Hobby Months

​ January was National Hobby Month. Personally, I think February should be National Hobby Month. February is the longest “short month.” It’s cold, wet, dark and depressing. Yes, Valentine’s Day is in the middle, but that doesn’t help much. Putting jigsaw puzzles together helps. Working on model trains or building model airplanes can help. Inside sports like basketball or indoor soccer can chase away anybody’s blues. Some folks like collecting things, like stamps, coins or dolls. Many people like to quilt, crochet or knit. Jamestown Public Library has books on all those topics. Let’s look at a few.The Great Global Puzzle Challenge with Google Earth might be fun to try. The book encourages middle schoolers to find specific locations using Google Earth coordinates, searching for clues to discover the final location. They can solve historic and geographical puzzles.

I Spy books are always fun for children. We have a range of abilities, from Where’s Waldo books to early readers’ I Spy with My Little Eye books. What’s That Shadow? challenges children to discover what the item is when all they get is a picture of its shadow.

For the collector we have the Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps and The Coin Collector’s Survival Manual. For the doll enthusiast, try Barbie: a Visual Guide to the Ultimate Fashion Doll. Barbie was first sold on February 12, 1959. Since then, she has been a favorite of children and some serious adult collectors.

For the indoor sports fan, check out Soccer Superstars in the juvenile nonfiction section, or read a biography about David Beckham. I bet he played indoors on the bad weather days they have in England. Read about the Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles and the Greatest Team of all Time Conquered the World and Changed the Game of Basketball Forever. With the Olympics this month, this is a very appropriate read.

Read Steam Locomotives or Trains and then travel to Spencer, NC to ride on a real one. That should break the cold weather blahs. You and your children could watch the hundreds of Thomas and Friends movies that we have. Build some paper airplanes and have a contest. Whose flies the farthest? Whose flies the highest? Use the examples in Fabulous Paper Airplanes or the World Record Paper Airplane Book. Then make up your own designs.

Whatever your hobbies, try Jamestown Public Library. We just may have what you want. Stay warm.