All posts by Children's Staff
Baby Storytime, Friday, October 16 0-12 month olds
We gathered together for a joyful baby storytime. Did you know that board books are great books to share with your babies? They are durable, small, made of thick cardboard and easy to hold. Babies love them! The Chelmsford Public Library has a great selection of board books that you are encouraged to borrow!
Today we read a favorite author, Sandra Boynton, and had lots of fun making animal sounds.
Books for 4-6 year olds on Tuesday, October 13
In case you hadn’t noticed, fall is here! There are so many beautiful, colorful leaves to look at. We read two stories that celebrate the joys of the season:
Then we had a lot of fun reading about a quirky superhero. We were sure he could help us out of any jam!
Books for Preschoolers on Wednesday, October 14 and Friday, October 16
It’s apple season in New England! We are lucky in Chelmsford to have several orchards nearby where we can pick this wonderful fall fruit, and we celebrated apples in this week’s storytimes. You can click on the book covers below to find each title in our catalog.
Storytime for 12-24 month olds, Friday, October 9
Today’s toddler storytime was spirited and energetic. We gathered together for 30 minutes of songs, rhymes, dancing and reading. The children (and grownups!) all listened so intently as the big book of The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear by Audrey and Don Woods was read. The toddlers danced to the Hokey Pokey, sang about pumpkins and joined in on three different versions of the “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Join us on Fridays at 11:00am to be part of the fun!
Baby Storytime, Friday, October 9, 0-12months
It was a joy to gather together today for Baby Storytime! Lots of caregivers and babies joined in with songs, rhymes and conversation. Each week at Baby Storytime we will continue to read a book together and have an opportunity to be exposed to some basic ideas of very early literacy. Please feel free to join us for this storytime on Fridays at 10am.
Today we read the popular story Brown Bear Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle. Come into the library to check out lots of different board books that are just right for babies!
Books for Preschoolers on Wednesday, October 7 and Friday, October 9
We missed storytime so much during the past few weeks, so to kick off our fall session we read books all about missing people, losing things, and finding them again. Two of our stories created an interesting dialog with each other when we read them back to back. Found, by Salina Yoon, features a bear who finds a stuffed bunny and searches for its owner, while Mo Willems’s Knuffle Bunny tells the story of a girl who loses her beloved bunny in a laundromat. We enjoyed exploring the same concept from opposite perspectives.You can click on the book covers below to find each title in our catalog.
Write With Your Child!
When your child is able to hold a crayon or
pencil, encourage him or her to “write”
(or scribble) his or her name on their
own paper.
Books for 4-6 year olds on Tuesday, October 6
Today was our first fall storytime! We had an enthusiastic crowd of listeners, and we talked about lots of things to do with apples:
We even measured ourselves with paper apple cutouts! Most of the children were 9 or 10 apples tall. We got a lot of estimating and counting practice with this activity. Try it at home– you can measure yourself with anything you can think of!
Preschool books on Monday, October 5
Even though we had storytimes during the summer, it always feels brand new to me when we start again in the fall. I did toddler storytimes in the summer, but it has been a very long time since I read books with preschoolers.
I began with one of my favorite books today: yuck! by Mick Manning Children learn to read that word so quickly, and use it with great enthusiasm throughout the book. Orange Pear Apple Bear sure beats Dr. Seuss in word count. This entire book uses only these 4 words, with at least one word on each page. Except there is a surprise word on the last page.
The children all enjoyed helping me make Tap the Magic Tree come alive. We tapped, rubbed, blew and clapped our way through this book. The last book we shared was Pete the Cat and His 4 Groovy Buttons. Pete is such a cool cat. Does Pete cry when he loses his buttons? “Goodness, no. Buttons come and buttons go.”
~Maureen
Toddler book on Monday, October 5
It has been such a long time since storytimes ended in August. Even though I’m very excited to begin the fall session, I’m a bit nervous at the beginning: Will I remember the verses to the songs? Will I forget a certain announcement? Will there be enough folks who come regularly to help me sing the songs?
This may have been one of the easiest storytimes ever! There were lots of returning families who were familiar with the majority of the songs. The children remembered the songs and sign language. I felt at ease immediately. Thank you so much for your participation.
We read The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown. This is a long book for toddlers, but I always break it up by asking the children about the sounds the animals make each time I mention a new animal.
~Maureen