Cat’s Picks! Spotlight on Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak was born June 10, 1928 in Brooklyn, NY. His parents were Polish Jews who had immigrated to the States; most of his childhood was impacted by loss of…
Folklore Fun! Latin American Tales
It's hard to believe that I've written eleven installments of the Folklore Fun series! Yet, I knew that there was still a huge geographical region that I hadn't explored yet:…
Medium Monday: Papercraft
What Is Papercraft? Papercraft, broadly speaking, is a work of art that is created out of paper. The interesting thing about papercraft is its variety of forms. There is the…
Gen. George C. Marshall: His Life & Military Career
In December the World at War Forum welcomed Daniel Zeiser, who discussed the life and military career of General George C. Marshall. The library has several books about General Marshall's…
Cat’s Picks! Cozy Holiday Books for Families!
Whether your household celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or the Winter Solstice, Westlake Porter Public Library has an abundance of picture books for all of the winter holidays. Click on the…
Bah! Humbug! Dickens’s Classic Marks 180 Years
This year marks the 180th anniversary of the publication of Charles Dickens's timeless classic A Christmas Carol. First published on December 19th in 1843, it quickly sold out it's first…
Veterans Day Reads
In the United States, November 11 is Veterans Day. On this day we take time to honor and remember the sacrifice and service of the members of America's armed forces.…
The Beast and the Bethany: A Deliciously Devious Series
The beast has the finest house in the land.It's so tall and long and terribly grand.Even the Queen, with her palace so wide,Couldn't compete with the beast if she tried.The…
Zombies on Your Bookshelf? It May Be More Likely Than You Think
How Can a Book Be Undead? I'll be honest: I've never liked zombies. They're scary. They're gross. They bear the faces of humans—people who once laughed, and dreamed, and fell…
Four Books About Love For Readers Who Love Books
Romance readers, by definition, must also love books. So, what's a better than a romance novel with a bookish theme? The titles we're sharing today are all about love, books,…
No Bones About It! Five Skull and Skeleton Books
I have a skull sitting on my desk at home. Not only does it look really cool, but it makes me feel like the writer of some sort of dark…
Cat’s Picks! Legacy of Jim Henson’s Muppets
September 24th, 2023 would have been Jim Henson's 87th birthday. Jim Henson, the man who brought the cultural zeitgeist of the Muppets to the world of children's television (Sesame Street,…
Doomsday with My Dog: The Apocalypse Has Never Been So Chill!
Don't let the title fool you. This post-apocalyptic manga series is about as chill as they come! Hold up. A chill post-apocalyptic series? That's right! Doomsday with My Dog tells…
Folklore Fun: World Tour!
This post was updated in November 2026 to reflect WPPL’s current collection. In honor of WPPL's Welcoming Week, we're going on a whirlwind trip around the world! Let's ease in…
We Love Local Authors!
Here at the library, we love our local authors! And while we have many excellent titles in our Local Creators Collection, I haven't had nearly enough time to sample them…
Florence Skyline at Sunset
Explore the World With Travel Guides
Porter Public Library celebrates Welcome Week! One of the goals of Welcome Week is to help build a sense of community – a sense of “we.” Traveling and seeing the…
Books with Great First Lines
They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I say you should judge a book by its first line. Well, maybe not exactly, but a good first line…
Folklore Fun! China
This post was updated in October 2026 to reflect WPPL’s current collection. I started this blog post with zero knowledge about Chinese folklore. Fortunately, WPPL has a great selection of…
Lost in Life or Caught in a Crisis
Each of the books on this list has something in common. It features a main character who is either lost in life or going through a sort of mid-life crisis.…
Not a Pretty Picture: Paintings in Horror
In my opinion, art should be beautiful. If I'm hanging a painting on my wall, I want it to be something that will uplift my spirits, rather than something that…
Lewis Barnavelt: John Bellairs and More Middle Grade Scares
If you read and enjoyed the titles on my previous list of Johnny Dixon mysteries, then I have another series to recommend to you! These are the adventures of Lewis…
Medium Monday: Printmaking
What Is Printmaking? E. B. Goodale uses monotype prints in The Moon Remembers Printmaking is actually an umbrella term for several different methods. At the most basic level, it is…
The Adventures of Johnny Dixon: A Middle Grade Series Big on Scares
I've heard it said multiple times before that a well-written children's book should appeal not only to children, but to adults as well. And I'll fully admit that I do…
Medium Monday: Colored Pencil
What Is Colored Pencil? Colored pencils are just what they sound like. A thin outer layer of wood makes a stylus with a pigmented core that leaves a mark when…