Cooking in the Kitchen for Baby!

Think you don't have time to create a nutritious, homemade meal for your baby or toddler or just want to try something different? Check out some of these books in our parenting collection that include quick and easy ideas that can even save you money! All you need is a blender or food processor and a saucepan and remember to have fun!

Here are some book suggestions to get you started...

The Baby Bistro: child approved recipes and expert nutrition advice for the first year
Baby Bites
Baby Love: healthy, easy, delicious meals for your baby or toddler
Better Baby Food
The Toddler Cafe: fast, healthy and fun ways to feed even the pickiest eater
The Well Fed Baby

Marshmallow Peepsicles

On Friday, March 20 children in grades 3-5 made sweet treats to brighten up the rainy Spring we have been having. We dunked marshmallow peeps, Oreo cookies and pretzel rods into melted chocolate and decorated them with extra sweets like graham crackers, Fruity Pebbles, cocoa nut and sprinkles. Be sure to check out our flickr page to see more of our delicious creations!

Looking for books to help you make your own goodies? Schedule a kitchen play date with a friend or a family bake night using these books as a guide.

Kitchen Playdates by Lauren Bank Deen

Easy Cut-Up cakes for Kids by Melissa Barlow

Batter Up Kids: Sensational Snacks by Barbara Beery

Pink Princess Cupcakes by Barbara Beery

Paula Deen’s My First Cookbook by Paula Deen

C is for Cooking Recipes from the Street by Susan McQuillan, RD

Cool Cakes and Cupcakes Easy Recipes for Kids to Bake by Pam Price

Hello, Cupcake Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson

Fairy Tale Feasts A Literary Cookbook for Young Readers and Eaters by Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple

What’s on the Librarian’s Desk? New Books!

Here at the Nesconset Branch we get so excited when the Children’s Department Clerk, Karen walks into the Children’s room with an armload of books, because this means new additions to the library arrived!

Today, Karen brought in these eye catching titles:

Small Person with Wings by Ellen Booraem: When Mellie Turpin's grandfather dies and leaves her family his run-down inn and bar, she learns that for generations her family members have been fairy guardians, and now that the fairies want an important ring returned, the Turpins become involved in a series of magical adventures as they try to locate the missing ring.

Your Friend in Fashion Abby Sapiro by Amy Axelrod: Beginning in 1959, Abby, nearly eleven, writes a series of letters to Jackie Kennedy, each with sketches of outfits she has designed, as she faces family problems, concerns about neighbors, and her own desperate desire for both her first bra and a Barbie doll.

The Trouble with Chickens by Doreen Cronin: A hard-bitten former search-and-rescue dog helps solve a complicated missing chicken case. This is a new book by the author of Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type, Diary of a Fly, Diary of a Spider and Diary of a Worm!

Justin Bieber by Kathleen Tracy: Baby, baby, baby – a biography that will make your heart melt – the story of Justin Bieber’s rise to fame! Tons of color photos to make those Biebermaniacs swoon!

Ghoulish Ghost Stories by Joan Axelrod-Contrada: Looking for a book that goes bump in the night? This book discusses scary stories including The Bell Witch and The Amityville Horror

Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Enter if You Dare! By Geoff Tibballs: 254 pages of curiosities, oddities, facts, each story accompanied by incredible pictures!

Darth Paper Strikes Back!

Beware...Darth Paper!

And the sequel to

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda is….

Darth Paper Strikes Back! Tom

Angleberger’s sequel will be on library

shelves, August 1! Check out
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda,
and be sure to check

out our review of this book.

Can’t wait that long? Angleberger has another book coming out this spring, while not in the Yoda series, Horton Halfpott: Or, The Fiendish Mystery of Smugwick Manor, Or, The Loosening of M’Lady Luggertuck’s Corset was released on May 1. This hilarious and silly mystery features a downtrodden kitchen boy, who becomes an unlikely hero. Fans of Lemony Snicket will love this one!

Go Green @ Your Library

A recycled puppy!

On Friday, April 29, children in grades 1-5 gathered at the Nesconset Branch of the Smithtown Library to create Upcycled Art. After a reading of The Dumpster Diver by Janet S. Wong, children created collages using a variety of unique materials, including packing peanuts, raffia packaging, in addition to everyday items that had been repurposed into a masterpiece!

 An upcycled portrait!

Couldn’t make it to the library for our Upcycled Art program? No worries, did you know you are being green each and every time you use the library? Checking out books, movies, CDs and audio books keeps clutter off of your shelves at home and helps reduce the amount of paper and plastic that is required to make new materials.

See the write up about this program on the Smithtown Patch!