Dan Coleman

Somehow I ended up with roommates from each of the five main classes of vertebrates.  The best thing animal cohabitants is that unlike spouses and children, you can openly complain about them, and rank them in order of their current annoyingness without fear of emotionally scarring them for life or being kicked out of the…

The American Library Association produced a long list of great books in January with its annual Youth Media Awards, including the well-known Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz awards, which go to the best American children’s author, illustrator, and young adult author of the year, respectively.  Many more awards for children’s and teen books are given annually…

Well, it’s that time of year again when everyone starts up the ghost talk. Lawrence has its fair share of haunts, many of which are entertainingly chronicled in Paul Thomas’ Haunted Lawrence, which has recently been adapted for kids.  I’m one of those people who would love to see a ghost, but for whom ghosts…

Recently I made an impulse checkout of Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel Jaws and devoured it quicker than a great white gulping down an inflatable dingy. In the brief introduction Benchley wrote for the 2005 edition, he notes that he was certain the book would flop because he “couldn’t think of any novels about fish that…

I was about to really dig in and write this blog post when I stumbled across a 1-star book review on Amazon and had so much fun reading it that I’ve decided to give up my original topic. Sorry, but you’ll have to wait till another day for my annotated list of the best children’s…

Another great batch of books for children and teens have taken home this year's coveted ALA Media Awards, and we have plenty of physical and digital copies of the winning titles and honor books (aka, runners-up) for each award. A pet peeve of mine in the past has been small numbers of honor books, since…

Maybe it’s the result of a life lived mostly in Kansas, but I’m a sucker for vegetables arrayed on a tabletop and tagged to indicate who grew them, especially if I am lucky enough to know a few of those people. Around here the best place for this is the Douglas County Fair in late…

For the past few years I’ve been obsessed with a mysterious display case at the Baker Wetlands Discovery Center. It contains a number of carved wooden models of tiny creatures called tardigrades, derived from the Latin "slow walker." Also known as “water bears” for their bear-like shape, these microfauna have inched their way into the…

If you haven’t seen it yet, our current exhibit of WPA-style posters depicting green spaces in Douglas County is a great reason to visit the library in person. Of course, you can always view them online, along with last year’s set, and purchase copies for your own walls. They were made by local artists, and…

During the pandemic I’ve taken comfort in the timeless continuance of nature: Birds still migrate, stars keep their usual paths across the night sky, and kids sing the same old songs about diarrhea (okay, “comfort” might not be quite the right word for that last one). I've been out and about with my kids a…