All posts by Children's Staff
Books for Preschoolers on Wednesday, May 11 and Friday, May 13
For our final spring storytimes, we read five books about frogs.
And here’s a springtime frog joke for you: What’s a frog’s favorite flower? A croak-us!
PlaySpace Goes on a Bear Hunt!
Our final PlaySpace story of the spring session was We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. After reading the story, we took advantage of the beautiful spring weather and went on a bear hunt of our own.
A helpful officer from the Chelmsford Police Department kept our intrepid explorers safe as we crossed Bartlett Street behind the library to enter Bartlett Park.
Like the family in the book, we walked through tall grass and squishy mud, crossed a river, and searched for a cave where a bear might be hiding. We crossed Acton Road and entered the Bartlett Woodlot, a Chelmsford Land Conservation Trust property that is home to abundant wildlife.
A few sharp-eyed bear hunters spotted a cave, and the bravest of them peeked inside. What did they find?
A BEAR!!!
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It has been a fantastic year of PlaySpace. This program does not meet during the summer, but we look forward to seeing everyone when we start again in the fall.
And speaking of bears, we hope you will join us for our annual Teddy Bear Concert on Friday, May 20 at 10:30 at the Chelmsford Center for the Arts. Bring your bear, a blanket, and a picnic lunch to bring outside afterwards.
Sing with Your Child!
While singing a rhyming song, stop before the rhyming word and allow your child to sing the word.
For example, “Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder what you _______.”
The end…
Mo Willems is one of my favorite authors. I love the pigeon books, Knuffle Bunny, and the Elephant and Piggie books.
There are 25 Elephant and Piggie books, and the most recent one is the last one. Sigh… It is no surprise that these good friends are kind and considerate and grateful to the very end.
I read several books by this author in my storytime this week, and ended with this one.
I began with We Are in a Book! There were already a dozen Elephant and Piggie books written when this book was published. Children had grown to love these two characters, and so kids celebrated with them as these friends discovered they were in a book, and someone was reading their story.
There are not as many books about “the pigeon” as there are about Elephant and Piggie, but children love to hear them over and over because everyone laughs out loud at the pigeon. Today I chose the original book. There are only 6 picture books and 2 board books about the pigeon, but he makes an appearance in all of the Elephant and Piggie books. Try to find them all. Hint: the end papers are a good place to check.
Cat the Cat is not a very interesting character. She is not invited to many storytimes because these books do not have much of a plot. There are repetitive questions, obvious animal names, and each is shorter than most easy reader books. But they are terrific for helping children blend sounds to form words.
This next book teaches good manners and does not have many words. It is also a great book for beginning readers – but not so good for storytime. Today, however, I thought it was important to say Please before we heard Elephant and Piggie say Thank You.
SPOILER ALERT: Piggie wants to thank everyone, but Gerald (the elephant) is sure he will forget someone. With Gerald’s help, Piggie remembers to thank all the characters who have appeared in this series of books – and one more VIP.
With a grateful heart, I ended my spring session of storytime.
~Maureen
Check our Calendar of Events for special programs from now until July. Here are some highlights:
The Annual Teddy Bear Concert: Friday, May 20 at 10:30am at the Chelmsford Center for the Arts. Children are invited to bring a stuffed animal to this free concert with Vanessa Trien. The Friends of the Library will supply snacks at the end of the concert so, weather permitting, the children can go to the Common for a picnic. Thank you to the Family Resource Network for their sponsorship.
The Annual Petting Zoo will be held on Thursday, June 9. You need to come to the Children’s Room for a free ticket. Each ticket is for a 15 minute visit with the animals. Tickets are limited, and they will be available beginning Thursday, May 26.
Bubble Dance Parties will return in June. This time we will meet on Monday mornings at 10:00 for music, dance and bubbles! Children ages 1-6 are invited to join us.
Summer Storytimes begin in July.
Toddler Time, Friday, May 6
We had a great time in Toddler Storytime today. It is always really wonderful how the grownups have been terrific role models, joining in on the songs and movements and really offering your children a great gift of role modeling and engaging to help form the beginning skills of literacy that will serve the children well in the future.
Today we read a fun and familar book/song called Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. This book is written by Eileen Christelow and I think it is a wonderful rendition of the familiar song. The five monkeys actually have several other books where they have silly adventures, all written by Eileen Christelow. If you are not familiar with them, I encourage you to check them out. You might find a new favorite book and you will probably enjoy a good laugh!
Here are some of the Monkey books.
Baby Storytime, 0-12 month olds, Friday, May 6
Today in Baby Storytime we gathered together for a fun time of songs, rhymes and reading. We brought out an old favorite today and read a fun book by Sandra Boynton. If you are not familiar with Sandra Boynton, check out some of her books. You are sure to laugh and smile!
Books for Preschoolers on Wednesday, May 4 and Friday, May 6
This week we read books about hands and feet.
Write With Your Child!
When your child presents you with a piece of work with “scribbles,”
ask him or her what it says.
Books for 4-6 year olds on Tuesday, May 3
The Typewriter is a brand-new book by Bill Thomson, known for his amazingly realistic illustrations. We enjoyed telling the story of this wordless book, though I had to spend a lot of time explaining what a typewriter was and how it worked! Everyone was fascinated by the mechanics of this antique “printer”! The typewriter in the story had some magic powers, too, which made it even more fun.
Another new book in our collection is More Caps For Sale, another adventure with our intrepid peddler and his posse of naughty monkeys. We re-read Caps For Sale, and then the new story, so we could compare. Then we voted on which story we liked best– and the new one was the clear winner! But I’m pretty sure that any story with mischievous monkeys will always be a hit.
Books for Preschoolers on Wednesday, April 27 and Friday, April 29
Chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-CHOO CHOO! This week we read about trains!