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Thursday, May 29, 2008

Storytime: Bugs

Preschool stories about bugs and butterflies.

Waiting for Wings
Waiting for Wings
by Lois Ehlert


Over in the Garden
Over In the Garden
by Jennifer Ward and pictures by Kenneth J. Spengler
(the kids loved the pictures on this one, but had problems sitting through it all, even when I was singing it)


I Love Bugs!
I Love Bugs
by Philemon Sturges and pictures by Shari Halpern


There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Caldecott Honor Book)
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
by Simms Taback
(this is one of my never-fail books for all age levels)


Beetle Bop
Beetle Bop
by Denise Fleming



Songs:

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

The Fireflies at Night
(to the tune of Wheels on the Bus)

The fireflies at night go blink, blink, blink;
Blink, blink, blink; Blink, blink, blink;
The fireflies at night go blink, blink, blink;
All through the town.

(Verses)
The bees in the flowers go buzz, buzz, buzz.
The crickets in the field go chirp, chirp, chirp.
The ants is the grass go march, march, march.
The caterpillars in the leaves go munch, munch, munch.

Herman the Worm
(this was a camp favorite of mine as a kid)
(said in rhythm, but not sung)

I was sittin' on the fence post chewing my bubble-gum
smack, smack, smack, smack
(these a chewing noises like a tsk, just pretend you have invisible gum in your mouth)
Playin' with my yo-yo
dooooo-woooop
(mime a yo-yo, and let your voice rise on woop)

When along came Herman the Worm
And he was this big
(mime a handspan between your hands)
And I said Herman, whaaat happened?
And he said,
I ate my sister.

I was sittin' on the fencepost chewin' my bubble-gum
chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp
Playin' with my yo-yo
dooooo-woooop

When along came Herman the Worm
and he was thiis big
(mime about two handspans)
And I said Herman, whaaat happened?
And he said,
I ate my brother...

Continue on with handspans getting progressively bigger as Herman eats his mother and his father (which is the biggest). And then Herman shows up and he's itty bitty small, which you say with an itty bitty voice. And end with "And he said, I burped!"

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Brag Time

One of my regular first grade classes made me thank you cards! I was so excited I had to share. All their comments are here, with misspellings and punctuation preserved, and I scanned and added my favorite pictures. Enjoy!

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I love to read at the library because I love books.

Thank you Brianna

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I like when you read to us I also like when you cack the bookout.

From Jayda to You

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The best book is Choppstik's.
(This little guy was so cute. He was absolutely beaming when he handed me this card saying, "This is you!")


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Thank you!

Sinserly, Mercy
I love to read at the library because it's fun.

You are the Best
Love, Mercy.

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Thank you!
From Alicia

Dear library
My favorite part about going to the library is reading lots of books because it makes you smart. I also love the way you help us read the book when we get stuck on a word that is hard. Here is a piture of me and you and your helping me read the book and I'm saying thank's for helping us a lot of times and your go at doing it!!!!
goodday!!!!!
(I think Alicia's a little confused... because I don't remember helping them one on one.)
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I love you.

You make me smile.
I love you with all my heart.

Thank you.
Genesis

---------
Carlos

Thank you for reding for me.


(Good Gracious! Where's my clothes?)

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I love to read book at the lidrary because books are cool

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thank you from Xavier

My favorite part about going to the library is you reading a book because the books you read is so funny.
(How cute is that?)
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YariMy favorite part about going to the lidrarey is geting a book because I love books and I love to read.
Thank you for books!

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to: Libary
from: Shihab

I love to read books at the libarbary because they let me read a spiderman book.
happy birthdday
Shihab

thank you for reading this.
(And I became a librarian to make sure you got those Spiderman books, Shihab!)
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Thank You for reading me books
From Emani

I Love to pick books out and read them to myself and when I am done reading them I ceck them out to see If I am missing a book at the library because It is fun to read and It is really fun when you read to me I have a lot of fun when I am with you at the library with you thank you for all the hard work you have been doing so I am going to give you something from me to you I'm going to miss you bat we had a lot of fun together when we leave we are going to be missing you and I will away miss you good-buy!

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by Christian

You are the Best for all of os.
You read lowd and cleor.

By see you next Time.
to the liBury.
(Awww!)
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From Joshua
Thak you!
You rock!

Thak you for cheking out our Book.
You rocks.
You are the best.
I hope you open some days.


End!
I love the library!

The End!

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Thank you from Angel
I love to read at the library because it is fun and cool but my favorite part is erry thing.

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Thank You
I like when I went to the library bee

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My favorite part about going to the library is when you raed me a story because I like to here storys.

Thank You
Greta

(I think Greta really liked Superhero ABC from this storytime.)

---------

(I saved the best for last. This one made me cry!)



My favorite part to the libeary is reading books because they can make you smarter. I love to hear someone reading also at the libeary because there voises are so nice and soft just like mine.


Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Storytime: Bugs (for the big kids)

Storytime for older kids (grades K-5).


Insect Soup: Bug Poems (Rainbow Morning Music Picture Books)
Insect Soup: Bug Poems
by Barry Louis Polisar and pictures by David Clark

(Insect Soup had better reactions than Insectlopedia)


insectlopedia
Insectlopedia
by Douglas Florian


The Spider and the Fly
The Spider and the Fly
by Mary Howitt and pictures by Tony DiTerlizzi


There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Caldecott Honor Book)
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
by Simms Taback


Bug Faces
Bug Faces
by Darlyne A. Murawski
(With some groups I couldn't read everything on the pages, but they loved the pictures anyway.)

Monday, May 19, 2008

I Know A Few Boys Who Will Want This...


WWE Throws Hat in Children's Ring

Just when you thought it was safe to tell your tiniest patrons that no one publishes this kind of stuff... sigh. I am sure WWE Kids Magazine will be wildly popular at our library if we get it, based on how many kids ask for "wrestling books" but mean WWE and their ilk. The periodical was apparently available starting April 15. Of course this won't even come close to filling the void left by the loss of Disney Adventures, but it will fill a different need.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Libraries and Change

Truth: Can You Handle It? Better Yet: Do You Know It When You See It? By Monica Hesse from the Washington Post I remember while I was working on my MLIS, we would talk about how for years people have been saying the library is doomed. The library was doomed when TV was becoming popular. The library was doomed when they started circulating records and movies. And now the library is doomed with the internet. Precedent certainly would show that librarians shouldn't be concerned about libraries going away anytime soon. But, when I see articles like this one it's hard not to be concerned. I want to be an agent for change, and to make libraries relevant and useful in the lives of my patrons, friends, and family. But, for my husband (an academic), he would be happier if he didn't even have to go in to the library-- he could get all his scholarly articles as pdf's delivered to his email account, and all his books sent via campus mail to his mailbox. But my poor little librarian heart resents that the space itself isn't special. I may be fooling myself when I say this, but perhaps the public library is different from an academic library because it's more of a community space than a research facility. Even the way kids use our collection is different than when I was a kid (not that long ago). It's hard not to be disheartened when children would rather fill out their worksheets from multiple disreputable websites than flip through one beautiful, timely and accurate book. Yes, their research is "good enough" for their worksheet, but don't they deserve better than that?

Friday, May 2, 2008

No Child Left Inside


Connecticut State Parks have a fantastic initiative called No Child Left Inside.

The point of this program is to promote Connecticut's beautiful state parks. All the libraries are sent free State Parks passes for patrons to check out during the summer, which allows families free parking and admission to State Parks. This pass is extremely popular in the summer.

Today, though, I had a patron telling me that their family was doing this fantastic program, The Great Park Pursuit.

"The Great Park Pursuit is a seven-week contest that will have you decoding clues, discovering parks and forests across the state and participating in fun activities and challenges – all for a chance to win fabulous prizes, including outdoor equipment packages."

Here's how it works-- Play the Game