HALLOWEEN

This coming Monday is Halloween. There are lots of on-line sites--with really cool graphics--regarding this holiday.

History/Traditions/Links :
The History Channel
Wikipedia
Halloween on the Web
Kate.Net's Haunted Halloween
Kidsites
Kiddy House Halloween for Kids and Teachers

Many Different Activities
Halloween Central
Halloween on the Net
UNICEF's Halloween Kids
Halloween Magazine Online
DLTK's Halloween Activities
National Geographic Kids
Nick Jr. for Parents
Family Fun Halloween Activities
Family Corner Halloween Ideas--includes recipes for homemade blood and bruises

Online Games/Activities (mostly for children)
Kids Domain: Kaboose
Billy Bear's Halloween Party--[annoying banner at top, tho]
Black Dog's Halloween Party
Kids Domain Halloween Games
Halloween Caverns of Blood
Free Halloween Games
Halloween with Boowa & Kwala
About.com's Family Games--links
Yahooligan's Games--scroll down to "Holiday Games"
Nick Games
Hershey's Trick or Treats
The Kidz Page
Family Screen Scene All Info About--links
Kids Turn Central--links
Free World Group
Squigley's Games
Arcade Town

Crafts, Costumes, Etc.
Enchanted Learning's Halloween Crafts
Homemade Halloween Costumes
Knowledge Hound Ideas--links
About.com's Family Crafts Homemade Costume Ideas
Costume Idea Zone
Making Friends Halloween Crafts
Surfnet's Links to Homemade Costume Sites

Ghost Stories, Songs, Etc.
Halloween Carols
Silly Halloween songs
Jack O'Lantern's Halloween Carols
Halloween Carols
Halloween Ghost Stories
Children of the Moon Halloween Stories
Yahooligan Stories, Poems, etc.--links
American Folklore's Really Scary Stories--some can be listened to
David Lubar Stories--from Girl's World
Halloween Stories with Poo and Roo
13th Track Audio Stories--PG-13; some old radio shows, too

Addenda:
Two sites I omitted accidentally when editing:

Downloadable Star Wars Masks
Carving Halloween Pumpkins--practice your design before carving the real jack-o-lantern

ROSA PARKS, 1913-2005

Rosa Parks, considered to be a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement, died Monday night in Detroit. Honored by government leaders over the years, she had been designated one of the Most Important People of the Century by Time Magazine. More biographical information about her can be found at Rosa Parks.org and at Gale's Biographies. There is even a poem about her, written by Rita Dove. Other links to on-line information about her can be found at the Rosa Parks Portal.

The Elk Grove Library has several biographies about her in the Adult Department--besides those in the Children's Department. They include:

Rosa Parks by Douglas Brinkley
Don't Know Much about Rosa Parks by Kenneth C. Davis
Rosa Parks by Mary Hull

WHITE SOX SWEEP!!!

Yeaayyyy!!! The Chicago White Sox have won the World Series--and in 4 straight games!! It's their first World Series win since 1917!

Want to know more about Chicago's southside team? Check out the display near the Circulation Desk at the Elk Grove Library. Some books available include:

Who's on 3rd?: The Chicago White Sox Story by Richard Lindberg (796.35764 LIN)

The White Sox Encyclopedia by Richard C. Lindberg; with photo research and color photography by Mark Fletcher (796.357 LIN)

Sox, From Lane and Fain to Zisk and Fisk by Bob Vanderberg (796.35764 VAN)

Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball by Harvey Frommer (796.357 FRO)

Sox: The Complete Record of Chicago White Sox Baseball--historical text by Richard Lindberg; White Sox graphics by John Warner Davenport (796.35764 LIN)

Minnie and the Mick: The Go-go White Sox Challenge the Fabled Yankee Dynasty, 1951 to 1964 by Bob Vanderberg (796.357 VAN)

AMERICAN LIFE IN POETRY

Yesterday I happened to be looking at the Sunday edition of the Des Moines Register--I was actually looking for the crossword puzzle--and I found the weekly poetry column, "American Life in Poetry", edited by the current American Poet Laureate, Ted Kooser. This is a project that Mr. Kooser is promoting to bring American poetry to the attention of the average person, to make poetry a part of daily life, not just something most people only have contact with in school. Underwritten by The Poetry Foundation, this column is offered FREE to any newspaper that would be interested in using it. In the column, Laureate Kooser comments briefly on that particular week's poem, usually a rather short verse on some aspect of American life. Unfortunately, so far as I can tell, no local area papers have taken advantage of this offer, although around 80 other papers across the country have elected to publish the column. For interested poetry-lovers, the poems and comments are available on-line at the "American Life in Poetry" web site.

DINOSAURS AT GAIL BORDEN LIBRARY

Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin is currently hosting a special exhibit throughout the library, African Dinosaurs. Running through December 30, this is a great chance to get close to several complete, full-scale casts of dinosaurs recently unearthed in Africa by University of Chicago paleontologist Dr. Paul Sereno and his team. Especially impressive is the two-story tall Jobaria skeleton in the center--33 feet high and 25 feet long! Other skeletons are to be found in the Children's Department as well as upstairs in the Adult Department. There is a viewing room showing the film, Skeletons in the Sand about Dr. Sereno in Africa and narrated by Bill Kurtis--from the series New Explorers. There is even a gift shop. And it is all FREE. Viewing hours are the regular library hours. [Read a review of the exhibit from Sara Ann Long from the North Suburban Library System.]

Concurrent with the exhibit is Dinos on Parade, decorated dinosaurs scattered throughout Elgin. They will be on display through early November and then will be auctioned off. [My favorite is the zebra-striped one at the corner of Grove and Kimball, right near the library.

FAB CLUB

Like many other area libraries, the Elk Grove Village Public Library has available an automatic "Hold" option for patrons. Called the "FAB Club"--Favorite Authors Book Club--, each interested patron checks off their favorite authors from a pre-printed list of 140 fiction writers. When a new book by any of the chosen authors comes in, the patron is automatically put on the "Hold" list for that book. There is no guarantee that the patron's position in the queue will be near the top, but it does ensure that the patron will not miss the latest hardcover novel by a favorite author. The form/list can be filled out at the Adult Services Desk.

Among the authors on the list are:
Lilian Jackson Braun
Tom Clancy
Mary Higgins Clark
Patricia Cornwell
Clive Cussler
David Eddings
Elizabeth George
Sue Grafton
John Grisham
Stephen King
Elmore Leonard
James Patterson
Elizabeth Peters
Nora Roberts
Danielle Steel
Scott Turow