Storytime Week 4: Goats

A patron recently showed me a great book I had missed, "Catch That Goat!", and it inspired this week's storytime theme!

This Week's Books:
Catch That Goat! by Polly Alakija
Let's Count Goats, by Mem Fox and Jan Thomas
There's a Billy Goat in the Garden, by Laurel Gugler, ill. by Clare Beaton
G is for Goat, by Patricia Polacco
Scapegoat, by Dean Hale, ill. by Michael Slack
Beatrice's Goat, by Lori Lohstoeter

This Week's Music:
The Lonely Goatherd, from The Sound of Music
The Goat, by Burl Ives
Billy Goat Stomp, by Jelly Roll Morton
Rocky Mountain GOat, by Travis Wells

This Week's Action Rhymes:
Goats, (maaa) give us cheese
Goats (maaa) give us milk
Goats (maaa) give us sweaters with wool as soft as silk.

This Week's Art/Craft: A Fingerprinted Goat
Plus The Three Billy Goats Gruff flannel board story

Storytime Week Three: Bathtime!

Ah, my favorite part of the day...bathtime.  It's our theme for this week.

This Week's Books:
King Bidgood's in the Bathtub, by Audrey and Don Wood
Harry the Dirty Dog, by Gene Zion, ill. by Margaret Graham
Animal Baths, by Bob Barner
Big Smelly Bear, by Britta Techentrup
Elephant in the Bathtub, by Kristina Andres
Sam's Bath, by Barbro Lindgren, ill, by Eva Eriksson
A Bath for a Princess, by Harriet Ziefert, ill. by Amanda Haley
Scrubba Dub, by Nancy Van Laan, ill. by Bernadette Pons

This Week's Music:
Singing in the Bathtub, by John Lithgow
Rubber Ducky, by Ernie
Splish, Splash, by Bobby Darrin

This Week's Action Rhymes:
After my bath, I try, try, try
To wipe myself 'til I'm dry, dry, dry.
Hands to wipe, and fingers and toes,
And two wet legs and a shiny nose.
Just think how much less time I'd take
If I were a dog, and could shake, shake, shake!

This Week's Art: Bubble Painting
Plus a flannel board game and rhyme

Storytime Week 2: Who's Coming to Visit?

This week's theme is about visiting and having visitors.  It's in preparation for our Take Your Child to the Library Day next Saturday.  This day is planned as a celebration of children at libraries and is designed to encourage visitors, old and new, to visit their library.

This Week's Books:
Who is Tapping at My Window, by A.G. Deming and Monica Wellington
A Visitor for Bear, by Bonny Becker, ill. by Kady Denton
He Came with the Couch, by David Slonim
The Relatives Came, by Cynthia Rylant, ill. by Bonnie Kelly-Young
A Friend for Minerva Louise, by Janet Stoeke
My Friend Gorilla, by Atsuko Morozumi
Making a Friend, by Alison McGhee

This Week's Music:
Come on a My House, by Rosemary Clooney
Keep-a Knockin', by Little Richard
If I Knew You Were Coming, by Elaine Barton

This Week's Action Rhymes:

Knock, knock, who's there?

Two little feet that go tap, tap

Knock, knock, who's there?

Two little knees that go slap, slap

Two little hips that go wiggle, wiggle

One little tummy that goes jiggle, jiggle

Two little arms that go flap, flap

Two little hands that go clap, clap

Two little eyes that go blink, blink

One little head that goes think, think

Knock, knock, who's there?

Open the door and see.  

Knock, knock, who's there?

It's every part of me.

Knock on the door

Who's inside?

Knock once more

The door's open wide

Step once, step twice, 

Who do you see?

People who are nice

It's my family

This Week's Art/Craft: A lift-the-flap, who's coming to visit, card.

Family Game Night is February 1st

Okay, here's the thing:  I LOVE GAMES.  I grew up in a family where there was always a game in progress.  I learned to play Cribbage in kindergarten, and was playing Scrabble as soon as I could spell.  Family get-togethers today involve marathon games of Trivial Pursuit, Apples to Apples, Pitch and other card games, Cranium, and so forth.   As a family of four we like Sequence, Rat-a-tat Cat, Jenga, and Scattergories, among others.

One day, Ms. Eileen and I got to talking about games (her family is also a big fan) and we thought it would be fun to share games with our RML family.  So, on Wednesday February 1st, we'll have a big game night.  We'll start the evening with a large group game (maybe something like "Simon Says"), we'll end the evening with a big game of Pictionary (or some variation), and in between they'll be lots of games to try with your own family and others.

We'll have snacks, of course, and Ms. Eileen and I will bring some our favorite family games. Come out on a winter night and have some fun.  By the way, this will be best for families and their children age 5 and up. 

Don't forget to register!

Storytime Begins, Week One: First Snow

This week marks two important milestones; our first snow of the winter and storytimes return!  So, we'll celebrate both with our storytime theme of First Snow.

This Week's Books:
A Kitten Tale, by Eric Rohmann
Snow, by Uri Shulevitz
Snow Sounds, by David A. Johnson
A Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats
Jingle-Jingle, by Nicola Smee
Where Did Bunny Go?, by Nancy Tafuri

This Week's Music:
Suzy Snowflake, by Rosemary Clooney
Aspenglow, by John Denver
Marshmallow World, by Johnny Mathis

This Week's Action Rhymes:
1 Snowflakes are falling on the ground
On our houses, on our town
On my nose, and in my hair
Snowflakes are falling everywhere

2 Let's all make a snowman
Make him big and tall
Now see if you can hit him
With a big snowball!

This Week's Art/Craft: Sponge painting 
And Five Little Snowmen Flannel board game!

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.