You Wouldn't Want To... Series

The You Wouldn’t Want To… series is an entertaining and educational way of looking at some of the more grisly periods of history. By providing cartoons, helpful hints, and eyewitness narrative, children are introduced to particular historical events, people, and movements that have made history. These nonfiction books are great tools that help children understand how history was shaped and changed. In the Children’s Department, we recently added many of the You Wouldn’t Want To… books to our collection. Here are some of the newer ones we just received today:

You Wouldn't Want To Be An Egyptian Mummy!

You Wouldn’t Want to Be A Nurse During The American Civil War!

You Wouldn't Want To Be A Roman Gladiator!

You Wouldn't Want To Be A Slave In Ancient Greece!

You Wouldn’t Want To Be Joan of Arc!

You Wouldn’t Want To Be A Secret Agent During World War II!

You Wouldn't Want To Be A Viking Explorer!

You Wouldn’t Want To Be A Shakespearean Actor!

You Wouldn't Want To Be An Aztec Sacrifice!

You Wouldn't Want To Sail on the Titanic!

You Wouldn't Want To Be A Polar Explorer!

You Wouldn't Want To Be Sick In The 16th Century!

You Wouldn't Want To Be A Pirate's Prisoner!

You Wouldn't Want To Be An American Colonist!

You Wouldn't Want To Be A Greek Athlete!

You Wouldn't Want To Be A Medieval Knight!

You Wouldn't Want To Be A Civil War Soldier!

You Wouldn't Want To Be A Pyramid Builder!

You Wouldn't Want To Be In A Medieval Dungeon!

You Wouldn't Want to Be an Inca Mummy!

You Wouldn't Want to Be an Aristocrat in the French Revolution!

You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Great Wall of China!

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Victorian Mill Worker!

You Wouldn't Want to Be an Assyrian Soldier!

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Sumerian Slave!

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Roman Soldier!

You Wouldn't Want To Be A Crusader!

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Mammoth Hunter!

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Mayan Soothsayer!

You Wouldn't Want to Be an 18th-Century British Convict!

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Victorian Servant!

You Wouldn't Want to Be a 19th-century Coal Miner in England!

You Wouldn't Want to Be Mary, Queen of Scots!

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Suffragist!

You Wouldn't Want to Be in the First Submarine!

You Wouldn’t Want To Be A Chicago Gangster!

You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Worker on the Statue of Liberty!

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Salem Witch!

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Skyscraper Builder!

You Wouldn't Want to Be on the Hindenburg!

You Wouldn't Want to be Tutankhamen!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

By Robert M. Grippo
& Christopher Hoskins

We're less than a week away from Thanksgiving! Family and food are very much a tradition for this holiday, and so is the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. For six decades many folks, especially children, have started their Thanksgiving Day off by watching this amazing parade on television. But the parade actually started much earlier in 1924, with real animals, instead of balloon animals. And what was the first balloon to appear in a Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade? Felix the Cat!

You can read even more fascinating facts, peruse vintage advertisements and photographs, and relive parades of the past in the entertaining photo filled book, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Robert Grippo devotes a chapter to each decade and writes knowledgeably and lovingly about all aspects of the parade. If you enjoy watching the parade, you'll certainly enjoy reading this book.

Reserve your copy of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Homewood Public Library from 1941 to Now: Our History

When the Homewood Public Library was established on March 24, 1941, the city was fourteen years old and had a population of 7,397. That first library was located in a small room on the second floor of City Hall, and its opening day collection consisted of between 2,500 and 3,000 books. The library was run by Mrs. J. L. (Mary Katherine) Switzer, a former librarian at the Birmingham Public Library. The library was open Monday through Friday from 2:00-6:00 pm and on Saturday from 9:00 am-6:00 pm. Books could be checked out for seven to fourteen days, but there was a limit of three books per patron. (Only two books could be checked out on a child's card.) Overdue fines were two cents per day. 

Today, the population of the City of Homewood has increased to over 25,000, and the Homewood Public Library has grown with it. Now situated in a 50,000 square foot building on busy Oxmoor Road, the library's collection encompasses over 94,000 books as well as DVDs, videos, CDs, audiobooks, and electronic games. The library's hours have expanded from a mere 29 hours per week (in 1941) to a whopping 67 hours. There is currently no limit to the number of books any patron may check out, and they may keep them for three weeks. The library is a member of the Jefferson County Library Cooperative and serves over 48,000 patrons per month, both from the Homewood community and surrounding areas. No longer just a library, Homewood Public Library is a cultural center, offering programs for adults, teens, and children, Wi-Fi Internet access, computer classes, meeting rooms, and more.

In 2009, Homewood Public Library earned a national Four Star Rating for Library Service in the Library Journal Index of Public Library Service. This system scrutinizes statistics that describe library service outputs, such as visits, circulation, public Internet computer usage, and program attendance. Out of 7,268 public libraries across the nation only 258 received star ratings. Homewood Public Library is one of only five libraries in Alabama to receive such an honor and one of only twelve in the Southeast. This Four Star rating followed the Three Star rating that was received in an earlier Library Journal survey.

In 2004, Homewood Public Library was awarded a Blue Ribbon Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Library Service. This is the highest distinction given to public libraries for excellence in library service. In order to receive this recognition, a library must meet or exceed more than seventy specifications based on the population of the city or county that established the library. To date, only nine libraries in Alabama have received this award. The award was presented by the Public Library Division of the Alabama Library Association. Gov. Bob Riley also presented Homewood Public Library with a letter and certificate of recognition from the governor’s office.

In 2002, the library was voted as Jefferson County's "Favorite Library". 

In 2001, Homewood Public Library earned Three Gold Stars for meeting so many of the established state standards for libraries as outlined by the Alabama Library Association and the Alabama Library Service. In previous years, the library was ranked seventh in the state and was awarded the Certificate of Achievement at the Two Star level.

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A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror, by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen

In a day where history is viewed through two lenses, the "fault American first" lens, and blind patriotism through the other, Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen's book follows the birth and growth of America in a refreshingly objective and well-researched 800 pages.

Don't let the length scare you. A Patriot's History reads more like a novel than a "names and dates" history book. The book is arranged as America's journey toward and growth out of the written Constitution, with every government action interpreted by its level of constitutionality.

A Patriot's History also dispels some of the mythologizing of our founders and more celebrated presidents. From Andrew Jackson's midnight judicial appointments, to FDR's surprising view of the Constitution, to JFK's real level of interest in space exploration, Schweikart and Allen give us insight into just how "human" our country's heroes were.

Schweikart and Allen clearly explain how political, economic, military, and moral issues must all be wedded by a common compass, character, and painfully illustrate how both leaders of great character, but no political backbone and those with political genius, tarnished by immoral behavior, make for disastrous administrations

Reading this book during a presidential race and primary season made me realize that politicization of every issue is no modern invention. Journalists and media with less than noble agendas have existed since America's founding. Candidates pandering to special interest groups went on as we shipped our first furs overseas, and heated arguments during televised presidential debates pale in comparison to the physical violence, and some deaths, that occurred over political differences.

Yet America has survived even its worst mistakes because of the character of its people. Schweikart and Allen describe America as a place where people are "free to do anything, but expected to do the best thing".