Claire DeWitt and the city of the dead [sound recording]: [a mystery] by Sara Gran

Set in an Edwardian country house in 1912, the popular PBS series Downton Abbey centers on the Crawley family, their servants and their life at their grand country home. However, the death of the Crawley heir aboard the Titanic, sets in motion a succession of changes for both the family and the servants. The second season — which began on PBS on January 8 — has moved forward to the years 1916-17 and portrays the effect that World War I has on all of their lives. This Emmy Award winning series is written by Julian Fellowes and stars Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, and Elizabeth McGovern. If you enjoy this period of history try some of the following titles.

Books

The American heiress: a novel by Daisy Goodwin — Traveling abroad with her mother at the turn of the twentieth century to seek a titled husband, beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England.

Below Stairs — The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" by Powell, Margaret — The remarkable true story of a woman who served in one of the great houses of England as a kitchen maid.

The past year saw several popular books made into movies. The Help, Moneyball, War Horse, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Extemely Loud & Incredibly Close were just a few of the titles that were made into successful films. And 2012 is shaping up to be just as full of books-into-film productions as 2011. Listed below are only a few of the titles to be released in theaters this year. Get a head start on your reading and stay tuned for more in the coming months!

Abraham Lincoln: vampire hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith — Starring Rufus Sewell and Dominic Cooper. Release date: June 2012

Breaking dawn by Stephenie Meyer — Part 2. Starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Release date: November 2012

Join us on Monday, February 20 for an all day family movie extravaganza starting at 10:00 AM with a film for our youngest patrons and gradually getting more sophisticated, until the 6:30 PM showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

• 10:00 AM — Winnie the Pooh (G)
• 1:00 PM — Kung Fu Panda 2 (PG)
• 3:00 PM — Mr. Popper's Penguins (PG)
• 6:30 PM — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (PG-13)

You may bring pillows, snacks, even your own comfy lawn chairs if you like.

The American Library Association has joined the National Institutes of Health promoting Go4Life. Go4Life, an exercise and physical activity campaign from the National Institute on Aging at NIH, is designed to help individuals fit exercise and physical activity into their daily life.

Older & wiser workout [videodisc]: for active older adults by with Sue Grant; produced by FitFlix Productions

Lilias! yoga: your guide to enhancing body, mind, and spirit in midlife and beyond by Lilias Folas

The Black Swan [videodisc]

Catfish [videodisc]

The company men [videodisc]

Conviction [videodisc]

Fair game [videodisc]

The fighter [videodisc]

The Help [videodisc]

Looking for a film to ring in the New Year for your kids? One that you can show early? Like around 8? Look no further than CPL! Here are some options:

Winnie the Pooh [videodisc]: a very merry Pooh year by Walt Disney Home Entertainment — Winnie the Pooh and friends make New Year resolutions not to bother Rabbit

Year without a Santa Claus [videodisc]: Nestor the long-eared Christmas donkey, Rudolph's shiny new year — Rudolph helps Father Time locate a missing New Year baby

ITV in partnership with Agatha Christie, LTD has announced they will film 5 new Hercule Poirot stories for release in 2012.

Dead man's folly by Agatha Christie

The big four [Large print]: a Hercule Poirot mystery by Agatha Christie

Elephants can remember [by] Agatha Christie by Christie, Agatha, 1890-1976

Acclaimed actor and Michigan native Harry Morgan passed away on Wednesday, December 7 at the age of 96. Morgan might be best known as the beloved Colonel Potter in the long-running series M*A*S*H. If you wish to honor his memory but haven't seen M*A*S*H and his other works, or even if you have, we have many on our shelves for your choosing:

Inherit the wind [videodisc] by Metro-Mayer-Goldwyn Studios, Inc

High noon [videodisc] by Republic Entertainment, Inc

If you have read Kevin Boyle's Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age, the 2011-2012 Great Michigan Read try David Halberstram or Branch Taylor or one of the many documentaries about Civil Rights in America produced over the years.

Faith in the city: preaching radical social change in Detroit by Angela D. Dillard; with a foreword by Charles G. Adams

Race and remembrance: a memoir by Arthur L. Johnson

A Christmas carol — You know the holiday season has arrived when we receive another copy of A Christmas Carol for the collection. The original version starring Alastair Sim as Scrooge is celebrating its 60^th Anniversary with a special edition, which includes an introduction by Leonard Maltin. So take time out from the holiday shopping, gather up the family and make some popcorn and enjoy this holiday classic.

The upcoming weeks will see several new films released that are based on, or inspired by popular books. Here are some of the most anticipated:

The adventures of Tintin: the chapter book by adapted by Stephanie Peters — Directed by Stephen Spielberg

Extremely loud & incredibly close by Jonathan Safran Foer — Starring Tom Hanks & Sandra Bullock

Every year in December a bumper crop of new Holiday Kids Movies makes their debut. This year is no exception with many of the new films starring characters kids recognize from their favorite movies. Many of these movies are available at CPL now, with more on the way in the coming weeks. These are great solutions when you need some down time to make dinner (or squirrel away to wrap some gifts). Here are some of this year's offerings:

Merry Madagascar [videodisc] by DreamWorks Animation LLC

Penguins of Madagascar [videodisc]: The all-nighter before Xmas

Christmas with the chipmunks [videodisc] by Bagdasarian Productions LLC

Are you in the Thanksgiving mood? While you'll have to look elsewhere for the greatest Thanksgiving-themed TV episode ever, we have a number of movies from Moviefone's list of 21 Films About Turkey Day:

Planes, trains and automobiles [videodisc] by Paramount Pictures

Pieces of April [videodisc] by United Artists and IFC Productions present an InDigEnt production in association with Kalkaska Productions

If you loved the The Hunger Games as much as I did, you may be wondering about the movie. The official Hunger Games movie trailer has been released and you can watch it on the Hunger Games website. The movie will be in theaters beginning March 23rd. Will you be there?

If you've enjoyed watching The Monkey's Heart puppet show that was posted on our website this week, there are many more similar resources here at the library! The Grammy Award winning Rabbit Ears series are narrated by celebrities and cover a broad range of stories. Animated Tales from Around the World by Schlessinger Media combines two short native stories from one country. You can find both of these series in our fairy tale section of the children's library.

The highly anticipated new film J. Edgar opens this weekend. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Judi Dench and Armie Hammer, it explores the public and private life of J. Edgar Hoover — one of the most powerful, controversial and enigmatic figures of the 20th century. Hoover was considered the face of law enforcement in America for almost fifty years.

Unfortunately, fans of this popular new DVD will have to wait an extra 28 days to check out a copy from the Library due to a new policy recently instituted by Warner Home Video:

Warner Home Video will no longer distribute theatrical releases to libraries or home video rental stores until 28 days after they release the movies for sale at retailers. This Warner Home Video policy applies to all public libraries and video rental outlets such as Redbox, Netflix, and Blockbuster. In addition to being released 28 days after the retail version, Warner's rental version DVDs will not contain bonus features or extras. Please note that Warner’s new policy will only impact titles that have a theatrical release, perhaps amounting to about 12 titles per year. Non-theatrical Warner releases will not be affected by this policy.

The first three Warner theatrical titles affected by this new policy are Crazy, Stupid Love, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, pt.2, and The Hangover, pt.2. If you would like to express your opinions to Warner Home Video you can call toll-free at 1-866-373-4389 or by email.