The University of Michigan's Museum of Natural History presents a series of three fun family workshops about science. This year, to tie in with their temporary exhibition at the Museum called Evolution and Health (February 2012-January 2013), they are focusing on showing families what doctors mean when they talk about health, and how factors in our daily lives may affect our health.

As part of CPL's 100 Days of Health series, we invite you to register for the second workshop in the series titled Germs, Bacteria, and Allergies, Oh MY!: What makes us sick and what makes us well? The event takes place in the Purple Room on Saturday, February 11, 2012, from 1:00-2:00 PM. You will look at some of the things that make us sick, and find out what our bodies do to protect themselves. Workshops are designed for children ages 6-11, accompanied by an adult. Online registration for this event begins on January 28, 2012 at 9:00 AM.

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: Monday, March 26, 6:30-8:30 PM

Did you know that our Copy Station not only offers a place to print documents, but also has the resources to staple, hole-punch or cut your documents? A stapler, hole-punch and scissors are available at the Copy Station during regular library hours. If you come to the library to work on a project, you may make use of our Social Zones to put your project together, but you must bring any additional supplies.

Breaking Stalin's nose by Eugene Yelchin — a gripping story about a seldom covered historical era — Russia, or the then Soviet Union, under Stalin's rule. Ten-year-old Sasha begins a 24 hour period in a state of utter elation, the day has finally arrived for him to join the Young Pioneers. At last he will be able to serve the Communist Party and Comrade Stalin, just as his father does who works for the secret police in State Security. But poor, niave Sasha soon finds his whole world spiraling into an abyssmal black hole. His father is arrested in the middle of the night leaving him homeless. He accidentally breaks the nose off of a bust of Stalin at school and knows he could be arrested, too, if anyone reports him and he will never be able to join the Young Pioneers.

Has your teacher assigned a country report assignment recently? Do you need print and online resources to complete your assignment? Don't forget to check out Culturegrams. This database, which you can also access from home, has up to date information and is quite easy to use. You can also find pictures, sound clips, and citing information for your report.

Canton Leisure Services' Village Theater wants to take you to a play. On Saturday, February 11 at 11:00 AM, The Village Theater presents Are You My Mother? based on the classic children's book by P.D. Eastman. Adapted for the stage by playwright and lyricist Greg Gunning and composer Richard DeRosa, Are You My Mother? is an enchanting musical about Baby Bird’s journey — an adventure that overflows with love, dedication, and friendship — and shows children and adults alike how loss can be turned into empowerment; and how Baby Bird ends up finding more than she is looking for. The Village Theater will be giving away two family packs of four tickets to the show. Come to the staff desk in the Children's library and enter the drawing today! Drawing takes place on February 10. Tickets will be held at the Village Theater will call box office the day of the event.

When was the last time your book group read a classic? These five titles were made into films. All received Oscar nominations in one category or other.

Arrowsmith; Elmer Gantry; Dodsworth by Sinclair Lewis

Far from the madding crowd by Thomas Hardy

One flew over the cuckoo's nest by Ken Kesey

On Thursday, February 9, from 7:00-7:45 PM, love is in the air! Along with great love stories there will be crafts, a delicious snack and a free book to add to your collection at home. This Valentine's Day themed programming is supported by Target and the Friends of the Canton Public Library.

We invite you to visit the Children's Library to tour Turner Town, a Turner Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities Awareness Campaign, during the month of February (Turner Syndrome Awareness Month). This collection of doll houses is an interactive self-teaching traveling exhibit that depicts the everyday challenges of a girl with Turner Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities from birth and through her later teenage years. It has already been displayed in Livonia libraries, the Plymouth District Library and the Detroit Children's Museum. We are excited to have it visit us as well! Turner Town will be on display for the month of February.

For more information please visit Turner Town's website and the Turner Syndrome Society.

The American Girl series is moving from the series collection in aisle 19 to the J Fiction Collection in aisle 16. Because more than one author writes books for this series, it will be shelved by the series name, American Girl. Once again, we appreciate your patience and understanding while these items are temporarily unavailable in order to change the spine labels.

Sylvan Saturdays are back Saturday, February 11th, from 1:00-5:30 PM. Teens can attend this workshop, an introductory ACT Prep course that will give students some tips and strategies for scoring higher on the ACT. It will also include a full length practice test with scoring. You must attend the entire session. Registration required.

Arc of justice: a saga of race, civil rights, and murder in the Jazz Age by Kevin Boyle — is the 2012 Great Michigan Read, but sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words:

DVDs

Eyes on the prize. Vol. 1, [videodisc]: America's civil rights movement by Blackside

Jim Gill, master of all things fun and silly, has a new album.

Jim Gill presents music play for folks of all stripes [sound recording] by Gill, Jim — If you love bananas or pizza, this album has songs for you. If you love Mozart or friends, look no further. Jim Gill has created another great dancing, clapping, silly songs album for everyone young and old. You can find other Jim Gill albums in the Children's Department, too. Happy listening!

Have you ever made a terrarium? They're all the rage lately and they're so easy to make. Check out this tutorial for terrarium ornaments, and take a look at some of the resources we have here at the library:

Terrarium craft: create 50 magical, miniature worlds by Amy Bryant Aiello & Kate Bryant; photography by Kate Baldwin

The new terrarium: creating beautiful displays for plants and nature by Tovah Martin and Kindra Clineff

A Ball For Daisy, written and illustrated by Chris Raschka, has been awarded the 2012 Caldecott Medal. This wordless picture book tells the story of a spirited dog named Daisy and her beloved red ball. Through a turn of events, she gains a brand-new friend and realizes there can be more than one way to have fun. The brightly colored, expressive illustrations make this story an entertaining read for kids and adults alike.

Moms and Dads can learn a lot from other parents in the ever growing parenting blogs. On one site, Geek Dad, parents blog about their experiences raising kids in the digital age. Technology, family friendly projects and pop culture are topics that are covered. Cool Mom Picks is another site that gives parents tips on clothes, gifts, and books, to name a few.

Valentine's Day is coming up and it's a great time to share your creativity and love for your family. Create your own valentine card for those you love or make a yummy treat with your parents. Special creations are a great way to say "I Love You." Don't forget to check out some books on love at the library too.

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

Guess what? Our beloved mitten state is celebrating a major milestone Thursday — 175 years of Statehood! Time does fly, doesn't it? We've seen both good and bad events in our historical journey through time, plus we have given birth to numerous famous people. On this date in 1837, President Jackson signed the bill that officially made us the 26th state in the union. There are lots of ways you can celebrate this momentous occasion including baking a cake shaped like Michigan, take pictures of your neighborhood, write what you love about our great state, or check out some of our wonderful materials on Michigan.

Hi Kids!
One of my New Year's Resolutions was to meet some new friends. It looks like I am getting a good start! Scaredy Squirrel visited the library the other day. If you haven't read the adventures of this little fellow, you really should! As his name suggests, Scaredy Squirrel is afraid of lots of things… like germs and unicorns, and crowds, and Godzilla. However, he always seems to manage to overcome his fears with a little bit of pluck, and by playing dead. Scaredy certainly enjoyed his visit to the library! You can check out pictures from his adventure over on Flickr! Hmmmm… now who should I meet next?
Bear Hugs!
Thorndyke