Kids ages 9 and older are invited to meet on the fourth Wednesdays of the month (unless otherwise noted) after school from 3:30-4:15. Each meeting includes a game, craft, or activity, and usually includes a snack (please let us know if your child has allergies). Please join us if you have read the book or are interested in joining for future meetings. This month’s Brentwood Bookworms selection will be The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste:
Gr 3 – 5 — A middle grade twist on a traditional Haitian folktale. Corinne and her father don’t believe in jumbies, malevolent creatures that come out of the island’s dark woods to prey on people. Then one day a strangely beautiful lady named Severine walks into Corinne’s house and takes over, her Papa begins acting weird, and evil creatures attack the village. Corinne and her friends approach the white witch for help but she can’t assist because it would affect the ancient balance between creatures and humans. However, the white witch does tell Corinne that she has a special power that can help. Readers will find Corinne engaging and her determination authentic. Corinne’s friends, Dru, Bouki, and Malik are also fully formed and believable characters whose loyalty and bravery help save the day. Even the evil Severine is drawn well enough to evoke empathy in readers. The story builds nicely to the inevitable confrontation between Corinne and Severine. Though the denouement seems a little too good to be true, the themes of fairness, justice, and retribution meld into a better than average evil witch story. VERDICT This is a well written tale full of action with enough scary elements to satisfy fans of Adam Gidwitz’s A Tale Dark and Grimm (Penguin, 2010) or Laura Amy Schlitz’s Splendors and Glooms (Candlewick, 2012).—Gretchen Crowley, Alexandria City Public Libraries, VA (Reviewed April 1, 2015) (School Library Journal, vol 61, issue 4, p143)
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Get some help on your homework from our friendly and knowledgeable tutors at the Ferguson Public Library! They can help kids from kindergarten on up. No registration required!
Dogs make the best listeners! Stop by the library to read your favorite book to dogs from Support Dogs, Inc. Event is free and open to children and families.
Join us at the Maplewood Public Library for this fun group. Just bring your needles, your yarn, and you can craft with others who love crafting. This is not instructional but while you are with fellow crafters, you can help each other.
Unwind, relax, and flex your creative muscles at the Ferguson Public Library on the fourth Friday of each month with Crafternoon! Registration is required, and space is limited. For more information and to sign up, please call the library at (314) 521-4820.
You are invited to a special storytime with Dr. Sheri Anderson, Assistant Professor of Spanish at St. Louis University! No matter whether Spanish is your first language or if you’ve never spoken a word of it, families with children up to age 7 are welcome to participate in this immersive experience where you’ll learn Spanish words, culture within Spanish-speaking communities, and ways to incorporate the Spanish language into your daily life. This month we will learn about the holiday Día de los Muertos, celebrated on November 1st and 2nd.
