Happy New Year and Fun Doings!

Happy New Year ! Okay, okay, I'm a bit late :)
There are lots of fun happenings about to occur at the Richmond Memorial Library. First up: Spring Storytimes.  Sign up begins on January 11 for Marlborough residents and on January 18th for all others.  Here's the run-down:



2 year olds: Monday or Thursday at 10:00 a.m. with parent or caregiver
3 year olds: Thursday at 2:00 p.m.
3-5 year olds: Wednesday at 10:00 a.m.
4-6 year olds: Friday at 1:00 p.m.

Session I storytimes start the week of January 23rd and go for 5 weeks. Session II starts the week of  March 5th, also for 5 weeks. All storytimes include a craft and run from 30 minutes for the 2 year olds to 45 minutes for the older kids.  Your child must be the prescribed age at time of sign-up.

For the older kids, how about "The Next Chapter"?  This is a monthly program for kids in grades 2 through 4 where we'll discuss chapter books, share stories and other fun stuff.  Sort of like a book club, but better!  You can come each month or just once in awhile.  We'll meet kids at the Marlborough Elementary School, walk them to the library, have an afternoon snack and begin sharing our love of books.  Our first meeting is January 27, Friday, from 3:15 (when school gets out) to 4:00 (or so).  Sign-up is required.

Look forward to:
Family Game Night!  Wednesday February 1 at 6:30.  More info coming soon.
February 4th, Saturday, is Take Your Child to the Library Day! A guest reader will be here and we'll kick off a sticker scavenger hunt and maybe we'll have a few other surprises too.  
March is Cookie Month at the Library.  Hmmm, what could that mean?

Penguin Webcam

Some have asked about the penguin webcam I shared at storytimes this week.  It's from the California Academy of Sciences and here's the link: Penguincam.  In addition to the super cute penguins, there's lot of great information and another webcam for other sea life.  Enjoy!

A Day in NYC

Yesterday, Ms. Eileen and I had the distinct pleasure of spending the day with several other Connecticut librarians in New York City.  We took a tour of the new Children's Library Discovery Center at Queens Library which is a cutting edge combination of a science/discovery museum and children's library.  It's truly a remarkable place where scientific exploration is made super fun!  All of us oohed and aahed and had fun playing with the many unique exhibits (dozens of them!).

Check out some of the wonderful things you'll see there by clicking here: Discovery Center.  And remember, it's a public library, so it's free!  If your holiday plans take you anywhere near NYC definitely go check it out.  Hours of fun for all. Meanwhile, Ms. Eileen, and I, and the other librarians are thinking about how to incorporate these principles and practices into our libraries.

After lunch we toured the wonderful exhibit of children's book illustrations at the Society of Illustrators.  The art in children's books is superlative, truly, and it seems to get better each year.  The opportunity to see the original, beautiful and whimsical art in full-size form was wonderful.  Again, if you head to Manhattan for shopping or holiday fun head over to 63rd Street to the Society of Illustrators Museum (clickable link).

Winter Stortyime Week 3: Penguins!

Oh who doesn't love those little tuxedo-ed fellows.

This Week's Books:
Lost and Found, by Oliver Jeffers
Up and Down, by Oliver Jeffers
Little Penguin's Tale, by Audrey Wood
A Penguin Story, by Antoinette Portis
Penguins 123, by Kevin Schafer
Penguins ABC, by Kevin Schafer


This Week's Action Rhymes:
1 Five little penguins standing still
One little penguin slides down the hill
Where did he go? I don't know
(Four, Three, Two, One)
Oh, I know
All five penguins playing in the snow!

2 Five perky penguins stood on the shore
One went for a swim and then there were four
Four perky penguins looked out to sea
One went swimming and then there were three
Three perky penguins said, "What can we do?"
One jumped in the water and then there were two
Two perky penguins sat in the sun
One swam off and then there was one
One perky penguin said "This is no fun"
He dove in the water and then there were none

This Week's Art: A super cute craft paper penguin

Books for Holiday Giving

The Connecticut Library Consortium has published its annual lists of books for holiday giving for children in all age categories.  Librarians throughout the state contribute their suggestions and they are compiled into these handy, printable,brochures that you can access online.   Click here:  Books for Giving.  You'll notice that both Ms. Eileen and I contributed our suggestions to these lists.

Puff Paint

In this week's craft for 2s and 3s, and in the past for other groups (and in the future, I'm sure) we've been using our own "puff paint" to create the illusion of fluffy snow.  Many have asked the secret of this very cool product.  It's simple.  It's just shaving cream and Elmer's glue.  The tricky part is the proportion of each, but I tend to like a mixture that has more shaving cream and less glue which tends to stay puffier and looks more like whipped cream when dry.  I would say it is roughly 2 parts shaving cream to 1 part glue by volume. The greater the proportion of glue, the harder and more compact the end result will be, so many recommend equal parts glue to shaving cream.  Experiment!  Add food coloring or powdered tempura paint.  Add glitter because glitter makes everything better!  Have fun.

Winter Storytime Week 2: Winter in the Woods

Are we getting back on track with storytimes? I hope so.  This is Week 2 of our Winter Storytime session, we have 2 more weeks for our disaster-shortened session.  This week's theme is Winter in the Woods.

This Week's Books:

No, by Claudia Rueda
Who is Sleeping, by A Rookie Reader
Here Comes Jack Frost, by Kazuno Kohara
Time to Sleep, by Denise Fleming
Stranger in the Woods, by Carl R. Sams, and Jean Stoick
Let's Go Home, Little Bear, by Martin Waddell, ill. by Barbara Firth

This Week's Action Rhymes:
1. Here is the cave
And here is the bear
When the snow starts to fall
He hides in there
Snow covers the cave
Like a fuzzy white rug
Inside the bear sleeps
All cozy and snug

2.(to the tune of Where is Thumbkin)
Where is the bear
Where is the bear
Here I am
Here I am
How are you this winter?
Very very sleepy
Go to bed
Go to bed
(do with racoon, skunk, bat, chipmunk, snake, etc.)

This Week's Art/Craft: A winter tree hanging with puffy "paint" and pine cones

Storytime Week 1 1/2: Thanksgiving

On Monday, 11/21 I'll do a storytime for my regular Monday 2's, but if anyone is reading this blog and is a regular storytime attendee, please feel free to come as well.

Ms. Eileen and I have decided to do storytimes until the week of December 12. Note the schedule on the right side of this page. Most storytime sessions will NOT meet this week...Thanksgiving week...HOWEVER, I can't bear to go yet another week without seeing my storytime friends, so I'll do a Monday morning 10:00 group. Again, this is the usual scheduled Monday 2 year old group, but I'll leave it open to any Thursday attendee as well.

So, for this one time only storytime we'll focus on Thanksgiving. Boy, don't we have a lot to be thankful for!

This Week's Books:
Thank You Thanksgiving, by David Milgrim
Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks, Margaret Sutherland, ill, by Sonja Lamut
Thanks for Thanksgiving, by Julie Markes, ill. by Doris Barrette
Albuquerque Turkey, by B. G. Ford, ill, by Lucinda McQueen
What is Thanksgiving, by Harriet Ziefer, ill. by Claire Schumacher

This Week's Action Rhymes:
1 The turkey's tail is wide and big
He swings it when he walks
His neck is long, his chin is red
He gobbles when he talks!

 2 One fine Thanksgiving Day
Two little turkeys came out to play
One turkey says, "We'll play hide-and-seek,
I'll go hide, and you don't peek"

Will he hide high, will he hide low
Will he hide far, I don't know
Will he hide left, will he hide right
Or will he hide back out of sight?

The other little turkey then looks around
But his turkey friend can't be found
Did he hide high, did he hide low
Did he hide far, I don't know
Did he hide left, did he hide right
Or did he hide back out of sight

"Aha, I found you! Come on out!"
"Gooble Gooble Gooble!" both turkeys shout.

A Flannel Board Game:
Turkey wore his red feather, red feather, red feather.
Turkey wore his red feather, all day long!
(Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple)
Last line: Turkey wore his rainbow feathers, rainbow feathers, rainbow feathers. Turkey wore his rainbow feathers, all Thanksgiving long!

This Week's Art/Craft: A turkey hat!

Storytimes Start on Monday!

Oh my goodness...what a few weeks it's been; what with the storm, the power outtage, the flood, the repairs, and my lingering illness and asthma acting up big time, it seems like forever since we've had a storytime. Happily, on Monday Nov. 14 we will be open and ready for storytime. Unfortunately, we won't be able to be in the storytime room, but we'll meet upstairs. Our theme for this week is Mother Goose and I'll share traditional Mother Goose rhymes as well as some modern books that use the rhymes as a starting point. We'll make Humpty Dumpty stick puppets and sing some songs, and play a flannel board game or two. I'll post a more detailed list later, but for now plan on storytimes all this week! YAY!

FYI, I'm still a little breathy...so I may ask some parents to help read...would that be okay with you?

Ms. Patty

Library Still Closed

It's Monday, November 7 and our library is still closed. Heavy sigh. Sob. The damage is being repaired but currently we are without working toilets and thus we can't be open to the public. Nancy Wood, fearless director, is unclear when we will open, we are at the mercy of plumbers, sheet-rockers and such. Still, hope remains high that we will be open this week at some point.

In the meantime continue to enjoy any materials you have out and know that they are not accumulating fines.

As to storytime, we will resume at some point. I promise.
Ms. Patty