Children's Literature Department - Los Angeles Public Library

September 22-28 is Banned Books Week.

It’s time to “Freed Between the Lines” and remember that there’s so much at stake. In 2023, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 1,247 attempts to censor books and other resources in libraries, which is a 65% increase from 2022.

Please join us in celebrating the right to read and exercising our freedom. Swipe to check out our Banned Books display 📚✨

Do you know the answer to any of these book challenge questions?

Congratulations to our LAPL Summer With the Library Grand Prize winner! 🏆

She was thrilled to win a brand new✨iPad✨ and is already planning on participating in next year’s program.

We hope everyone had a great time participating in this year’s Summer With the Library. We’ll have more exciting things in store for you next year! 📚💚

Thank you to Charlotte Cheng, author of I Miss You Most, for sharing the beautiful story of her grandpa at the Children’s Literature Department.

We sipped oolong tea, flew like birds, shed happy tears, and also got to hear a dragon sneeze in her other amazing book, Roar-Choo!

Every family received a personalized, autographed copy of I Miss You Most or Roar-Choo 📚💚 Swipe to see Charlotte in action 🐲🍵🐦‍🔥✨

Big thanks to our generous donors, the Lenore S. And Bernard A. Greenberg Fund, the Library Foundation, and our incredible behind-the-scenes staff responsible for our Your Author series 🖋️📖✨

Join the Children’s Literature Department in welcoming Charlotte Cheng as she discusses her new book I Miss You Most.

A girl remembers her grandfather fondly in this heartwarming, comforting picture book about coping with loss. The memories of a beloved grandpa bring sadness but also solace to the young girl in this glowing and nourishing book. We see the close and lively relationship they shared and all the ways she has been enriched by knowing him—the ways he will always be there for her. This book is just right for starting necessary conversations about grief and for paying tribute to the loved ones we’ve lost.

Those attending the program on Saturday, September 7 @ 2PM will have the opportunity to take home a signed copy of I Miss You Most. Intended for preschool ages and up.

Summer With the Library 2024: L.A. Dreaming is officially a wrap tomorrow, August 10th!

Everyone who completes the Summer Reading Challenge will be entered into drawings to win exciting prizes like gift cards, museum memberships, or a new Apple iPad.

Visit lapl.org/summer for more details, and check out our bulletin boards! They’re full of our kids’ big, beautiful L.A. dreams.

On Saturday, June 22, 2024, a towering vision of 1970s Glam named Pickle appeared in the Children’s Literature Department. She read about feminist babies who speak for themselves, and how it’s okay to be just who you are. She had the audience of children and their grownups rolling with laughter and dancing in the aisles. Beautifully lit photos were posed for, and participants got to make glittery picture frames and picked up some very cool LAPL Pride Swag. In all, the 2nd Annual Drag Story Hour was a huge success, and we all look forward to doing it again next year!

Sara Gordon Kay was an avid reader and library patron from the time she was a child. The endowment started by her family continues to support the Children’s Literature collection at LAPL.

Each year, our children’s librarians are able to use these funds to purchase quality fiction to continue Sara’s legacy. Each book gets a special bookplate that reads:

“For the joy of children: Your future is an open book.
In memory of
Sara Gordon Kay
1919-1987
She found friends in books all her life, starting as a child in this library.”

Please join us in the Children’s Literature Department on Sunday, March 24th at 2:45 p.m. for a very special panel and book giveaway with Children’s Author Omid Arabian.
Omid Arabian is the author of three children’s books inspired by the mystical poetry of Rumi:
The Heart’s Garden, The Donkey’s Gone!, and the just-published You Are Everything.

Check out our creative pop-up cards from the “Books that Pop! Art of Paper Engineering” program! 🎉🎨

Plant Day is coming! 💐🌿🌼 Join the Children’s Literature Department at 2 pm on March 2nd for a special plant themed story time! 🌸🌻🌳

Join FOCAL (Friends of Children & Literature) for a used book sale, this Saturday January 20th! 📚

Join us on Saturday January 20th at 1 pm! LA rock group Ozomatli will share their new children’s book Moose in the Loose followed up with a high energy family concert featuring Ozokidz! 🎶🫎

Reservations are not required but highly encouraged on eventbrite.com. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.