This Week at the Library

Froggy update: They've all hatched and I swear they double in size every day! I think there's about two dozen of them. I'm feeding them spinach so they'll grow up big and strong. They're swimming happily - at least I think I can see smiles on their faces...

Preschool Storytime

Our theme this week was "Blankets." Or as we all decided - "Blankies." I brought a bunch of blanket/blankies from home and we talked about knitted ones, quilts, and the One Special Blankie. My daughter Lauren still has her blankie; in fact, it still lives on her bed. We looked at her favorite corner, all worn through and holey (almost "holy" but not quite). And we talked about how a blanket becomes a blankie. So from then on I had to replace the words in the stories to make sure we distinguished between simple non-special blankets, and oh-so-very-special blankies.

Franklin's Blanket, by Paulette Bourgeois. Franklin absolutely can not sleep without his blankie so his friends offer alternatives and his Dad loans him his old blankie. I love that!

Cry Baby, by Ruth Brown. The Little Sister is a big cry baby, dragging her blankie along, until she discovers it has completely unravelled. She decides to solve her problem herself by following the string all the way back to its beginning.

Puppy Mudge Loves His Blanket, by Cynthia Rylant. Puppy Mudge is lucky because he can follow his nose to find his blankie.

Flora's Blanket, by Debi Gliori. Flora's not so lucky when she loses her blanket since she doesn't have a dog nose.

Owen, by Kevin Henke. Owen is starting school soon and his parents can't figure out how to break his blankie habit.

Toddler Time

Where was everyone this week? Very small groups compared to usual!

We did a new rhyme today.

This is the Way We Blow a Balloon

This is the way we blow a balloon

Blow, blow, blow

This is the way we pop a balloon

Oh, oh, no!

We read a giant version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle and practiced going "omglomnlflimglp" when the caterpillar ate the fruit. (How would you spell it?) And we practiced saying "But he was still hungry!" They were quite enthusiastic.

We also read My Car, by Byron Barton. At one point the book says "I stop for pedestrians." Of course they didn't know that word, so we talked about its meaning. I pointed out to the parents that we shouldn't avoid or simplify vocabulary like that. The little ones are capable of learning big words, even when they can't pronounce it themselves, and they're very proud of their big vocabulary when they do master it. Encourage them!

Baby Time

Hooray for bubbles, books, and the Hokey Pokey! We had a mom on maternity leave happen in to the library today with baby and her preschooler. She was disappointed she hadn't heard about our programs earlier since she only had two weeks of leave left. Please spread the word so more moms can enjoy it before they go back to work or their kids "age" out (usually about the time they learn to walk).