May
"AAPI Voices: Culture in Motion"
MAIN BOOK
About: The story is about a young Asian girl who notices that her eyes look different from her friends at school. Her friends all have big, round eyes with long eyelashes, and she starts to wish her eyes looked like theirs. But then she looks at her family and realizes her eyes are just like her mama, her grandmother (Amah), and her little sister (Mei Mei). She sees that their eyes are beautiful because they glow like warm tea, crinkle into crescent moons, and are filled with family history. In the end, she learns to love her own eyes and feels proud of who she is.
"This book is clearly a window for our bookshelf and I love it so incredibly much. My family is not Asian and our eyes most closely resemble those of the girls she notes in the first spread—so how incredibly important that we are reading a book like this that helps us see and celebrate something we don’t have or understand. And it absolutely thrills me to think of all the children I do know with such special eyes and how this book represents them in such a positive, power-affirming way!
My girls loved this upon first read. The sister relationship is the clear favorite for them, but I also heard my oldest twirling parts of the text aloud as she recalled different ways the words sounded and how they were used as descriptions. They immediately started naming their own friends with “eyes that kiss in the corners” and then began brainstorming ways we would choose to describe our own eyes. The enjoyment and encouragement from this book are immense. Congrats to Joanna Ho on her first knock-out picture book, and Dung Ho on so beautifully illustrating the story!" (Three Books A Night, n.d).
BOOK DISPLAY
Special Programs
The Interlocking Community: Family Jigsaw Puzzle Cafe (Family Event / All Ages)\
Description:
To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, families gather for a relaxed afternoon of teamwork. The library sets up cozy tables stocked with jigsaw puzzles featuring artwork by prominent AAPI illustrators, stunning landscape photography of Pacific islands, or iconic animated film imagery (like Studio Ghibli frames). While parents and children chat and piece together puzzles, the library provides complimentary hot tea and juice boxes.
Developmental Value:
This intergenerational program promotes family bonding and social-emotional collaboration. Working on jigsaw puzzles builds spatial reasoning, shape recognition, and visual scanning skills. It also teaches patience, mindfulness, and cognitive problem-solving as families strategize how to sort borders and colors together.
- Resources & EDI:
Staffing Requirements:
1 Children’s Staff member manages table setup, lays out puzzles, and distributes refreshments.
The Manga Panel Art Studio (Ages 7–12)
Description:
A specialized workshop where older children step into the shoes of a graphic novelist or manga artist. Celebrating visual masters like Gene Luen Yang, kids learn the unique artistic framing rules, pacing techniques, and dramatic action lines used in Asian comic traditions. Using premium black ink pens, rulers, and actual adhesive screen-tone overlay sheets, participants draft, ink, and texture their very own original multi-frame manga panel sequence.
A specialized workshop where older children step into the shoes of a graphic novelist or manga artist. Celebrating visual masters like Gene Luen Yang, kids learn the unique artistic framing rules, pacing techniques, and dramatic action lines used in Asian comic traditions. Using premium black ink pens, rulers, and actual adhesive screen-tone overlay sheets, participants draft, ink, and texture their very own original multi-frame manga panel sequence.
Developmental Value:
Enhances visual literacy, sequencing, and advanced fine motor precision. Children practice mapping out a narrative trajectory across fixed physical borders, learning how camera angles (like close-ups or wide angles) influence a reader's emotional focus. Inking requires intense hand-eye coordination and spatial focus.
Resources & EDI:
Promotes the library’s massive graphic novel and manga collections as mentor texts. To foster equity, the library provides free access to high-end, professional-grade art supplies (ink pens and screen-tones) that are typically cost-prohibitive for families to purchase at home. For children experiencing dysgraphia or physical grip fatigue, we offer pre-bordered templates, lightboxes for easy tracing, and thick foam comfort-grips for all writing utensils.
Promotes the library’s massive graphic novel and manga collections as mentor texts. To foster equity, the library provides free access to high-end, professional-grade art supplies (ink pens and screen-tones) that are typically cost-prohibitive for families to purchase at home. For children experiencing dysgraphia or physical grip fatigue, we offer pre-bordered templates, lightboxes for easy tracing, and thick foam comfort-grips for all writing utensils.
Staffing Requirements:
1 Children’s Librarian (to demonstrate frame panel design and assist with inking techniques) and 1 Library Volunteer (to pass out rulers, screen-tone sheets, and manage cleanup).
About physical endurance and features free-diving and Korean Culture.
Unique Activity: The Quick-Reflex Shadow Tag & Garden Agility Obstacle Course
Unique Materials: Outdoor traffic cones, foam jump rings, and high-visibility running vests
Paws & Playback: Read to Dogs (Ages 5–10)
Media Element: 3-minute television show comparison trailer clip to analyze live-action vs. comic panel choices
1 Children’s Librarian (to demonstrate frame panel design and assist with inking techniques) and 1 Library Volunteer (to pass out rulers, screen-tone sheets, and manage cleanup).
Weekly Programs
Motion-Maker Storytime
Book Selection: Danbi Leads the School Parade by Anna Kim
(Interested Parents can watch this free YouTube video clip to see more of the book in audio/visual format. )
MEDIA ELEMENT: Watch the YouTube read of Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho
Unique Materials: Colorful movement scarves, paper plate base cutouts, blue tissue paper squares, and craft glue sticks
(Interested Parents can watch this free YouTube video clip to see more of the book in audio/visual format. )
MEDIA ELEMENT: Watch the YouTube read of Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho
- Audio/Song: Listen to this song about Asia
Unique Materials: Colorful movement scarves, paper plate base cutouts, blue tissue paper squares, and craft glue sticks
Lego Animation Studio
Unique Theme Focus: Animated Comic Studios & Graphic Novel Art Desks
Unique Materials: Bulk neon Lego brick plates, miniature desk toys, and cardstock comic strip background layouts
Script Writers Club
Unique Theme Focus: Crafting dramatic action lines, dialogue text fonts, and graphic novel script pacing
Unique Materials: Fine-liner black ink sketching pens and pre-bordered graphic panels
Unique Theme Focus: Animated Comic Studios & Graphic Novel Art Desks
Unique Materials: Bulk neon Lego brick plates, miniature desk toys, and cardstock comic strip background layouts
Script Writers Club
Unique Theme Focus: Crafting dramatic action lines, dialogue text fonts, and graphic novel script pacing
Unique Materials: Fine-liner black ink sketching pens and pre-bordered graphic panels
Let's Get Moving!
Book Selection: The Ocean Calls
About physical endurance and features free-diving and Korean Culture.
Unique Activity: The Quick-Reflex Shadow Tag & Garden Agility Obstacle Course
Unique Materials: Outdoor traffic cones, foam jump rings, and high-visibility running vests
Paws & Playback: Read to Dogs (Ages 5–10)
Book Selection: American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Media Element: 3-minute television show comparison trailer clip to analyze live-action vs. comic panel choices
Unique Materials: Hypoallergenic dog treats, custom canine reading paw-print reward stickers, and black ink rulers
Fact-Finder Film Scouts
Scavenger Hunt Focus: History of Manga, Comic Strip Engineering, and Graphic Novel Collections (Dewey shelf 741.5)Unique Materials: Printed Manga Scout Manual trivia packets and custom comic-explosion library keychains
Books to Screen Selection: Going for the Gold: Apolo Anton Ohno
Media Element: Watch the Apolo Ohno Clip and discuss
Books to Screen Selection: Going for the Gold: Apolo Anton Ohno
Media Element: Watch the Apolo Ohno Clip and discuss
Cinematic Escape Room
Puzzle Vault Theme: "Trapped Inside the Manga Sketchbook Panels" [🔍]
Puzzle Vault Theme: "Trapped Inside the Manga Sketchbook Panels" [🔍]
Unique Materials: 3 combination padlocks, 1 locked wood box, schematic grid clue cards, and secret overlay plastic filters
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