North York Central Library Blog

Family Day Events and Books

Monday, February 18, 2013 is Family Day--the library will be closed.  For those who have this day off, About.com has some fun outings for families to enjoy.  The Toronto Public Library has great resources to read along with these outings.  Here are five inspiring places to spend on Family Day.  (Pssst!  Click the pictures below for a list of books and resources available at North York Central and other TPL libraries.)

1. * The Toronto Zoo is a fun place for families to share time and go see some wild animals.  On February 10, 2013, Chinese New Year celebrated the Year of the Snake and North York Central Library has some nifty titles on these limbless reptiles if you have the courage to click the green fella:
   
   
   
   
2. *Fort York is another place to witness the re-enactment of the War of 1812 that occurred over 200 years ago.  More book titles on this memorable event at North York Central are available through the Fort York portal below:
   
     


3. There is still enough winter time left to enjoy some ice skating outdoors at Mel Lastman Square, the Harbourfront Centre for the HarbourKIDS Skating Festival, and the Toronto City Hall/Nathan Phillips Square to name a few.  (For more locations of ice rinks in Toronto, see a full detailed listing from the cityrinks.ca website.)  Want books on skating? Click the skaters to get there:





4. * The Royal Ontario Musuem is featuring a Family Day Weekend: Carnival at the ROM that highlights mythology, traditions, and folklore from West Africa and the Caribbeans.  You are one mouse click away through the AGO museum display below to access more library resources.






5. * Ontario Science Centre is also featuring their Family Day Weekend Programs including their Fizzical Fizzicks, Cosmic Journeys, Eye in the Skies journey to the Moon and Mars, Creation Station, Live Animal Presentation . . . and many more activities than we can list here.  In one click, the Erlenmeyer flasks will find more books on scientific experments to try!

 

For more City of Toronto museum events for Family Day, please see http://www.toronto.ca/culture/museums/fundays.htm.

Have a fun weekend if you are planning to attend any of these City events! 

* Take note, due to the popularity of this upcoming Family Day Weekend and March Break, the following venues are not accepting passes for Family Day weekend and/or March Break period.

Art Gallery of Ontario:
March 9-17, 2013

Bata Shoe Museum:
February 18, 2013
March 9-17, 2013

Black Creek Pioneer Village:
March 9-17, 2013
(Closed December 24, 2012 to April 30, 2013)

Casa Loma:
March 9-17, 2013

City of Toronto Historic Museums:
March 9-17, 2013

Ontario Science Centre:
February 16-18, 2013
March 9-17, 2013 

Royal Ontario Museum:
February 16-18, 2013
March 9-17, 2013

Toronto Zoo:
February 18, 2013
March 9-17, 2013

Click below for more information on MAP Passes:

Science Fair Season

Does the thought that science fair season is upon us bring out the mad scientist in you?

If you're the parent of a school-aged child, you are no doubt familiar with the science project. Whether you have a younger child who needs some help or are watching from the sidelines as your high school student works on an assignment, you'll know that science projects involve a lot of work.

 

In addition to working on in-class projects, many students participate in science fairs, where their work is judged and prizes are awarded.  Students with winning projects from local and regional fairs are invited to participate in the Canada-Wide Science Fair, sponsered by Youth Science Canada, each May. The Super Bowl of fairs is probably the annual Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, where students compete for over $3,000,000 in awards and scholarships, including $75,000 for the best project.

Awards and prizes aside,there are intangible benefits to participation in science fairs. Youth Science Canada points out that they encourage students to ".... get their hands dirty and develop scientific and technological knowledge and skills through project-based science". Of course not everyone is a fan; here's one contrarian view: Why Parents Should be Wary of Science Fairs.

The Science & Technology Department of the North York Central Library has a Science Fair collection to help students get started on their projects. There are books about how to prepare a science fair project and books with project ideas.

 

 

This unique collection also has resources for science teachers:

          

If you are a student or researcher, check out the lab manuals

       

and guides to science writing:

          

If you enjoy building things, there are books for you too:

        

And finally, for a  behind-the-scenes look at the drama of a big league science fair, pick up Science Fair Season: twelve Kids, a robot named Scorch - and what it takes to win.

Author Judy Dutton followed the fortunes of six young competitors at the 2009 Intel Science and Engineering Fair. She came away from her week at the competition encouraged:

"In a world brimming with bad news...science fairs are the silver lining...I got to know the most hardworking, humbling and heartbreaking group of young men and women. They changed everything I thought I knew about kids and what they are capable of, and what we can all do if our hearts are into it, at eight years old or eighty".                                                        

Who Cares if the Pig Goes Dickery Dare? Five Reasons Why Nursery Rhymes Matter

I'm Not Quite Miss Rumphius and this is the blog for the Children's Department at North York Central Library. Welcome back.

* * * * * *

Becoming a new parent means entering the fantastical world of teeny, tiny things. There's your baby, of course, a darling little handful and much nicer, much better than any other baby around.

And there's everything that comes with a baby -- diapers the size of a potholder, clothing fit for a doll, and chunky little board books that babies devour as much with their mouths as they do with their eyes.

It's a charming and rather dear world, this world of babies and tiny things. But one of the ironies every parent soon faces is that taking all that tiny stuff with you -- which you must do when you step outside, even for the briefest of errands -- sometimes requires a bag so big it looks like you're lugging around a toaster oven or (in the case of longer trips) hockey equipment.

This is the bag that holds the extra diapers, the change pad, the wipes, the hand sanitizer, the booties, the blanket ...

The same bag also has room for toys and rattles to entertain your pint-size traveller when they get restless. These are the things you rummage around for, then pull out of your bag with a flourish -- ta da! -- like a magician producing a rabbit from a hat.

 

But along with everything in your bag of tricks, from the essential to the entertaining, there are other things you ought to always have with you, ready to use at a moment's notice.

Fortunately, these things take up no space. They weigh nothing at all. They're nursery rhymes, those frothy bits of wordplay that are sometimes spoken and sometimes sung.

Here are five reasons why nursery rhymes -- from any culture, in any language -- are perfect for your baby:

  

Reason One: Nursery rhymes are a baby's first stories.

Think of a nursery rhyme as the tiniest of tales, with the same basic features of any story -- characters, action, and often even a storyline. Like any good tale, a nursery rhyme might have something surprising and / or satisfying at its conclusion (a tickle, a cuddle, or a lift in the air) that makes the "tale" and its telling worthwhile.

Reason Two: Nursery rhymes break down language into baby-size bits.

Through the use of repetition and a rhythmic beat, nursery rhymes help babies break up the streaming flow of language around them into smaller, bite-size pieces, including vowel sounds and consonants.

Reason Three: Nursery rhymes help babies build up their word banks.

Nursery rhymes expose very young children to the richness and playfulness of language. Babies hear new, interesting words and phrases that they might not encounter in everyday situations.

Reason Four: Nursery rhymes bring the world to your baby.

Nursery rhymes help expand your little one's understanding of the world around them by introducing concepts such as fast / slow, high / low, and big / little. Many nursery rhymes also involve numbers and counting.

 

Reason Five: Nursery rhymes are soothing, distracting, entertaining ...

And they're just plain fun for grownups and little ones to experience together. Nursery rhymes provide wonderful opportunities for cuddling, sharing a silly moment, and simply enjoying one another's company.

And what about that "dickery dare" mentioned above, in the title of this blog post? 

Dickery Dickery Dare: A Nursery Rhyme

Dickery dickery dare (Start off with your little one on your lap and bounce gently)

The pig flew up in the air (Lift your baby up in the air and hold them there)

The man in brown brought him down (Lower your baby down to your lap)

Dickery dickery dare! (Bounce gently and finish with cuddle or a tickle)

(So there!)

Whenever I Go to the Library, My Friend From Iran is There

Hello Everyone,

I'm Not Quite Miss Rumphius and this is the blog for the Children's Department at North York Central Library. Welcome back.

* * * * * *

My good friend, Laleh, is from Iran and every time I go to the library I see someone who reminds me of Laleh -- someone with dark wavy hair and olive skin that never looks pale or washed out even in the middle of a sun-deprived Canadian winter, someone with a gracious manner and a ready smile. It’s easy to want to be more like someone else, and all I can say is that’s true for me with Laleh.

Laleh and I first met over a dozen years ago at the daycare our sons both attended. Back then, our little boys looked so similar that we joked we could swap photos of them, pass off the other one as our own, and no one would be the wiser.

Much has changed since those days. For one thing, our boys have grown ... and grown ... and grown. They no longer look alike and they now tower over us, something they're always quick to point out.

There have been other changes too. Like everyone else around us, our families have faced difficult situations, the kind that come out of nowhere and suddenly -- starkly -- divide life into Before and After. We’ve been up in the mountains; we’ve been down in the valleys too.

Through it all, together and apart, Laleh and I have been consoled, entertained, distracted, and uplifted by books and reading. We’ve had food, too -- especially the wonderful meals that Laleh prepares and shares with a wide circle of family and friends, people I already know and people I’d like to know better.

* * * * * *

When I first came to work in the Children’s Department at North York Central Library, I was pleased to be in such a warm, friendly place -- not my real home, and yet home.

Was it the books and children and families -- all the great bustle and good cheer around me -- that made this place feel so right?  

Yes, but it was more than that. And it had to do with my friend.

The first people I met in the library were a mother, a father and a young daughter who had come here, like Laleh’s family, from Iran. The two older women who asked me for a Farsi-English dictionary reminded me of Laleh’s older aunt. And at a Family Time program I led, I spoke with a young Iranian woman who looked so much like Laleh that I swore they had to be sisters, separated at birth.

Then there was the language -- the same language I’d heard spoken at the memorial service for Laleh’s father. I couldn’t understand this language, but that didn’t matter. It was both foreign and familiar, and it was here too.

* * * * * *

We are all, I think, looking for our tribe, our flock -- the group and place that accepts us for who we are, nurtures us, and brings out the best in us.

We get a lot from our flocks -- but we also get to give something back too. I've learned that with the people I know, including Laleh. And I found it out all over again, in the place where some of the things that matter most to me are.

I found it with the people who come to this place every day: the Iranian families, the South Asian grandparents, the Korean preschoolers, and the tiny Chinese babies.

I found my tribe at the library.

The Life and Death of Maurice Sendak: June 10, 1928 to May 8, 2012

Hello Everyone,

I'm Not Quite Miss Rumphius and this is the blog for the Children's Department at North York Central Library. Welcome back.

Maurice Sendak, acclaimed author of Where the Wild Things Are, Outside Over There, and many other children's books died earlier today. He was 83 years old. It's difficult to sum up the impact Mr. Sendak had on the world of children's publishing and on several generations of children who read his books and pored over his pictures.

He was -- like each one of us is, in the end -- a bundle of contradictions. A private person and dutiful son, he took great pains to make sure his parents never learned he was a gay man; yet he didn't shy away from the controversy that came with his portrayal of a naked child in the frequently-banned book, In the Night Kitchen. He detested the sugary sweet and twee world of "little people" that many writers and illustrators chose to depict; yet he was the perfect illustrator for the charming, cozy world of Little Bear in Else Holmelund Minarik's beloved books for beginning readers. 

There were other contradictions, too. Maurice Sendak could be, in his public opinions, as bracing and bitter as a cup of strong, black coffee and indeed, near the end of his life he came across as defiant and even unreasonable; yet he was also a generous mentor to up-and-coming illustrators and a gifted collaborator who worked with others in the world of theater to create a stage version of Brundibar, an opera first performed by children trapped in a concentration camp.

He shrugged off the label of "Children's Author" and loathed the "Kiddies' Writer" designation that was often unwittingly conferred upon him; at the same time, he saw himself as someone who had no choice but to champion and defend children. He believed it was their right to have books and stories and pictures that reflected the totality of their world; the sorrows, the fears, the small delights and oversize pleasures that make up that great swirl of any child's emotional life.

The glorious, exuberant world that he depicted in Where the Wild Things Are is as good as any to imagine as the place where Maurice Sendak lives on. Let the wild rumpus begin!

The Re-Invention of Hugo Cabret: The Boy Who Loves Movies Gets One of His Own

Hello Everyone,

I'm Not Quite Miss Rumphius and this is the blog for the Children's Department at North York Central Library. Welcome back!

Brian Selznick's giant door stopper of a book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, has a perfectly nice cover. But it's not ever going to be the most inviting book to pick up, especially for a child who's thinking about reading a really big book on their own for the first time and isn't quite sure they can pull it off. But never fear -- as mothers everywhere are fond of saying, it's what's inside that counts.

And what insides this book has! Author Brian Selznick lays out an engrossing story about a twelve-year-old boy, Hugo Cabret, an orphan who is living within the cavernous walls of a Paris train station in 1931. Hugo yearns for a way to reconnect with his beloved father who has recently died. And he thinks he may have found the way to do this, through a mechanical man called an automaton that his father was working on at the time of his death.

First, however, Hugo must repair the automaton, with all its complex clockwork and intricate parts -- no easy task. At the same time, Hugo must avoid detection by the cruel Station Inspector. How Hugo overcomes his difficulties and breaks free from his small, lonely world is due to three things: his knack for fixing things, his love of movies, and a chance encounter with a shopkeeper who, like Hugo, has a few secrets of his own.

Selznick fits all the parts of this story together like the inner workings of one of the huge, smooth-running clocks that Hugo maintains. But it's the unique format of this book with its many black-and-white pictures -- not pure novel, not picture book, not graphic novel either -- that makes this book as marvellous as it is.

The illustrations, which are also by Selznick, don't just add to the story. They are the story. Like still frames from a movie, the illustrations show different vantage points -- up close on one page, now far away on another page. You feel like you could fan through the book's pages, like you do with a flip book, and watch all those images come to life.

It's because of those pictures, and the clever way they're used, that the reader moves smoothly and effortlessly through Hugo's often dangerous, always interesting world. We experience what Hugo experiences, at the same time he does.

It seemed almost inevitable that a book that celebrates movies, and one that uses movie-making techniques to tell its story, would be made into a movie itself. And, of course, that's exactly what has happened. But Hugo -- the movie uses a shortened version of the book's title -- isn't just any movie. It's a movie by famous filmmaker Martin Scorsese and most reviewers agree that he has done a terrific job of remaining true to the book while at the same time giving the story a new life on film.

Even if you haven't seen it, you probably already know some things about Hugo, including the fact that it recently nabbed an armful of nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards. What you may not know is that there is a companion book to the movie, and it's definitely worth your time, even if you're not planning to watch Hugo on the big screen anytime soon.

Think of this book as more than something that goes along with the movie. It's also a delightful companion to the original book. It's the place where Brain Selznick talks about where he got the idea for the story, how he came up with Hugo's name (it came from a toy he loved when he was a boy) and his connection to the world of movies (he's related to David O. Selznick, the producer of Gone with the Wind.)

There's a section written by Martin Scorsese about the early days of movie-making and another section on real-life filmmaker Georges Melies, who plays a key role in both the movie and the book. And there's also an excellent chapter on automatons, those weird mechanical beings that can walk tightropes, play the piano, write poems and that seem, well, almost alive.

In short, this companion has something for everyone -- for anyone about to read the book, for someone who has read the book and wants to know more about Hugo's world, and for those people who have seen the movie and are interested in a behind-the-scenes look at how movies are created. It's filled with photos and drawings, sample pages from the screenplay and the musical score, costume sketches, and much, much more.

Best of all, it's easy to pick up and carry around, and just right for dipping into again and again. It's the perfect book about a movie about a book that celebrates movies. (And you know how common those are.)

Happy looking and happy reading,

Not Quite Miss Rumphius

 

 

 

 

Attention Shoppers: Awkward Parenting Moment in Aisle Three

Hello Everyone,

I'm Not Quite Miss Rumphius and this is the blog for the Children's Department at North York Central Library. Welcome back!

Every parent or caregiver of a young child knows about those days when nothing goes smoothly and everyone, big and small, is out of sorts with the world. Those kind of days usually involve tantrums or tears -- your child's, someone else's, maybe even your own. As well, those times are often accompanied by humiliating displays of bad-day parenting in, say, the produce section of your local grocery store, in front of people you know.

Sure, you'll often have times that go smoothly and look something like this:

 

But then, when you least expect it, you'll find yourself in a situation like this:

 

 

There's no getting around it. Really.

But not to worry -- you still love each other, right? And at the end of those not-so-good days, after the tears have been dried, the hurt feelings have been soothed, everyone has been fed and bathed, and no one can remember exactly what went wrong in the first place, you can always finish off with something good -- something very, very good.

You can snuggle up together and look at a book.

Here's one book that I think would work well on those particular nights. It's brand new and it makes me smile every time I look at it:

 

 

Mister Bud, on the right, has a comfortable life and his own familiar routine. Things are going along very nicely until Zorro -- the tough looking guy on the left -- comes to live with Mister Bud, bringing along his own very different ideas of how things should be done.

Not surprisingly, the two dogs clash and behave badly. They're grumpy, bossy, stubborn, and selfish. Think of them as canine versions of any toddler who has ever missed their nap or had to face something they definitely don't like.

How Mister Bud and Zorro go from being foes to friends is all due to the work of author-illustrator Carter Goodrich. He's created characters for animated films such as Shrek and Monsters Inc. and he's clearly someone who knows how to bring characters to life on the page. Even better, he knows how to give his characters a story that suits them perfectly with an ending that's both satisfying and just plain funny.

Of course, you don't have to wait until the end of one of those days to enjoy this book. Like any good book, Say Hello to Zorro! is worth reading more than once -- on great days, on bad ones and on all those other days that fall somewhere in between.

I hope you'll keep an eye out for this book and let me know what you think.

Happy reading!

Not Quite Miss Rumphius

A Very Short Tale of a Curious Boy and the Children's Librarian's Legs

Hello Everyone,

I'm Not Quite Miss Rumphius and this is the blog for the Children's Department at North York Central Library. Welcome back!

Sometimes, so the saying goes, it's not the destination that counts. It's the journey and what we see along the way that really matters. That was the case for me one day recently here in the Children's Department.

My destination: The shelf in the picture book section containing a Thomas the Tank Engine book that a mother had requested for her son. The journey along the way? Well, let's just say it involved pantyhose. My pantyhose.

I was about to reach for the Thomas book when a preschool-age boy ran up to me. He pointed at my legs. "What are THOSE?" he said.

Those? Those -- what? As I stopped and looked down, trying to figure out what exactly he was pointing at, he spoke again. This time he was more insistent: "What are THOSE?"

Some grownups, probably the boy's parents, drew closer to see what we were talking about. A baby toddled over on two unsteady legs, looked around, then kept on going.

Pantyhose -- it seemed the boy was asking about my pantyhose.

I pointed down. "These?" I said. "These are PANTYHOSE!" (His enthusiastic tone was catching.) Too late, I realized that my voice was louder than I intended.

Several other grownups drifted over to us, drawn by the sounds of our conversation. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the baby wobbling back toward us.

The boy reached out to touch my leg, then drew back quickly as if he might get a shock. He looked puzzled.

"Are they like ... SOCKS?" he said.

All eyes were on me.

"Well ... KIND OF!" I replied.

Satisfied, the boy ran off as quickly as he'd appeared. I picked up the Thomas book and brought it back to the mom who was waiting for it. And that was that ... at least for the moment.

*****

The journey not the destination, seeing the world with fresh eyes, it's the little things that count -- all of those things and more -- are themes that run through many books for children, including two wonderful picture books.

The first book, published in 1999, is this under-appreciated gem:

 

Mimmy and her little sister, Sophie, are two girls growing up in Depression-era Brooklyn. Their family doesn't have much money, but Mimmy and Sophie don't mind. Everything the girls do -- whether it's trying to get the prize-winning Popsicle that contains the Lucky Stick, going for a ride on the trolley car or planning the perfect summer vacation -- is a grand adventure, beautifully captured in Thomas F. Yezerski's old-fashioned, retro-looking illustrations.

Wide-eyed Sophie longs to visit a fantastical place she calls Babyland but the only vacation the girls' family can afford is a simple day trip to the Brooklyn Bridge. That trip turns out to be better than the girls could ever have imagined.

They enjoy a delicious picnic lunch on the bridge, track down Sophie's dolly after she goes missing, and, finally at the end of the day, they watch the sun set together. Here's what that moment looks like through Mimmy and Sophie's eyes:

The sun was a melting raspberry Popsicle on the water. The sky got more and more beautiful. It was like Momma's good blue silk dress with little stars pinned all over it.

"Oooh, a teeny airplane!" shouted Mimmy. She was so excited.

The same sense of wonder at commonplace things is also found in this brand-new picture book about world-famous zoologist Jane Goodall:

 

As you might guess from reading the title, this is a rather unusual biography of Jane Goodall. The cover is designed to look like a leather-trimmed scrapbook, while inside there are reproductions of Jane's childhood drawings and sketches, along with some personal photos of her taken when she was young. All of this adds to the sense of seeing Jane up close and getting to know her as a child.

But there's another level to this book, a level that has nothing to do with the story of a famous person. This book is also a reminder of the ways in which a child's (any child's) curiosity can carry them all the way through life and literally change the course of that life.

One of the key moments in this book happens when young Jane wonders where eggs come from. She decides to sneak into her grandmother's chicken coop to find out more. Here's what happens:

(Jane) hid behind some straw, stayed very still ... and observed the miracle.

It was a magical world full of joy and wonder, and Jane felt very much part of it.

It takes a special writer to use the words "miracle," "magical," "joy," and "wonder" all in one breath without sounding ironic, cynical or over-the-top. Patrick McDonnell is one of those writers. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he's also the illustrator of this book. He uses his quirky, playful line drawings to show us the importance of what Jane has just seen.

After the chicken and egg moment, Mr. McDonnell draws Jane outdoors, stretched out on the grass, her delighted face turned up to the sky, with the chicken and newly-hatched chicks nearby.

The little girl in this picture is not Jane Goodall, famous person. At this moment, she's just an ordinary person who is in love with the world around her and what she has just seen. It's a case where the right picture really is worth many, many words.

And a final note about both the books I've mentioned ...

Copies of Me ... Jane are currently arriving at various branches of the library. If you request it soon, you may be lucky enough to get your hands on a brand-new, never-before-read copy of the book. Just imagine ... New book, great story ... Who says you can't have it all?

As for Mimmy & Sophie, there is also a sequel to the first book. It's called Mimmy and Sophie All Around the Town. While the stories in both books are good, the first "Mimmy" book has a larger format with more illustrations, all in color, making it the best one to enjoy first.

Happy reading!

Not Quite Miss Rumphius

Me Frog, You Toad: When We're Together Everything's Better

Hello Everyone,

I'm Not Quite Miss Rumphius and this is the blog for the Children's Department at North York Central Library. Welcome back!

Friendships between animals, especially friendships between different kinds of animals, make up some of the most memorable stories around for children. Sometimes these stories are charming and funny. That's the case with author-illustrator Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad books, a treat for both children who are learning to read and their parents.

Arnold Lobel has a gift for using a minimal number of words for maximum effect. In one story, Frog and Toad encounter a big snake who greets them with two simple words: "Hello lunch." This is what happens next:

 

It's a scary moment, and a comical one too, perfectly captured in Lobel's words and pictures.

Unlike animals stories for younger children, animal tales for older children are often serious and downright dark. The Underneath by Kathi Appelt is one of those stories, featuring an abused but good-hearted hound named Ranger who befriends the abandoned Mother Cat and her two kittens.

This book is not an easy or light read by any means. However, it is a gripping one: once you enter Ranger's world, you want to find out -- no, you must find out -- how everything will turn out.

Whether they are heartwarming or heart wrenching, stories with animal characters do something very well: they remind us why friends are important. Animal friendships, like human friendships, help make difficult times more bearable. Everything's better when you've got a buddy to share it with.

Those same ideas are also part of this fascinating new book:

 

Written by a senior writer for National Geographic magazine, this book looks at real-life animal friends. They include a lion and a baby antelope, a sled dog and a polar bear, and an owl and a greyhound. For those who wonder if these pairs are for real, there are lots of photos that show the various buddies together, enjoying each other's company.

This is a book that you can read in one sitting or dip into again and again. And like the Frog and Toad books, but in a completely different way, it's a book that both children and adults will enjoy.

At the moment, this book is on order. While you're waiting for it to come in (and you may want to put a hold on it in the meantime -- word is getting out) you can check out some of the stories from Unlikely Friendships in other books here in our department. Just click on the covers to see more:

    

Happy reading and be sure to let me know what your favourite animal story is!

Not Quite Miss Rumphius

Expecting a Bundle of Joy?

Are you thinking of starting a family? Are you expecting a baby? 

Trying to get pregnant, being pregnant and becoming a first time parent can be very stressful times.  Luckily, the North York Central Library has a collection of books to help make these exciting times more manageable.  We have a large selection of books that deal with fertility and conception, guide you through pregnancy and help new parents adapt to having an infant.

Many of these books are found either on the 5^th floor of our library (Science and Technology Department) or the 3^rd floor (Society and Recreation Department). 

Come visit us on the 3^rd floor and browse our extensive parenting collection or look for some baby name ideas.

 Check out some of these recommended books through our catalogue.
 

Happy Reading!