CAT STORY TIME

This week we went with a cat theme for all three of our story time programs.

PEEK-A-BOO BABY TIME

How does a dinosaur care for its kitty, you ask?

Cat lovers are everywhere! Now, with the same humor and warmth of their previous bestselling dinosaur books, Jane Yolen and Mark Teague show us how young dinosaurs know how to care for their kitties. From playing with cat toys to cleaning the litter box, children will love the silliness of "bad" pet-owner behavior as they learn what's involved in keeping your cat happy and loved. Also an introduction for children who may be getting a pet soon, cat lovers big and small are sure to embrace this book as a purrr-enial favorite!

 We love Jane Yolen!  Like so many of her other books, How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Cats is filled with fun rhyming and great illustrations.  There are several books in Jane Yolen's dinosaur series available to check out at the library.

READ, MAKE AND TAKE STORY TIME

 

The nationally bestselling picture book about a kitten, the moon, and a bowl of milk, written by the celebrated author and illustrator Kevin Henkes, was awarded a Caldecott Medal.

From one of the most celebrated and beloved picture book creators working in the field today comes a memorable new character and a suspenseful adventure just right for reading and sharing at home and in the classroom. It is Kitten's first full moon, and when she sees it she thinks it is a bowl of milk in the sky. And she wants it. Does she get it? Well, no . . . and yes. What a night!

A brief text, large type, and luminescent pictures play second fiddle to the star of this classic picture book—brave, sweet and lucky Kitten! "Henkes's text, reminiscent of Margaret Wise Brown's work in the elemental words, rhythms, and appealing sounds, tells a warm, humorous story that's beautifully extended in his shimmering, gray-toned artwork."—ALA Booklist

Winner of the Caldecott Medal, an ALA Notable Book, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book, and winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award

After our story we made a kitten craft that resembles the one in the book.

MOVE AND GROOVE TODDLER TIME

The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears, and paws . . .

In this glorious celebration of observation, curiosity, and imagination, Brendan Wenzel shows us the many lives of one cat, and how perspective shapes what we see. When you see a cat, what do you see?

There is a page towards the end of They All Saw a Cat where the cat is decorated many different colors and patterns.  All the toddlers helped decorate the cat shown above and then we displayed it in the library.

Peek-a-Boo Baby Time is on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m.
  Ages birth to 24 months.

Read, Make and Take is on Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.
  Ages 3 years to 6 years.

Move and Groove Toddler Time is on Thursdays at 10:30 a.m.
  Ages 18 months to 36 months.

You may sign up for any of these events at any time or by calling 256-386-9212.

Halloween Activities

 The last week of October was filled with lots of Halloween fun here at the library!

Halloween Story Time Book Selections

Peek-a-Boo Baby Time

Itsy Bitsy Spider is a beautiful, padded board book that babies and toddlers will love to share. The charming, rhyming text, loosely based on "Itsy Bitsy Spider," is a book to read again and again.

It may
be round like
a pumpkin and even orange
like a pumpkin, but this is NOT
a pumpkin! If it's not a pumpkin,
then what is it? Preschoolers and
toddlers will love knowing the
answer and enjoy the fun,
"unexpected" ending!

While reading This is NOT a Pumpkin we used a real pumpkin to illustrate.  This is by far my favorite Halloween book for little ones!

This is the jack-o-lantern we used for This is NOT a Pumpkin.  We also read and acted out this story at Move and Groove Toddler Time and at the Halloween festival.

Read, Make and Take Story Time

On the far side of town in a big dark house lives a brave little witch. She has heard lots and lots about that very human holiday Halloween, and even though she thinks she knows what humans are like, she has never, ever seen Halloween for herself.

A Very Brave Witch has gorgeous illustrations and teaches children that all people are different from one another and that isn't a bad thing.  The way this story is written prompts children to answer questions and keeps them interested until the very end.

Move and Groove Toddler Time

Five little ghosts at the end of the day are on the lookout for somewhere to play!  These little ghosts are looking for something fun to do but keep running into mischief!

Halloween Fall Festival

The witch and her cat are happily flying through the sky on a broomstick when the wind picks up and blows away the witch's hat, then her bow, and then her wand!  Luckily, three helpful animals find the missing items, and all they want in return is a ride on the broom.  But is there room on the broom for so many friends?  And when disaster strikes, will they be able to save the witch from a hungry dragon?

 Room on the Broom is one of my favorite children's books.  If you and your child have not had the pleasure of reading a story by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler you are missing out!  Some of their others are Super Worm, The Snail and the Whale and The Gruffalo.  These two never disappoint!

Games

This adorable Pumpkin Chunkin' game was made by Miss Erin.  The children took the pumpkins (tissue paper wrapped toilet paper) and chunked it into the basket.  This one is always a favorite for all ages!

Jack-o-lantern beanbag toss.

 Other Halloween games:

Witch Hat Ring Toss

We used pool rings to ring the witch's hats made out of construction paper.

Balloon Tennis

This one is super simple.  A tennis or badminton racket and a balloon and they'll be entertained for hours.  If you have more than one child playing another option is a fly swat or a paper plate taped to a craft stick to avoid accidents.

Go Fishing

A blue sheet and a pretend fishing rod and you're good to go!  Have someone sit behind the sheet and attach to catch the fishing line and attach a goodie to the end of the rod.

 

Crafts and More

This cute little candy corn craft let the children at Move and Groove Toddler Time practice color sorting.

At the Halloween Fall Festival we made paper witch hats similar to the sombreros we made at the Dragons Love Tacos Tween Party. 

We also had a face painting station and a witch's house tour.
Miss Kay and Miss Christina did an excellent job with our witch's house!

We had a great turn out for the Halloween Fall Festival!  This picture was taken before everyone had arrived.  We had about one hundred children plus their caregivers.

Miss Andrea's Halloween spider hair!

Miss Andrea and I dressed up as the Cat in the Hat and a pirate for the Halloween Fall Festival.

Our next children's program outside of our normal story time programs is
Library Movie Night. 
For the title please call the library or visit the library website that is linked below.

I would like to thank everyone who attended any of our
Halloween programs at the library.
  We all had lots of fun and hope you and your child did too!

New Story Time Programs!

Parents/Caregivers,

    As many of you know, we have been trying to decide how to make our Story Time programs more enjoyable for everyone involved.  We have found that the best way to have a successful program is to divide the children into age groups.  By doing this, we will be able to ensure that each child has a happy learning experience at the library during Story Time.  

Peek-a-boo Baby Time
Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m.
At Peek-a-boo Baby Time we will sing songs, read short board books and do bouncing rhyming games that will help your baby learn to love the library from the start.  This program is for ages birth-24 months.

Read, Make & Take Story Time
Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.
At Read, Make and Take we will read a picture book, sing songs, discuss our book and do a craft that accompanies the story.  This is for ages 3-6 years.

Move and Groove Toddler Time
Thursdays at 10:30 a.m.
Toddlers are meant to move!  On Thursday mornings we will be embracing this.  Join us for action songs, short stories and interactive activities!  Ages 18-36 months.

    Starting on November 1st each child will need to be signed up to attend a Story Time program.  There is limited space so please sign up as soon as you are able.  Signing up does not mean you cannot miss sometimes; this is just so we know how many plan to attend regularly so that we can have the correct amount of snacks and other materials. You may sign your child up by visiting the children's area in the library or by calling us at 256-386-9212.  Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or comments!

    I would like to thank everyone who has been attending our Story Time programs.  It is because of you all that we have been able to grow so much!  Ms. Kay, Ms. Andrea and I are hoping that by adjusting our Story Time programs to fit each specific age group we will be able to help you and your children have the best library experience possible!

-Ms. Kelsey

The Chocolate Chip Ghost Story Time

Everyone had so much fun this week at Story Time!  We sang songs about autumn, pumpkins, and Halloween, watched a puppet show, had a snack, and made our very own puppets!

Our puppet show was called The Chocolate Chip Ghost Story.  Miss Andrea read our story and the children got to watch the puppets act it out.

We found this story last year on the blog Sandy Toes and Popsicles.  Click here to see the full story and free puppet printables!

I just love this story!  It has a very valuable lesson:  listen to your mother because she probably knows what's best!

 

These are the puppets I made to accompany the Chocolate Chip Ghost Story.

"the five little ghosts were all white again to go out haunting and spooking and shouting “BOO!” And they never again ate something they shouldn’t."

For our songs we continued the Autumn/Halloween theme.  Here are the links to three of our favorite fall songs!

Autumn Leaves are Falling Down
by the Learning Station.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPm7JTGIHcA

I'm a Little Scarecrow

by The Kiboomers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suFeMe8ocAc

The Pumpkin Chant
This chant comes from http://wordwindpublishing.blogspot.ca/2014/10/halloween-night-starts-with-halloween.html
You can see it performed by Jbrary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NaLzr3w6Oo

Ghost Puppet Craft

The children all made ghost puppets to accompany the story we read.  Some used white paper bags and some paper and craft sticks.  

 I would like to thank everyone who came to our Story Time programs this week! 
Hope to see you all next time!

Story Time October 4th-6th, 2016

Thank you everyone who attended Story Time this week!

Our book was What Was I Scared of by Dr. Seuss.

What's a pair of empty green trousers doing standing by itself in the woods? Or riding a bike in Grin-itch?  Or fishing on Roover River?  The narrator certainly doesn't want to find out but wherever he goes, he's haunted by the spooky empty pants. Finally, when the two find themselves hiding from each other in a Snide bush, the terrified narrator realizes, "I was just as strange to him as he was strange to me."  This little Seussian gem, plucked from the back of The Sneetches and Other Stories, shines on it own as it delivers a timeless message about fear and tolerance. 

Since Halloween is right around the corner, we chose to read this spooky story by one our favorite authors.  This fun book was filled with Dr. Seuss's usual rhyming and humor and taught us a beautiful lesson about judging others because they may be different than us.

Speaking of Halloween, we will be having a Halloween Fall Festival on October 25th at 5:30 p.m.  This program is for ages 12 and below.  Everyone is welcome to wear a Halloween costume but this is optional.

 We are going to have so much fun at our Halloween Fall Festival!  We hope to see you there! 

If you have any questions concerning Story Time or the Halloween Fall Festival feel free to stop by the library or call us at 256-386-9212.

Dragons Love Tacos Party!

Last Thursday, September 22nd, we had a Dragons Love Tacos Party for tweens (ages 9-12).

This event was based on the bestselling book Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin.

To kick off the party, everyone decorated sombreros made from paper.  

After all the sombreros were finished, we read the story Dragons Love Tacos.  This hilarious book was filled with fantastic illustrations and funny text that kept everyone listening.  This book is now available to be checked out at the library!  I definitely recommend this book for children of all ages; even adults will appreciate the humor this story has to offer!

After the story was over, we played a dragon/taco trivia game.  Each tween was given a sheet with questions about dragons and tacos.  The person with the most correct won a gift card to Dairy Queen!  We ended up with a tie and had to settle it with an intense game of paper, rock, scissors!

During the trivia game, everyone got to enjoy delicious tacos and cookies!

Overall, our tween Dragons Love Tacos Party was definitely a success! 

Thank you to all the tweens and parents who participated.  

Be sure to come by and see us or check our blog or Facebook page for our next tween event!

Butterfly Story Time

This week at Story Time and Toddler Time, we learned more about the life cycle of butterflies!

On Wednesday at Story Time, we read Elmer and Butterfly by one of our favorite authors David McKee.  This is just one of the numerous Elmer books we have here at the library.

One day, as Elmer is strolling through the jungle, he hears a cry for help. A butterfly has been trapped in a hole by a fallen branch. Elmer rushes to the rescue and frees her with ease. In return she promises to help Elmer should he ever need it. Elmer cannot imagine how a tiny butterfly could ever help him, but he finds out sooner than he expects.

On Thursday at Toddler Time, we read Caterpillar Dance written by Will Grace and illustrated by Scott McBee.  This short, sweet story had very beautiful illustrations and was told in a fun rhyming pattern.

Five sleepy caterpillars--yellow, purple, green, blue, red--
All snuggled up on a soft leaf bed.
Yellow caterpillar wiggle jiggle wiggle free.
Yellow caterpillar, what will you be?

Both of these wonderful books are available to check out today!

Releasing the butterflies!

We released half our butterflies on Wednesday and half on Thursday.

Each day before letting our butterflies go, we talked some about the life cycle a butterfly goes through.  We used this poster to show the children the four different stages of the life cycle.  One child got to come up and put each piece in the spot it belonged on the poster.

 

After we discussed the life cycle of butterflies, we looked at our butterflies in the net and then watched them fly away one by one!

Craft

Both Wednesday and Thursday we made coffee filter butterflies.  The children got one butterfly made from a coffee filter and a pipe cleaner and decorated it with washable markers.  After they were finished, we sprayed the butterflies with water.  This made the colors run to create a design that resembled watercolor painting.  Some of the children took their butterflies home and some chose to leave them at the library to display.

We had a fantastic group of children and parents both Wednesday and Thursday.  We would like to thank all of you who were able to be here!  We truly appreciate all the support we get for these programs.

Story Time and Toddler Time are open to the public; everyone is welcome!  We would love to have you and your children join us next week!

Story Time is on Wednesday mornings at 10:30 a.m. for ages 3-6.

Toddler Time is on Thursday mornings at 10:30 a.m. for ages 0-3.

 

Today at the library we are celebrating National Read a Book Day!

There is no better way to celebrate than to stop by the library and check out a new book!

Here are a few of our many new arrivals in the children's library.

For one young boy, it’s a perfect summer day to spend at the beach with his family. He scours the high tide line for treasures, listens to the swizzling sound of barnacles, and practices walking the plank. But mostly he waits for high tide. Then he’ll be able to swim and dive off the log raft his family is building. While he waits, sea birds and other creatures mirror the family’s behaviors: building and hunting, wading and eating. At long last the tide arrives, and human and animal alike savor the water.

Mr. and Mrs. Watson have a pig named Mercy.  Mercy is a porcine wonder.  One night, Mercy hears a noise.  An unlikely thief soon discovers, crime doesn't pay.  Not when there is a very large pig involved.

Failing to get the attention of her busy father, a lonely girl turns back to a fantastic world for friendship and adventure. It’s her third journey into the enticing realm of kings and emperors, castles and canals, exotic creatures and enchanting landscapes. This time, it will take something truly powerful to persuade her to return home, as a gripping backstory is revealed that will hold readers in its thrall. Caldecott Honor winner Aaron Becker delivers a suspenseful and moving climax to his wordless trilogy, an epic that began with the award-winning Journey and continued with the celebrated follow-up Quest.

A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book and Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Award Winner
Hailing from the Tremé neighborhood in New Orleans, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews got his nickname by wielding a trombone twice as long as he was high. A prodigy, he was leading his own band by age six, and today this Grammy-nominated artist headlines the legendary New Orleans Jazz Fest.
Along with esteemed illustrator Bryan Collier, Andrews has created a lively picture book autobiography about how he followed his dream of becoming a musician, despite the odds, until he reached international stardom. Trombone Shorty is a celebration of the rich cultural history of New Orleans and the power of music.

A 2016 Caldecott Medal Winner
Before Winnie-the-Pooh, there was a real bear named Winnie.  In 1914, Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian on his way to tend horses in World War I, followed his heart and rescued a baby bear. He named her Winnie, after his hometown of Winnipeg, and he took the bear to war.  Harry Colebourn's real-life great-granddaughter tells the true story of a remarkable friendship and an even more remarkable journey--from the fields of Canada to a convoy across the ocean to an army base in England...  And finally to the London Zoo, where Winnie made another new friend: a real boy named Christopher Robin.  Here is the remarkable true story of the bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh.

 These are just a few of the many wonderful books available today!

Celebrate National Read a Book Day on social media with the hashtag #NationalReadABookDay.   

Learning About Butterflies!

At the beginning of the school year, we began Story Time and Toddler Time with The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  We also decorated our children's library with colorful butterflies to go along with our theme.  

 On August 11th, we began raising our very own caterpillars! 

Everyone was amazed at how much the caterpillars grew in only one week!

  Around August 18th, our caterpillars began to make their cocoons.  During this time we read Don't Worry Bear by Greg Foley.  This wonderful book showed the children how the caterpillars stay in their cocoons until they have grown enough to become butterflies.

After about two weeks of waiting, our caterpillars all climbed to the tops of the cups and created their little houses.

After each cocoon was complete, they were transferred to a net.   This morning, after only one week of waiting, all the butterflies broke out of their cocoons!

The butterflies love sweet fruit and sugar water.  They get their nutrients from drinking the liquid from the fruits.

Next week during Story Time and Toddler Time, we will release our butterflies outside in our fairy garden.  Story Time is every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. and Toddler Time is every Thursday at 10:30 a.m.  We will be reading more about butterflies and learning about their life cycle.

You can come by the children's area in the library now to check in on our butterflies!  While you are here, be sure to check out one of our wonderful books about butterflies!

Don't Worry Bear by Greg Foley
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Furry Caterpillar by Felicia Law
Butterfly House by Eve Bunting