All posts by Children's Staff
Storytime for Preschoolers, Wednesday, October 22
I had the joy of leading Wednesday storytimes today! We got to read and sing and dance. After reading a lovely story called Giraffes Can’t Dance (in the end the giraffe does dance) we talked about how grown ups always wants kids to sit still but that everyone needs to move and dance. So we had a really fun time dancing to Peter and Ellen’s song “Bump-a-Deedle” where everyone is encouraged to get up and move!
The stories we read today are as follows.
-Deborah
Books for preschoolers on Monday, October 20
Of course I read books about pumpkins at this time of year. As we get closer to Halloween, though, I try to mix in a few scary books. This week the scary book is Wolves by Emily Gravett. “The author would like to point out that no rabbits were eaten during the making of this book.”, but it may scare sensitive readers, and so there is an alternative ending that has everyone living happily ever after. We balanced that book with a silly one, Monkey and Me, by Emily Gravett. Our pumpkin book was The Bumpy Little Pumpkin by Margery Cuyler. The final book this week was Lemons are Not Red by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. I try to read several books by Gravett and Seeger in storytimes, because those authors are not as well known as they deserve to be.
Why is there a rabbit on the cover if the story is about wolves?
This is a silly book that is not scary at all.
~Maureen
Baby Storytime, 12-18 months, Friday, October 17
A spirited group of older babies came to storytime today. We sang, we read and we even did a few rounds of “Ring Around the Rosie.” In the traditional storytime manner, the children listened to a big book. Together we read a favorite board book.
These are the books we read today.
Baby Storytime, 0-12 months, Friday, October 17
We had a lovely storytime together today with lots of songs and rhymes. We read this story together and it was enjoyed by all.
Books for 4-6 year olds, Thursday, October 16
Today we read a story about a very interesting an unusual place:
We also read about farm animals in this BIG book:
In The Midnight Library, there are three owls who are assistant librarians! We talked about where owls live, what they look like, and what sounds they make. Then we colored pictures of owls. Some children wanted their owl to look like a real one, and some used lots of colors to make a “rainbow owl”!
Baby Storytime for 12-18 month olds, Friday, October 10
Today’s storytime was filled with energy, song and joy. The little ones heard lots of rhymes and songs and listened to two different stories, one in a big book form and another one getting to hold and read their own board book. We ended with a few rounds of “Ring Around the Rosie.”
These are the stories we read today.
Baby Storytime 0-12months, Friday, October 10
At Baby Storytime today we spent a little time talking about helping your baby to learn sign language as an alternative form of communication before oral language develops. The library offers many resources to get you started or to support your sign language efforts.
During storytime today we read this book and looked at different baby faces.
Books for 4-6 year olds on Thursday, October 9
Today we read and talked about a very silly story:
We also read a beautiful and creative story about fall leaves– we spent lots of time discovering the people and animal shapes the artist had made with leaves!
Writing begins with scribbling
Has your baby held a crayon or pencil yet? Research states that around 12 months of age, a baby is ready to start exploring with the ideas of creating marks on paper. These early marks and scribbles are the first steps that eventually lead to drawing and writing. The development of writing and drawing is similar to the development of talking in that the pictures or words do not come out conventionally at first. Just as your young child might say “ba” to mean “bottle,” a simple line or squiggle on a paper may represent a picture and you are encouraged to embrace your child’s creations. Allow your child to “write” his or her name on a paper and celebrate together that the mark is his or her way of writing his or her name at that stage of development.
Find age appropriate writing implements, such as big, fat crayons, chalk, or even big washable markers. Get some paper, sit down together and enjoy some creative fun while your child is on the way to becoming a successful writer and artist!
Baby Storytime 12-18 months, Friday, October 3
Today was the first day of our new storytime for babies 12-18 months old. It is similar to the original baby storytime, with a little more movement. Today the babies and their caregivers listened to one big book together and we still read chorally with everyone holding their own board book. These are the books from today.