Normal Public Library provides many enriching events and resources for kids of all ages, parents, and families.
Activities
The Children’s Department offers lots of activities to educate and entertain kids. There are story hours for various ages, crafts, guest authors, robotics and other science and tech activities, and of course, Summer Reading
A Place to Discover
Whether we have an official activity going on or not, you can always find fun things to do in Children's Services.
The Discovery Room
The Discovery Room is a popular area for imaginative play, with an Everbright light wall, DUPLO wall, pretend play center, Velcro block wall, play house, and more. We even have a Tot Spot area reserved for our youngest patrons.
The Book Nook
The Book Nook is a welcoming area to find a comfy seat and enjoy a book, put some puzzles together, or build a DUPLO or MAGNA-TILE masterpiece.
Tech Playground
Jump on a Playaway Launchpad and play learning games in our Tech Playground. Launchpads are pre-loaded with interactive, engaging apps designed for kids in Pre-K to 5th grade.
Outreach
The library has lots of services and resources that can help teachers and homeschoolers.
We are happy to offer storytelling or information programs to nursing homes, churches, community centers, and schools. For more information, please contact us at 309-454-4668.
New Books for Kids
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Free Piano (Not Haunted)
The piano is free, but fame has a price.
On the sleepy streets of Cascade Cove, lonely Margot knows that when she stumbles across a discarded synthesizer with a “not haunted” sign, she’s discovered the key to realizing her dreams. Determined to become a real songwriter and earn her absent father’s admiration, Margot dives headfirst into trying to gain followers and fans online. But her musical journey takes an unexpected turn when she realizes the (not haunted) piano is very much…haunted.
Enter Vision, teen pop sensation of 1979 whose untimely demise left her spirit intertwined with the keys of her synthesizer. Though Margot and Vision couldn’t be more different, the girls form an unlikely bond fueled by their shared passion for music.
But as Margot’s obsession with fame and recognition grows, she may come dangerously close to losing what she loves about music…and herself. -
Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb
J. Robert Oppenheimer was a brilliant physicist who led the American effort to build the atomic bomb during World War II, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of the revolutionary weapon he helped create.
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My Abuela Is a Bruja
My abuela is a bruja.
There is magic in everything she does.
There is nothing more magical than a grandmother's love. But one lucky girl suspects her grandmother has actual magic. It's in the tun-tun-tun of the way she dances salsa, in the warmth of her hugs, and the delicious smell of her cooking. The granddaughter wonders: will I have magic of my own one day? -
Orris and Timble: Lost and Found
Orris the rat and Timble the owl are unlikely friends. Each night, Timble visits Orris in the barn and listens to his stories. But Timble is growing up, and one evening when the owl doesn’t appear as usual Orris wonders if Timble has forgotten him. Is their friendship over? Or could it be that Timble has a tale of his own to share?
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CeeCee
CeeCee is a young enslaved girl growing up alongside the two spoiled daughters she must work for on a plantation in Maryland. She takes care of them, catering to their every whim and suffering their casual cruelty. She learns to read by listening to their lessons and stories with the threat of punishment if caught.
CeeCee receives help from the caring cook, Binty, and hope comes in the form of a different kind of escape. CeeCee chances everything for the possibility of a new life.
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Schoolbot 9000
James Gordon is already annoyed by the robots in his life—the drones that look like bugs, the dogbots at the park, his HomeBot babysitter, and now? He’s just found out that Schoolbots are replacing all of his favorite middle school teachers.
James’s teachers have always cared about his feelings and supported his art, but with the news that artificial intelligence is replacing them, James’s life feels like it’s full spiraling into chaos. All the Schoolbots care about is improving students’ test scores and efficiency, and they’ve had some seriously unnerving glitches.
James is determined to fight back but is going to need some help from a very unlikely ally in order to keep these robot teachers from taking over his school. -
Hello Hello Numbers
Say hello to early learning concepts and the wild world of animals!
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The Totally Awesome World of Caitlin Clark
Caitlin has already accomplished so much—and she’s just getting started! In The Totally Awesome World of Caitlin Clark, you’ll learn about:
Caitlin’s early life and her first successes on the court- Her dazzling college basketball career at the University of Iowa
- Her current stats in the WNBA as a point guard with the Indiana Fever
- Her pursuits off the court, including her love of golf, her business endeavors, and her philanthropic efforts
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E-I-UFO
Old MacDonald had a farm—that is, until an alien spirits his animals away in a UFO. Now, Old MacMartian has a farm—in space—and young readers will delight in the out-of-this-world hijinks that result when cows, pigs, sheep, and more create chaos in his spaceship.
With a zerp zap and a zerp zap there, colorful and detail-rich illustrations bring this hilarious tale to life as Old MacMartian and his faithful three-eyed dog get a bit more than they bargained for with their messy, hungry, noisy, and mischievous new barnyard companions. E-I-UFO! -
Pumpkin and Beetle: Two Vampire Cats
Vampire cats are just like other cats, except they sleep during the day, they only eat red foods, and they go to school at night!
One night after school, Pumpkin and Beetle discover everyone in Hallowsville is reading the latest Frightfuls comic. Everyone except them, that is. When they check their wallets, they only have a quarter and a bug. Determined not to miss out, they brainstorm all sorts of ways to make money. They'll sell crabapples! They'll set carved crabapples! They'll sell carved crabapple muffins! -
The Pecan Sheller
In 1930s San Antonio, thirteen-year-old Petra dreams of going to college and becoming a writer.
But with her beloved father dead, two younger siblings to care for, and with a stepmother struggling to make ends meet, Petra has to drop out of school to shell pecans at a factory. Hoping it's only temporary, she tries not to despair over the grueling work conditions. But after the unhealthy environment leads to tragedy and workers' already low wages are cut, Petra knows things need to change. She and her coworkers go on strike for higher wages and safer conditions, risking everything they have for the hope of a better future.
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Space Case the Graphic Novel
For twelve-year-old Dashiell Gibson, living on the moon is a dream come true. Except for the low-gravity lunar toilets. And the food. And the part where his best friend lives about 250,000 miles away. And how there are almost no other kids up here, except for his kid sister and a couple of billionaire bullies. Oh, right, and the fact that a fellow lunarnaut just died—and only Dashiell knows that his death wasn’t an accident.
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Cute Animals That Could Kill You Dead
They're fluffy. They're funny. They could kill you.
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The House of Found Objects
Twelve-year-old Bea from Passaic, New Jersey, is visiting her family in Paris for the summer when her grandmother’s most precious heirloom—a drawing by Henri Matisse—goes missing. After a cryptic clue arrives on Bea’s doorstep suggesting its whereabouts, Bea is determined to pursue the lead.
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Snoop
If Carter hadn't been checking his phone, he might have seen his brother coming down the ski slopes in his direction. And if Carter had seen his brother in time and avoided the crash, he might not have two broken legs right now.
Oops.
Now Carter is stuck at home for weeks, with both his legs in casts. Bored, he starts checking out the live feeds from police cams around his town. Before he knows it, he's obsessed -- watching his classmates when they don't know he's looking, and discovering some other VERY STRANGE things going on that no one else is noticing.
But what happens when Carter is found out... and the people he's watching know where he lives?
Upcoming Kids' Events
1,000 Books Before Kindergarten is an education initiative with three main goals: to promote early childhood literacy, to prepare young children for kindergarten and to facilitate family bonding through reading. Find more information about 1,000 Books and register here.