This Week at the Library

Preschool Storytime

I get such a kick out of those hats! The kids' faces are so fun as they watch me take off those hats one by one. And of course, the "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" hat is hysterical. I still need to see that movie!

The stories we read this week were:

Go Ask Giorgio, by Patricia Wittman. Poor Giorgio gets worked nearly to death. Then he gets a fourth job - sleeping!
A Hat For Minerva Louise, by Janet Stoeke. Our favorite dumb chicken. (Can I say that?)
Whose Hat?, by Margaret Miller. A fun guessing book - but no one ever guesses what the nurse's hat is.
Old Hat, New Hat by Jan and Stan Berenstain. Very silly hats. (I remember long ago once asking a librarian who wrote the Berenstain Bears books. She looked at me like I was Minerva Louise.)

You may wonder why I didn't read Caps for Sale or The Cat in the Hat. I read Caps for Sale just a few weeks ago when the theme was "Monkeys". The Cat in the Hat is actually a very long book and wouldn't leave much room for other stories. It's 72 pages, where standard children's books are 32 pages.

Toddler Time

Hey all you Tuesday 10:15 attenders! We got to play with bubbles at 9:30! We got to do Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands on Thursday! Everyone got scarves at the other sessions! Hint, hint!

Our stories were:

Spot Goes to the Park, by Eric Hill. The last of our Spot series. These books always hold the kids' attention amazingly well.

Pots and Pans, by Patricia Hubbell. As I told the parents, I think this book gives you a great rainy day activity idea. Pull out some pots, pans, lids and spoons - metal, plastic, wood - and set up a drum set for your child. It's actually a fantastic learning experience for them to discover that the sound you make when you drum on a pot changes with its size, and a metal spoon banged on a lid sounds different than a wooden spoon. Don't be afraid of the noise or mess! You can determine how many things are pulled out and how long the noise lasts. In fact, why don't you sit on the floor and do it too!

Baby Time

Today we welcomed back some faces that had been missing for a while, and welcomed some new faces too!

We also talked about how it's okay to chew on books. Really! Your baby is exploring books in one of his/her favorite ways - with his mouth. If we snatch the book away and say "Don't do that!" he's learning that books are off limits. Just make sure it's a board book and not a rare copy of Shakespeare, and let him chew for a while. If it starts to get soggy, turn the book to a different corner. They even make waterproof copies of some baby books. Go to our favorite store, MudPuddles, and ask.