Planting a Rainbow of Reads

The time has come for a new Spring display.  I created this with butcher paper as the background and construction paper cutouts for the flower garden.  It is directly based on Lois Ehlert's Planting a Rainbow.  The banner about six feet long to give an idea of the scale.  I wanted to put something up that would last for more than a month like our typical holiday displays, and I am hoping that this one will take us well into summer! I can use this space to display books about Spring, books by Lois Ehlert, or simply colorful books... the opportunities for this one are boundless.

Just Ask Greg

Our Children's Room is housed inside a large library facility, so many of our books are displayed outside in the hallway.  Unfortunately, many people think that these displays are just for looking, and not for touching, when in fact we intend the exact opposite for our displays!  To encourage check-outs and hopefully increase circulation, I drew a picture of Greg Heffley from Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid telling our patrons that "Books on display are available for check-out!"  Hopefully they will think, "Why not?"... if Greg says so!

Early Literacy Tips

I always like to give an "Early Literacy Tip" to parents and caregivers during storytimes.  I started writing them out on a chalkboard so that adults would have one more way to take in this important information.  I am lucky enough to have received Saroj Ghoting's Early Literacy training twice throughout my career, and turn to her resources whenever I'm in need of some inspiration for promoting the importance of early literacy.

St. Patrick's Day Storytime

Long ago, St. Patrick's day began as a religious holiday that celebrated the arrival of Saint Patrick, who brought Christianity to Ireland. Today, it is celebrated in many parts of the world in the spirit of Irish heritage, culture and good luck! St. Patrick's Day celebrations of today include parades, feasts, Irish folklore and wearing the color green!  We got to celebrate it here at the library with a special storytime and craft.

Stories I read:

• Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato by Tomie DePaola (the board book shortened version)
• St. Patrick's Day by Anne Rockwell
• Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley

Songs/ Flannels:

• Five Green and Speckled Frogs
• Leprechaun, Leprechaun, Have you any Gold? (sung to the tune of Baa Baa, Black Sheep) ....Yes sir, yes sir, three pots full!  One for St. Patrick...
• Find the Leprechaun (A variation of Mouse in the House, where Leprechaun is hiding underneath on of the felt houses)

Craft materials:

• Green, Yellow, and Orange construction paper hearts
• Green strips of construction paper
• Hole puncher
• Gold brads
• Glitter glue or other decor

Directions: Punch holes at the bottom tips of each heart.  Do the same on a strip of green construction paper- this is your shamrock's stem.  Layer the pieces as pictured, and insert a brad through the holes to fasten the pieces together.  Decorate as you wish!

Erin Go Bragh! (Ireland Forever!)

Purim Party

The Purim Story

I am dressed up as Queen Esther!

Purim is a celebration of the Jewish people's salvation against threat of annihilation. In 4th century BCE, King Ahasuerus of Persia had a pageant to find a new wife after becoming angry with his current wife, Queen Vashti. He chose a Jewish girl named Esther, who had a cousin named Mordecai. Haman, the King's advisor, became angry with Mordecai when he refused to bow to him. Because of this, Haman resolved to have all the Jews in Persia killed. Queen Esther, who had not yet told the King that she was Jewish, told the King that if he let Haman kill all the Jews, he would have to kill her too. The King protected his wife and her people, and instead had evil Haman punished.  

Purim Traditions

Purim, therefore, is a celebration of life, and is a time for feasts and happiness. Hamantaschen, or "Haman's pockets" are pastries traditionally served during Purim. It is also customary to give to the poor during Purim, as well as dress in costume. This is partially because "Esther" means "hidden," and because she hid her Jewish origin from the King in the beginning. Another reason for wearing costumes during the holiday is that Purim is called a miracle "disguised in natural events," in comparison to overt miracles seen in other Jewish holidays. One fun thing for children to do during Purim is make groggers, or noisemakers. These noisemakers are to be used whenever the name "Haman" is spoken, so as to drown out the evil name.

At our library Purim Party, I told the story of Purim according to the book It Happened in Shushan: A Purim Story by Harriet K. Feder. The book doesn't have traditional illustrations, it rather intersperses pictures or symbols into the text to tell the story. To make the story interactive for the children, I made little flags for each character in the story: King Ahasuerus, Queen Vashti, Queen Esther, Cousin Mordecai, and Evil Haman. I made each character flag a particular color so that when each character was mentioned, I could announce, "Queen Esther! Hold up your purple flags!", for example. The children loved being involved and with the exception of no one wanting to be Haman (and why would they?), I think the interactive storytelling went well.

We also read Sammy Spider's First Purim by Sylvia A Rouss, which is an excellent book for showing little ones what the traditions of Purim are. We learned about going to the Synagogue, wearing costumes, making Hamantaschen ("Haman's Pockets"), and groggers. Groggers are noisemakers that children use whenever you hear Hama's name on Purim, so as to drown out the sound of the evil man's name.

This book was a great transition into our crafting for the party because we got to make groggers just like the one in the book. I premade the groggers by folding a paper plate in half, filled with a handful of dried pinto beans, and stapled along the edges. The children decorated their groggers with feathers, buttons, markers, and glitter glue. They also decorated masquerade masks which we wore as we paraded through the library, noisily shaking our groggers and shouting, "Happy Purim!" (The kids love being told to be noisy in the library!) My lovely coworker who assisted me with the program bought handmade hamantaschen from a local Jewish bakery and eating the delicious treats was a lovely ending to a lovely program. I don't think we had many children come to the library specifically for the program, but it was a busy enough Sunday where I was able to pull a bunch of kids away from the computers (yay!) and I had many children and parents thank me afterwards and tell me how much fun they had. They really enjoyed learning about and celebrating Purim!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

This is a prop that I made to use with "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" during storytimes.  The children loved it but I'm not sure I will use it again, because I would rather have them participate with the hand movements, and it's hard to get them to participate if you are not doing the motions yourself.  Maybe I will sing the song once with the prop and sing it again as a fingerplay.

Materials needed:

• Paper towel tube
• Aluminum foil
• Blue yarn
• Black yarn
• Large black bead (I colored a wooden one with a Sharpie)
• Black pipe cleaner
• Googly eyes
• Glue

Directions:  Cover paper towel tube in aluminum foil.  Tie a long piece of black yarn around the black bead, and insert through the paper towel tube.  Tie back yarn so that it forms a loop inside the tube. Insert bits of black pipe cleaner through the black bead; these are the spider's legs. Glue the googly eyes onto the bead- your spider is complete!  Cut multiple lengths of blue yarn about twelve inches long. About six inches above the spider, tie these pieces of blue yarn to the black yarn.  This is your rain!  

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the waterspout.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again!

Performance: Start the song by pulling the spider "up the waterspout" by pulling on one end of the black yarn.  Bring down the rain and "wash the spider out" by pulling on the black yarn in the opposite direction.  When the sun comes up and "dries up all the rain", pull the spider and the rain inside of the water spout again.

March Display

To combine a Spring and St. Patrick's Day theme for the month of March, I created a "Rainbow of Reads", with each strip of the rainbow showcasing children's books with different colored covers.  The rainbow is surrounded by a gust of wind carrying shamrocks, clouds, and umbrellas, and underneath the rainbow is a leprechaun, of course!

Using colors as a theme for a display is always a wonderful opportunity because while staying in line with the theme, books on display can span across multiple genres!  See some examples below.

RED titles:

• Corduroy by Don Freeman
• April's Kittens by Clare Turlay Newbury
• Flotsam by David Wiesner

YELLOW titles:

• Piggies by Don and Audrey Wood
• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit
• Gilberto and the Wind by Marie Hall Ets

GREEN Titles:

• Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
• A Story A Story by Gail E. Haley
• Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

BLUE Titles:

• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
• It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Shaw
• Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater

STEAM Team: Art with Andy Warhol

Every Friday, our library hosts a "STEAM Team" program for children aged 6-12. STEAM is a framework for learning based on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. 

I of course had to choose the main topic of Art when I led this program because there's really no subject I enjoy more.  I decided to have the children focus on the great American Pop artist Andy Warhol.  We started the program with a viewing of  Andy Warhol from Mike Venezia's "Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists" series, based upon the identically titled popular book series also by Venezia.  The movie was about 20 minutes long, and was colorful and engaging for the kids. I had a child as young as three and as old as 10 present, and it seemed to appeal to all the age groups.

After the film, we made our own Pop Art projects.  I pre-cut many different colors of rectangles, kittens, and puppies (using the AccuCut) so that kids could pick out their own colors.  When they chose four rectangles, they glued them on to a sheet of construction paper for the background of the project. I made a sample project layering the kittens in the style of Warhol's Pop Art prints.  Not only did the children catch on to the layering technique right away, but I was also thrilled when they got super creative with their own projects.  (I always try to encourage them that their projects do not need to look like mine- I want them to be creative!)  As you can see, that is exactly what they did- we even had a child who wanted to use puppies and kittens (see below)!  They loved picking out their own colors and so far I haven't met a child get who did not like playing with glue.  Parents were thrilled and said they could not wait to come back for another STEAM event the following week. 

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Dr. Seuss, born Theodor Seuss Geisel on March 2nd, 1904, has published 42 beloved children's books throughout his life of 87 years.  On March 2nd, 2014, we celebrated what would have been his 110th birthday.

We began with a special Dr. Seuss Storytime:

• Song: "Hello, How are You?"
• Our typical "Hello" song for storytimes.
• Song: "Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss"
• This one is a bit self-explanatory, yes?
• Flannel: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss (1960)
• This book is a little but too long and confusing for the storytelling format, so I made it into a flannel!  They liked chanting along with me: "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish! Black fish, blue fish, old fish, new fish!"
• Book: Gerald McBoing Boing by Dr. Seuss (1950)
• One of Dr. Seuss's lesser known works, Gerald McBoingBoing was a film that Dr. Seuss made in 1950 that went on to win an Academy Award in 1951.  It was adapted into the picture book format in 1978 by Mel Crawford.  I took this as an opportunity to explain to kids that while many books can become movies (like The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, it can work in the opposite way!  The kids liked making the silly noises that Gerald makes throughout the book.
• Flannel: The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (1957)

• Another example of a great book that doesn't work too well for reading to a large audience, I adapted this too as a flannel activity.  On pages 20-21, the Cat in the Hat is showing off to Sally and her brother how many things he can hold while hopping on a rubber ball.  I turned each of these items into flannel pieces and asked the kids how many items they thought he could hold without falling down or dropping any of them.  It sort of ended up like playing "Jenga" on the flannel board with the kids anxiously watching me add item after item while reading along the text on page 20. On the next page follows, "That is what the cat said... Then he fell on his head!  He came down with a bump from up there on the ball.  And Sally and I, we saw all the things fall!"  As I read this text, I swiped my hand over the flannel board and watched as the Cat in the Hat fell down along with all of his silly items.  The kids loved it.
• Book: My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss (1973)
• This is another lesser known work of Dr. Seuss, perhaps because it is not self illustrated, instead with pictures by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher.  Still it is a great storytime book about colors and feelings, and the kids enjoyed helping me identify the colors on each page.
• Song: Silly Hat 
• Since the Cat in the Hat has a silly hat, I brought out my silly hat to show my friends and sing this favorite song.
• Book: Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? by Dr. Seuss (1970)
• This book is a wonderful participatory book that gives great variation on the typical animal noises we see in these types of books. Along with "Moo, Moo", the kids got to make all kinds of noises, like "Choo Choo", "Sizzle Sizzle", and "Tick Tick Tock", among many others!
• Flannel: Cat under the Hat 
• Borrowed from my "Silly Hat" storytime, this is another great flannel that can be adapted for almost any theme.  I explained to the kids that instead of wearing his hat, the Cat in the Hat was hiding and they had to help me find him!  They excitedly found him on the third try (he was under the purple hat).
• Our Hands Say Thank You 
• Our typical goodbye routine for storytimes.  The kids love to clap, tap their feet, and "Rollllll our hands to say 'Goodbye'!"

Dr. Seuss Crafts

After our storytime, the kids were able to do my favorite activity: crafts!  I was very excited about the Lorax mustaches on a stick, but I think the kids liked the Dr. Seuss hats better because it was a little bit easier for them (the approximate age of my audience was 4 or 5 years old).  Anyways it was nice to give them a choice of what to do and a lot of kids did both, and they were super cute running around wearing their hats and mustaches together.

For materials, we are lucky enough to have a silly hat pattern for our Accucut, which I punched out of cardstock and cut long strips of paper for the base of the hat: super easy prep work!  The Lorax mustaches were a bit more involved.  I drew the mustache then made copies of it on cardstock, cut up bits of yarn for Lorax fur, and found some foam beads in the craft closet to use as Lorax noses.  If I had had more time I think it would have helped to cut out the mustaches myself, because that's where a lot of kids got snagged up and needed help or said it was too hard and wanted to make the hat instead.  Other necessary materials to have on hand were markers, glue, scissors, and popsicle sticks.

Overall the birthday party was a wonderful success.  I will be repeating the storytime for my preschool daycare groups that come in this week since they weren't here for the party.

One more activity that I had available for the kids: coloring sheets, mazes, word-searches and other printable activities from Seussville.  What a wonderful resource!  I will leave these out for kids to work on throughout the month of March.