Nominating Petitions Are Available for Library Trustee
Homer Township Public Library wishes to announce that the Library has nominating petitions available for persons who wish to run in the April 1, 2025 Consolidated General Election. For more information, visit Nominating Petitions Will Be Available for Library Trustee | Homer Township Public Library District (homerlibrary.org)
Children & Tweens
Digital Books for Kids
Book Collection: Nonfiction
Thousands of books with access to core subject areas as well as information on careers, health, sports, adventure, technology, life skills and more.
eBook Subscription 6-8 Collection
This e-book collection supports a quality learning experience for K-8 students across all subject areas taught in elementary and middle schools.
eBook Subscription Cricket Media Collection
Build strong literacy skills in students from pre-K to 8th grade by offering digital access to award-winning, short-form fiction and nonfiction titles.
eBook Subscription K-5 Collection
This e-book collection supports a quality learning experience for K-8 students across all subject areas taught in elementary and middle schools.
eBook Subscription Public Library Collection
Access to high-quality e-books covering a wide range of topics such as self-help, fitness, games, hobbies, and cooking. This general reference e-book collection features titles for both adults and juveniles.
Hoopla
Instantly borrow digital movies, music, eBooks and more, 24/7 with your library card.
Borrowing limit: 4 checkouts per month
Libby
With Libby (previously known as Omni OverDrive), you can download e-books and audiobooks to your mobile device or computer.
Tumble Book Cloud Junior
TumbleBookCloud Junior is an online collection of ebooks and read-along chapter books, non-fiction books, graphic novels, educational videos, and audio books!
TumbleBooks
TumbleBook Library is an online service offering talking, animated picture books and chapter books for kids.
Learning Resources
eBook Subscription 6-8 Collection
This e-book collection supports a quality learning experience for K-8 students across all subject areas taught in elementary and middle schools.
eBook Subscription K-5 Collection
This e-book collection supports a quality learning experience for K-8 students across all subject areas taught in elementary and middle schools.
Mango
Mango Languages’ PhD-created, linguist-approved language-learning software teaches practical conversation in over 70 languages, while keeping the vibe fun and encouraging.
Middle Search Plus
Magazines and reference books for middle school students. Includes thousands of biographies and primary source documents. Subjects include history, current events, science, sports, and biographies. Also includes photos, maps, and flags.
Middle Search Reference eBook Subscription
A broad range of general reference subject coverage for middle school students, with topics including social studies, math, history, language arts, technology, geography, culture, and science.
NoveList K-8
NoveList K-8 Plus is a trusted source of read-alike recommendations specifically for younger readers. It helps kids find books that are just right for their reading level and interests.
Primary Search
For elementary school kids! Content from children’s magazines, easy-to-read encyclopedia entries, and images. Students can learn about animals, musicians, fitness, space exploration, and much more.
Primary Search Reference eBook Subscription
A range of general reference subject coverage for primary school students, with topics like social studies, history, language arts, geography, culture, math, and science.
Professional Development Collection
A range of general reference subject coverage for primary school students, with topics like social studies, history, language arts, geography, culture, math, and science.
Scholastic Teachables
The Scholastic Teachables database grants users access to thousands of printable units and lesson plans, activity sheets, and customizable content in a variety of subject areas and grade levels.
World Book
The online edition of the popular encyclopedia, suitable for all ages. Includes all articles from the print set plus over hundreds more.
Reading Recommendations
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The Little Engine That Could
The kindness and determination of the Little Blue Engine have inspired millions of children around the world since the story was first published in 1930. Cherished by readers for ninety years, The Little Engine That Could is a classic tale of a little engine that, despite her size, triumphantly pulls a train full of wonderful things to the children waiting on the other side of a mountain.
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Tuck Me In!
The stars are out. The moon is rising. All the baby animals, from peacocks to pigs to zebras, are ready for bed. Will you tuck them in and say goodnight? Turn the pages and the big blanket flaps will cover each little creature up to its chin.
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Hello Baby!
After meeting a bevy of baby animals -- including a clever monkey, a hairy warthog, and a dusty lion cub -- the baby in this story discovers the most precious creature of all...itself, of course!
With an exuberant rhyming text by bestselling author Mem Fox and adorable cut-paper illustrations by Caldecott-Honor recipient Steve Jenkins, this book is an irresistible celebration of the joyful connection between parent and child.
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One Family
A celebration of diverse families plus a clever 1-10 counting element in this unabridged board book edition of One Family.
Just how many things can "one" be?
One box of crayons.
One batch of cookies.
One world.
One family.
From veteran picture book author George Shannon and artist Blanca Gomez comes a playful, interactive book that shows how a family can be big or small and comprised of people of a range of genders and races. -
Frog and Toad Are Friends
Celebrate the power of friendship with Frog and Toad—a Caldecott Honor Book!
From writing letters to going swimming, telling stories to finding lost buttons, Frog and Toad are always there for each other—just as best friends should be. These five adventurous tales are perfect for Level 2 beginning readers.
The classic Frog and Toad stories by Arnold Lobel have won numerous awards and honors, including a Newbery Honor (Frog and Toad Together), a Caldecott Honor (Frog and Toad are Friends), ALA Notable Children’s Book, Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book), School Library Journal Best Children’s Book, and Library of Congress Children’s Book.
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Drawn Together
The recipient of six starred reviews and the APALA Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature!
Named a Best Book of 2018 by the Wall Street Journal, NPR, Smithsonian, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, Booklist, the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, BookRiot, the New York Public Library, the Chicago Public Library-and many more!
When a young boy visits his grandfather, their lack of a common language leads to confusion, frustration, and silence. But as they sit down to draw together, something magical happens-with a shared love of art and storytelling, the two form a bond that goes beyond words.
With spare, direct text by Minh Lê and luminous illustrations by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat, this stirring picturebook about reaching across barriers will be cherished for years to come.
A Junior Library Guild selection! -
The Princess in Black
Who says princesses don’t wear black? When trouble raises its blue monster head, Princess Magnolia ditches her flouncy dresses and becomes the Princess in Black!
Princess Magnolia is having hot chocolate and scones with Duchess Wigtower when . . . Brring! Brring! The monster alarm! A big blue monster is threatening the goats! Stopping monsters is no job for dainty Princess Magnolia. But luckily Princess Magnolia has a secret —she’s also the Princess in Black, and stopping monsters is the perfect job for her! Can the princess sneak away, transform into her alter ego, and defeat the monster before the nosy duchess discovers her secret? From award-winning writing team of Shannon and Dean Hale and illustrator LeUyen Pham, here is the first in a humorous and action-packed chapter book series for young readers who like their princesses not only prim and perfect, but also dressed in black. -
Ada Twist, Scientist
A #1 New York Times Bestseller
A Wall Street Journal Bestseller
A USA Today Bestseller
The creators of the New York Times bestselling picture books Rosie Revere, Engineer and Iggy Peck, Architect are back with a story about the power of curiosity in the hands of a child who is on a mission to use science to understand her world. Ada Twist, Scientist, from powerhouse team Andrea Beaty and David Roberts, is a celebration of STEM, perseverance, and passion.
Like her classmates, builder Iggy and inventor Rosie, scientist Ada, a character of color, has a boundless imagination and has always been hopelessly curious. Why are there pointy things stuck to a rose? Why are there hairs growing inside your nose? When her house fills with a horrific, toe-curling smell, Ada knows it’s up to her to find the source. What would you do with a problem like this? Not afraid of failure, Ada embarks on a fact-finding mission and conducts scientific experiments, all in the name of discovery. But, this time, her experiments lead to even more stink and get her into trouble!
Inspired by real-life makers such as Ada Lovelace and Marie Curie, Ada Twist, Scientist champions girl power and women scientists, and brings welcome diversity to picture books about girls in science. Touching on themes of never giving up and problem solving, Ada comes to learn that her questions might not always lead to answers, but rather to more questions. She may never find the source of the stink, but with a supportive family and the space to figure it out, she’ll be able to feed her curiosity in the ways a young scientist should.
Iggy Peck and Rosie Revere have earned their places among the most beloved children’s characters, and they have inspired countless kids and adults to follow their dreams and passions. Now in her own charming and witty picture book, determined Ada Twist, with her boundless curiosity for science and love of the question “Why?,” is destined to join these two favorites. The book is the perfect tool to remind both young girls and women that they have the intelligence and perseverance to achieve their dreams. -
The World According to Humphrey
The first in the series about everyone's favorite classroom pet!
You can learn a lot about life by observing another species. That's what Humphrey was told when he was first brought to Room 26. And boy is it true! There are always adventures in the classroom and each weekend he gets to sleep over with different students. Humphrey learns to read, write, shoot rubber bands (only in self-defense, of course), turn off TVs, teach English as a second language, and more. With a lock-that-doesn't-lock and an adventurous spirit, what more could a mischievous hamster want?With a fresh voice and an engaging, hamster's-eye view of school, families, and treats to hide in a cheek pouch, Betty G. Birney's Humphrey will elicit laughter and demands for hamsters in every elementary classroom.
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The Blackbird Girls
NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD WINNER
A SYDNEY TAYLOR MIDDLE GRADE HONOR BOOK
Like Ruta Sepetys for middle grade, Anne Blankman pens a poignant and timeless story of friendship that twines together moments in underexplored history.
On a spring morning, neighbors Valentina Kaplan and Oksana Savchenko wake up to an angry red sky. A reactor at the nuclear power plant where their fathers work--Chernobyl--has exploded. Before they know it, the two girls, who've always been enemies, find themselves on a train bound for Leningrad to stay with Valentina's estranged grandmother, Rita Grigorievna. In their new lives in Leningrad, they begin to learn what it means to trust another person. Oksana must face the lies her parents told her all her life. Valentina must keep her grandmother's secret, one that could put all their lives in danger. And both of them discover something they've wished for: a best friend. But how far would you go to save your best friend's life? Would you risk your own?
Told in alternating perspectives among three girls--Valentina and Oksana in 1986 and Rifka in 1941--this story shows that hatred, intolerance, and oppression are no match for the power of true friendship. -
New Kid
Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Gene Luen Yang, New Kid is a timely, honest graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real, from award-winning author-illustrator Jerry Craft.
Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade.
As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?
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The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle
From the critically acclaimed author of Waiting for Normal and All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook, Leslie Connor, comes a deeply poignant and beautifully crafted story about self-reliance, redemption, and hope.
Mason Buttle is the biggest, sweatiest kid in his grade, and everyone knows he can barely read or write. Mason’s learning disabilities are compounded by grief. Fifteen months ago, Mason’s best friend, Benny Kilmartin, turned up dead in the Buttle family’s orchard. An investigation drags on, and Mason, honest as the day is long, can’t understand why Lieutenant Baird won’t believe the story Mason has told about that day.
Both Mason and his new friend, tiny Calvin Chumsky, are relentlessly bullied by the other boys in their neighborhood, so they create an underground club space for themselves. When Calvin goes missing, Mason finds himself in trouble again. He’s desperate to figure out what happened to Calvin, and eventually, Benny.
But will anyone believe him?
National Book Award Finalist * ALA Schneider Family Book Award * 2019 ALSC Notable Children’s Book * Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2018 * 2019-2020 Nebraska Golden Sower Award * Amazon Best Books of 2018 * Kirkus Best of Children's 2018 * New York Public Library Best Books 2018 * Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2018 * 2018 Nerdy Book Club Middle Grade Winner