This Week at the Library

First off, there will be NO STORYTIMES July 12, 13, 14. I'll be on vacation.

Second, I'm very happy to announce that the Friends of the Library approved my request to lead a series of four workshops for elementary and middle school students based on the stories in my book. Details about dates and times will come later.

Preschool Storytime

This week we had fun with turtles. No, we didn't have any real ones - sure wish we did. Our fingerplay was:

I Had a Little Turtle

I had a little turtle.

He lived in a box.

He swam in the water

And he climbed on the rocks.

He snapped at a minnow.

He snapped at a flea.

He snapped at a mosquito

And he snapped at me.

He caught that minnow.

He caught that flea.

He caught that mosquito

But he didn't catch me.

We read:

Franklin in the Dark, by Paulette Bourgeois. Franklin learns to compensate for his fear of the dark. An excellent lesson for all of us.

The Turtle and the Monkey, by Joanna and Paul Galdone. I'm afraid I said this was an African tale, but it's actually from the Philippines. The two characters do awful things to each other, but I tried to point out to the children that it all came out of an unwillingness to share.

Splash!, by Ann Jonas. This is a great book for introducing mental math. It's fun to see which kids really "get" it - our future math whizzes.

I told the story on the flannelboard of "Uwungelema," the magic word that makes the fruit fall from the magic tree.

Toddler Time

Tuesday, July 5 was interesting! I guess all the little ones slept in from the fireworks the night before. Only one child came at 9:30, and three at 10:15! The rest of the week was pretty lightly attended, too.

Our books were:

The Seals on the Bus, by Lenny Hort. It was fun "singing" this book together.

Spot Goes to the Park, by Eric Hill. At the end, when Spot's mother tells him to say "Thank you," to the duck for returning Spot's ball, Spot says "Quack, quack." I asked, "What do you think that means?" One little boy said, "Give it back!"

Baby Time

I've had extra fun the last two weeks because a mom has been coming with her twins. I get to have a live baby to bounce on my lap instead of teddy bear!