This Week at the Rainy Library

Today I visited my garden and was surprised to see peonies, roses and some budding lilies. Then I remembered, Oh yeah, it's June! Mentally, I'm stuck in early April because of this CRUMMY WEATHER!

So we'll just gather at the library and have fun there!

Preschool Storytime

This week we read stories about birds.

Pepito the Brave, by Scott Beck. Pepito is afraid of heights, so to get to his new home, he runs, hops, swims, burrows and climbs. His brothers and sisters are so impressed, they know he must be brave enough to fly. So he does!
Pelican, by Brian Wildsmith. Paul hatches a pelican egg and must try to teach it how to fish before his father loses his patience. The alternating half-pages make this book particularly visually appealing. In the end we discover the secret the pelican had known all along. He was a girl!
Beaks, by Sneed Collard. This nonfiction book has great illustrations about how and why birds' beaks have different shapes.
Tacky the Penguin, by Helen Lester. Most of the kids didn't believe penguins were birds! I LOVE telling this story! The sweetness of Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly and Perfect. The silliness of Tacky - CANNONBALL!! And the rough and tough hunters. So much fun!

I told the flannelboard story of Inch by Inch, by Leo Leonni. After measuring lots of different birds, the poor inchworm has to figure out how to measure the nightingale's song before he gets eaten for breakfast!

Toddler Time

I love how there's something new and surprising with our little ones every week. The last week or so one little boy has decided to throw himself on the floor in despair every time I finish a book and put it away. Another little boy makes a beeline for his friend every time his mom lets go of him so he can body slam him to the carpet. Do we know what's going through their minds? No. But I hope it doesn't bother you, because it doesn't bother me. It's just part of being a toddler. We teach, we remove, we remind and remind again, and we tell ourselves, "This too shall pass." It's only a phase. I've never seen a ten-year-old cry over the ending of a book. And I don't think the body slamming will be going on six months from now (wait for the teenage years for that to start up again).

Our books this week were:

Machines at Work, by Byron Barton. This is a great book to challenge your child's reasoning. When the workers knock down a building and bulldoze a tree, ask "Why did they do that?" Wait for your child's reponse. Let them think a while.
Little Gorilla, by Ruth Bornstein. Little gorilla is still loved by everyone, even after he grows up.

Baby Time

Today we had quite a few older siblings along (and some cousins) and it went very well! We put some toys off to the side, and handed out stuffed animals to be used as substitute babies, and everyone had a great time. We read an adorable lift-the-flap touchy feely book called Eyes, Nose, Toes Peekaboo!, by DK Publishing.