April Storytimes

Theme: Rabbits
Books: Little White Rabbit by Kevin Henkes, The Rabbit Problem by Emily Gravett, Little Bunny Foo Foo by Paul Johnson, Goldie and the Three Hares by Margie Palatini, What's the Matter Bunny Blue? by Nicola Smee
Craft: Rabbit magnets from Oriental TradingTheme: Easter
Books: Max Counts His Chickens by Rosemary Wells, Where are Baby's Easter Eggs? by Karen Katz, Milo the Really Big Bunny by Stephen Krensky
Activity: Egg hunt and pictures with the Easter Bunny
Craft: Easter egg decorating (kits)
Theme: National Dance Week
Books: Baby Danced the Polka by Karen Beaumont, Hilda Must Be Dancing by Karma Wilson, Dancing Feet by Lindsay Craig
Activity: Dance to Stop and Go and the Hokey Pokey
Craft: Popsicle stick streamers
Theme: Mother's Day
Books: Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney, Bedtime for Mommy by Amy Rosenthal, What! Cried Granny by Kate Lum, My Mommy Hung the Moon by Jamie Lee Curtis
Song: Happy Mother's Day To You
Craft: Flower pots

Learning Systems are Coming to Your Library!

Want to try the latest children's learning systems and e-readers? Soon you'll be able to borrow them for your library! We will have 4 Vtech MobiGo systems and 4 Vtech Vreaders available for checkout once we move to the new building. With popular titles like Tangled, Toy Story 3, Cars, and more, your kids will be sure to love them (and learn something too)!

Animal Storytime Plans

Theme: Zoo
Books: Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann, Wild About Books by Judy Sierra, 1 Zany Zoo by Lori Degman, Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
Song: You have to sing 5 Little Monkeys with these books! Craft: Animal cracker zoos. We printed off the word ZOO with outlined letters onto cardstock. The kids glued animal crackers inside the letters which could be also decorated to look like cages with some crayon and imagination!
Theme: Pets
Books: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin, Bark George by Jules Feiffer, Pet Shop Lullaby by Mary Ann Fraser, Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin Scillian Craft: Aquariums. We took blue cardstock tanks and added craft sand, "seaweed" (green Easter grass), shells, and fish stickers. I wish I had pictures of how cute these turned out!
Theme: Circus
Books: Where's Pup? by Dale Ann Dodds, Little Beauty by Anthony Brown, Where's Walrus? by Steven Savage
Craft: Carnival sticker scenes from Oriental Trading Company. We also painted faces and dressed up like clowns!
More pictures are available on our storytime Facebook page! Next week, Ms. Donna and Ms. Melanie will be sharing books about rabbits as we prepare for Easter.

Sneak Peek at NLW Prizes

National Library Week is coming soon!

Enter to win these fabulous prizes for each item you check out on April 10-16th. We will also be giving away a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card to one of our Facebook friends, so follow us today!

Vtech Pink Tote and Go Laptop
Vtech Lightning McQueen Learning Laptop
Sony E-reader PRS-300 with case and built-in light

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This week we read books about leprechauns and all things green at our St. Patrick's Day celebration.

Books: That's What Leprechauns Do by Eve Bunting, The Luckiest St. Patrick's Day Ever by Teddy Slater, Jump! by Scott Fischer, Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox
Craft: Pot of gold and rainbow craft (similar to this one, only we used glue dots to stick "real" gold pieces on our pots, wrote our names on the pots in gold pen, and added a rainbow which the children colored)!
Activity: Try a green snack (shamrock cookies and apple juice with green food coloring) and watch Irish a clip of Irish dancers from Michael Flatley's Feet of Flames.

We also went on a gold hunt in the children's library! Everyone received a small pot for their gold. There were even a few chocolate coins mixed in as well. Those naughty leprechauns sure made a mess in the library, but the storytime children did a great job cleaning up after them!

Hope you all have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day and we'll see you next week as we start our animal unit. Sláinte (cheers)!

Royal Storytimes

Theme: Dragons
Books: Who Wants a Dragon by James Mayhew, Where's the Dragon by Richard Hook, The Princess and the Dragon by Audrey Wood
Craft: Dragon puppets
Theme: Knights
Books: Good Night, Good Knight by Shelley Thomas, Do Knights Take Naps? by Kathy Tucker, Princess Knight by Cornelia Funke
Craft: Knight masks (ours were just cardstock covered with tinfoil, but here's a fancier version to make at home)
Theme: Princes and Princesses
Books: Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox, King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Don and Audrey Wood, The Prince Won't Go to Bed by Dayle Ann Dodds, Twenty-Six Princesses by Dave Horowitz
Craft: Decorate crowns

Next week we will be having a St. Patrick's Day celebration and then starting into storytimes about animals! Hope you can join us!

January Story Hours

This month our programs were all about food!


Theme: Grocery Shopping
Books: Don't Forget the Bacon by Pat Hutchins, Sheep in a Shop by Nancy Shaw, Put It On the List by Kristen Darbyshire, Market Day by Carol Cordsen
Craft: Pasta and cereal necklaces
Activity: Go "shopping" with empty food containers, play money, and shopping baskets.
Theme: Pie
Books: All for Pie, Pie for All by David Martin, More Pies by Robert Munsch, Sweet Dream Pie by Audrey Wood, Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
Flannelboard: Pick berries and make a pie
Craft: Paper plate pies
Theme: Pizza
Books: Pete's a Pizza by William Steig, Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza by Philemon Sturgis, The Princess and the Pizza by Mary Jane Auch
Craft: Paper plate pizzas
Activity: Enjoy real pizzas thanks to Mr. Gatti's!
Theme: Sweets
Books: If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff, Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson, How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food by Jane Yolen
Craft: Decorate a cupcake
Activity: Decorate a real cupcake with sprinkles!Theme: Valentine's Day
Books: How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You by Jane Yolen, Bloom by Maria Van Lieshout, Henry in Love by Peter McCarty, Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
Craft: Make a valentine
Activity: Exchange valentine treats