By Carol Van Why

In preparing to spend two weeks in fourNew England states during October, I first cruised the 1666 Coffman library shelves.  A book in the TRAVEL WRITINGS section, The Last Empty Places by Peter Stark, offered up tidbits about Emerson, Hawthorne and Thoreau. Because my travel was going to feature Revolutionary War sites, I signed out and enjoyed David McCullough’s 1776 from the U.S. HISTORY section.

The trip would also take me to western Massachusetts with a special visit to Edith Wharton’s home in Lenox, MA.  The Library’s FICTION section did not disappoint, containing Wharton’s House of Mirth, Ethan Frome and Age of Innocence.

The final third of the trip would be a meander down the Maine Coast.  Linda Greenlaw’s Lobster Chronicles, found on the BIOGRAPHY shelves was required reading for this segment of the trip.

​Where have your 2018 travels taken you?  Did you browse our library to find related reading before or after your trip?

By Katie Weiblen

Originally published in the October 2018 issue of the 1666 Coffman Newsletter

New picture books have been added to the children’s area on the second floor of the  library. Residents are encouraged to view and use these wonderful additions and share them with grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.This Is the Nest that Robin Built by Denise Fleming.
A robin’s friends help build her nest in this collage picture book. It received Caldecott Honor Award.

Love by Matt de la Peña
The importance of love in a child’s life is eloquent and moving.

Out of Wonder: Poets Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander
Out of gratitude for the poet’s art form, Newbery Award-winning author and poet Kwame Alexander pays homage to twenty famed poets.

Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackwell
Watch the days and the seasons pass as the wind blows, the fog rolls in, and the icebergs pass by. Outside there is water all around. Inside the daily life of a lighthouse keeper and his family.

Ducks Away by Mem Fox
Count along with mother duck as her ducklings try to waddle across the bridge. What happens when ducks fall one by one into the river teaches young readers basic math principles of addition and subtraction.

Old Hat by Emily Gravett
This fresh and funny picture book is about the futility of fads and the joy of learning to be yourself.

There is a Crocodile Under My Bed by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert
This colorful picture book helps children overcome bedtime fears of the dark.

Grace for Gus by Harry Bliss
Grace is the quiet girl in the class and Gus the class guinea pig. Grace knows Gus is lonely so she sets out to help her furry friend.

How the Sun Got to Coco’s House by Bob Graham
Follow the journey of the sun across the world from a whale’s eye to a little girl’s window.

Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell
A girl is lost in the snow. A wolf pup is lost too. How will they find their way home? This book won the Caldecott Medal.

For Older Children

Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
A young girl’s experience living in New York city in the 1990’s. It is a delightful story of old New York about a tomboy who could not help being a lady at the same time. It won the Newbery Award for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman
Maria Merian became an artist and a scientist in the seventeenth century. Her fieldwork and careful observation helped uncover the truth about metamorphosis and changed the course of science. Joyce Sidman is a Minnesota author and is known as a foremost science writer for children.