Dinovember!

So apparently some really clever parents coined 'Dinovember' as they were setting up toy dinosaurs - ala Elf on the Shelf - to cause destruction in their house to the delight of their kids. Regardless, who doesn't love a month dedicated to those prehistoric pals? 

Here are some great recent titles we have at RML - books, 

e-books, DVDs and more!

Dinosaur Feathers by Dennis Nolan / JE Nolan

Gigantosaurus: the biggest, fiercest dinosaur of all! by NCircle Entertainment / JDVD

Here We Go Digging for Dinosaur Bones by Susan Lendroth / Hoopla E-Book

The History of Prehistory by Mick Manning / J 560 Manning

How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen / JW (WonderBook)

How to Catch a Dinosaur by Adam Wallace / Hoopla E-Audiobook

How to Potty Train a Dinosaur by Alycia Pace / Hoopla E-Book

I Am Allosaurus by Timothy J. Bradley / JE 567.9 Bradley

Prehistoric (Smithsonian): Dinosaurs, Megalodons, and Other Fascinating Creatures of the Deep Past by Kathleen Zoehfeld / J 560 Zoehfeld

Roar! Roar! I'm a Dinosaur! by Jo Lodge / Baby Lodge

Sea Rex: journey to a prehistoric world by Dreamscape Media LLC / Hoopla E-Video

 

Tiny T. Rex and the Impossible Hug by Jonathan Stutzman / Hoopla E-Book

We Will Rock Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins / JE Higgins

The World of Dinosaurs series by Rebeca Sabelko

   Ankylosaurus J567.915

   Diplodocus J567.913

   Stegosaurus J 567.915

   Triceratops J567.913

   Tyrannosaurus Rex J567.912
   Velociraptor J567.912

Updated Parenting Collection

 We've recently updated our Parenting Collection with some great new titles and an easy way to find some picture books by subject that parents often ask for.

The subjects include the following, with an example for each:

Death & Dying

The Memory Box: A Book About Grief by Joanna Rowland

Differences (allergies, disabilities, autism, more)

My Friend Has ADHD by Amanda Doering Tourville

Emotions

A Little Spot of Anger by Diane Alber

Family (new baby, adoption, my body, more)

Why Do Families Change? Our First Talk About Separation and Divorce by Dr. Jillian Roberts

Illness

The Tide by Clare Helen Welsh

Potty Training

Potty Animals: What to Know When You've Gotta Go!

Fairy Houses - 2016 Throwback!

Social distancing seems like a good excuse to bring back one of our favorite programs we haven't had since 2016 -
FAIRY HOUSES!

Tracy Kane's FairyHouses Website

Greatly inspired by the Fairy Houses set of books by author Tracy Kane, fairy houses and villages have popped up all over the world in the last two decades.

In Maine, they've been a tradition for much longer, with places like Mackworth & Monhegan Islands complete with trails lined with houses.

Maine Fairy Villages

If you're participating in our Fairy Village on July 22 (weather permitting), check out some of these pictures from our 2016 event for inspiration. We like to follow the rules of only using found objects, flowers and leaves that have already fallen, etc. but some of our friends added a few decorative touches that we can't complain about. We also made 'fairy doors' from popsicle sticks as a craft that day.

TumbleBooks is offering their ebook databases TumbleBookLibrary, TumbleMath, and TeenBookCloud FREE to all public libraries for a limited time. Check out some great stories (and videos!) by using the links below!

Healing Library Kit

Our friends at the Stratford Public Library have created a great resource for families living during the pandemic. Follow the link to the Healing Library Kit for everything from how to talk to children, hand-washing songs, and lots of practical information.

Healing-Library-kit-Coping-with-Coronavirus-and-Covid-19.pdf

TumbleBooks! - eBooks for eKids!

TumbleBooks is offering their ebook databases TumbleBookLibrary, TumbleMath, and TeenBookCloud FREE to all public libraries for a limited time. Check out some great stories (and videos!) by using the links below!

TumbleBookLibrary

TumbleMath

TeenBookCloud

How Well Do You Know Your Library Director?

So, after decades, Library Director Nancy Wood is retiring this spring. Well, she's hoping for spring but with this virus thing, is anything certain anymore? Anyway, we thought it would be fun to have a little contest called, How Well Do You Know Your Library Director?

Find the 1-letter answer to the following 10 questions. Either comment on the Facebook post about this (only the How Well Do You Know Your Director? post) with your ten letters, like this:

Junie B. Jones
ABCDABCDAB

OR - email your answers in the same format - 10 letter answers - to richmondprograms@gmail.com

YOU MUST HAVE ONLY 10 LETTERS FOR YOUR ANSWERS TO COUNT SO DOUBLE-CHECK!

CONTEST ENDS SUNDAY 3/22/20 AT 8PM (THAT IS TOMORROW FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW OR CARE)

1. Nancy started working at RML in what year?

A. 1986

B. 1977

C. 1993

D. 1919

2. Nancy has how many children?

A. None

B. Two

C. Seven

D. 15 children and 14 dogs


3. When Nancy was hired she not only did she manage the library, but she also did story time.
A. True

B. False

C. Did they have storytime in the Dark Ages?

D. I don't know so I will choose D



4. After 27 years, what is she going to miss the most about RML?
A. The library staff

B. The customers & questions

C. Ordering Books

D. All of the above (+ her amazing Children's Librarian the most)


5. Nancy previously worked at which library?
A. Welles- Turner Memorial Library

B. New Britain Public Library

C. No experience, we hired her right out of high school

D. Both A&B


6. Nancy's Inner Sanctum, aka her office, has what stuffed animal on top of the cabinet?
A. Chicken

B. Dog

C. Leftover Santa from the Holiday Auction

D. The petrified body of the former Library Director


7. Nancy's favorite activity is:
A. Reading

B. Biking

C. Eating popcorn or chocolate (sometimes burning one in the microwave)

D. All of the above


8. Nancy's most exciting day at the library was:

A. The day Author Jim Trelease (The Read-Aloud Handbook) stopped by (we think he had to use the restroom, but it was still exciting)

B. The day the library flooded!

C. The day RML was named to the HAPLR list, as one of the top 100 libraries in the U.S. for under 10,000 population!

D. All of these, plus the day we dialed into the Internet. Ok, so it wasn't the Internet as we now know it, but hey, a 2400 baud modem, we were rockin'!!!


9. Nancy prides herself on doing any job that needs to be done.

What’s the one job she won’t do?

A. Planting the planters

B. Anything that has to do with the men’s room

C. Shoveling the walk

D. Cleaning the staff refrigerator!


10. What makes her laugh:
A. The time the squirrel came into the library

B. Mike imitating the Internet fishing guy who thought he had caught a whale

C. Any First Selectman, when talking about the library budget

D. All of these things

Storytime: Senses - 2s

Books:

Crash! Boom! A Math Tale by Robie H. Harris
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr.

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

Tickle Monster by Josie Bissett

Too Pickley! by Jean Reidy

What the Ladybug Heard by Julia Donaldson

Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli

 
Songs/Fingerplays:

Touch Game
Five Little Monkeys
Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes
Splendid Senses (Bear Went Over the Mountain tune)

Activities: 
I set up 4 Sensory Stations around the room after stories. One represented 'hard', another 'soft' and another was a ball-rolling game. The last - and most popular - were the bins full of beads they could funnel, sort, dig and hunt for things in.

Flannelboard:

Guessing: pictures of things like food, flowers, and a dog. Which of our senses do we use for this?

Storytime: Bears & Berries

I'm currently doing a 2s Storytime at one library, and a 3-5 Storytime at another. So in order to maintain some sanity, I'm trying to pick one theme for both each week and adapt it for the different ages. Some of my 2s are REALLY little and some of my 5s are already in school.

Books:

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood
Jamberry by Bruce Degen
Bear Sees Colors by Karma Wilson
 
Songs/Fingerplays:

'A Little Brown Bear'
'Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear'

To the tune of 'Pop Goes the Weasel'

"All around the strawberry fields, we picked some juicy berries.
We brought them home and washed them off,
Pop! Go the berries!" (jump up)

(blueberry, blackberry, huckleberry, raspberry, make up a pretend berry)

Activities: 
With the 2s, I brought out colored pom-poms and handed out the ones that were red, blue or purple to keep with the 'berry' theme. We used them with a few songs on our 'Shakers' playlist.

Flannelboard:

Ten in a Bed
Find the Berries Hidden Under the Bears! (older kids)

Craft (3-5s):
I cut out some bears using the Cricut machine and had the older kids color them in and glue to paper. then they used sponges on sticks to add berry bushes.

Storytime: Colors 2

Storytime: Colors 2

I'm currently doing a 2s Storytime at one library, and a 3-5 Storytime at another. So in order to maintain some sanity, I'm trying to pick one theme for both each week and adapt it for the different ages. Some of my 2s are REALLY little and some of my 5s are already in school.


Books:

 Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
Little Owl's Orange Scarf by Tatyana Feeney
Five Green and Speckled Frogs by Priscilla Burris
Yellow is My Color Star by Judy Horacek
Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr.
Mouse Paint! by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Freight Train by Donald Crews 
 Songs/Fingerplays:
  
Driving Round in My Car (10 Little Indians), credit: Storytime Katie

If Your Clothes Haves Any Red

If your clothes have any red, Put your finger on your head.
If your clothes have any blue, Put your finger on your shoe,
If your clothes have any green, Wave your hand so that you're seen.
If your clothes have any yellow, Smile like a happy fellow,
If your clothes have any brown, Turn your smile into a frown,
If your clothes have any black, Put your hands behind your back.
If your clothes have any white, Stamp your feet with all your might



2s Activity:
A while back I made these laminated 'dogs' to use with Dog's Colorful Day. I've tried crayons (not great) and markers (depends on the kind) but the funnest and best thing to use on them is playdough. Make your own or used the canned stuff. The kids love getting dog dirty and clean again!

3-5s Craft:
My co-worker made extra Sheep for her storytime and gave me the leftovers! We added lots of green things (crayons, chalk, glitter, stickers). This is a good one to do around St. Patrick's Day too.

Storytime: Things That Go

I'm currently doing a 2s Storytime at one library, and a 3-5 Storytime at another. So in order to maintain some sanity, I'm trying to pick one theme for both each week and adapt it for the different ages. Some of my 2s are REALLY little and some of my 5s are already in school.

Books:

 Fire Truck by Peter Sis

Boats Go by Steve Light

The Bus Is For Us! by Michael Rosen

Freight Train by Donald Crews

A Truck Goes Rattley Bumpa by Jonathan London

Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia

 
Songs/Fingerplays:

Wheels on the Bus
Where Is Fire Truck? (to tune of Thumbkin)
Zoom Zoom Zoom, I'm Off to the Moon
I'm A Windshield Wiper
Hurry, Hurry Drive the Fire Truck

Activities: 
Green Means Go! (Jbrary)
Car Wash (scarves and bubbles)
Things that Go stickers on paper

Craft for older kids:

Storytime: Leaves & Ladybugs

I'm currently doing a 2s Storytime at one library, and a 3-5 Storytime at another. So in order to maintain some sanity, I'm trying to pick one theme for both each week and adapt it for the different ages. Some of my 2s are REALLY little and some of my 5s are already in school.

Books:

 The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

What the Ladybug Heard by Julia Donaldson

 
Songs/Fingerplays:

Down, Down, Yellow and Brown

Activities: 

  
Flannelboard:

The Letter 'L'

Add Spots on the Ladybug















Flannelboard:

The Letter 'L'
Add Spots on the Ladybug