Storytime Update!

I wanted to share what Ms Patty and I have been doing in storytime for the past 2 weeks! We kicked off Session I with a bit of a mish-mash. We wanted to welcome our storytime friends back, but we also wanted them to help us create this display board as the Library transitioned from Summer Reading to Autumn:

 So we ended up having them create these cute "leaf friends" with faces - yes, we can stretch a theme like nobody's business.

For the second week, we went with the tried and true Apple Storytime. Ms Patty loves Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington (for the adorable girl with her own business!) and I always enjoy All for Pie and Pie for All by David Martin.

 We found a cute craft on Pinterest by the blog, Sturdy for Common Things - thanks! It was a little difficult to do with multiple kids who needed help lacing, etc but we let them do the best they could and either staple or fix what wasn't attached. They loved the smell that filled the air!
Apple Pie Craft

 And of course we had to bust out the apple flannel board and play "Hide the Wormy". A few versions of that piece-o-flannel worm have walked away because the kids just think he's so darn cute!

 Action Rhymes:
Way up high, in a tree
Two red apples smiled at me
So I shook that tree as hard as I could-
Down came the apples - yum, they were good!

I see an apple red and round
It fell from a tree, on to the ground.
Pick it up
Wash it
Cut it in two
Half for me
and half for you!

Ms Patty also has a great "Apple" CD to have on in the background during the craft - I still can't get "I like to eat, eat, eat, a-pples and ba-nay-nays"  out of my head...

New Picture Books We Love!

If you've ever come in the Library when Ms Patty and I have just received a UPS shipment of new books, you have seen that we look a lot like children on Christmas morning. This is definitely one of the most exciting times of the day.
Here's a look at some of the latest picture books we've ordered for RML - come find them and see for yourself!

 

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown

Ms Patty and I drooled over the artwork on this one. I adore Peter Brown - I have a poster he signed for my daughters hanging in their room of one of my favorites, Children Make Terrible Pets.

You can read more about this one at the book blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast - follow the link below.

Seven Impossible Things Debuts Mr. Tiger Goes Wild

You can also get a free downloadalbe poster of Brown's book, The Curious Garden at his website:

 

Free Downloadable Curious Garden Poster

 This adorable illustration is from the new picture book by Hope Vestergaard and David Slonim, called Digger Dozer Dumper. If you have a mini truck fan in your house, this collection of 16 rhyming poems is needed in your house! And just to drive you moms more crazy, here's link to a YouTube video with the most annoying music, that your child is sure to love:

 YouTube Does Diggers Dozers and Dump Trucks

 

 Next up, totally awesome book by debut author Courtney Dicmas. Harold Finds A Voice is about a flashy red parrot looking for his own distinct sound. This one is all about the adorable bird and gorgeous illustrations. Check out the animated book trailer below:

'Harold' Book Trailer

 

 Locomotive by Brian Floca

And finally, something that is called a non-fiction picture book because it is chock-full of information, following a steam-powered train as it crosses to the West in 1869. It's more than the train though - it's also about the passengers and the journey. I'm stressing about where to put this one, but I think Non-Fiction is going to win. See the whole review by Kirkus in the link below:
“Nothing short of spectacular, just like the journey it describes.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Kirkus reviews Locomotive 

Continuing Gnome Adventures...

Ms Patty and I are so glad that everyone had such fun with our Traveling Gnomes this Summer! The Summer Reading decorations may have come down, but 2 of our Gnomes are not quite ready to settle down yet.

Through the wonders of Facebook, we have hooked up with the Olton Library in Solihull, England - they were willing to have one of our Gnomes come visit! They thought George the Curious Gnome would be a perfect fit, so he was shipped off last week and recently arrived in good health! (We sent him with another traveling companion because we just didn't think the postal services could handle him without an adult chaperone!) Here he is:

So stay tuned for updates on the great places that George gets to visit in the U.K.!  They are a very creative and clever bunch at the Olton Library (I hope George comes home with one of their lovely crochet creations, hint hint.)
Here are some of the characters he may encounter over the 'pond':