Kids & Families

Mother and daughter in library, smiling while reading a book

Upcoming Events

This event is in the "Youth" group.
This event is in the "Baby to Pre-K" group.

Baby Storytime

10:00am - 11:00am
Youth, Baby to Pre-K
Library Branch: Cromaine District Library
Room: Youth Program Room
Age Group: Youth, Baby to Pre-K
Program Type: Storytime

Baby Storytime

Enjoy songs, rhymes, a story and fun with your little one!  For 6-month-olds through 23-months and their special adult. Stop at the desk and pick up your ticket before entering. Twenty available tickets per week: tickets may be picked up beginning 30 minutes before the start time. 

This event is in the "Youth" group.
This event is in the "Baby to Pre-K" group.

Toddler Time

10:00am - 11:00am
Youth, Baby to Pre-K
Open
Registration
Library Branch: Cromaine District Library
Room: Youth Program Room
Age Group: Youth, Baby to Pre-K
Program Type: Storytime
Registration Required

Toddler Time

Read, sing and play alongside your little one as they develop early literacy skills in this interactive storytime with themed crafts and activities designed to build fine motor and thinking skills. For age 2; siblings welcome.

Event Details:

Please register individually for each session you plan to attend. 

Disclaimer(s)

Accompanying Adults

This program is designed for children and accompanying adults. Please plan to attend and be engaged with your child for this program. Drop offs will not be permitted.

This event is in the "Youth" group.
This event is in the "Tweens" group.

Tween Night: Sour Candy Taste Test

6:00pm - 7:00pm
Youth, Tweens
Open
Registration
Library Branch: Cromaine District Library
Room: Youth Program Room
Age Group: Youth, Tweens
Program Type: Food and Cooking
Registration Required
Event Details:

Are you a sour candy connoisseur? Put your taste buds to the test to see if you can complete our sour candy challenges!

Disclaimer(s)

Food & Drink

Food is prepared in an off site kitchen. While every attempt will be made to ensure food safety, we cannot guarantee that food served at this program has not come into contact with tree nuts, soy, or other allergens.

This event is in the "Youth" group.
This event is in the "Baby to Pre-K" group.

Preschool Storytime

10:00am - 11:00am
Youth, Baby to Pre-K
Open
Registration
Library Branch: Cromaine District Library
Room: Youth Program Room
Age Group: Youth, Baby to Pre-K
Program Type: Storytime
Registration Required

Preschool Storytime

Read, sing and play alongside your little one as they develop early literacy skills in this interactive storytime with themed crafts and activities designed to build fine motor and thinking skills. For ages 3 through 5; siblings welcome.

Event Details:

Register for each week you'd like to attend story time! 

This event is in the "Youth" group.
This event is in the "Baby to Pre-K" group.

Preschool Storytime

11:00am - 12:00pm
Youth, Baby to Pre-K
Cancelled
Registration
Library Branch: Cromaine District Library
Room: Youth Program Room
Age Group: Youth, Baby to Pre-K
Program Type: Storytime

Preschool Storytime

Read, sing and play alongside your little one as they develop early literacy skills in this interactive storytime with themed crafts and activities designed to build fine motor and thinking skills. For ages 3 through 5; siblings welcome.

Event Details:

Register for each week you'd like to attend story time! 

This event is in the "Youth" group.
This event is in the "Teens" group.
Registration
Library Branch: Cromaine District Library
Room: Youth Program Room
Age Group: Youth, Teens
Program Type: Activity Club, Games and Recreation
Registration Required
Event Details:

This date is the Character Creation Date for the Tales of the Ivory Shore Campaign.

Services for Kids & Families

Homework Help

Britannica School

Britannica School logo

Quick facts and in-depth information on history, geography, people, places, science, and more. Biographies, world atlas, countries comparison, articles, and interactive resources are available.

View Resource

Learning Express Library

Learning Express Library logo

Achieve your educational and career goals. Choose the adult learning center, career center, school center, college prep center, or high school equivalency center to see advice, how to instructions, and more resources.

View Resource

Michigan Electronic Library

Michigan Electronic Library logo

Michigan's online electronic library provides full text articles and ebooks to Michigan residents.

View Resource

NoveList K-8 Plus

NoveList K-8 Plus logo

Find just the right book by subject, age, awards won, books made into movies, and much more. Read reviews and learn about the author. Create your own reading wish list.

View Resource

PebbleGo

PebbleGo logo

Grades PreK-3. Animals (including dinosaurs) and social studies sections of this early literacy and learning tool. Easy-to-navigate visual interface for emerging readers.

View Resource

World Book Kids

World Book Kids logo

Easy-to-read content for elementary school learners. Hundreds of activities, science projects and experiments.

View Resource

Recommended Items for Kids

Image for "Dinosaur Club: The T-Rex Attack"

Dinosaur Club: The T-Rex Attack

Travel back in time to the world of the dinosaurs! Children will be inspired to discover the prehistoric world with this edge-of-your-seat adventure dinosaur storybook.

Dino-crazy kids can follow Jamie and Tess on a prehistoric adventure of a lifetime where they meet Wanna — a new dinosaur friend. However, they soon learn that not all dinosaurs are so friendly when they encounter the T.rex — the King of the dinosaurs!

This beautiful children’s dinosaur book for 5-year-olds and up contains: 

   • Beautifully illustrated line art accompanied by expertly written text 
   • Plenty of humor and delightful dinosaur fun facts 
   • Reference material that contextualizes each narrative, including timelines, quizzes, fact files and glossaries 

Jamie is one of the biggest dinosaur fans ever. He's a member of the Dinosaur Club — a network of kids around the world who share dinosaur knowledge. While exploring Ammonite Bay, Jamie meets Tess, a fellow Dinosaur Club member. Tess shows Jamie her favorite place — a secret cave with fossils all over the walls. They see a strange tunnel at the back and go through it together. You won’t believe what they discover next — actual dinosaurs! 

Learn all about dinosaurs and the prehistoric world in this first installment of DK's new children’s book series. A beautiful marriage of fiction and fact, Dinosaur Club is a modern revision of the popular Dinosaur Cove series fully updated for a new audience, featuring a brand new premise, new characters, totally new artwork throughout, and all the latest dinosaur information and discoveries. 

At the end of this fictional book, you'll find "The Dino Files" which is a summary of all the scientific facts and discoveries made throughout the story. With fun illustrations, quizzes and a vocabulary list, the value of this educational book is outstanding and great for a classroom read!

Add Dinosaur Club: A Triceratops Charge, to your collection next, and keep an eye out for the next releases due in 2022, Dinosaur Club: Saving a Stegosaurus and Dinosaur Club: Tracking the Diplodocus.

New Parenting & Early Education Titles

Image for "The New Father"

The New Father

An indispensable handbook on all aspects of fatherhood during the first 12 months, by the author of The Expectant Father.

The essential handbook for all things first-year father is now fully updated and revised. Not only will new dads get a month-by-month guide to their baby's development, men reading The New Father will learn how they change, grow, and develop over the first twelve months of fatherhood.

In each chapter, Brott focuses on What's Going On with the Baby; What You're Going Through; What's Going On with Your Partner; You and Your Baby; Family Matters; and more. The latest research, as well as time-honored wisdom--and humor, thanks to New Yorker cartoons and Brott's light touch--make The New Father indispensable for the modern father who doesn't want to miss a moment of his child's first year.

What's new?
* How technology is changing fatherhood
* Changing definitions of fatherhood
* Changes in the way society deals with dads--from changing tables in public men's rooms to workplace flexibility
* Research proving that a father's love is just as important as a mother's
* How being an involved dad rewires a man's brain
* How changes in women's roles in the family affect dads and their roles
* Special concerns for: young dads, older dads, at-home dads, unmarried dads, dads in same-sex couples, dads in blended families, dads of kids with special needs, and men who became dads with the help of technology
* The special impact dads have on girls and boys
* Specific strategies dads can use to get--and stay--involved in their children's lives
* Updated resources for new fathers

Not to mention new research and information on:
* How to understand what your baby is telling you
* Babies' amazing abilities
* Baby massage--they love it!
* The latest on vaccinations and healthcare
* And much, much more

Image for "Releasing the Mother Load"

Releasing the Mother Load

Winner of the Gold Literary Excellence Award from the Institute of Child Psychology

“If you've ever felt like you're the only one struggling with motherhood, this book is for you.” —Eve Rodsky, New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play

From a maternal mental health specialist comes an empowering guide to help reshape your internalized expectations and beliefs around motherhood.

Every mom wants to be a good parent—but if you’ve found yourself burned out and overwhelmed trying to be “the perfect mom,” you’re not alone. “We get handed a rulebook of motherhood without realizing it,” says Erica Djossa. “That rulebook comes with an invisible load—a world of mental and physical tasks that keeps us pushing toward perfection while barely being able to breathe.” With Releasing the Mother Load, this renowned parenting specialist shares a guide to help you break free from the crushing burden of unrealistic expectations and reclaim the joy of motherhood while staying true to your own values.

As a therapist and the founder of the Momwell community, Erica has learned how many mothers from all backgrounds and walks of life feel trapped by modern motherhood. Here she dispels the falsehoods our culture has built around what it means to be a mom and shares practical, proven guidance for a more empowered approach to parenting, including:

• What is the Mother Load? Where our expectations come from and why they don’t serve us or our children
• Making the Mother Load visible—the true emotional and physical cost of the many jobs, habits, and beliefs we carry
• Sharing the load—tools to establish strong boundaries, express your needs, and build a support system
• Practical techniques and scripts to help you create a healthy, balanced, and enriching approach to motherhood

“You can chart your own journey in a way that is freeing, feels right to you, and reignites passions and dreams that you thought had died when you began to put everyone else’s needs first,” says Erica Djossa. Here is a life-changing guide for developing a new vision of motherhood that lets you parent more freely and with greater fulfillment—so you can finally release the Mother Load.

Image for "Healthy Kids, Happy Kids"

Healthy Kids, Happy Kids

Do you want to know the key to raising resilient kids, from the inside out? In this groundbreaking, evidence-based guide to raising healthy kids in our modern world, Dr. Elisa Song bridges the gap between conventional and holistic pediatrics and delivers a clear roadmap to help kids thrive.

Raising healthy, happy kids shouldn't be so hard. Yet, despite living in what should be a golden age of medicine, our children are sicker than ever. At least 1 in 5 kids has eczema, and 1 in 10 has asthma, ADHD, or anxiety--and sometimes they have all of the above. Many parents are at a loss for who to turn to for trusted advice--advice that takes a root-cause, holistic approach to whole child resilience, but doesn't dismiss the value of conventional pediatrics.

Enter Elisa Song, MD, a Stanford-, NYU-, UCSF-trained pediatrician, one of the foremost pioneers and trusted experts in pediatric integrative and functional medicine. Drawing on extensive research and over 25 years of clinical experience, Dr. Song explains why your child's gut microbiome holds the key to lifelong wellness. She shares her proven and practical plan for building physical and emotional resilience from the inside out. You will discover how to:

Complete with helpful quizzes, exercises, protocols, and dozens of delicious, gut-friendly recipes, Healthy Kids, Happy Kids is a comprehensive, yet simple roadmap to raising resilient kids in our not-so-simple world. Thanks to Dr. Song, parents (and practitioners) finally have the power to revolutionize the future of children's health so that their kids can thrive--no matter what life throws their way.

Image for "Everything No One Tells You about Parenting a Disabled Child"

Everything No One Tells You about Parenting a Disabled Child

The honest, relatable, actionable roadmap to the practicalities of parenting a disabled child, featuring personal stories, expert interviews, and the foundational information parents need to know about topics including diagnosis, school, doctors, insurance, financial planning, disability rights, and what life looks like as a parent caregiver.

For parents of disabled children, navigating the systems, services, and supports is a daunting, and often overwhelming, task. No one explains to parents how to figure out the complex medical, educational, and social service systems essential to their child's success. Over and over, parents are being asked to reinvent the exact same wheels.

According to the CDC, "Every 4 1⁄2 minutes a baby is born with a birth defect in the United States." That's 1 in 33. There's no handbook for how to do this. Until now.

Presented with empathy and humor, Everything No One Tells You About Parenting a Disabled Child: Your Guide to the Essential Systems, Services, and Supports gives parents the tools to conquer the stuff, so that they can spend less time filling out forms, and more time loving their children exactly as they are. With over a decade of experience navigating these systems for her own child, author Kelley Coleman presents key information, templates, and wisdom alongside practical advice from over 40 experts, covering topics such as diagnosis, working with your medical team, insurance, financial planning, disability rights and advocacy, and individualized education plans. Everything No One Tells You About Parenting a Disabled Child gives parents the tools they need to stop wasting unnecessary time, money, and stress. If you need to know how to actually do the things, this book is for you.

Image for "The Nurture Revolution"

The Nurture Revolution

The latest research in neuroscience and parenting come together in this groundbreaking book, which brings to light new realizations about the power of nurture for our children's mental and physical health outcomes. 

Greer Kirshenbaum, PhD. is a neuroscientist, doula, and parent. Her work began with the goal of developing new treatments for poor mental health; she dreamed of creating a new medication to address conditions like anxiety, depression, addiction, and chronic stress. Over time, she realized that science had already uncovered a powerful medicine for alleviating mental health struggles, but the answer wasn't a pill. It was a preventative approach: when babies' receive nurturing care in the first three years of life, it builds strong, resilient brains -- brains that are less susceptible to poor mental health.

How can parents best set their children up for success? In this revelatory book, Dr. Kirshenbaum makes plain that nurture is a preventative medicine against mental health issues. She challenges the idea that the way to cultivate independence is through letting babies cry it out or sleep alone; instead, the way to raise a confident, securely attached child is to lean in to nurture, to hold your infant as much as you want, support their emotions, engage in back-and-forth conversations, be present and compassionate when your baby is stressed, and share sleep. Research has proven that nurturing experiences transform lives. Nurturing is a gift of resilience and health parents can give the next generation simply by following their instincts to care for their young.

Image for "Anxiety Coach"

Anxiety Coach

"The Mayo Clinic Anxiety Coach is a groundbreaking program in book form, for parents of children and adolescents with anxiety disorders or obsessive compulsive disorder. When children have anxiety disorders they are very afraid, nervous, or worried about typical daily experiences that would not bother most children their age. For some kids with OCD, rather than feeling nervous or worried, they feel "grossed-out" by things or feel the need to make things "just-right." In both cases, children feel anxious or upset, even when there is nothing happening around them that would frighten or bother most other kids. This book is the first of its kind to give parents the tools to carry out exposure therapy with their child at home. It is born from Dr. Whiteside's gold standard exposure therapy program at Mayo Clinic, which pioneers the treatment of childhood anxiety disorders, phobias and OCD with exposure therapy, by offering therapy to children and their parents. Treatment for anxiety disorders and OCD involves helping kids learn through facing their fears in a series of scenarios, showing them that they were more nervous than they really needed to be. Parents are included in exposure therapy in Dr. Whiteside's program, so they can learn what anxiety is, what exposure therapy is and how to use one to treat the other. Dr. Whiteside wants children and their parents to leave his program knowing how to practice exposure therapy and to be able to use the skills and tools at home.This practical and supportive book will guide them in their efforts to help their children lead happy, healthy, anxiety-free lives"--