Lions and Tigers and Haikus - Oh my!

April is National Poetry Month, and this year Katie, a Collection Support Aide at the Hampton Park Library, created an endcap in our Juvenile section about animal haikus.

 

A haiku is a style of poetry created in Japan. These short poems consist of three lines, and each line has a required amount of syllables. Typically, the poem is a line with 5 syllables, a line with 7 syllables, and a line with 5 syllables. For example,

Hampton Park, the place
of creativity and
written word wonders.

-Kayla

Katie’s endcap encouraged visitors to take a moment and write a haiku about an animal. We were so delighted by everyone’s haikus that we wanted to share some of our favorites with all of you. 

I love to pet my 

Small furry cute puppy dog

As she snuggles close

The turtle is slow

But it always wins the race

Go, go turtle go

Dragons are [fierce] and powerful

And thats all I have to 

Say

Love Evelyn

Giraffes are the best

Their long necks make them super

Gentle giant friends

-Reagan C.

[Kitty] in the sun

Sleeping, playing, having fun

Fuzzy little one

-Emma

Duck haiku

Ducks are [fantastic].

They like to waddle and bathe

But can’t live in a cave.

-Maggie

The python slithers

Through the forest gleefully

It’s looking for food

We appreciate everyone who wrote a poem or stopped to read a poem from a fellow library patron. We hope it brought a little bit of joy to your day!

Wishes in the Moon: A celebration of Korean Thanksgiving ‘Chuseok’

Stop by the Sharon Forks branch and peek in the children’s area to see wonderful artwork created by students of Rabbitbrush Art Studio. These were created to represent the tradition of making wishes underneath the full moon during Chuseok, also called Korean Thanksgiving. 

Each painting is in the shape of a Moon Jar which utilizes a soft, round shape that is reminiscent of the full moon. The artists use Minhwa, Korean folk painting techniques, and traditional symbols to represent their hopes for the future. 

The Museum of Fake Art at Sharon Forks Library

 

Ever since Grant Wood's painting American Gothic was first exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1930 people have debated its meaning. Some view it as a satire directed at rural communities while others see it as reflecting on hard-working farm families. How do you view this iconic painting? 

Do you notice something different in this version American Gothic?

Take a good look. It's not an exact representation.

One unique detail qualifies this image for inclusion in Sharon Fork Library's Museum of Fake Art.

Is it the curtains? The brooch? The woman's loose strand of hair?

Actually, all of those details are part of Wood's famous oil on beaverwood painting.

Have you noticed what's not exactly like Grant Woods' American Gothic painting on display at the Art Institute of Chicago?  

Staff Picks: Small Town Stories

I grew up in a midwestern suburb but spent each summer visiting my grandparent's rural home in Southern New Jersey.  Small towns are great for biking on country roads past picturesque farms and woodlands, exploring nature, buying farm-fresh corn at roadside vegetable stands, and spending long lazy days swimming or just enjoying the sunshine. When you aren't the one stacking hay and shucking corn, the relaxed pace of small town living offers extra time for my favorite pastime of all - reading. I still enjoy reading stories about the lives of people living in small towns. 

Stories set in small towns are on display this month at Sharon Forks Library but they don't all focus on the idyllic side. Check out Delilah S. Dawson's Bloom, a dark fantasy about a woman whose life takes a very strange turn when she makes a new friend at a local farmer's market, Jane Harper's Exiles, a mystery set in South Australia's wine country, Olga Tokarczuk's award-winning Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, or the Ray Bradbuy classic, Dandelion Wine. 

What are your favorite books set in small towns? 

Dino-vember Adult Nonfiction Book Recommendations

Things are going to get weird. There may be horrific disasters, and many lives will  be lost. But don't worry. As long as we keep exploring, humanity is going to survive.

Annalee Newitz

Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: 

How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction

A Spector in the Stacks at Sharon Forks Library Continued

The library was nearly deserted, aside from a few high school students meandering around. It was closing time, and as the lingering patrons made their way to the front doors, a low cry was heard from the nonfiction stacks. 

A librarian cautiously walked back to the shelves, nervous she would find a child missing their parents. When she arrived at the stacks, however, all the rows were empty aside from a book on the floor. She put the book back and walked to the next row, only to hear a dull thud. Retracing her steps, the same book was on the floor, as though she had never picked it up. Curious, she read the front cover and found it was a book about manners and etiquette. 

A Spector in the Stacks at Sharon Forks Library Continued

Alice haunts the library, a cold presence in the air. Fifty years ago she vanished between the shelves, her body found days later, clutching a book that no longer exists.

Now, shadows twist in corners and whispers rise from forgotten pages. At night the air turns heavy, and lights flicker as her ghost drifts through the aisles, searching, always searching.

A Specter in the Stacks at Sharon Forks Library

Something has made its presence known at the Sharon Forks Library. While searching for biographies and books on history in the adult nonfiction section, patrons and library staff have heard the echo of a name….Alice. 

What is this apparition, and why is it here? 

Alice in Libraryland

Alice got old. And as elderly people often do, she reminisced about the wondrous adventures of her youth. No one believes her tales, but she knows they’re true…that she’s more than a character in a children’s novel.