Summer Concert Series

St. Louis County Library has got a great summer concert series lined up for this summer!
Join us at the Headquarters branch for some family fun! Doors open at 6:00 p.m. for all concerts.

Friday, June 3, 6:30 p.m.
Babaloo
This prize-winning pied piper is popular for packing more fun than seems possible in every show! 

Friday, July 8, 6:30 p.m.
Mr. Stinky Feet
Bring your dancing shoes and join Jim "Mr. Stinky Feet" Cosgrove for a high-energy, interactive concert guaranteed to get the whole family rockin'.

Friday, August, 5, 6:30 p.m.
Leonardo
This highly interactive performance will entertain all ages.

"Bluffton" by Matt Phelan

What would it be like if an elephant, a zebra, and a whole host of entertainers moved to your town for the summer. What if one of the entertainers was the brilliantly comic Buster Keaton? You no longer have to wonder, because Matt Phelan has created "Bluffton", another gorgeously illustrated graphic novel about Buster Keaton's summers in Michigan.

It starts in the summer of 1908 when Vaudeville actors rent cottages in the town of Muskegon, Michigan. Henry, the son of a shopkeeper, is instantly entranced as he meets young baseball-loving Buster Keaton. Buster has traveled the world with his parents as part of The Three Keatons and knows all kinds of amazing tricks. Henry spends his summers witnessing pranks, hearing stories, and trying to weasel tricks out of Buster. His small-town world expands to encompass a zebra, an elephant, and a whole host of larger-than life characters who have traveled the world, and his life is forever changed. 

This book is not a biography, but a novel based off of Keaton's real life experiences as a boy. It will inspire you to watch some of his movies, however, and perhaps even try a few gags! The story is appropriate for the 3rd to 6th grade crowd.

--Andrea W., H.Q.

P.S. To watch Buster in action, check out "The General" today!

Read Alike: "In the Tree House" by Andrew Larsen and "Blackout" by John Rocco

Sometimes being the youngest person in your family can be lonely. Oftentimes your family members are too busy to play, or your older siblings become too "cool" to pretend and have adventures. But every once in awhile something magical happens, and people are shaken out of their normal routines. Something like a power outage in the middle of the summer, as in "Blackout" by John Rocco, and "In the Tree House" by Andrew Larsen.

In "Blackout," John Rocco tells the story of a little girl with a family that's just too busy to play with her. With vibrant, comic-style illustrations, we follow her as she wanders off to play alone until the lights go out and the family takes the time to play together and with neighbors by the glow of candles, flashlights, and stars.

Similarly, "In the Tree House" tells the tale of two brothers who excitedly built a tree house in their back yard, spending hours playing together. But when the older brother becomes too involved with his friends to play with his little brother, the little guy is left to sit out in the tree house alone, watching the lights come out around town. Once again the power goes out, and the family is able to appreciate the twinkling stars. The older brother is lured into the tree house where the two boys once again spend a magical night playing together and sharing the darkness. I particularly enjoy  illustrator Dusan Petricic's spare silhouettes of the darkened tree house and town. 

If you love beautifully illustrated stories about family togetherness and the wonder of a dark night, click on the links above to reserve a copy today. It just might inspire you to create some blackout nights in your home! Perfect for preschoolers to second graders.

--Andrea W., H.Q.

Book Review: "It's a Firefly Night" by Dianne Ochiltree

Summer is a magical time for a child--swimming, biking, vacations, sleep-overs, summer camp, and plenty of time to play outside all add together to create a time of wonder and discovery. There's nothing more iconic and magical about a balmy childhood summer night than racing across the lawn catching fireflies, and Dianne Ochiltree and Betsy Snyder introduce their young readers to this delightful tradition in their lovely new book "It's a Firefly Night."

"When the moon is high/ and the stars are bright,
Daddy tells me,/ 'It's a firefly night!"

 With beautifully saturated colors to mimic the velvety darkness of nighttime, Ochiltree and Snyder introduce us to a little girl as she hunts for fireflies with her dad. The story and rhyming are very sweet and perfect for a bedtime story, while Snyder's illustrations are friendly and warm with tiny creatures of all sorts to spot on almost every page. The book also advocates catch and release as, 'I love catching fireflies,/ but they are not mine." Introduce your little one to the joys of firefly hunting today by clicking on the link above. Perfect for the preschool set.

--Andrea W., H.Q.