This Week at the Library

First of all, I want to say what a fantastic time I had at the Creative Writing Experiences the last four weeks. Ten children and I told countless stories about voices coming from root beer, bubble gum bubbles that carried us away into the clouds, cereal prize rings that granted super powers. The children's enthusiasm and imagination were impressive, and they did a super job diving in and coming up with some amazing stories. This type of event, whether at the library or in a classroom, is where I love seeing the stories in my book come to life in the hands of creative minds. It's immensely gratifying.

Now back to Storytime!

Baby Time


At the SCBWI retreat I was at last weekend, I met Kaaren Pixton, the author/illustrator of the "Indestructible" books. These books are designed to be chewed and crumpled by babies without harm to either the book or the baby. You can see them here. I'm delighted that our library is getting two titles for use at our Baby Time. When they arrive, Kaaren is looking forward to visiting us to see a whole batch of babies with her books in their mouths!

Our book this week was Baby Signs, by Joy Allen. I'm excited, too, that Dawn Prochovnik, author of many sign language books for children, will be visiting the Sherwood library on October 22 for a family "sign-along."

Toddler Time


If any of you can come to a time other than Thursday at 10:15, it would be appreciated! It's getting pretty crowded in there. I've never wanted to limit the number of children in the room. I've always thought it would be a dirty trick to tell a child he/she was going to Storytime, and get all excited, and then get turned away.

Our books today were:

Little Gorilla, by Ruth Bornstein. I finally figured out how to make the book more interactive, and I think it was successful at holding their attention.

Machines at Work, by Byron Barton. I think I had 20 toddlers completely still and silent today. They LOVE this book.

Preschool Storytime


Our theme was the Farm this week. We did the fingerplays "A Little Seed" and "Way Up High in the Apple Tree."  We read:

The Very Busy Spider, by Eric Carle. We made lots of animal sounds and learned to say the repeated line. Good brain exercise for the little ones!

The Cow That Went OINK, by Bernard Most. This book kills my voice every time, but I enjoy the challenge!

Book! Book! Book!, by Deborah Bruss. How could I not love a book about the animals going to the library to find something to do?

I told the story Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens on the flannel board. There's a great storyprop for this book. Lakeshore Learning has several storytelling kits for some favorite books. Take a look here.