Holiday Closures: City Offices and Facilities Closed Tuesday, Dec. 24-Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024 & Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025
As always, The Takoma Park Police Department is open 24/7 for emergency services. For a full breakdown of Holiday Closures and changes to the Holiday Collection Schedule, click "More Information".
Cover of Let Me Finish! authored by Takoma Park resident Minh Le.
Join us on Tuesday, June 7, at 7:00 PM for a program featuring Takoma Park resident Minh Le, whose first picture book – Let Me Finish! – has just been published. Isabel Roxas, who illustrated the book, also will be on hand, and will do some live drawing for the crowd. Le’s book tells the story of a child who just wants to finish his book in peace. Each time he starts on a book, however, one of a series of well-meaning, and obviously well-read, animals inadvertently let slip plot spoilers in their eagerness to launch impromptu book discussions. Politics & Prose will be selling copies of the book at our event but the program is free and no purchase is required.
Join us Thursday, May 19 at 7:30 PM in the Library’s Children’s Room for a chance to meet “reigning” Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall. She’s coming to talk about her newest project, illustrating a new chapter book series, The Witches of Benevento, written by John Bemelmans Marciano. The series, aimed at ages 7-10, focuses on five cousins and the way they outwit the many witches who live in their hometown of Benevento, Italy. School Library Journal noted of the first book, Mischief Season: “Magical spells and amusing characters with distinctive personalities, coupled with an engaging story with a twist, will captivate readers and leave them clamoring for future stories….”
Blackall won the 2016 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations for Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear. The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the American Library Association to the artist of the “most distinguished American picture book for children,” and is regarded as one of the most prestigious awards in the world of children’s literature. Marciano, the grandson of Madeline creator Ludwig Bemelmans, has continued the Madeline series and also written several other books, including The Nine Lives of Alexander Baddenfield, also illustrated by Blackall.
At our May 19 event, Politics & Prose will be selling copies of Finding Winnie as well as the first two books of The Witches of Benevento series, but our program is free and no purchase is required to attend. Please join us for a rare opportunity to meet a Caldecott Medalist!
Cover illustration for the book The Peace Tree From Hiroshima
On Thursday, May 12 at 7:30 PM., author Sandra Moore and illustrator Kazumi Wilds will discuss their children’s book, The Peace Tree From Hiroshima in the Library’s Children’s Room. Their presentation is timely, given the announcement that President Obama will visit Hiroshima later this month. In our program, Moore, a local resident, and Wilds, visiting from California, will talk about how the book came together. The Peace Tree From Hiroshima tells the story of a bonsai tree that was cared for by generations of a Japanese family; the little tree somehow survived the bombing of Hiroshima and was donated 40 years ago to the National Arboretum by Japan to celebrate the U.S. bicentennial. Publishers Weekly called the book a “straightforward but affecting tribute to patience, dedication, and a generosity of spirit that surmounted tragedy.” Copies of the book will be on sale at the program, but the event is free and no purchase is required.
We’ll have a special “Dia” at the Takoma Park Maryland Library on Sunday, April 24 at 3:00 PM as local author/illustrator Lulu Delacre talks about her new Spanish/English book, Olinguito de la A a Z/Olinguito From A to Z.
We’ll have a special “Dia” (Dia de los Ninos/ Dia de los Libros, Children’s Day/Book Day) at the Takoma Park Maryland Library on Sunday, April 24 at 3:00 PM as local author/illustrator Lulu Delacre talks about her new Spanish/English book, Olinguito de la A a Z/Olinguito From A to Z. In the book, Delacre cleverly uses the alphabet to introduce young readers to the habitat of the olinguito, a recently discovered mammal that lives in the cloud forest of the Ecuadorean Andes. Kirkus called Delacre’s book, aimed at ages 4-8, “poetic and informative, a breath of fresh air in the too-often-contrived world of bilingual books.” Delacre’s presentation will end with a craft related to her book. Politics & Prose will be selling copies of Delacre’s book, but the event is free and no purchase is required to attend. Please join us for this fun way to enjoy a new bilingual book and participate in the national celebration of “Dia de los Ninos/Dia de los Libros”!
Author/illustrator Lulu Delacre will read and discuss her new bilingual alphabet book, “Olinguito, From A to Z!” on April 24 at 3:00 PM at the Takoma Park Maryland Library!
Author/Illustrator Ruth Chan will be at the Takoma Park Maryland Library at 7:00 PM on April 7 to launch her debut book “Where’s the Party?”
All are invited to a special party at the Library on Thursday, April 7, at 7:00 PM when author/illustrator Ruth Chan launches her first picture book, “Where’s the Party?” We’ll have party hats and prizes, plus birthday cake, of course. Chan will read her new book, do some live drawing, and answer audience questions. Politics & Prose will be selling copies of “Where’s the Party?” for those who want them signed by Chan, but our event is free and no purchase is required.
Cover art for book two in the “Hamster Princess” series by author/illustrator Ursula Vernon
Author/illustrator Ursula Vernon unveils the second book in her Hamster Princess chapter book series on Monday, March 14, at 7:30 PM in the Library’s Children’s Room. Titled Of Mice and Magic, the heavily-illustrated book for ages 7-10 tells what happens when spunky Princess Harriet the Invincible sets off to figure out how to lift the curse from 12 dancing princesses in a neighboring kingdom. In its review, Booklist noted: “Fans of twisted feminist fairy tales will be delighted, and Harriet’s existing followers won’t be disappointed with this second installment.” At our event, Vernon will talk about the Harriet books, as well as her popular Dragonbreath series. Copies of Vernon’s books will be available from Politics & Prose, but the program is free and no purchase is required to attend.
