This Week at the Library

A great funny story this week! A couple of weeks ago I told you about the little boy who thought it was so funny when he touched my feet. This week he did it again - touched my feet and turned to the boy next to him giggling. Then he looked at me and said, "I wonder what you smell like?"

I said, "I don't think I really smell like anything."

"Why?"

"Well, I don't wear perfume."

"Can I smell you?"

At this point I just got curious. "How would you do that?"

"I'd smell you right here." He pointed to the center of his chest.

"Uh, I don't think that would really be polite. But you asked first, so that was really good!"

I was absolutely delighted with that little exchange. I love how honest and straightforward children can be. He just said what he was thinking, simply and to the point.

I kept thinking about why we wondered what I smelled like. Did you have a grandmother or aunt who always wore a particular scent? Or maybe two grandmothers and an uncle who each had their own special smell? His special people probably hug him and he takes a big whiff of Grandma smell, or Uncle Ray smell. Maybe this little boy has a strong association of scents to people and he just wanted to know if I had a special smell, too. Nothing wrong with wondering!

Preschool Storytime

We did a lot of quacking this week! Ducks! We read:

Quacky Duck, by Paul Rogers. I love the beginning, "Once upon a pond," and the ending, "And they all lived quackily ever after."

Farmer Duck, by Martin Waddell. I'm still figuring out the best way to read this aloud. It's actually kind of tricky.

Duckat, by Gaelyn Gordon. The kids got to learn the meaning of "odd."

Duck on a Bike, by David Shannon. There's a page towards the end with no text that just shows the farm animals staring at the bikes with big eyes. It was a good challenge to the children when I asked them what the animals were thinking.

I told the story on the flannelboard, "Little Duckling Tries His Voice." He tries to sound like a cow, "Mooo-ack," and a bird, "Twee-ack," and just isn't successful.

Toddler Time

What a crowd we had today! Lots of new faces, too, which often happens as we get closer to fall. And maybe we've had enough warm days in a row that people are looking for something other than the park to do.

Our books were:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, by Bill Martin Jr. Sometimes it's hard to find the difference between a dog voice and a frog voice.

Here Are My Hands, also by Bill Martin Jr. All the groups did really well showing me their various body parts.

Baby Time

I told the parents again today that Baby Time is for babies up till the age that they don't want to be there any more. Two babies graduated this week! It was extremely clear that they had no interest in what was going on. However, they are very interested in Toddler Time. There's so much action and noise and kids to watch! Even when they can't physically do what the others are doing, they get a kick out of watching, and the language, rhythms and patterns are sinking in.