Panniken Moonjumper, Master of Intergalactic Fun and Adventure, will train young warriors, princesses, and Darth Vaders in the ways of the Jedi on Saturday, Nov. 17.

Pirate School creator and veteran family entertainer David Engel will offer his Jedi Academy in the community room of the Town Hall from 3:30-4:30 p.m. that day. Little ones ages 4 and up are invited to participate in the physical challenges, magical mayhem, and light saber lessons that are all part of mastering the Force. Attendees can come dressed as their favorite Star Wars character. 

Sign-up sheets are now downstairs at the library.

  Gardiner's HiHo Home Market will be celebrating the autumn season with a Fall Friendzy Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Certified appraisers from River Valley Auction will be on hand at HiHo's first appraisal road show Saturday - bring your antiques!

Sunday, Wallkill Public Library's own Miss Carolyn and Miss Christine will be available from 1-4 p.m. at the Friendzy to do children's crafts.

The event will also feature:

• Upholsterer Catherine Boyd from Timeless Elegance
• Florist Elissa Cimino from Flowers by Elissa
• Book Specialist David Friedman from Barner Books
• Event planner/interior designer Karyn L'Ecuyer from Dynamic Interiors and Events
• Live music and shopping

 HiHo is located at 132 Main St., Gardiner. For more information visit the HiHo Facebook page.

  The Chinese writer Mo Yan, whose

works combine "hallucinatory realism" with folk tales, history and contemporary life in China, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature Thursday.

  Catholic priest and Zen master Robert Kennedy quotes the poems of Emily Dickinson liberally in his book, Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit. While he never labels the poet as being a Buddhist, the pieces he quotes so succinctly illustrate some specific tenets of Zen that it's hard to believe their interpretation is being stretched for Kennedy's purposes.

  Many Dickinson fans tend to admire the poet's simplicity. She's one of the "easy" poets studied in high school. Her stuff rhymes...it makes sense (Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me...), it doesn't always require a lot of thought to interpret. Were our English teachers keeping something from us?

  While the Internet is rife with medical and health-related websites, it can get tricky determining what's reliable and what's not.

Healthline  is a useful site that offers a wealth of health information in articles that are written for readers who don't necessarily have their own medical degrees. A board-certified physician reviews every original piece on the site that contains medical information for accuracy. In addition to looking up health topics alphabetically, users can browse through the magazine-like layout of the site's homepage for interesting tidbits on disease prevention, healthy living tips, medical advice, and more. It's a worthwhile reference site as well as an interesting one to glance over every so often for new information.

   For so many years, the emphasis on testing our kids ad nauseum has had a drastic impact on their ability to get out and play and spend time wondering during the school day. With only six hours to work with, recess, like the arts and music, seem to be the first things to go. What is so worrisome is that it is often through play, art, movement, and music that our kids not only learn social skills, but the art of collaboration, negotiation, individual expression, friendship, creative thinking, and unstructured joy. Now, with the advent of the Common Core Standards, it seems the emphasis is back on incorporating play into instruction and educational environments and encouraging inquiry-based learning - focusing on the questions and the discovery process as well as on the answers.

 This is where the library comes in as a place for kids to go that provides an abundance of resources in a free, unstructured environment that fosters playfulness, the exploration of subjects through art, drama and storytelling, and encourages discussions of "what if," and "why do you think...." scenarios. We have recently revamped our biography and nonfiction collections to support the new standards and be able to provide more resources to explore with kids after school and through programming, the true nature of how things work, why certain things happen, how people live in other parts of the world, etc.

The addition of almost 50 new volumes of the "Who Was...?" biography series examines people through history and explores the qualities, character traits, and accomplishments of how their works have changed the world. If you would like to see more materials on a particular topic, please let me know at any time. This is your library and we want your interests reflected in the materials we choose. Take advantage of the programming we have to offer that is designed to foster creativity and curiosity - our Wednesday afternoon Art Club with Miss Christine explores the masters, color, textures, and appreciation of the design process. Miss Carolyn's story times and programs like the Goosebumps and Magic Tree House Book Clubs not only encourage a love of books, but help young readers with comprehension and creative thinking. The crafts and playtime that accompany these sessions go further to develop free thinking and those valuable social skills. 

In January, our new "Figure it out!" program begins, which allows for a child-driven series exploring science, math, the environment, and culture; and the ninth season of Books Alive! - our children's theater arts project - kicks into gear with a Mo Willems-themed performance. Encourage your children to stretch their comfort zone and try something new at your library this winter.

 Mary Lou Carolan