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Blog Post
New Beautiful Fall Picture Books
by manz
I found two cute picture books on the NEW shelf recently and they happen to have the same illustrator. The illustrations are the main reason I grabbed each of these books! The images by Susan Gal are made with charcoal on paper and digital collage and the result is bold colors in broad strokes of oranges and reds that fully illustrate that fall feeling. Looking through these books makes you want to head outside and look all the lush fall colors this October.
Hocus Pocus, It’s Fall! takes the reader on a fall tour and finds things like dried pods, squirrels, red leaves, apples and more fall staples. It’s a darling rhyming story.
With a similar palette, Bella’s Fall Coat is an actual story. Young Bella has a favorite coat, and her Grams urges her throughout the story that it’s time for a new coat, as Bella is getting too big for her old one. “But it’s my favorite,” cries Bella. And out the door she runs to play. As fall turns into winter, it might just be time for a new coat after all, and what should happen to Bella’s old favorite coat? Well, it finds a precious new home. A lovely, lovely book!
Blog Post
PreK BITS - "M" is for Mother ... and "moo", "mouse", "more" and "me" ....
by ryanikoglu
Ms. Rachel's Storytime theme this week was bedtime on the Farm.
GOBBLE GOBBLE MOO TRACTOR ... Everyone is NOT asleep.
Banjo Betsy and Ms. Rachel's action song “Wake Up You Sleepy Heads!” is recorded on the CD SING IT! SAY IT! STAMP IT! SWAY IT! by Peter and Ellen Allard.
We also sang 'Skinnimarink" which is recorded on the CD ONE ELEPHANT DEUX ELEPHANTS by Sharon, Lois and Bram.
In the story MOTHER MOTHER I WANT ANOTHER ... Baby Mouse needs something more.
Can You find the Mama Mouse, the young Mouse, or the “Moo” in these stories?
WHERE’S MOMMY?
MOO!
HERMELIN The DETECTIVE MOUSE
The LITTLE MOUSE, The RED RIPE STRAWBERRY, and The HUNGRY BEAR
ALEXANDER And The WIND-UP MOUSE
LITTLE RABBIT WHO LIKED To SAY MOO
MOO! SAID MORRIS
A LITTLE BIT Of LOVE
MMMmmmmm Good!
Now everybody ... "Go to sleep!"
Blog Post
An Encounter with the Elegant and Sensitive Verse of Misuzu Kaneko
by mansii
Early 20th century Japanese poet Misuzu Kaneko inspires wonder and compassion in her writing. Her poems ask questions close to the heart of a child, and step into the slippers of things as plain as the snow under our shoes. The tale of her short life is clouded by hardship, but her poetry brims with a celebration of being alive.
"Snow on top
must feel chilly,
the cold moonlight piercing it.
Snow on the bottom
must feel burdened
by the hundred who tread on it.
Snow in the middle
must feel lonely
with neither earth nor sky to look at."
For the first time, Kaneko's poetry is being made available in North America by a team of translators and journalists passionate about sharing her legacy with the world. Kaneko's work is highly respected in Japan, being standard material in literature classes, and now English speakers have the opportunity to see what is so special about her in the book Are You An Echo?: The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko.
Written at a child's level, this book narrates Kaneko's life story while presenting a whole collection of her poems in translation, with the original Japanese verse alongside. Besides providing an encounter with this lovely woman of words specifically, Are You An Echo? subtly teaches children how to understand and appreciate poetry in general. This is personally one of my favorite publications of the year.
Blog Post
Bedtime Sleepy Style Stories
by manz
This week at storytime Ms. Amanda told some fun bedtime tales! Not ones to make us fall asleep, but ones that involved bedtime rituals and other such fun.
First we met a little chicken who had the habit of interrupting bedtime stories her dad tried to tell her in Interrupting Chicken. This tale includes other favorite stories like Little Red Riding Hood and Little Red Hen, so it reads as stories within a story.
We then met a scaredy cat cowboy in Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy as he met up with some shadowy figures as he tried to sing a lullaby. It’s such a cute book! Written by author Jan Thomas, who is a preschool crowd favorite.
And we finished ‘er off with Beep Beep Go to Sleep, where a little boy was trying to get little robots to go to sleep, be he kept hearing the beep beep of the little bots who were stalling.
Blog Post
New Interactive Kids’ Books
by evelyn
We’ve just received two great interactive books for kids! Storyworlds: Nature will help your little ones tell their own stories. Who Wins? pits historical figures against each other in a text that is as much game as it is book.
Created by Thomas Hegbrook, Storyworlds: Nature, is a wordless book full of gorgeous illustrations of animals in the natural world. The pictures are lovely and related to one another only by layout and color. The multiple panels on each page feature animals moving through time in a single image. In one, an anglerfish is shown luring small fish with her light; in another, a kangaroo joey hops into his mama’s pouch and away they go! The book is designed so that children will be inspired to tell their own stories of what they think the images shows. At the end of the book, text describes what the animals are actually doing in each picture, so children curious to know the science behind the images won’t be disappointed. If your kids like this one, check out one of our other great wordless picture books!
What Who Wins?: 100 Historical Figures go Head to Head and You Decide the Winner! lacks in a snappy title, it makes up for with clever design. By Clay Swartz, with bright, cartoony illustrations by Tom Booth, this book is spiral bound and separated into three independently moving sections. The outer sections feature historical figures, complete with a brief biography, little-known facts, and a ranking of the following characteristics: wealth, fitness, wisdom, bravery, artistry, leadership and intelligence. The middle section has a variety of challenges, including the Indy 500, solving world hunger, and pulling off a bank heist. Moving the three sections results in two historical figures competing to win the challenge. Kids can use logic and biographical information to puzzle out who they think would triumph. This is a great and innovative way for kids to learn about historical figures. For other lovely biographies, take a look here!
Blog Post
PreK Bits - "F" is for FARM Fix-It
by ryanikoglu
Ms. Rachel took Storytime to the FARM this week.
OLD MacDONALD HAD A WOODSHOP on the farm … and we used all the tools to build something.
We sang with Banjo Betsy … “Johnny Works With 1 Hammer".
TOPS And BOTTOMS ... Which side of the crop does Bear want? “The tops”? Or … “The bottoms”?
Spoiler Alert!
Bear lost!
Here are more favorite stories from the farm:
DUCK On A TRACTOR or DUCK In The TRUCK … Anyway ... Duck has great ideas.
TURKEY TOT ... when animals use tools ...
The LOOPY COOP HENS LETTING GO ... when the apples are "letting go" on their heads.
JOB WANTED ... a dog appears on the farm.
FARMER'S MARKET DAY ... when the harvest comes in.
FARMER FALGU GOES ON A TRIP ... his farm is too noisy !
Or... choose more farm stories HERE.
For fun and information ... Here are just a few spin-offs from the "Old MacDonald" traditional song:
OLD MacDONALD HAD A TRUCK
OLD MacDONALD HAD A DRAGON
OLD MIKAMBA HAD A FARM ... in Africa.
E-I-E-I-O: How Old MacDonald Got His Farm (With A Little Help From Hen)
"Old MacDonald's Farm" on the CD BABY GENIUS PRESENTS FAVORITE NURSERY RHYMES
"Old MacDonald's Vowel Farm" on the CD LITTLE PEOPLE: ABC Sing-Along
"Old MacDonald Had A Farm" on the Kit CD OLD MacDONALD HAD A FARM which includes a book too.
EEE - I - EEE - I - OoOoOoh !
Blog Post
PreK Bits - "H" is for Happy HOME !
by ryanikoglu
Ms. Rachel's Storytime Theme this week was House and Home.
First ... WE WERE TIRED Of LIVING IN A HOUSE ... "so we moved out!"
psst! The books are wearing out ... but you can still get a copy from another Library through MelCat.
We played "Up The Hill And Down The Hill" ... a story with fingers, hands and arms.
Then I was SITTING IN MY BOX ... just Me. Folks began to knock. "May I come in?"
... well of course, I moved over!
Here are more stories of "HOME" for you to check out:
LITTLE HOME BIRD
HOME FOR A BUNNY ... a classic by Margaret Wise Brown!
The BEAR And The PIANO ... home is where you are happy.
The NOT-SO-FARAWAY ADVENTURE ... with grandfather.
WELCOME HOME BEAR: A Book Of Animal Habitats.
HOME LOVELY ... moving to a new home and making it "lovely".
LITTLE HOUSES: A Counting Book.
JULIA'S HOUSE FOR LOST CREATURES ... and everyone has a job to do to make it work well.
Crafts
Mini Clay Figures: Pokemon!
Saturday January 14, 2017: 2:00pm to
3:30pm
Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room
Grade K - 5
Blog Post
A Magical Wordsmith and a Kaleidescoping Artist
by mansii
What happens when one of the most cherished children's authors of all time gets written about by one of the most creative book illustrators of all time? You get Some Writer! The Story of E.B. White. Caldecott winning artist Melissa Sweet, who creates unique scrap-booked worlds of kaleidoscopic color, depicts the creator of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little in a biography written for the young, but treasured by all.
E.B. White is known as a wordsmith like no other, using one choice phrase to paint whole, vivid pictures. His works are fantastical, blending the impossible with the ordinary so smoothly that we might easily believe he paints the real world while we are the ones dreaming. His characters may not aggrandize wealth or change the world, but they are rich in kindness, brave in friendship, and they transform homesteads and barns into places of hope and joy. Given the stamp of approval by White’s grand-daughter Martha White, Sweet reveals how White's three novels and numerous writings for the New Yorker came to be. She pays special attention to how the details of White's "real life" shaped the fictional worlds he spun. Especially with the numerous photographs, illustrations from the original books, letter excerpts, and draft excerpts that Sweet includes, reading this book feels like meeting a friend.
Melissa Sweet's illustrations are filled with details you can linger over, and images that have an atmospheric quality that let's you immerse yourself in White's world. Her words celebrate a man who had an appreciation for the miracles of nature, a reverence for life, and a passion to tell straight what bubbles out of ones heart, without trying to please the crowds.
Blog Post
PreK BITS - Community Helpers
by ryanikoglu
When Teachers ask for help finding picture books for their "Community Helper" theme ...
Here's a bunch of help for You!
Titles are chosen especially for young children in Preschool through early Elementary School ages 3-7 years.
1. There are themed sets ready to go in the STORIES TO GO Collection. OCCUPATIONS is the best set for Community Helpers. The set includes an Activity Folder to support the theme.
2. You can also find "Fire Fighting" and "Police" in the SAFETY TOWN set ... as well as books on personal safety.
3. You can find "Doctors" and "Dentists" in the HEALTH set ... as well as more books on personal health.
4. Here is a Public List with titles related to a broad variety of CAREERS And JOBS.
Don't forget to include your job ... for helping those kids grow up!