Sturdy for Common Things

Rain and Rainbow Storytime

Sunday was St. Patrick’s Day, and a quiet day at the library with the big downtown parade going on just a block away. Even though storytime was the day of the holiday, I opted out out of a St. Patrick’s Day themed storytime this year. I just wasn’t feeling it. But since it was so gloomy and rainy outside, I decided this week’s storytime would be about rain and rainbows. Perfect for spring. I opened up storytime by talking about the myth of the leprechaun and how he hides his gold at the end of the rainbow. My St. Patty’s Day tie-in. After reading stories, we made lucky rainbow necklaces so the kids could take a little rainbow color and luck with them wherever they went.

Here’s what we read…

Rain and Rainbows Storytime Line-up:

Raindrop, Plop! by Wendy Cheyette Lewison, illustrated by Pam Paparone

 A rhyming story that introduces counting by counting the raindrops.

Listen to the Rain by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, illustrated by James Endicott

A picture book with a beautiful poem about the stages of a rainfall. The last page features a rainbow which transitioned the storytime from rain to rainbows.

Duckie’s Rainbow by Frances Barry

Transitioning into rainbows, we read this story about Duckie and his walk through many different colored scenes which at the end take the shape of a rainbow.

Rainbow Flannel Board

We went over the colors of the rainbow and how rainbows are made using this flannel I made last year for St. Patrick’s Day Storytime.  I asked them if they could help me determine the order of a rainbow and what colors were in it. I held up a color and they would say what color it was. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. We started with red and went all the way to violet. I also talked a little bit about how a rainbow is made by the raindrops refracting the light of the sun into a rainbow of colors.

Baby Bear Sees Blue by Ashley Wolff

This is a wonderful book for pre-school age children. Baby bear experiences all the colors in his day which ends in witnessing a rainbow after a storm.

A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman

We’ve enjoyed reading this one quite a bit at home, so I decided to share it with the storytimers this week. A boy sees a rainbow from his window and runs out to catch it. When he gets to where the rainbow should be it has vanished, so he decides to pretend and have a rainbow of his own.

Lucky Rainbow Necklace Craft:

As a way for the kids to take home their very own rainbow, and to work on tuning those fine motor skills, we beaded Lucky Rainbow Necklaces for the post-storytime craft. It’s amazing how sometimes the simplest craft ends up being the most fun.

Here’s how we made our necklaces…

Materials used: plastic beads, crochet yarn, and scissors.

Cut a piece of yarn a little over a foot long. I did this part before storytime so the kids would focus more on beading.

The kids strung their necklaces using rainbow colored beads.

Tie a knot at the end of the strings when finished and voila!

A rainbow of your very own. A little luck wherever you go.

rainbow of my own image source: the marlowe bookshelf

Adventures as Annie: Pirates Past Noon

In March, our theme for Magic Tree House Adventures was Pirates Past Noon. Arr!!! Magic Tree House Adventures (you can view past programs here) is a monthly library program for kids ages 5 & up in which each session is themed around one of Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree House books.  This month, we walked the plank, tried our hand at pirate slang, found buried treasure, and learned a great deal about the pirates from long ago.

And I even dressed for the occasion…

Where Are We? Who Are They?

We started with our regular game of “Where are we? Who are they?”. Here’s how it works… I flash pictures of people and places on the screen relevant to the history of pirates and the kids guess where the picture is, or who is in it, or what is going on. For example, the picture above would flash onto the screen and I would ask the kids, “Who is that dude with his beard on fire? Is he your grandpa?” and they would guess and then I would give a short explanation of who it really was (Blackbeard). The majority of the facts came from the Magic Tree House Research Guide: Pirates. The primary focus was that stories and movies about pirates are very different than how life as a pirate really was. We discussed early pirates from all over the world, the Golden Age of Pirates, types of sailing ships, what it was really like being a pirate, and what kind of treasure they were after. We also learned how to talk like a pirate. Aye!

Afterwards we broke out into groups for our pirate activities….

Treasure Hunt

Even though pirates rarely buried their treasure, I thought it might be fun to have an actual treasure hunt. Here’s what I did. I poured a 50 lb bag of sandbox sand into a large metal tub and hid a bag of dabloons (plastic gold coins), precious stones (plastic gem stones), and jewelry (plastic necklaces) in it. In pairs of 2 or 3, I would time each pair a total of 30 seconds to see how much treasure they could dig up in that time frame. This activity was the hit of the program.

Walk the Plank

There is no proof that pirates actually used “walking the plank” as punishment, but it’s apart of pirate mythology that we all know and love. So, using an old board, kids had to balance walking across while carrying a spoon with a ping-pong ball on it. And then they would have to balance holding two spoons carrying ping-pong balls. If the ball dropped or they touched the ground with their foot, it was to Davy Jone’s Locker with ’em!

Treasure Map and Parrot Craft

What is a pirate without his/her trusty parrot or map? I recycled this parrot craft from last year’s Pirate Storytime (which goes through step-by-step on how to make these parrots and a pirate eye patch) for the Magic Tree House Adventures kids to make during this program. We also made treasure maps using torn brown butcher paper and markers. I printed out symbols of objects a pirate’s map might have on it to give them a few ideas. Items such as a compass rose, an island, a mermaid, a palm tree,  an “x”, water, sea monsters, and a Jolly Roger were all on the list.

Magic Tree House Adventures Journal

In every Magic Tree House Adventures session, attendees get to take home their very own journal just like Jack uses in the Magic Tree House books. I add facts and pictures discussed in the program and also include whatever worksheets or activities available on the Magic Tree House website. The majority of the journal comes from facts in the Magic Tree House Research Guides. Along with the journals, bunches of books about the particular theme are on display for them to checkout as they leave the program. This display table of books usually gets severely raided.

Here’s a peak inside this month’s journal:

And that’s it me mateys! Hold on to yer hats, cause next month’s book selection is Twister on Tuesday!

image source: Blackbeard

Food Fun Storytime

This week’s storytime was all about food. Reading about food, singing about food, and even painting with food. It was a dreary rainy day, so there were lots and lots of kids looking to have some indoor fun and that’s just what we had.

Food Fun Storytime Line-up:

Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig

Since it was raining outside, this was a great read as it also starts on a rainy day. Pete was planning on playing ball with his friends, but the rain spoiled that plan. In an effort to cheer Pete up, his father decides to make him into a pizza. Lots of giggles were heard while reading this story. We even had a little activity that brought about more laughs after the story was over…

Make Your Own Kid Pizza

Browsing Pinterest, I stumbled upon this activity idea for Pete’s a Pizza via Tunstall’s Teaching Tidbits that I modified for library storytime. After reading Pete’s a Pizza, I asked the crowd if they thought we should make our own pizza. They all cheered, so I asked who would want to be my pizza and invited a storytime audience member up to the front and asked them to lay down. I sat beside them and sprinkled some oil (which was really a used wet wipes container), and then sprinkled some flour (which was really an old tin), and then asked the audience what else I should add. Mostly cheese and pepperoni were shouted back, so I added cheese (cut up felt pieces), and pepperoni slices (also felt). I vocalized each step as I went along and when I was finished, and after many giggles, for the crowd and my pizza volunteer, I asked the crowd if we should put the pizza in the oven. “Yes, yes, yes!” they replied. So I sent the pizza back to their spot, toasty warm with the other children to listen to more stories. I quickly picked up the felt pieces and started the next story.

Lunch by Denise Fleming

One hungry little mouse snacks his way through many different colorful fruits and vegetables during lunch. While I read this book, I cued the audience to guess what fruit or vegetable the mouse was eating on the next page.

Chew, Chew, Gulp! by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

A simple book about how to eat different types of food. There’s a picture in the book that I went back to after the story was over. I held it up and asked the storytime kids if they could guess what the children in the book were eating (pancakes). I used as a segway into the next story.

“Flip-Flap Jack” Song & Flannel Board

“Flip-Flap Jack” is a song from Ready-To-Go Storytimes by Gail Benton and Trisha Waichulaitis. My library has  a “Flip-Flap Jack” flannel in our storytime collection, so I decided to give it a go for this storytime and I am so glad I did. The kids really enjoyed it. It’s a silly song about Flip-Flap Jack, a man made of breakfast food, and as you sing the song you add the parts of his body.  The song goes like this:

“There was a man made of food. Made of food? Made of food!

There was a man made of food. His name was Flip-Flap Jack.

And he danced upon a table, a table, a table. He danced upon a table. His name was Flip-Flap Jack.

 

His head was made of a pancake. A pancake? A pancake! His head was made of a pancake. his name was Flip-Flap jack.”

Additional verses:

His hair was made of whipped cream

His eyes were two blueberries.

His nose was a strawberry.

His mouth was a sausage.

His ears were made of oranges.

His body was a golden waffle.

His arms were two bananas.

His legs were strips of bacon.

His feet were made of french toast.

His belly button was a raspberry.

Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Jen Corace

Little pea likes doing lots of things, but one thing he does not like is when he has to eat his candy; what all little peas have to eat to grow-up big and strong. A fun spin on eating the bare essentials to get to the best part– dessert!

The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins

Speaking of desert, I ended storytime with the Pat Hutchins’ classic, The Doorbell Rang. A story that’s not only about sharing cookies, but incorporates simple elements of math. I rang a small bell each time “the doorbell rang,” which I think the kids really liked.

Food Stamping Craft:

Who says you can’t play with your food? For our post-storytime craft we used sliced fruits and vegetables to stamp and paint pictures. The inspiration behind this craft came Create with Maisy, a new toddler craft book by Lucy Cousins. Materials used included: washable paint, construction paper, apples, celery, artichokes, oranges, and asparagus.

A couple hours before storytime, I sliced the fruits and vegetables. I did this quite a bit ahead a time so the fruits would dry out a bit. I left the asparagus intact. Right before storytime I set out small paper plates with a kiwi-size drop of paint.

Once the stories were finished the kids used the sliced fruits and vegetables as stamps. They also used the asparagus as paint brushes. I showed them my picture and my daughter’s picture (below) so they could see examples of figurative and abstract paintings.

Since it was such a murky weekend, I used the shapes to make a colorful bouquet of flowers. Also, I set up a little ‘clean up’ station which included baby wipes and paper towels next to a trash can. I also allowed kids to leave their pictures to dry if they planned to stay and look at books.

My picture example.

L’s picture.

I thought she did a wonderful job with her stamping if I do say so myself.

And here are a few masterpieces from the storytime kids….

Storytime Mixer

Sometimes I get tired of themes. Animal themes. Holiday themes. Seasonal themes. The whole kit and kaboodle. Whenever this happens I like to mix things up.

“Miss Becca’s Storytime Mixer” is my unthemed storytime where I pick a few unrelated, favorite books of mine to read to the kids. There are so many wonderful new books that I’ve been eager to share and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. After storytime, the kids transformed into authors and illustrators and crafted their very own little books. More on that later!

First things first.

Here are the stories we shared together…

Storytime Mixer Line-up:

Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle

I read this book:

to Ponchielle’s “Dance of Hours”:

And I didn’t say a word. This beautiful, wordless picture book (also seen here) doesn’t need words, for the two characters to dance between the pages. I practiced a few times beforehand playing the first sequence of the song using the music as cues to turn the page/lift the flap. When I preformed it for storytime, it was as if the kids were watching a silent film. It took a few pages for them to get into it, but once they did their eyes were fixated on Flora and her dancing friend.

Kel Gilligan’s Daredevil Stunt Show by Michael Buckley, illustrated by Dan Santat

Comic relief of the Sunday’s storytime, Kel Gilligan had the storytimers giggling as he defeated the daredevil challenges of being an everyday kid. Both author, Michael Buckley, and illustrator, Dan Santat, are among the best creating books for kids this day and age.

Rosie’s Magic Horse by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Quentin Blake

Never hurts to add a little magic to the mix. Actually, I think it makes storytime all the better! Rosie’s Magic Horse (full review here) is about an ice-pop stick with dreams of becoming a horse, and a girl named Rosie who has dreams of her own. Together they embark on an adventure to make their dreams come true.

Open This Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier, illustrated by Suzy Lee

I’ve never read anything quite like Open This Little Book (full review here). It’s a story about opening a book, within a book, within a book, and the unlocking of a world within. It was also the inspiration behind the the “little book” craft we made after storytime.

Open This Little Book Storytime Activity:

 The post-storytime activity was inspired by Open This Little Book, and the story behind it (seen here on Chronicle Books Blog). Author Jesse Klausmeier first had the idea for this genius picture book when she was just 5-years-old. You can even see a picture of the book she made way back when she was a girl! Since the storytime kids are only a little bit older, a little bit younger, or the very age when she first conceived of Open This Little Book, we crafted our very own “Little Books” to invoke their inner author and/or illustrator.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of checking this book out yet, here is a peek at what the inside looks like:

We used this ‘series of pages that progressively get smaller and then bigger’ format as a model for the kids to make their own little books. But I emphasized the fact that they did not have to make their books exactly this way. It was their book, the home of their story, and there wasn’t a right or wrong way to go about creating it. Whatever shape the story took, they could model their book after it. This is one of the things I love about Open This Little Book… It’s a great way to introduce a unique perspective on thinking outside the ordinary shape of a book.

Here’s the “little book” example I made:

And here’s a step-by-step on how to make your own!

Materials used: colored paper, stapler, scissors, markers.

The only thing I did to prepare for this craft before storytime was cut the colored paper into four different sizes. The kids did the rest of this project by themselves or with a little help from their caregiver.

First, fold your sheets of paper in half width-wise (hamburger fold).

After the sheets of paper are folded, stack them in the order desired on the fold.

Fold in half together and staple a few times in the center. And that’s it!

I left mine blank because I wanted the kids to make up their own stories. Once again, I persuaded them to make whatever type of book they liked. There was no wrong way. I only used the idea of the descending pages in Open This Little Book as a way to spark their imagination. In the same article I mentioned earlier, illustrator Suzy Lee shared a picture of a book her son made called “Rainbow Book” that also served as inspiration behind Open This Little Book. It was a book with loose leafs of blank, colored paper. That image gave me the idea to make an example similar to that book with the smallest cut paper size from this craft. It served as a model of another type of book the kids could make during this exercise.

The kids had so much fun making their “little books” and several made more than one. One 5-year-old girl gave me her books to send to the author, which I will be mailing out today. How sweet is that? Even though there was quite a crowd at storytime, I made sure to snap a few pictures of the kids’ “little books”…

“Little Books” created by the storytime kids:

Future authors and/or illustrators?

You saw it here first.

Tournament of Kids’ Books 2013

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Tournament time.

March Madness season is upon us, and in a college basketball town that means one thing… Lawrence, Kansas, home of the University of Kansas Jayhawks, goes gaga for brackets and basketball.

In the children’s room of the Lawrence Public Library, it also means it’s time for the second annual  Tournament of Kids’ Books. The Tournament of Kids’ Books is when the most checked out kids’ books of the previous year face off, from the Sweet Sixteen to the Championship round, voted through by the kids of Lawrence throughout the month of March. It’s a fun way to feed off this bracket-crazy, basketball-loving good time.

Last year was the first year of Tournament of Kids’ Books and since it was such a success, we decided to do it again this year. Who can forget last year’s climax at the Winner’s Ceremony when KU basketball players, Jeff Whitey and Justin Wesley, announced the winner? We’re hoping (fingers crossed) they’ll be able join us again this year. There will be a raffle for prizes for those who vote. Some of the goodies include a bag of books provided by the Friends of the Lawrence Public Library, as well as advanced readers copies of the latest books from featured authors like Tom Angleberger (Origami Yoda) and Jarrett Jarrett Krosoczka (Lunch Lady).

Now, are you ready to preview this year’s title contenders?

Here’s the opening round match-ups:

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger VS Dairy of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney

The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch VS. Bone: Out From Boneville by Jeff Smith

Dear Dumb Diary: Okay, So Maybe I Do Have Superpowers by Jim Benton VS. Babymouse: Queen of the World by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm

Flat Stanley: The Mount Rushmore Calamity by Jeff Brown VS. Magic Tree House: Pirates Past Noon by Mary Pope Osborne

Rainbow Fairies: India, the Moonstone Fairy by Daisy Meadows VS. Disney Fairies: Silvermist and the Ladybug Curse by Gail Herman

Stone Rabbit: BC Mambo by Erik Craddock VS Lunch Lady and the Bake Sale Bandit by Jarrett Krosoczka

Cam Jansen: The Mystery of the Carnival Prize by David Adler VS. Tales of a Sixth-Grade Muppet by Kirk Scroggs

The Cabinet of Wonders by Marie Rutkoski  VS. Moon Over Manifest by Claire Vanderpool

That’s our Sweet Sixteen! Any predictions of who will come out victorious?

A printable bracket is available to download from the Lawrence Public Library’s website. And you can keep up with the progress of the tourney on the library’s Facebook and Twitter page.

For the love of books and basketball… Read and Rockchalk!

Penguin Storytime

Kansas has seen quite a bit of winter weather recently with last week’s Blizzard of Oz. Lots and lots and lots of snow. The library was even closed a couple of days due to the weather, so storytime was organized last minute, but it turned out nicely. The arctic temperatures (it was -2 degrees this morning!), the snow, and the ice were my inspirations to have a penguin storytime. I even dressed the part in black pants, a black blazer, and a white button down. I was tempted to dance like Dick Van Dyke, but restrained myself for the sake of the children.

Penguin Storytime Lineup:

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

Everyone loves Tacky. The storytime kids instantly knew this book about a very odd penguin named Tacky an his very proper companions. Tacky was also the inspiration behind the storytime craft.

Penguins, Penguins, Everywhere! by Bob Barner

Simple, colorful, and informational book about penguins. This is a great non-fiction picture book especially for preschool aged children.

Penguin by Polly Dunbar

Perhaps the favorite of the bunch. Penguin had the kids laughing and laughing. I was in a bit of a bind looking for penguin books last minute and was so happy to stumble upon this one. You can enjoy the story in it’s entirety by watching this animation, but I highly recommend checking out the book if you have the chance.

Penguin on Vacation by Salina Yoon

This week, the storytime kids were in on a very special treat. I read a book to them that hasn’t even been published yet. I was given an advanced readers copy of Penguin on Vacation by the publisher and decided to test drive it at storytime. It was a success. A story of friendship between two animals.

Penguin Walk: After the last book, I had all the kids stand up and I taught them how to walk like a penguin: Knees together, arms straight and pointing down, with extra waddle.

Penguin Craft:

When I decided to do a penguin storytime, I found a lot of great craft ideas (like the ones here and here and here) inspired by Tacky the Penguin. The concept made a great last minute craft for this storytime, but I couldn’t find a template large enough, so I made my own. I pre-cut all the pieces for the penguin and the mismatch shirt and bow-tie beforehand using cardstock and scrapbook paper. The kids glued all the pieces together along with a pair of large googly eyes. Very Tacky, indeed.

Here is how my little L’s penguin turned out:

I’ve included a template to use as a guide for making this craft. Print a few of these puppies out and cut the shapes needed for making your own penguin. (Hopefully, you can decipher my awful handwriting.):

Printable Penguin Template

We’re supposed to be hit with another winter storm this week. Might have to consider more arctic animals for next week’s storytime… Polar Bears? Seals? Abominable snowman?

Stay warm out there!

Stuffed Animal Storytime & Sleepover

This week, I decided to mix things up a bit with storytime. I’ve seen so many wonderful stuffed animal sleepover programs done at other libraries that I thought it was high time to host one at my library. Why not? So, this week’s storytime theme was “Stuffed Animal Storytime & Sleepover”. At last week’s storytime (and on the library’s website, Facebook, and Twitter accounts) I alerted the parents/caregivers about the twist on our regular storytime to make sure their child brought a stuffed animal with them. It drew quite the crowd, and almost every single child brought a stuffed friend.

The children sat with their stuffed animals and listened to stories about sleepovers and bedtime, they made a  Sleepy Star Mobile craft together, and then when it was time to go, made a tag with their name and their stuffed animal’s name and left them in my care for a library sleepover. (Disclaimer: I made sure there was no pressure for the children to leave there animals. Most did and some didn’t and all was just as well.) While the stuffed animals were “on their sleepover” my fellow children’s room co-worker Jenny and I snapped pictures of their adventures and antics. And you’re not going to believe the video the animals created during the middle of the night! Be sure to check it out when you scroll down below. For those children who did choose to let their stuffed animal sleepover,  they will receive a photo souvenir of their critter when they pick up their stuffed animal.  The stuffed animals had the best of time and I’m not gonna lie… We had a whole lot of fun as well.

Stuffed Animal Storytime Line-Up:

Maisy Goes on a Sleepover by Lucy Cousins

Maisy has never been on a sleepover before, so when Tallulah invites her to her first one Maisy is nervous and excited to attend. It doesn’t get better than Maisy Mouse when you want a strong preschool-age story.

Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan Thomas

Last November, this was our go-to bedtime story at home. This theme was the perfect time to break it in for library storytime. Cowboy is ready to sing his cows to sleep, but his lullaby keeps getting interrupted. Out of all the books read, this was the clear favorite of the bunch.

Stuffed Animals Get Ready for Bed by Alison Inches

A perfect tie-in to the theme; a little girl tames her wild stuffed animals in a sing-song rhyme that helps them get ready for bed.

Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems

Hold up a Pigeon book and you’ve got every single child’s attention. He’s a storytime crowd-pleaser. Kids love pigeon. Adults love pigeon. We ended this bedtime storytime with the best of the best.

Sleepy Star Mobile:

For the post-storytime craft, the kids made Sleepy Star Mobiles.  I found this craft on Cinjoella and the only thing I did differently is tweak the name. It’s extremely simple and looks great once complete. Here’s how the kids put theirs together…

Materials used: AccuCut, cardstock, scissors, gift ribbon, and tape.

Using our library’s Accucut, I cranked out a bunch of spiral cuts and stars out of colored cardstock.

I also printed out a few smaller star shapes and cut them out using scissors.

I cut a foot of ribbon, tied a knot in one end, and threaded it through the middle of the spiral. I did this beforehand for all the spirals. I also cut out dozens and dozens of 3-inch strips of ribbon.

After storytime, the kids made sure their spiral was upside-down (knot of the center ribbon facing up) and taped the stars to the spiral using ribbon and tape.

They continued to tape as many stars to their spiral as they saw fit.

Flip over and there you have it. A dreamy mobile.

The Sleepover:

 

The library storytime kids are all kinds of awesome, so naturally their stuffed animals would be just as awesome. Before leaving them with me after storytime the kids made name tags for their animals (one side with the animal’s name and their name on the other side). The kids kissed and hugged their friend’s goodbye, told them to behave, and were on their way. Since then, these stuffed animals had all the fun on their library sleepover. Jenny and I snapped pictures documenting their activities.

The animals got into the board games and played an intense round of Monopoly.

Fishing at the old library watering hole.

Everybody conga!

Miss Linda read the animals Goodnight Moon before it was time to go to bed.

But the animals were just too excited to sleep. Check out all the mischief they got into last night on the library’s Facebook page. In fact, it got so wild they made their own video inspired by the KU Basketball team’s Harlem Shake. This you’ve got to see…

Can you believe those animals? Out of control. I blame the fact that they consumed too much junk food last night.

Here’s a little behind the scenes Vine I made…

We’re working on a slideshow today/tomorrow and I will post it here when it’s up. The sleepover was a huge success and so much fun to put together. Looking forward to future stuffed animal storytimes in the library, but for now I’m ready for a nap. Those stuffed animals were up til’ dawn!

For more stuffed animal sleepover fun be sure to check out:

Library Programs Stuffed Animal Sleepover via GreenBeanTeenQueen

The Return of the Stuffed Animal Sleepover Story Time via The Show Me Librarian

Stuffed Animal Sleepover Family Night via Sunflower Storytime

Great Stuffed Animal Sleepover Party! via Garden Variety Librarian

Adventures as Annie: The Knight at Dawn

Magic Tree House Adventures is BACK! Thank you to everyone that has emailed and/or commented about the previous programs. I loved hearing your feedback. For those of you who are new here, Magic Tree House Adventures is a monthly public library program for ages 5-8. Each session is themed around a book in the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne in which there is a whole lot of history, science, activities, crafts, and plenty of fun. And I dress up as Annie. Braids and all.

For the first session we went back to the time of Knights and Castles as Jack and Annie did in The Knight at Dawn.

First… A Special Guest!

During the warmer months in Lawrence, I’ve seen a few men dressed in medieval wear practicing sword fighting in the park. I had no idea how to find these mysterious fighters, so I put it out there in the Twitter-verse, asking if anyone knew who they were. I received a reply within minutes. Thank you, Twitter. They’re a part of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and the Shire of Carlsby is located in Lawrence, Kansas. What luck! I reached out to them and one gentlemen agreed to visit the program and talk about what it was like to live back in the Middle Ages; the type of armor a knight wore, and what it was like to be a knight during that time. He brought helmets and chainmail, which he graciously allowed the kids to handle and pass around. It was awesome and they loved it. I’m so grateful they were able to make it.

Where Are We? Who Are They?

A Magic Tree House Adventures staple. “Where Are We? Who Are They?” is a 10-minute slideshow presentation/discussion where I flash a picture up on a projector and ask the kids what is going on in that particular image. For example, for this session the first picture was a picture drawn during the Middle Ages and I asked, “What year was this picture drawn? And what is going on in the picture? Do you think it was made last year?” We discussed The Middle Ages, the Feudal system, castles, parts of a castle, knights, tournaments, and battles.

Marshmallow Catapult, Castle Construction, & Sword Making

After “Where Are We? Who Are They?” the kids were divided into three groups and rotated between the various activities. These activities were marshmallow catapults, castle construction, and sword making.

Marshmallow Catapult

I talked very briefly about catapults and the physics of a catapult during the “Where Are We? Who Are They?” discussion. I told the kids to imagine a spring. When you press down on the spring that is called “potential energy”. It’s stored energy waiting to be released. When it is released and the spring bounces up, that is called “kinetic energy”. The result is movement. It is the same with a catapult. Press down (potential energy) and release (kinetic energy). What better way to test out what was discussed than flinging marshmallows at a castle? I created our own version of storming the castle using homemade catapults and poster board castles. I created several popsicle stick catapults using this guide. We used books and audiobooks to experiment with different shooting heights. I found it worked the best when the catapult was on a slope.

The only problem was that it was so fun that they didn’t seem to want to take turns. It was a hit.
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Chinese New Year Storytime

新年快樂

Happy Chinese New Year!

The most important Chinese holiday for the year, the Lunar New Year, started yesterday and will go on for the next 15 days. I have an extreme fondness of Chinese holidays and have many Chinese parents and families that regularly attend Sunday storytime, so having a Chinese New Year storytime is a must. Lily, a friend and parent who often brings her daughter to programs, was my special guest. She read the Chinese translation of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt while I read the English to the kids. It was so much fun!

This particular storytime was also the first storytime since the library’s move into a new building. What better way to break in the new library than by celebrating the New Lunar Year? New year, new library!

Here’s what we read and crafted to celebrate…

Chinese New Year Storytime Lineup:

Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin

Grace Lin does an excellent job with this book and her other picture books of introducing Chinese culture, customs, and holidays to young children. Bright illustrations and a simple, yet entertaining story teaches children how to bring in the New Year.

The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac by Dawn Casey, illustrated by Anne Wilson

A fun folk story paired with unique illustrations, The Great Race is a storytime winner. The kids and I discussed how this year is the Year of the Snake, and how this story is how it came to be that there are 12 years named after 12 different animals. After storytime, I handed out a Chinese zodiac chart so they could find what year they were born into.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (Chinese & English edition) by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxembury

Okay, so this was my favorite part of storytime. As I mentioned earlier, I had a wonderful volunteer, Lily, read with me the Chinese translation of a story most of the children were already familar with, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. Here’s a short video my husband took of us reading:

Paper Lantern Craft:

I know paper lanterns are pretty much the go-to Chinese New Year craft. It’s not my most original storytime craft, especially compared to last year, but they turned out swell nonetheless. They also fulfilled a teaching moment since lanterns play an important part in the Chinese New Year. On the 15th day, the last day, of the New Year celebration is the Lantern Festival. Thousands of lanterns are hung around the city or town and families parade the streets with their own stick lanterns. Additionally, red and yellow are believed to be lucky colors, so we made our lanterns in the staple New Year color palette of red, yellow, and gold.

Here’s how we made our paper lanterns:

Materials used:

• red and yellow paper or construction paper
• school glue
• tape
• scissors
• glitter
• tassels (found at a craft store)

Using a piece of yellow paper, I rolled the short sides of the paper into a cylinder so that the ends overlap by a 1/2 inch. Tape together and set it aside. (Note: You can also substitute glue for tape within these steps.)

Take a piece of red paper and fold it length-wise (hot dog way). On the folded edge, cut slits equal in length and size, but do not cut all the way to the open end. Be sure to leave at least a 1/4 inch at the end of each cut. These first two steps I prepared ahead of time for the younger kids. I left sheets of paper out for the older kids who have no problem using scissors, so they could accomplish the above steps on their own.

Unfold your red sheet of paper and decorate. The kids decorated their lanterns with markers and later with glitter.

Using your rolled yellow sheet of paper, wrap the red, opened piece of paper around the yellow. Secure by taping the red ends together and by also taping the red paper to the yellow paper.

 

If you’d like, decorate your lantern with glue and glitter at this time. I can’t help myself when it comes to glitter, so I decorated mine with glittery-gold sparkles. Let dry.

To make a handle and a tassel bottom on your lanter, cut out two strips of paper and cut one of the strips in half. (This is another step I did ahead of time for the younger kids)

Using the longer strip, fasten both ends to the inside of the lantern using tape.

Using the shorter strip of paper, loop your tassel onto it, and then fasten the ends of the strip to the bottom inside of the lantern with tape.

Hang and enjoy! This year, the Lantern Festival is on February 24, 2013.

Additional Reading:

Moonbeams, Dumplings, & Dragon Boats by Nina Simonds, Leslie Swartz, & The Children’s Museum, Boston, illustrated by Meilo So

A great deal of information I gathered for this particular storytime, as well as the inspiration behind the lantern craft above, came from this book, Moonbeams Dumplings, & Dragon Boats. A fantastic guide of ancient folklore, facts, activities, crafts, and recipes for celebrating Chinese festivals throughout the year. And Meilo So’s illustrations are absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend checking it out.

image source: lantern festival illustration by meilo so

ALA Midwinter Madness

I’m back!!!

Tuesday night I returned home from ALA Midwinter to a very sick kiddo. She has that fever, cough, congestion thing that’s going around, and if you’re a parent/work with kids, you know exactly what I’m talking about. While she took a little afternoon snooze today, I thought I’d catch-up and write a quick recap on my Seattle experience, the Youth Media Awards, Vine-ing and more!

To start, I have never been to Seattle and it’s true what they say – it rained every day. Regardless, it was so much fun. Between meetings, discussions, walking through the exhibits, and events, it was a busy and sleepless trip. To keep this brief, I’m sticking to the highlights. There was the book previewing and chit-chat in the exhibits with Danielle from There’s a Book!, who is lovely and wonderful in every way. Nerds united at the Nerdy Book Club (#nerdybookclub) dinner meetup organized by Ms. Shannon Houghton which was a blast, and might I add delicious. Great people with big book hearts.

And not to forget the Random House Newbery Discussion at the Seattle Public Library (futuristic building pictured above) featuring seven Newbery Winner and Honor authors including Christopher Paul Curtis, Jennifer L. Holm, Kirby Larson, Louis Sachar, Jerry Spinelli, Rebecca Stead, Claire Vanderpool, and moderated by none-other than Nancy Pearl.

Talk about a great lineup, right? The authors were charming and the discussion was lively and funny. The aftermath effects are that I now have a crush on Christopher Paul Curtis.

Last but not least I had the privilege of attending the Youth Media Awards! The energy is that ballroom in the Seattle Convention Center at 8am in the morning was palpable. Rumbling chatter before, cheers and clapping during (with the occasional gasp of  shock). I’ve never been in a place where there were so much excitement all for the love of children’s and YA literature. If you’re interested in watching an encore of the awards presentation, you can watch them in their entirety here. A selection of this year’s winning books include:

Newbery Medal Winner: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Newbery Honors:

• Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
• Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
• Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

Caldecott Medal Winner: This is Not My Hat illustrated and written by Jon Klassen

Caldecott Honors:

• Green illustrated and written by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• One Cool Friend illustrated by David Small, written by Toni Buzzeo
• Sleep Like a Tiger illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski,
• Extra Yarn illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett
• Creepy Carrots! illustrated by Peter Brown, written by Aaron Reynolds

Geisel Award Winner: Up, Tall and High! written and illustrated by Ethan Long is the Seuss Award winner.

Geisel Honors:

• Let’s Go for a Drive! written and illustrated by Mo Willems
• Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin, created and illustrated by James Dean
• Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover written and illustrated by Cece Bell

Coretta Scott King Author Book Award Winner:  Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney

Corretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner: I, Too, Am America poem by Langston Hughs, illustrated by Bryan Collier

Belpre Illustrator Award Winner: Martín de Porres: The Rose in the Desert illustrated by David Diaz written by Gary D. Schmidt

Belpre Author Award Winner: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Sibert Award Winner: Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

Bomb swept the house with two wins and one honor, Jon Klassan won both a Caldecott medal and honor (a very rare occurrence), and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe also cleaned up nicely with a Belpre win, a Stonewall win, and a Printz honor. Wowza. Just a reminder that this list is only a sampling of the 2013 winners. The full list, in it’s entirety, can be found here. Also, School Library Journal conveniently organized all their reviews of the top winners into one post here.

On the last day after the awards, I did make a point to go to Pike Place Market with a couple coworkers to have a bowl of clam chowder at Ivar’s. I also bought a bag so I could bring back the enormous stash of ARCs, posters, and goodies I picked up specifically for my coworkers and my daughter.

As for the books I’m most looking forward to reading after my trip? Here’s my post ALA Midwinter reading list…

My very first Vine production!  Have you tested out Vine yet? It’s an app that allows you to make short videos and loops in the same fashion as a GIF would. Kinda fun. I linked my first Vine clip to Vimeo and added a background track to it.

So, what’s on your reading upcoming list?

Here’s a text version of mine:

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool

The Boy in the Oak by Jessica Albarn

The Runaway King (sequel to The False Prince) by Jennifer A. Neilsen

Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli

Loki’s Wolves by K.L. Armstrong & M.A. Marr

The Water Castle by Megan Frazer Blakemore

The Center of Everything by Linda Urban

 

Post ALA Midwinter Reading List from Rebecca Dunn on Vimeo