Looking for Festive Books, Movies, Music? Check Out the Library’s E-Resources!
The Library’s e-resources are worth browsing any time of the year — but during this celebratory time, they may be especially valuable as we desire books, movies and music specific to the season. Go to OverDrive, Freegal, Kanopy or Hoopla to discover terrific old and new holiday-themed selections. Here’s just a sampling:
OverDrive (ebooks, audiobooks and videos): For adult reading or listening, titles include an audiobook of A Christmas Carol, Jimmy Carter’s Christmas in Plains; Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot’s Christmas and many seasonal titles from your favorite series authors including Debbie Macomber among others. For children, there are many eBooks including Fancy Nancy’s Splendiferous Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time from Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Treehouse series, and Merry Christmas Curious George.
Freegal (downloadable and streaming music and music videos): Not sure where to start? If you’re using your computer, go to the “Home” tab, top left, and look at the Featured Playlists with music for all ages and in all genres from the Sony catalog. The “Holiday Songs” playlist features both Christmas and non-secular songs. But if you’re seeking new Christmas music, there’s A Legendary Christmas by John Legend and Christmas is Here by Pentatonix. Otherwise, the “Browse” tab, also top left, highlights Featured Playlists, Songs and Albums. Advanced Search, using the keyword “Holiday” for instance, turns up Cuban Originals by Desi Arnaz! See what surprises await you.
Kanopy (streaming video): Check out documentaries including Getting to the Nutcracker — The Making of a Christmas Classic, another featuring the Marat Daukayev Ballet Theatre and No Snow for Christmas, a short satirical video about global warming. There is also All Ye Faithful: Music of Christmas, episode 16 of the Great Works of Sacred Music, and for children there’s Max’s Christmas, part of an animated kid’s series. And if you’re looking for some warmth this December, there’s a Fireplace for Your Home. Pair it with Baking Basics: Cookies, a 21-minute video covering making many different types of cookies including drop, bar, cut out, rolled, pressed and molded.
Hoopla (movies, music and ebooks): New music selections for 2018 include Gwen Stefani’s You Make It Feel Like Christmas, and there are also classics such as Michael Bublé’s Christmas. For kids, there are holiday videos such as Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins or The Showman. Read-Along eReaders, which are accompanied by synchronized audio tracks for new readers, include A Hanukkah with Mazel and Frozen: Olaf and The Three Polar Bears. Perhaps now is the time to catch the Polar Expressaudiobook if you haven’t already done so. And if you love comics there is The Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown. There are also book in genres featuring holiday romance and books for makers, bakers and doers.Consumer Reports:
Buying a big-ticket item? Don’t forget to research your holiday gifts, home appliances, or other purchases in Consumer Reports!
All of the Library’s e-resources are available via a web browser at this link. They are also available via the Apple and Android app stores. To create an account for each, you’ll need your Library card number and PIN, which is usually the last four digits of the phone number you have on file at the Library. Alternatively, you can link to them through the Library’s mobile app (also available for Apple and Android) under Digital Collections.
Happy holidays!
