Celebrating 150 Years of Origin

The children’s room at Takoma Park Library is proud to honor Charles Darwin as we celebrate his classic work On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. The book was first published on November 22, 1859. London publisher John Murray printed an initial run of 1250 copies which were priced at 15 shillings per copy. All copies sold out that very same day. The book immediately ignited a firestorm of public and private discussion. The word evolution did not appear until the 1872 edition.

Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) was an English naturalist who composed a thoughtful and compelling theory to explain that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors. His evidence to that effect illustrates a pattern of evolution that is made possible by a specific process called natural selection. While many members of the scientific community accepted Darwin’s theory in his lifetime, it was not until the 1930’s-1950’s that a broad consensus developed which accepted natural selection as the fundamental mechanism of evolution. Darwin’s discovery is one of the most essential unifying theories in the life sciences as it helps explain the expansive diversity of life this planet has seen since the first organisms.

I have taken some time to create a bulletin board and book display featuring Darwin, Origin, evolution, and the natural world. If you have questions about what books we are featuring or would like to learn more about how Takoma Park Library is celebrating this important milestone please contact me in the children’s room at (202) 576-7486.

Celebrate Roald Dahl!

For all of you fans of silly and fun children's fiction, come in and celebrate Roald Dahl month. September is dedicated to the amazing and imaginative storyteller. He was born on September 13th so it is only fitting for that day to be known as Roald Dahl day.

To celebrate this special author, the Takoma Park library is doing a few things. Our first installment of the Silver Screen Book Club is featuring a book by Dahl. We will be doing a book discussion and a film screening relating to Dahl's book about a boy and a magic peach. There is still time to sign up. The film screening and book talk will take place on Tuesday, September 22 at 6:00 pm. Popcorn and drinks will be provided. Come into the library or call the children's room (202) 576-7486 for more details.

For Roald Dahl day on September 13th, I've set up a display over the mantle in the children's room featuring all things Dahl. Come and check out your favorite title for some rainy day reading this weekend. If you are interested in finding out more about Roald Dahl and his work please check out his website at http://www.roalddahl.com/.

I Collect Spores, Molds, and Fungus...

Its that time of the year again when teachers are getting their classrooms ready and children are getting all those school supplies together. September is just around the corner. You know what that means! Wait...did you say back to school? Well, yeah, it means back to school. But, really, what I was going to say, is that when I think September, I think MUSHROOMS!

That's right, mushrooms! September is National Mushroom Month. Not only are mushrooms a great addition to sauces, salads, and stews and make a great topping on pizzas, but they also provide plenty of imagery in literature. Stories about magic, folklore, fairy tales and picture books all have their share of mushrooms and toadstools. During September we encourage you to come in and scope out our wide array of vegetarian cookbooks to find some great mushroom themed recipes. After you give the recipes a try, be sure to check out some after dinner reading as well. May we recommend Unexpected Magic by Diana Wynne Jones, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Mushroom in the Rain by Mirra Ginsburg, or any of our wonderful non-fiction books for those interested in finding out more about mushrooms and other fungi!

Silver Screen Book Club coming this Fall

This Fall I will be starting a Silver Screen Book Club for children and teens ages 10-14. There is a huge assortment of wonderful books that have been made into films and we will explore some of those. This will be a very enriching experience, noting differences between the way a story is told in the two formats and also seeing the benefits of each type of media.

This program will start in late September but right now we are looking for suggestions. If you have a favorite book that was turned into a film and it is appropriate for this age group (reading level wise and content wise) please let us know. I will be reading books and screening films throughout July and August so any suggestions would be helpful!