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HPL Kids

The Kidzone has programs galore as well as books, movies, and other cool stuff. Read our blog below for more information and check out our upcoming events to get an idea of what's happening at the Kidzone! Our main phone number is 205.444.7830.

Recent Book Reviews

Horten's Incredible Illusions: Magic, Mystery & Another Very Strange Adventure
Lula Bell on Geekdom, Freakdom & the Challenges of Bad Hair
A Mutiny in Time
Starry River of the Sky
Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School
Iron Hearted Violet
Jake and Lily
Paris Pan Takes the Dare
Me and the Pumpkin Queen
Read All About It!
The Boy on Cinnamon Street
Nerd Camp
The Classroom
Smells Like Dog
Mission Unstoppable
On the Road to Mr. Mineo's
The Mark of Athena
A Whole Lot of Lucky
Alien on a Rampage
One for the Murphys

More of our favorite books on GoodReads »

Kidzone Blog

Story (Screen)Time: Let It Snow!

Welcome to the new storytime season!  We're making a few small changes to our online offerings.  There will be one full-length storytime each week.  It will post on Wednesday mornings and rotate through our three online storytime formats -- Off We Grow, Stories in Motion, and Curious University.  Tuesday and Thursday mornings will feature a shorter form of the two storytimes that are not being highlighted.  All three will follow the same theme.  This week's theme is Let It Snow!.  Access the official handout for additional activities and book recommendations.  Supplies for this week's craft will be available for pickup in the Kid Zone beginning Monday mornings at 9 a.m. 

Fictional Activists to Help You Find Your Voice

Activist.  A person who campaigns to bring about political or social change.  Does that describe you?  Do you want it to?  Maybe these novels about young activists will help you find your voice.

Bad Kitty Goes on Vacation

The 14th Bad Kitty book comes out this week . . . in FULL COLOR!  There's no record on our library catalog yet, but check back soon!

Family Read Alouds Are NOT Just for Little Kids

Here's another book-related New Year's Resolution you may want to consider adding to your list -- incorporate a family read-aloud time.  Some folks think that only young children like to be read to.  I'm afraid those folks are mistaken.  According to Scholastic's Kids & Family Reading Report, 83% of kids ages 6-17 say being read to is something they love or like a lot.  My 20+ years here at Hoover Public Library (with 16+ of those years being the outreach librarian) concur with those findings.  Need further encouragement to start reading aloud to your not-so-little ones?  Check out these suggestions shared by Brightly.

Happy Birthday, Jerry Pinkney!

The stunningly talented, completely amazing, yet incredibly humble Jerry Pinkney is celebrating a pretty impressive birthday today, December 22, 2020.  81 years!  But don't think for a minute that his age has slowed him down.  His long and glorious career as a picture book illustrator, begun in 1964, is still going strong.  Even in the midst of COVID, he had a new fairytale re-imagining published -- The Little Mermaid.  Celebrate Jerry's long life and numerous achievements by reading this latest sure-to-be-a-classic. . . and all of his other books, too!

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