families

Looking for picture books for Thanksgiving but everything's checked out? Below is a list of books about family meals and being thankful that are perfect for getting you into the Thanksgiving spirit. 

Stories About Family Dinners

As a family sits down to enjoy a meal, thoughts of those who provide the food, from farmers who plant and tend seeds to store clerks who sell groceries, fill each one with gratitude.

One of my goals for summer is to grow a garden with a variety of herbs and vegetables. Gardening is a great family activity that teaches children plant lifecycles and where food comes from. Here are some gardening resources for children to get your family started. 

Presents twelve gardening projects using leftover scraps from cooking, including growing celery from stubs, growing a bulb of garlic from a single clove, and growing a ginger plant from a root.

In my garden by Ruth Musgrave

Introduces gardens and gardening, including how a seed grows into a plant, how fruits and vegetables form, and what animals and insects also live in a garden.

"A host of animals portrays all kinds of non-traditional families"--.

A young boy faces adversity from classmates when he wears an orange dress at school.

I am Jazz by Jessica Herthel

Presents the story of a transgender child who traces her early awareness that she is a girl in spite of male anatomy and the acceptance she finds through a wise doctor who explains her natural transgender status.

"History tells us what people do; historical fiction helps us imagine how people felt."-- Guy Vanderhaeghe (1951- )

Cold Mountain [large print] by Charles Frazier

Inman, an injured and disillusioned Confederate soldier, embarks on a harrowing journey home to his sweetheart, Ada, who herself is struggling to run the farm left her at her father's sudden death.

Street boys [large print] by Lorenzo Carcaterra

Naples, Italy, during four fateful days in the fall of 1943. The only people left in the shattered, bombed-out city are the lost, abandoned children whose only goal is to survive another day. None could imagine that they would become fearless fighters and the unlikeliest heroes of World War II. 

Canton Seniors Book Discussion: March 23, 2017

Please join the Canton Seniors Book Discussion as we discuss:

The excellent Lombards by Jane Hamilton
Also available in: large print

Mary Frances "Frankie" Lombard is fiercely in love with her family's sprawling apple orchard and the tangled web of family members who inhabit it. Content to spend her days planning capers with her brother William, competing with her brainy cousin Amanda, and expertly tending the orchard with her father, Frankie desires nothing more than for the rhythm of life to continue undisturbed. But she cannot help being haunted by the historical fact that some family members end up staying on the farm and others must leave. Change is inevitable, and threats of urbanization, disinheritance, and college applications shake the foundation of Frankie's roots. As Frankie is forced to shed her childhood fantasies and face the possibility of losing the idyllic future she had envisioned for her family, she must decide whether loving something means clinging tightly or letting go.

Upcoming sessions

There are no upcoming sessions available.

Please join the Canton Seniors Book Discussion as we discuss:

The excellent Lombards by Jane Hamilton
Also available in: large print

Mary Frances "Frankie" Lombard is fiercely in love with her family's sprawling apple orchard and the tangled web of family members who inhabit it. Content to spend her days planning capers with her brother William, competing with her brainy cousin Amanda, and expertly tending the orchard with her father, Frankie desires nothing more than for the rhythm of life to continue undisturbed. But she cannot help being haunted by the historical fact that some family members end up staying on the farm and others must leave. Change is inevitable, and threats of urbanization, disinheritance, and college applications shake the foundation of Frankie's roots. As Frankie is forced to shed her childhood fantasies and face the possibility of losing the idyllic future she had envisioned for her family, she must decide whether loving something means clinging tightly or letting go.

"Continuing in a festive annual tradition, #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber returns with a new original holiday novel full of romance and cheer--and the magical prospect of finding love in even the most guarded hearts. Friendly and bubbly, Julia Padden likes nearly everyone, but her standoffish neighbor, Cain Maddox, presents a particular challenge. No matter how hard she's tried to be nice, Cain rudely rebuffs her at every turn, preferring to keep to himself. But when Julia catches Cain stealing her newspaper from the lobby of their apartment building, that's the last straw. She's going to break through Cain's Scrooge-like exterior the only way she knows how: by killing him with kindness. To track her progress, Julia starts a blog called The Twelve Days of Christmas. Her first attempts to humanize Cain are far from successful. Julia brings him homemade Christmas treats and the disagreeable grinch won't even accept them. Meanwhile, Julie's blog becomes an online sensation, as an astonishing number of people start following her adventures. Julia continues to find ways to express kindness and, little by little, chips away at Cain's gruff façade to reveal the caring man underneath. Unbelievably, Julia feels herself falling for Cain--and she suspects that he may be falling for her as well. But as the popularity of her blog continues to grow, Julia must decide if telling Cain the truth about having chronicled their relationship to the rest of the world is worth risking their chance at love"--.

For generations the Millers have lived in Miller's Valley. Mimi Miller tells about her life with intimacy and honesty. As Mimi eavesdrops on her parents and quietly observes the people around her, she discovers more and more about the toxicity of family secrets, the dangers of gossip, the flaws of marriage, the inequalities of friendship and the risks of passion, loyalty, and love. Home, as Mimi begins to realize, can be "a place where it's just as easy to feel lost as it is to feel content."
 
Miller's Valley is a masterly study of family, memory, loss, and, ultimately, discovery, of finding true identity and a new vision of home. As Mimi says, "No one ever leaves the town where they grew up, even if they go." Miller's Valley reminds us that the place where you grew up can disappear, and the people in it too, but all will live on in your heart forever.

Sometimes the greatest dream starts with the smallest element. A single cell, joining with another. And then dividing. And just like that, the world changes. Annie Harlow knows how lucky she is. The producer of a popular television cooking show, she loves her handsome husband and the beautiful Los Angeles home they share. And now, she’s pregnant with their first child. But in an instant, her life is shattered. And when Annie awakes from a yearlong coma, she discovers that time isn’t the only thing she’s lost.

Grieving and wounded, Annie retreats to her old family home in Switchback, Vermont, a maple farm generations old. There, surrounded by her free-spirited brother, their divorced mother, and four young nieces and nephews, Annie slowly emerges into a world she left behind years ago: the town where she grew up, the people she knew before, the high-school boyfriend turned judge. And with the discovery of a cookbook her grandmother wrote in the distant past, Annie unearths an age-old mystery that might prove the salvation of the family farm.

Family Tree is the story of one woman’s triumph over betrayal, and how she eventually comes to terms with her past. It is the story of joys unrealized and opportunities regained. Complex, clear-eyed and big-hearted, funny, sad, and wise, it is a novel to cherish and to remember. 

Winter Snow Spree

Celebrate family, snow and all things winter at our Snow Spree on Tuesday, December 19 from 7:00-8:30PM. Carousel Acres will be flying over a live reindeer who will be visiting with us outside and we will be giving CPL Express train rides in our front loop, so please dress for the weather! Then, come inside and warm up with some hot chocolate, video stories, crafts and more. Enjoy while supplies last. No registration required.

Upcoming sessions

There are no upcoming sessions available.

Looking for a lively book discussion? The Canton Seniors Book Discussion Group meets on the fourth Thursday of the month from 2:00PM-3:00PM in Group Study Room A at Canton Public Library.  Ask a librarian at the Information Desk for a copy of this month's selection. 

Elizabeth is missing by Emma Healey

Maud, an aging grandmother, is slowly losing her memory--and her grip on everyday life. Yet she refuses to forget her best friend Elizabeth, whom she is convinced is missing and in terrible danger. But no one will listen to Maud--not her frustrated daughter, Helen, not her caretakers, not the police, and especially not Elizabeth's mercurial son, Peter. Armed with handwritten notes she leaves for herself and an overwhelming feeling that Elizabeth needs her help, Maud resolves to discover the truth and save her beloved friend. This singular obsession forms a cornerstone of Maud's rapidly dissolving present. But the clues she discovers seem only to lead her deeper into her past, to another unsolved disappearance: her sister, Sukey, who vanished shortly after World War II. As vivid memories of a tragedy that occurred more fifty years ago come flooding back, Maud discovers new momentum in her search for her friend. Could the mystery of Sukey's disappearance hold the key to finding Elizabeth?

2016 Family Music Fest!

Music creates a soundtrack for our lives. It can enliven and enrich the lives of kids and the people who care for them from infancy and beyond. On Saturday, October 15 from 10:00 AM-5:00 PM we will host a day's worth of fantastic, energetic, diverse musical acts. Come and celebrate the beat within all of us. This program is designed for families and patrons of all ages. The schedule is as follows...

10:00AM - Music with Ms Carissa - Ms Carissa unleashes her tot rock for all to hear. She will be playing both her originals as well as some tried and true classics. Come and join her already huge local following. Recommended for families with kids birth thru 8 yrs old.

11:30AM - Detroit Pleasure Society - Traditional Jazz has never sounded so fresh and new. Check out Detroit Pleasure Society's bombastic and swingin' good tunes. Recommended for patrons young, old and everyone in between.

2:00PM - Drummunity - Lori Fithian lives to the beat of her own drum and challenges you to do the same. Experience the creation of and contribute to a real life, huge drum circle made up of all who wish to join the beat. All ages welcome. No previous experience required.  

4:00PM - Istvan & his Imaginary Band - Istvan used to play in rock bands. Then, inspired by the birth of his own daughter, he decided to start to write his own rock songs and share them with elementary school aged kids and their families all around Chicago. Now he's branching out even further to rock the socks off of families all over the place and he's even won a Parent's Choice "Fun Stuff" Award for his most recent album, Playtime. The music he creates is super fun and highly interactive. Don't miss it!

The Family Music Fest is made possible by the Friend's of the Canton Public Library and Vibe Credit Union.

Upcoming sessions

There are no upcoming sessions available.

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