Kids
Play & Learn
Play & Learn at the Downtown Library, Tuesdays at 10:30am
Come for stories, songs, crafts, and other activities designed to support early learning. Every week we will explore new ideas and skills through reading and participatory activities. (Geared towards children aged 3 to 5)
Toddler Time
Toddler Time at Heights Branch, Wednesdays at 10:30am
Delight and engage your toddler with stories, playtime and a simple activity. Get to know other families and help your child develop their language, listening, motor and social skills. (Geared towards children aged birth through 3)
STEAM Learning
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) learning begins with opportunities for children to freely explore technical concepts through play. The library’s inviting and engaging environment welcomes children to test their ideas, problem-solve, and build a foundational understanding of complex concepts. The children’s area has a number of items for scientific play, including a light table, wind tunnel, ramp and cars, and Korxx building blocks.
Take a look at the Create page to see the list of coding and robotic equipment that can be used in the library.
Programs for children that incorporate STEAM are scheduled throughout the year.
Launchpad Tablets
Launchpads are guided learning tablets with preloaded apps, stories, and videos, generally around a particular theme. They do not connect to the internet. Built with durable bumpers and double tempered glass, they are a worry-free way to allow screen time for children. Launchpads are available for different age groups, not just preschoolers. Come in and take a look!
Voxbooks
Voxbooks combine outstanding picture books, chapter books, and non-fiction titles with audio recordings built right into the book that capture children’s attention and make learning and literacy development fun.
Library of Things
The Library of Things contains items that you can check out for family fun, including puzzles, fishing poles, Washington State Discovery Backpacks and board games.
World Book Kids
Gale in Context: Elementary School
Designed for kids, Gale In Context: Elementary delivers trusted, age-appropriate digital content. Through newspaper and magazine articles, videos, images, graphics, and eBooks, elementary students can learn about everything from animals and outer space to famous artists and favorite athletes.
World Book Discover
Recommended Reads for Kids
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Bluey: Sleepytime
Come on a dream-filled adventure with Bluey and Bingo in this special picture book with fold-out pages! Based on the award-winning animated series Bluey, as seen on Disney+.
It’s sleepytime at the Heeler house! Bingo wants to do a Big Girl sleep. As she drifts away into a dreamy adventure with Flopsy, will Bingo make it through the night and wake up in her own bed? -
The Big Cheese
An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller!
Don't miss the seventh picture book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Food Group series from Jory John and Pete Oswald!
The Big Cheese is the best at everything, and brags about it, too. When the annual Cheese-cathlon comes around, the Big Cheese is prepared to win, as always. But what happens when the quiet new kid, Wedge Wedgeman, comes out on top? Is a slice of humility all the Big Cheese needs to discover that some things are better than being the best?
Jory John and Pete Oswald serve up another heaping plate of laughs and lessons with this empowering, witty, and charming addition to their #1 New York Times bestselling series!
Check Out Jory John and Pete Oswald's other funny bestselling books for kids ages four to eight and anyone who wants a laugh:
- The Bad Seed
- The Good Egg
- The Cool Bean
- The Couch Potato
- The Smart Cookie
- The Sour Grape
- The Good Egg Presents: The Great Eggscape!
- The Bad Seed Presents: The Good, the Bad, and the Spooky!
- The Cool Bean Presents: As Cool as It Gets!
- The Bad Seed Goes to the Library
- The Good Egg and the Talent Show
- That's What Dinosaurs Do
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Dogtown
Now a New York Times bestseller, an Indie bestseller, and an Amazon Best Children's Book of 2023! From beloved authors Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko and with illustrations from Wallace West, Dogtown is at once an uplifting story and a page-turning adventure, sure to find a forever home in readers’ hearts.
Dogtown is a shelter for stray dogs, misbehaving dogs, and discarded robot dogs, whose owners have outgrown them.
Chance, a real dog, has been in Dogtown since her owners unwittingly left her with irresponsible dog-sitters who skipped town.
Metal Head is a robot dog who dreams of being back in a real home.
And Mouse is a mouse who has the run of Dogtown, pilfering kibble, and performing clever feats to protect the dogs he loves.
When Chance and Metal Head embark on an adventure to find their forever homes, there is danger, cheese sandwiches, a charging station, and some unexpected kindnesses along the way.
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Dragonboy and the 100 Hearts
A playful little boy and his band of stuffed-animal friends celebrate love, friendship, and discovering something new in the place you least expect.
Dragonboy and his stuffed-animal friends are stuck at home, feeling as gloomy as the weather. If only they could go outside and discover something. Inside everything is the same as always. Or is it....
With patience, kindness, and old treasures made new, best friends Dragonboy, Yellow Kitty, Darwin, Drako, and Simon realize that an adventure can happen anywhere if they listen to each other and follow their hearts.
Every time someone shows kindness in this story, hearts appear! Can you find 100 hearts?
Don't miss the other books about Dragonboy:
Dragonboy
Dragonboy and the Wonderful Night -
Eyewitness Reptile
Packed with striking photography, Eyewitness Reptile explores one of nature's most fascinating animal species.
Become an eyewitness to how reptiles sense the world, move and use camouflage in this picture-led reference guide that will take you on a visual tour of these scaly creatures. Children will be mesmerized by the many different types of reptile species, from small pets to large crocodiles.
This beautifully illustrated guide for kids aged 9+ gives an insight into how crocodiles look after their young, how lizards store fat in their tails, and how chameleons swivel their eyes. Using striking full-color photographs of snakes, crocodiles, lizards, and turtles, this book offers a unique eyewitness view of these amazing creatures.
Throughout the pages of this newly-revised book on reptiles, you can expect to find:
- A fresh new look; new photographs, updated information, and a new "eyewitness" feature.
- Amazing facts, updated diagrams, statistics, and timelines.
- Brand new eyewitness accounts from experts in the field.
Eyewitness Reptile introduces the ultimate guide to these cold-blooded creatures, where you can find out how snakes are charmed, how geckos walk upside down, why crocodiles swallow stones, and how a snake is milked of venom. Children can learn all about how an anole lizard frightens its enemies by displaying its bright red beard and watch a boa constrictor swallowing its prey whole. This all-encompassing guide to reptiles is a must-have for curious children aged 9+ with a thirst for learning, as well as teachers, parents and librarians.
So, what's new?
Part of DK's best-selling Eyewitness series, this popular title has been reinvigorated for the next generation of information-seekers and stay-at-home explorers, with a fresh new look, up to 20 percent new images, including photography and updated diagrams, updated information, and a new "eyewitness" feature with fascinating first-hand accounts from experts in the field.
Explore the series!
Globally, the Eyewitness series has sold more than 50 million copies over 30 years. Travel through the solar system with Eyewitness Space, learn the incredible systems that keep your body functioning with Eyewitness Human Body, take a trip aboard the most famous ship in history with Eyewitness Titanic, or explore one of the most brutal conflicts of the 20th century with Eyewitness World War I. -
Hippos Remain Calm
Catch up with the party-loving hippos from Hippos Go Berserk! in this long-awaited picture book more than forty-five years in the making—from the one and only Sandra Boynton!
Hippos have a reputation for wild parties that go on till dawn. People have even gone so far as to say that partying hippos “go berserk.” Nobody knows how these rumors got started.
But even if it’s true (it is), it’s not the whole story. Given the deep appreciation that hippos have for water, it’s no wonder that your average hippopotamus seeks, finds, and offers a state of flow, no matter the situation.
We have much to learn from their example. Accordingly, this helpful book follows two typical hippos as they calmly and mindfully go about their ordinary hippo day.
“O, flare thy wild nostrils,
And welcome the day!
Onward! And upward!
Come what will,
come what may.” -
Winter Turning: A Graphic Novel (Wings of Fire Graphic Novel #7)
The graphic novel adaptations of the #1 New York Times bestselling Wings of Fire series continue to set the world on fire!
Daring mission... or deadly mistake?
Winter has been a disappointment to his royal IceWing family his whole life. When his sister, Icicle, runs away from Jade Mountain Academy, fleeing terrible crimes and possibly planning to commit more, Winter knows that they both need a second chance to make things right -- if only he can find her.
Winter's new clawmates, Moon, Qibli, and Kinkajou, won't let him make this dangerous journey alone. They don't seem to understand that IceWings, the most superior of all dragon tribes, can fix their own problems. When their search leads the dragonets straight into Queen Scarlet's vicious talons, Winter is grateful to have some help. But even the bravest dragons can't follow him to the Ice Kingdom, where he'll have to face the greatest threat of all: his own family.
The #1 New York Times bestselling Wings of Fire series soars to new heights in the seventh graphic novel adaptation, with art by Mike Holmes.
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Why Do Elephants Have Big Ears?
Fascinating "Why" questions about animals, and plenty of new ones, take centre stage in the latest book by Caldecott Honor-winning duo Steve Jenkins and Robin Page.
Do you know why a camel has a hump?
A Zebra has stripes?
Or why wombats have cube-shaped poop?
Find out the answers in this fun and beautifully illustrated book, and learn oodles of other intriguing facts about the animal world. It's the perfect gift for any kid who loves animals and is always asking "Why?" because who doesn't want to know why a flamingo stands on one leg?
Steve Jenkins and Robin Page have written and illustrated almost 100 nonfiction children's books that have sold over 5 million copies between them. Masters at making nonfiction entertaining and visually engaging, their books have won numerous awards and are favourites of kids, parents, and teachers alike. -
Warriors: a Starless Clan #4: Thunder
Erin Hunter's #1 bestselling Warriors series continues! Discover more epic adventure in this fourth book in the Starless Clan arc.
Frostpaw was told to trust no cat, but a brutal attack has left her gravely injured, and she'll need to depend on someone. When help arrives in the form of a young warrior, she convinces him to protect her as she follows StarClan's cryptic directions toward the roots of RiverClan, where Riverstar has promised she'll find the answers she's been so desperately seeking.
Back at the lake, the tension between ShadowClan and its neighbors might be easing, but the peace is fragile. Until StarClan's chosen leader is found, the slightest push could lead the Clans back into outright war.
Packed with action and intrigue, this seventh Warriors series is a perfect introduction for new readers, while long-time fans will be thrilled to discover what unfolds after the events of The Broken Code.
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The Last Kids on Earth and the Monster Dimension
The highly-anticipated ninth book in the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling series, with over ten million copies in print!
The last kids may have escaped the forbidden fortress by the skin of their teeth, but there isn't much to celebrate. Thrull has what he needs to complete the Tower, Rezzoch will most certainly come to Earth, and the world as they know it will cease to exist. Except Jack's Cosmic Hand is now even more powerful than he realized, and it might just be able to stop the inevitable from happening. To get the answers he seeks, he'll need to travel farther than he's ever been. He must go . . . to the monster dimension!