Indoor Pursuits

You're likely spending more time indoors these winter months, so here are links to books on a variety of pursuits requiring no ski pants, hand warmers, or boots.  Hope you find something inviting here and maybe even try something new!  Just click on any of the captions below for links to our catalog.

Drawing

 Knitting

Flower

Arranging

Origami

Journaling/Scrapbooking

           

 

Woodcarving

Large Type

Do your eyes become tired at night?  Would it be easier for you to read if the books had larger type?
Stop by the Adult Services Desk and we would be happy to show you our collection of books, magazines and other resources available to the vision-impaired.  A few of our popular titles are listed below:

     The Devil in The White City by Eric Larson is a story of Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America  LT   364.1523 LAR
      Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand: A World War Two story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption.  This New York Times best-selling author introduces you to a real hero pilot Louis Zamperini.  LT  940.547 HIL

 Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson the biography of the man behind Apple. This riveting story , based on hundreds of interviews with Jobs, his family and co-workers looks at the life of this creative genius.   LT BIOG JOBS  ISA
       Computers for Seniors for Dummies by Nancy Muir helps you to choose the right computer, shows you how to exchange e-mail with family and friends and how to be safer on-line.  LT 004.16 MUI

  Dick Van Dyke: My lucky life in and out of show business  With a foreword by Carl Reiner.
LT BIO Van Dyke

 Download our e-books and you can change the type size on your screen and also adjust the brightness. MyMediaMall is available from our homepage by using your Lake Forest Library card.
 Magazines?  The library carries Reader's Digest in large print and with our newest database Zinio you can download magazines at home and change the zoom size of the magnification. 
  We  have audio books on cd as well as on-line.
We have recently relocated our large print books to the west wall of the fiction section on the main floor.  The newest titles of  Large Type books are located in the Rotunda.  Please ask at the Adult Services desk; we can help you find items on the shelf, place holds on items that are checked out and check to see if your favorite authors are available in the larger type.

Free Digital Magazines @ Your Library!

What? You say, How could this be?

The Lake Forest Library has partnered with Recorded Books and Zinio to provide everyone with a valid Lake Forest Library card access to 94 magazines. Want the latest issue of Newsweek, Forbes, or Cosmo? We have it! Even better, you can read each issue on your computer or tablet (with app) and keep it for as long as you like.

So how do you sign up, how does this work? You will need two accounts. First you'll want to sign up for an account at Zinio. This is where you will be reading the magazines, so make sure you don't sign out!. Then, you'll need to use your Lake Forest library card number and an email address to sign up with the Recorded Books/LFL platform.

Once logged into the library's page you can choose each magazine you would like to read. Clicking on one will take you directly to your Zinio account (which is why you want to stay logged in) where you will be able to read it!

Heard enough? Head on over to our guide to get started!

Book Discussion Thursday January 17

Judy Levin leads a discussion of The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson this Thursday January 17 at 12:30 p.m. in the Children's Programming Room.

Set in Grenada, Iowa  the story begins at the wedding of the Ericksons' oldest daughter Anita in 1973. Over the course of three decades family dreams unfold and unravel. Anita wants to raise a family in her home town, her brother Ryan looks forward to college, while their mother Audrey just wants her children to be happy. But time brings not only growing dissatisfaction with their rural life but also a devastating accident for the youngest sister Torrie. An episodic novel, told from multiple viewpoints, the story is marked by the author's wit and compassion.

Critical reviews of National Book Award finalist Thompson's work can be found by clicking below:
New York Times
GoodReads
The Washington Independent Review of Books

The Year We Left Home is available at the Library in print, audiobook and eaudiobook formats.

Please join us.

Easy Children's Readers

As the school year progresses, has your young child been traveling down the exciting, but sometimes frustrating road to reading?  In addition to the Fontas & Pinnell Guided Reading system used by the Lake Forest Public Schools, there are many excellent progressive phonics and easy reader series for newly emergent readers.  You and your child might wish to try some of these popular books, many written by quality children’s authors with well known characters :

 Bob Books   These small, color coded boxed sets are an ideal starting point for children who are sounding out words and creating simple sentences.  Set One is also available with a read along disc to add auditory support. 

Child’s World has reissued a phonics set  with updated illustrations covering the entire alphabet of hard and soft consonants and vowels, from Amy’s Race  to Zack’s Zippers.

Once your new reader is comfortable with  word recognition and comprehension there are progressive reader sets that combine high interest subjects with increasing levels of difficulty:

 Step into Reading  has 5 levels, starting at Preschool Ready to Read.  Popular licensed characters from Disney and Barbie and some nonfiction.

Star Wars easy readers

 DK Readers offers 4 levels from Beginning to Read (simple sentences with new word repetition).  This series is popular with boys as they read about Star Wars, Lego characters, Pokemon, and various superheroes.

The Cat in the Hat

I Can Read (also known as Beginner Books) is the home of the classics.  Ready for The Cat in the Hat, Frog and Toad, or Danny and the Dinosaur?  A wide array of quality readers at several different levels.  Sometimes a child just enjoys practicing and exploring his new found skills without the strict hierarchy of levels.

 When your reader progresses from reading single sentences to short easy chapters, look for series written with a controlled vocabulary by popular children’s authors expressly for this level of comprehension. Cynthia Rylant has several : Henry and Mudge,  Mr. Putter & Tabby, and Poppleton.  The easy reader section is also where you will find the humorous Amelia Bedelia and detective Nate the Great.

     

 Lately, some easy versions  have introduced popular fiction series to the emerging capable reader:  The Boxcar Children, Amber Brown, and Black Beauty.

We group our readers by author, not series, so a certain series level may be found throughout the collection.