Skip to main content

Spring Growth


 

The tree in my neighbor's yard is now producing pink snow. My solitary yellow tulip out front is bravely making its annual appearance. Around town I see people out working on their yards: piles of garden tools, bags of mulch, collections of yard trimmings out on recycling day.

It’s just the right time for some recommendations from the Howard County Library if you have children in your life. (Or if you’re like me and just adore children’s books.) This week’s Chapter Chats entitled “Spring is for Gardening”, presents nine different volumes for your reading pleasure, with descriptions to help you pick a few to check out.

My two favorite gardening books for kids are golden oldies by now: Planting a Rainbow and Growing Vegetable Soup, both by Lois Ehlert. Do you read books to children in your life? Do you have any Spring favorites to recommend?

The Friends and Foundation of the Howard County Library has been running a fundraiser to support the creation of a new mobile library van called On the Road to Kindergarten. The mobile unit:

...will bring library collections, services, and programs to all corners of the community, focusing on preparing children from birth to three for kindergarten. 

To learn how you can donate, click here. To learn more about On the Road to Kindergarten, you’ll find a description here

Whether it’s growing gardens or Kindergarten readiness, the library has a lot to offer our community. 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...