Are You Prepared? Survival Stories

September is Disaster Preparedness Month.  So this week, we are sharing survival chapter books.  Here's a few of our favorites . . . .

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder

After an October blizzard, Laura's family moves from the claim shanty into town for the winter, a winter that has been predicted will be seven months of bad weather.

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

In a series of poems, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression.

Storm Blown by Nick Courage

In San Juan, Puerto Rico, Alejandro worries about his great-uncle while helping guests at a resort, and in New Orleans, Emily worries about her sick brother, as a major hurricane rages, changing both their lives forever.

More Books --

Denali Storm by Michael Spradlin

Hurricane by Terry Trueman

Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender

Hurricane Katrina Rescue by Kate Messenger

Lacey's Story by W. Bruce Cameron

Me and Sam-Sam Handle the Apocalypse by Susan Vaught

Racing Storm Mountain by Trent Reedy

Skylark and Wallcreeper by Anne Carelli

The Storm Before Atlanta by Karen Schwabach

The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan

Survival in the Storm by Katelan Jenke

Tornado Hits by Hilde Lysiak

Reading a Winter Wonderland

This week, I am sharing chapter books featuring a winter setting.  Here are a few of my favorites . . .

The Last Polar Bears by Harry Horse
Letters from Grandfather, who has gone on an expedition with his little dog Roo, to find the last polar bears at the North Pole.

Dogsong by Gary Paulsen
A fourteen-year-old Eskimo boy who feels at odds with aspects of modern life takes a 1400-mile journey by dog sled across ice, tundra, and mountains seeking his own "song" of himself.

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
After an October blizzard, Laura's family moves from the claim shanty into town for the winter, a winter that an Indian has predicted will be seven months of bad weather.

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
Hazel and Jack are best friends until an accident with a magical mirror and a run-in with a villainous queen find Hazel on her own, entering an enchanted wood in the hopes of saving Jack's life.


More Books --
Anna's Blizzard by Alison Hart
Blizzard's Wake by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
The Mystery at Snowflake Inn by Gertrude Chandler Warner
North by Donna Jo Napoli
The Tale of Rescue by Michael J. Rosen
Twelve Kinds of Ice by Ellen Bryan Obed
The Winter Pony by Iain Lawrence

Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through February 28, 2020.

Classics for Children

The Jefferson County Library is excited to be sponsoring author visits by Pulitzer Prize winning-author Caroline Fraser later this month.  She won the Pulitzer Prize for her book Prairie Fires about the life of children's author Laura Ingalls Wilder.  So this week, I am sharing some classic books for children.  Here are a few of my favorites . . .

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls
Sometimes farm life is difficult, even dangerous, but Laura and her famlily are kept busy and happy with the promise of their new life on the prairie.

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson travel to the bleak wastes of Dartmoor to solve the mystery surrounding the late Sir Charles Baskerville and a ghostly hound.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in nineteenth-century New England.

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
As life on Mars becomes impossible, Martians and their terrifying machines invade the earth.


More Classics --
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
White Fang by Jack London
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum


Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through October 11, 2019.

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Five year old Laura Ingalls lives in the big woods of Minnesota with her Pa, Ma, older sister Mary, and baby Carrie.  Over the course of a year, we learn about her traditional farm life.  Laura and Mary spend their time helping Ma with the chores, listening to Pa tell them stories, and playing. 

This is the first book in the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Considered a classic, this audiobook version narrated by Cherry Jones is a great listen for children of all ages.

A Blizzard of Books

This is our final week of Mad Science workshops.  The topic this week is Walloping Weather.  Since we are right in the middle of hot summertime, I thought I would focus on snowy stories . . .

Blizzard's Wake by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
In March of 1941, when a severe blizzard suddenly hits Bismarck, North Dakota, a girl trying to save her stranded father and brother inadvertently helps the man who killed her mother four years before.

Anna's Blizzard by Alison Hart
Having never excelled at schoolwork, twelve-year-old Anna discovers that she may know a few things about survival when the 1888 Children's Blizzard traps her and her classmates in their Nebraska schoolhouse.

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
After an October blizzard, Laura's family moves from the claim shanty into town for the winter, a winter that an Indian has predicted will be seven months of bad weather.

The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo
Gifts from Gwyn's grandmother on his ninth birthday open up a whole new world to him, as he discovers he has magical powers that help him heal the breach with his father that has existed ever since his sister's mysterious disappearance four years before.

When I Was a Child . . .

Children often love to hear stories of what life was like when their parents and grandparents were children.  Here are some great historical fiction picture books for young children that explore life before computers, televisions, and cars . . .

Peppe the Lamplighter by Elisa Bartone
Peppe's father is upset when he learns that Peppe has taken a job lighting the gas street lamps in his New York City neighborhood.

Dance at Grandpa's by Laura Ingalls Wilder
A young pioneer girl and her family attend a wintertime party at her grandparents' house in the Big Woods of Wisconsin.

Mama Went to Jail for the Vote by Kathleen Karr
In Washington, D.C., when Susan Elizabeth's mother, a suffragist, is arrested for picketing the White House and jailed, Susan takes up the cause of votes for women. Includes historical note and text of the nineteenth amendment.

William's House by Ginger Howard
Arriving in New England in 1637, William is determined to recreate his home in England but realizes that the climate requires modifications to it.

The Day We Danced in Underpants by Sarah Wilson
When Papa's pants--worn thin from dancing on his visit to France--split as he sits down to picnic with the king, the embarrassing moment provides both cooling and comic relief for the guests, prompting them to take off their hot clothes and dance.