The book, Extra Yarn, will be featured in the next children’s program on Saturday, March 18, at 11 a.m. In this book, by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, Annabelle finds a mysterious box filled with yarn of all colors. Annabelle finds that, no matter how many things she knits, she always has extra yarn in her box. She knits sweaters for all the people in her small town, the animals, and even things that don’t usually wear wear sweaters, like buildings and trees. All goes well until a greedy archduke steals the box. Will Annabelle ever get her box back, and will the magic still work? Children who attend the program will use yarn to decorate twigs much as Annabelle does in the story.

March is Women’s History Month, and the library’s children’s room will display a number of books about well-known and not-so-well-known women. Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian, by Margarita Engle, is the true story of a scientist born in 1647 in Frankfurt, Germany. Although not formally trained, Maria discovered the true nature of butterflies through observation. When she was young, many people believed that butterflies, or summer birds, came magically from mud. Maria observed all the steps of metamorphosis, and recorded her findings in detailed paintings. In the illustrations for the book, Julie Paschkis shows Maria at work, painting caterpillars, butterflies, and the leaves and flowers that provide their food. A note at the back of the book tells us that Maria was eventually able to get her work published.

On July 7, 1903, one woman led 100 children on a march from Philadelphia to the Long Island home of then President Theodore Roosevelt. The woman was Mary Harris Jones, or Mother Jones, and her goal was to dramatize the working conditions of children in the fabric mills. The story of their march is told in the children’s picture book, Mother Jones and Her Army of Mill Children, by Jonah Winter and Nancy Carpenter. Only a handful of marchers were able to complete their journey. Although denied an audience with the president, Mother Jones’ agitation helped bring attention to the injustice of child labor. Mother Jones’ work for labor rights is commemorated at several rest stops as you drive on Interstate 55 between Staunton and Springfield. A Mother Jones Museum is located in Mt. Olive’s City Hall, and the Mother Jones Monument, also in Mt. Olive, marks the site of her grave in the Union Miners Cemetery.