Kids Blog

Intrigue, spying, resistance fighters working behind enemy lines to sabotage the Nazis—Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon, by Steve Sheinkin, has it all. The story is true, but it reads like a spy thriller.

Born on March 2, Dr. Seuss is the beloved author who brought us such favorite characters as the Grinch, Horton, and the Cat in the Hat. 

Join us for fun-filled activities in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday!:

(Refreshments will be served.)

Salem Church Library: Friday, March 1, 4-5pm
in partnership with the Spotsylvania Education Association

Headquarters Library: Saturday, March 2, 2-4pm
in partnership with the Fredericksburg Education Association, Lee Hill Elementary, Hugh Mercer Elementary, and Blue Gray Therapy Dogs

Porter Library: Saturday, March 2, 10am-noon
in partnership with the R-Board of Stafford County, Blue Gray Therapy Dogs, Mountain View High School and Colonial Forge High School.

Newton Library: Saturday, March 2, 11am - noon

Sponsored by the Friends of the Library

Luciano Anastasini had been a circus performer from the time he was a child until the day he fell fifty feet from the high wire, ending his days as an acrobat. Stay: The True Story of Ten Dogs, by Michaela Muntean, is the story of how Luciano got a second chance at a circus career by giving stray dogs a second chance at life.

Bowser was a thief who could even open cupboard doors to steal food. Penny walked into walls. Stick was a stray, knocking over garbage cans for food. Tyke was just ornery, and Cocoa kept digging giant holes in her owner's yard. The one thing they had in common was that no one wanted them—until Luciano took them home to the circus.

In Bark, George by Jules Feiffer, George is a small dog with a big problem. When his mother tells him to bark, he can't. Instead he says, "Meow," not quite the sound his mom was expecting. George keeps trying, but to his mother's growing frustration, he can only produce the sounds of other animals, like "Oink" or "Moo." Finally George's mother takes him to the vet who promises to get to the bottom of the problem. The cause of George's unusual sounds is even funnier than the idea of a dog who quacks.

There's that familiar anecdote: a child gets a nice, big, expensive toy for his birthday. The parents have spent hours putting it together,. For all of their sweat, pain, and suffering they find that the child is most fascinated with the big cardboard box the toy came in.

Cardboard, by Doug TenNapel, is a clever variation on that premise. Mike, an out-of-work carpenter, has nothing for his son Cam's birthday. A strange old man approaches him with an offer. For just a handful of change, Mike can get his son an amazing gift. It may seem like an ordinary cardboard box, but whatever Cam makes out of the corrugated paper pulp comes to life.

Athletes train for the big game, musicians rehearse for their recital and area youth services librarians prepare for the mock Theodor Seuss Geisel awards named after America’s beloved Dr. Seuss.  This past year we read a multitude of recently published beginning readers, carefully evaluating each for it’s quality of writing, distinctiveness and ability to instill in young children a love and enthusiasm for books.  

There was a town, and there was a girl, and there was a theft. I was living in the town, and I was hired to investigate the theft, and I thought the girl had nothing to do with it. I was almost thirteen and I was wrong.

Lemony Snicket is back in action. "Who Could That Be at This Hour?" is the first volume of a new four-book series known as All the Wrong Questions.

On January 11, 2013 CRRL Headquarters had the pleasure of welcoming the Rappahannock Astronomy Club to Fabulous Friday: Shoot for the Stars. Mr. Jerry Hubbell, President of RAC, and Mrs. Linda Billard, the editor of RAC’s newsletter, came and talked to a group of thirty-two parents and children. The focus of the program was constellations and how we can see shapes in the stars the same way we see shapes in the clouds.  After Mr. Hubbell talked about some of the better known constellations, he and Mrs.