Coffee or Crafting: How about both?
Here is a way to enjoy your cup of joe with a splash of creativity. I’m a fan of using different items to create art. For today’s activity, we will be using watercolor paper, coffee, Qtips, plastic forks, and chopsticks. As your painting dries, there will be subtle changes.
Thanks Jordan and Tanya for joining me at the craft table!
I’m Lisa from the Northtown Library. I usually host the Opening Act(ivity) program on Wednesday mornings, though today we are bringing the activity to you!
Today’s activity has to do with travel. I know a lot of us are staying close to home, so grab a favorite vacation photo.
Instead of buying postcards on my last trip, I decided to draw my own pictures while I was there.
It is a wonderful way to soak up the atmosphere. This one is from Ocean Shores.
Reading for fun? What is that?! As a student and an only-parent, it is difficult to find time to enjoy reading for pleasure. There is always another assigned chapter to read, home distractions and dishes to do that fill my spare time, however, I managed to do it! I not only finished a book, There, There by Tommy Orange, but I have started another book, Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor.
Both books bring me out of my reading comfort-zone and into eye-opening, fascinating reads. While I was introduced to Tommy Orange’s book through an optional lecture at the university, I found Nnedi Okorafor through our reading lists. I am thoroughly enjoying the writing style of Okorafor – the magical world that exists alongside the “normal” world as it is set in Nigeria – compared to what I generally read in sci-fi/fantasy books. I read wherever I can, including my own backyard (Bonus: this earns a Read Outside badge for the library’s summer reading program).
If you can, take the time to look over our reading lists and find something that you can read for the love of reading. It will take you out of your comfort zone and into a new reading realm!
Check out our fantasy adventure reading list to fit this year’s summer reading theme, Imagine Your Story!
Picture Books
Another by Christian Robinson
Day Dreamers: A Journey of Imagination by Emily Winfield Martin
Journey by Aaron Becker
Little Barbarian by Renato Moriconi
Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima
The Very Last Castle by Travis Jonker
The Wall in the Middle of the Book by Jon Agee
Middle Grade
Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell
Charlie Hernández and the League of Shadows by Ryan Calejo
Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee
Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Shuri: A Black Panther Novel by Nic Stone
Snow & Rose by Emily Winfield Martin
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale Illustrated by LeUyen Pham
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
YA
A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney
Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh
Geekerella by Ashley Poston
Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust
Slay by Brittany Morris
The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
The Gilded Wolves by Roshami Chokshi
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman
The Wrath & the Dawn Renée Ahdieh
Thorn by intisar khanani
Uprooted by Namoi Novik
Warcross by Marie Lu
We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Meja
Wintersong by S. Jae-jones
My name is Lisa and I work at the Northtown Library. I host the Opening Act(ivity) program typically every Wednesday mornings. Since we are closed for now, we are bringing the Opening Act(ivity) to you!
For today’s activity, I want to share one of my favorite quilts that I made depicting a charm bracelet. Customize your own quilted charm bracelet to reflect your style!
Explore free ebooks from Spokane Public Library, all summer long. Start by downloading the Libby app to download eBooks on the go and play book bingo with your friends and family!
Picture Books
A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin
Carmela Full of Wishes by Matt De La Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson
Book | eBook
Hey, Water! by Antoinette Portis
How to Code a Sandcastle by Josh Funk, Illustrated by Sara Palacios
I Got the Rhythm by Connie Schofield-Morrison, illustrated by Frank Morrison
Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall
Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed, illustrated by Stasia Burrington
My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Zeke Peña
Saturday by Oge Mora
The Old Truck by Jerrett Pumphrey Illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey
They Say Blue by Jillian Tamaki
Middle Grade
Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol
The Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell
Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day
My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich by Ibi Zoboi
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (Gr 4-7)
Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson
Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
Stand Up, Umi Chung by Jessica Kim
Book on order
The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatrama
The Last Day of Summer by L.R. Giles
The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon
Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice by Mahogany L. Browne
Young Adult
Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian
Lumberjanes: Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevens
No One Here is Lonely by Sarah Everett
Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds
Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older
Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Summer of Jordi Perez (and the best burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding
The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan
The Toll by Neal Schusterman
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
Want to learn how to make a napkin rose? Learn with our Northtown staff as they present this Opening Act(ivity). This program is usually held at Northtown on Monday mornings but while we are closed, we are bringing the activities to you.
Lisa
Hi, my name is Lisa. I host the Opening Act(ivity) program at the Northtown Branch.
Today’s activity is writing a concrete poem using Shakespeare or a favorite author.
Concrete poetry—sometimes also called ‘shape poetry‘—is poetry whose visual appearance matches the topic of the poem.
The words form shapes which illustrate the poem’s subject as a picture, as well as through their literal meaning.
We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
On the Other Side of Freedom by DeRay Mckesson
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Negroland by Margo Jefferson
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
There Will Be No Miracles Here by Casey Gerald
Juneteenth by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
One way to elevate black voices is to read and recommend books by black authors. Check out the recommendations below and feel free to ask a librarian for more recommendations! This list is curated for adult readers by Katie Rickard and Eva Silverstone.
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by Z.Z. Packer
Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Lot by Bryan Washington
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
Jazz by Toni Morrison
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Open City by Teju Cole
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Mothers by Britt Bennett
The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom
Things That Make White People Uncomfortable by Michael Bennett
We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Homie by Danez Smith
Voices: Poems by Lucille Clifton
Hard Times Require Furious Dancing: New Poems by Alice Walker
Hi, my name is Lisa. I usually host the Opening Act(ivity) at the Northtown Library.
Summer Reading is here, so time to make an Art/Reading Journal! Here are a few suggestions on what you can create:
Don’t forget to sign up for Summer Reading at spl.northwestreads.org!
Lisa
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