Want to unplug over the holidays?

In the technology-filled world that we live in, it is easy to get swept up in obsessing over the latest gadget or getting glued to the screen, especially during the holiday shopping season.  At the same time, the holidays are a time when families are together unwinding.  As such, they present a good opportunity for the whole family to disconnect from devices and go tech-free for a while!  

Here are some recommended picture books to read with your child that illustrate the joys of unplugging.

hello! hello! by Matthew Cordell

A child seeks a way to communicate with parents and a brother who are busy with their electronic devices.

Chloe by Peter McCarty

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Chloe Bunny lives with her big family of ten older brothers and sisters and ten younger brothers and sisters, but it is only Chloe who is able to compete with the new television set that Dad brings home one evening.

Unplugged : Ella gets her family back by Laura Pedersen

Upset that her family is so focused on the screens on their various electronic devices that they no longer talk, laugh, and play games together, Ella takes all of their chargers and small devices.

Blackout by John Rocco

When a busy family's activities come to a halt because of a blackout, they find they enjoy spending time together and not being too busy for once.

Doug Unplugged by Dan Yaccarino

Doug the robot discovers that cities are much more than downloaded facts when he unplugs from the computer feed and explores one first-hand.

 Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman

A boy and a robot strike up a friendship despite their differences.

Do you have any children’s book recommendations regarding technology you’d like to share?  Post in the comments below!

*Thanks to Kathy Kleckner of Dakota County Libraries for the recommendations at the Minnesota Library Association Conference 2013- "Early Literacy and Screen Time."

 

Sarah Hawkins, Branch Librarian, Chisago Lakes Area Library

Forthcoming titles - December 2013

Forthcoming titles - click here to search for and place your hold on the ECRL catalog

ADULT FICTION

Title	Contributor
Child of Mine	Lewis, Beverly
Cop Town: A Novel	Slaughter, Karin
Deserves to Die	Jackson, Lisa
Girl missing : a novel revised edition	Gerritsen, Tess
Invisible	Patterson, James
Last bride	Lewis, Beverly
A Moment in Time	Peterson, Tracie
Mr. Mercedes: A Novel	King, Stephen
The Promise	Carr, Robyn
Rainy Day Dreams	Copeland, Lori
Shadow Spell	Roberts, Nora
The Skin Collector	Deaver, Jeffery
Terminal City	Fairstein, Linda A.
Top Secret Twenty-One: a Stephanie Plum Novel	Evanovich, Janet

LARGE PRINT

Title	Author
Child of Mine	Lewis, Beverly
Do or Die: Reluctant Heroes	Brockmann, Suzanne
Invisible	Patterson, James
Last bride	Lewis, Beverly
A Moment in Time	Peterson, Tracie
Shadow Spell	Roberts, Nora
The Skin Collector	Deaver, Jeffery
Temptation	Woods, Sherryl
Top Secret Twenty-One : a Stephanie Plum novel	Evanovich, Janet

BOOKS ON CD

Title	Contributor
The 1st Victim	Hoag, Tami
8 Sandpiper Way	Macomber, Debbie
The Beekeeper's Ball	Wiggs, Susan
Carnal Curiosity	Woods, Stuart
Delivering Death	Kramer, Julie
FaceOff	Baldacci, David
Invisible	Patterson, James
Midnight Rainbow	Howard, Linda
Mr. Mercedes: A Novel	King, Stephen
No Ordinary Man	Brockmann, Suzanne
Shadow Spell	Roberts, Nora
The Skin Collector	Deaver, Jeffery
Summer at Willow Lake	Wiggs, Susan
Target	Baldacci, David
Top Secret Twenty-One : a Stephanie Plum novel	Evanovich, Janet

Marcia Ledin, Technical Services Coordinator

2013 BOOK AWARDS - Booker, Nobel, Pulitzer !

The votes are in, and the winners have been announced!  Here are the authors and books that received major literary awards in 2013:

 

 

THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE – Alice Munro

 

Cited as a “master of the contemporary short story”, Munro is the first Canadian to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.  She is also a three-time winner of Canada’s Governor General’s Award for Fiction.  Her works include:

Dance of the Happy Shades (1968)             

The Progress of Love (1986)

The Love of a Good Woman (1998)

Dear Life (2012)

 

THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION - Adam Johnson

 

Johnson is a South Dakota native and Associate Professor in Creative Writing at Stanford University.  He received the Pulitzer for The Orphan Master’s Son.  His works include:

Emporium (2002)

Parasites Like Us (2003)

The Orphan Master’s Son (2012)

 

THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION – James McBride

McBride is a writer and musician whose 1996 memoir, The Color of Water, was a huge bestseller.  He received the National Book Award for The Good Lord Bird.  His works include:

 The Color of Water (1996)

 Miracle at St. Anna (2002)

 Song Yet Sung (2008)

 The Good Lord Bird (2012)

 

 THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE – Eleanor Catton

 

A native of New Zealand, Catton attended the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 2008.  She received the Booker Prize for The Luminaries and is the youngest recipient (at age 28) of that award.  Her works include:

 The Rehearsal (2008)

 The Luminaries (2013)

 

Many of these titles and various other award-winners are in the East Central Regional Library collection.  Check Evergreen (our online catalog) or contact your nearest ECRL branch library for assistance!

Bob Gray, Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian