April Vacation Fun at the Library

On Wednesday morning, April 20, Robert Bruce brought his certified therapy dog, Cokie to the library.  Cokie is a Tail Waggin' Tutor who loves to have children read to her.  About 24 children took turns reading a variety of dog-themed titles to Cokie, including The Pigeon Wants a Puppy, Go Dog Go and Bathtime for Biscuit.  Cokie will be coming back again soon, so keep reading those dog books and watch for her next visit!

On Thursday, April 21, Small Singers and Shakers brightened the library with music.  Over 80 children and grown ups joined Ms. Stacy in creating beautiful music that filled the Children's Room.  Songs included The Alphabet Song and She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain.  The children danced, sang and played shakers, tamborines, bells and rhythm sticks. 

The library is very lucky to have community members who are willing to share their time and talents with us!  Thank-you Mr. Bruce and Ms. Stacy and come back soon!

So many books, so little time!

  Children sometimes ask me if I've read every book in the library.  I wish I could, but sadly there is just not enough time.  So many wonderful children's books arrive at my desk each week that it is really hard to decide what to read.  I do read the majority of the Picture Books so that I can add them to my story time lists.  I read a lot of fiction, but usually only the first book in a series (except for Harry Potter!) so that I have time to read more books.  I must admit that I usually have to force myself to read non-fiction, but that holds for my own pleasure reading, too.

 I love the 2 book discussion groups that we have going at the library.  It is so nice to get a chance to talk about books with the children they were written for.  The children who have been coming to the book clubs are so insightful and have such an ease in sharing their thoughts. 

The Chapter Book Club for children in grades 1 - 3  gets them started in thinking about character and plot.  In an informal chat we'll talk about the main character and how we felt about him or her, favorite moments in the book,  the ending and how we'd have changed it.  Some favorites of late have been Piper Reed Navy Brat and the Magic Tree House titles.

For the older group, grades 4 - 6, our discussions get deeper into characterization, plot, theme, voice and writing style.  The kids have often blown me away with their insights and we have had long discussions on titles such as Tuck Everlasting and How To Steal a Dog.

I am so lucky to be a children's librarian since  keeping up with children's books is a part of my job.  I have a perfectly good reason for reading  the children's and young adult books that I love.  I love being able to share favorites with the book clubs, as well as those who stop by my desk seeking something good to read.  My favorite part of the job is hearing back from readers about books that they enjoyed and hooking a reluctant reader on a great title.  So, I will continue to do my best and read as many books as I can so that I can share them with my young readers!

Rainbow Story Times

This week the theme for all of my story times was "Rainbows."  There are some great songs and fingerplays, but not enough books on the subject.  One of my favorites, that is now out of print except for the board book edition, is What Makes a Rainbow by Betty Ann Schwartz.  A little rabbit asks all of his friends how a rainbow is made and they all mention their own color as a ribbon of the same color is added to the rainbow.  Another good story is Elmer and the Rainbow by David McKee - our favorite patchwork elephant comes to the rescue of a rainbow that has lost it's colors. 

Some fun rainbow songs are Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - a Hawaiian version of the classic - I have the children play egg shakers and rainbow scarfs would also work well. The kids also love Make a Rainbow, which is sung to the tune of Skip to My Lou: "Take some cherries, put them in a pot. Stir them, stir them, stir them a lot! Pour it out now, what will it be? The prettiest RED you ever did see!" Continue with orange, lemon, lime, blueberries and grapes. Children can pantomine stirring and pouring and then call out the colors. The song finishes" Red and orange, yellow and green, blue and purple colors are seen.  Put them together and what will it be? The prettiest rainbow you ever did see!"

A great song to begin story time is Mary Wore a Red Dress and substituting each child's name and the color they are wearing: "Mary wore a Red dress, red dress, red dress, Mary wore a red dress, all day long." 

For a simple craft you can cut white paper plates in half and have the children color them as rainbows.

Beginning to Blog

I've decided to start a blog to share story time ideas, book reviews, craft ideas and more.