Budding young botanists learned the ancient art of flower pressing during the Learn to Grow program at Ravenswood. Flowers and herbs such as lavender, sage and marigolds were preserved in plant presses made from cardboard and newspaper. Whimsical artwork made from plants grown this year in the Ravenswood Learning Garden was created by students of all ages, and is currently on display throughout the Ravenswood Library.
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The Queens Library teamed up with NYCLeaves through BIG! Compost & Smiling Hogshead Ranch to collect fallen leaves at all of our regular kitchen scrap/compost collection sites through the end of November. Leaves are carbon rich "browns" that are vital to the composting process and composting them keeps them out of landfills.
If your trees are still dropping leaves, don't waste this precious resource-- please use clear plastic or brown paper bags to bring us your bagged leaves (no branches, twigs or trash).
Regular kitchen scrap/compost collection will take place at various libraries throughout the winter, please visit here for dates and times.
Kids at Queens Library at Astoria made book wands to use as bookmarks. Bookmarks were made by upcycling craft sticks. Preschoolers decorated their bookmarks using jewel stickers, wiggly eyes,and colorful string.
Batman: Year One (1987)
Written by Frank Miller, illustrated by David Mazzucchelli
This wonderful exploration of one of the great origin myths of comics is Frank Miller at his best. Batman is shown to be fallible and fumbling. He needs to find his way and at first he stumbles.
This is also the origin story of Commissioner Gordon. At this point, he is a lieutenant recently arrived into Gotham’s deeply corrupt police force. He has to deal with backstabbers, makes his own grievous mistakes, and beats the crap out of green berets.
Mazzucchelli went for a flat palette that is reminiscent of newspaper comics and a nice nod to the genus of the comic book. When he finds his footing, we see another great Miller vision of Batman. Batman becomes the coolly calculating, precise, and genuinely dangerous hero we know.
It is really fun to read this and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns for a kind of bookending of Batman: his beginning and his post retirement return to action.
—Christian Zabriskie
We had a lot of string left over from previous programs. We also had rolls of yarn, ribbons, scraps of fabric and even lanyards. Children at Queens Library at Broadway used thin cardboard saved from boxes to create a canvas. Then, using glue the children drew pictures. Then the string was used to color in the pictures. Here is a picture of a sailboat.
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Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (2003)
By Marjane Satrapi –
Far superior to the movie and second volume which followed it, this beautiful graphic memoir is a spare, sometimes stark remembrance of a girlhood in Iran under the Islamic Revolution. Satrapi’s monochrome, heavy black lines and large blocks of black tell a complex and compelling story with elegant simplicity.
Satrapi’s girlhood is one of political dissent through a child’s eyes and small rebellions (a denim jacket with a Michael Jackson button, for example). The story consists of richly detailed segments and anecdotes that, taken together,create a fascinating and immersive larger narrative. She lightens tragedy with humor and presents herself and her family as multifaceted and sympathetic characters.
Often used as required reading for middle and high school students this book can be found in almost every library collection and is excellent for book clubs. It makes a wonderful introduction to the graphic novels for new readers, particularly women who may not be familiar with the form and have concerns about its potential for depth and applicability to their lives.
Welcome to Graphic Classics! This new regular series will focus on some of the key works of graphic literature that are available on the shelves at Queens Library.
Libraries have been buying classics in literature for generations, and that includes graphic novels.
These are not the flashy new titles. There will be nothing here that will look ahead to next season. Instead, we will focus on those books that made the form what it is. These are the books that are cited in geek culture; the classics that everyone should read, even if none of us can afford to own them all. Click "read more" for our first installment.
-- Christian Zabriskie
Kingdom Come (1996)
By Mark Waid and Alex Ross
This sublime look at a post-superhero world is the DC equivalent to Marvel's Civil War, which it predates and exceeds in quality.
The art is incredible. The panels are painted, not drawn, and Alex Ross has done amazing work here with a lush and vibrant color palette. Each image has a luminosity that jumps off the page.
The story is, ultimately, a consideration of humanity, its potential, and its limitations. The children and grandchildren of the early superheroes have now grown into their powers, and their meaningless conflicts disrupt and destroy the people they were meant to save. This is a must-read for DC fans and anyone interested in what it means to be a superhero.
All six of the community libraries in western Queens (Astoria, Broadway, Long Island City, Sunnyside, Steinway and Woodside) welcomed patrons to learn how to make origami cranes. The goal was to fold and string together as many Origami cranes as possible An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane. Some stories believe you are granted eternal good luck, instead of just one wish, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. This makes them popular gifts for special friends and family.
In Japan, the crane is one of the mystical or holy creatures (others include the dragon and the tortoise) and is said to live for a thousand years. That is why 1,000 cranes are made -- one for each year. The origami paper used for the project was donated by an art teacher who no longer had a use for them. An old wrapping paper tube, some newspaper and a lanyard were used to create this display.
On a rainy day, toddlers at Queens Library at Broadway listened to "Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain" by Verna Aardema. Using lanyards and some foam animals, they then created animal bracelets to wear.