Sesame Street's Wes & Elijah Visit NYPL!
Photo by Janet Kim for Sesame Workshop
With 92 locations in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, millions of people visit The New York Public Library every year. But we were especially excited to have a recent visit from Elijah and his son Wes, residents of Sesame Street, who were spending the day exploring New York City together. They visited the beautiful Children's Center of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library to read a picture book, and met our lions, Patience and Fortitude, who stand guard outside the main building on 42nd Street.
Afterward, Elijah and Wes took in the view on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, visited Central Park where they checked out Belvedere Castle, flew a kite, looked for fish and birds, and snacked on mango slices and a hot pretzel.
Photo by Janet Kim for Sesame Workshop
Photo by Janet Kim for Sesame Workshop
Photo by Janet Kim for Sesame Workshop
Visiting New York? We hope you'll come by to say hello to Patience and Fortitude on 42nd Street, see the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library's Treasures, visit the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Library for the Performing Arts, or one of our branch libraries.
New Yorkers—Summer at the Library has begun! Discover oceans of possibility this summer with free events and programs for all ages, book giveaways, our all-new Make Waves program for kids and teens, reading recommendations, and much more!
And remember, a New York Public Library card can help you discover all the wonderful things our city has to offer. Learn about Culture Pass that allows library cardholders to visit cultural institutions throughout the city for free!
Because we know Wes loves reading, we wanted to recommend some more books for him to read together with his dad:
The New York Public Library in Picture Books
Lost in the Library: A Story of Patience & Fortitude
by Josh Funk; illustrated by Stevie Lewis
Patience, one of the lions of The New York Public Library, is missing and Fortitude, the other lion, searches the building from top to bottom seeking him.
Where Is Our Library? A Story of Patience & Fortitude
by Josh Funk; illustrated by Stevie Lewis
Follows library lions Patience and Fortitude as they search across the city, encountering literary landmarks along the way, after discovering that all the books in the Children’s Center have gone missing.
The Lions at Night
by Jessica M. Boehman
In this wordless picture book, library lions Patience and Fortitude take a late-night subway ride to Coney Island, where they indulge in some nostalgic New York City-style fun. Will the lions make it back to their perches at the library before dawn?
Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library
by Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by Eric Velasquez
In luminous paintings and arresting poems, we learn about Arturo Schomburg's quest to bring to light the achievements of people of African descent by collecting books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora. This collection, which he gifted to The New York Public Library, became the foundation for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Pura's Cuentos: How Pura Belpré Reshaped Libraries With Her Stories
by Annette Bay Pimentel; illustrated by Magaly Morales
Lively illustrations and lyrical text combine to pay tribute to the extraordinary life and legacy of the celebrated storyteller, author, folklorist and the first Latina librarian in New York City who was a pioneer of bilingual storytimes.
Picture Books About New York City Sights
Liberty Arrives!: How America's Grandest Statue Found Her Home
by Robert Byrd
A sumptuously illustrated portrait of the Statue of Liberty traces its origins as a beautiful gift from France to the United States, exploring the contributions of Joseph Pulitzer and children fundraisers while describing how the Statue was designed, transported and finally constructed at the entrance to New York Harbor.
A Green Place to Be: The Creation of Central Park
by Ashley Benham Yazdani
Describes the history of Central Park in New York City, detailing how visionaries Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmstead designed the park as a green gift to everyone in the city.
Subway
by Anastasia Suen; illustrated by Karen Katz
With people moving all around, musicians playing in the background, and trains zipping by, a child delights in all the hustle-and-bustle of her subway adventure as she and her mother maneuver through the busy corridors and jump on different trains in order to reach their final destination.
Ferry Boat
by Michael Garland
A child describes each moment of the ferry boat ride from Manhattan to Staten Island and back, including seeing the Statue of Liberty and the Verrazano Bridge.
Next Stop Grand Central
by Maira Kalman
A whimsical introduction to the thousands of activities going on everyday in Grand Central, a train station in New York City, includes portraits of actual Grand Central workers and sweeping panoramas of the magnificent structure.
Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building
by Deborah Hopkinson; illustrated by James E. Ransome
A riveting brick-by-brick account of how one of the most amazing accomplishments in American architecture came to be. Join a young boy as he watches the Empire State Building being constructed from scratch, then travels to the top to look down on all of New York City in 1931.
Secret Engineer: How Emily Roebling Built the Brooklyn Bridge
by Rachel Dougherty
This is the story of Emily Roebling, the uncredited woman behind the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, one of the most iconic landmarks in the world. Traces the life of 19th-century engineer and her significant contributions to math, science, engineering and feminism.
Book summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.