Animal Antics!

This week we read favorite books that featured funny animals. The funny book If All The Animals Came Inside by Eric Pinder tells the things that would happen if animals came into a house and the terrible mess it would make. Chris Van Dusen's The Circus Ship tells the sometimes sad story of circus animals that washed ashore on an island after their ship sank - and how they lived happily ever after!

Next we worked on our craft. Kids decorated a white paper animal shape to be a horse, cow, donkey - even a unicorn! Dots, paper stripes, and collaged paper made markings for the animal and yarn made manes and tails. The final touch - clothespin legs so the animal could stand...and run and trot and gallop and canter...

Summer Reading Program: Squam Lakes Natural Science Center

Tonight's program presented by Squam Lakes Natural Science Center featured naturalist Eric D'Aleo, his assistant Odin, and three New Hampshire animals from their center.

First, a woodchuck. Eric says they don't name their animals because they are not pets. He showed us slides to help us see what a woodchuck den looks like underground. He said a woodchuck breathes very, very slowly in the winter when they hibernate, and we practiced doing that. We could not touch the animal, but Odin let us feel a woodchuck pelt.

Next, the naturalist brought out an owl. This bird was injured as a baby and has lived its whole life at the Science Center. It was on a tether, but we had to be very quiet so we wouldn't scare it. Eric let volunteers hold an owl wing and compare it to the wings of other birds. It was covered in special feathers that make it so quiet as it moves through the air. Eric taught us about an owl's super hearing ability. We cupped our hands over our ears as he whispered - and we could hear him, even when he stood behind the crowd and we cupped one hand forward and one hand backward. Amazing!

Before he brought out the final animal, Eric and Odin taught us a bit about the speed at which some animals can move. They had a few volunteers run as fast as they could for the length of the room, and they timed them with a stopwatch. A few kids ran as fast as a mink, and one ran as fast as a skunk!

Our last animal was a striped skunk! Its scent glands had been removed so we didn't worry about the smell! A skunk is an omnivore and we watched it sample all kinds of food. Again, the naturalists let us hold a skunk pelt because we couldn't hold a skunk! We learned that a skunk does not really want to spray and will send a predator several warning signals before it does. 

When their presentation was over, we had a chance to examine some of the feathers, wings, eggs, and skulls brought from the Science Center. 

If an owl's head was the size of ours, this is how big its eyes would be! Wow!

Our eyes were really big after this presentation! What a lot to see and learn! Thanks to the Eric, Odin, and the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center for bringing their animals to the Gordon-Nash!

Summer Reading Program: Special Show!

ANIMAL ATHLETES! Tuesday, July 26th. 6:30-7:30. A naturalist from the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center will be bringing three animal athletes to show. Find out how speed, strength, and agility help them to survive in the NH wilderness. Compare your own athletic abilities to some of New Hampshire’s wild athletes! Suitable for all ages. The Gordon-Nash Library 69 Main Street New Hampton NH 744-8061

Ninja Storytime!

Hi-yah! It's Ninja Storytime! We read Dojo Daycare by Chris Tougas, a rhyming book about ninja boys and girls who must learn honor, kindness, and respect to get along at daycare. We read Wink: the Ninja Who Wanted to be Noticed by J.C. Phillipps, about a young ninja who has trouble being silent and stealthy. After our craft, we read Ninja Red Riding Hood by Corey Rosen Schwartz, a funny story about the girl we all know and the wolf who tried to trick her - and her grandma!

Our craft was a little ninja made from a toilet paper tube base. We decorated paper to wrap around the ninja, then added a mask, a yarn belt, a straw sword and googly ninja eyes.  And some of us were happy just to draw!

Bye-yah!

Summer Reading Program: Martial Arts!

Coach Craig (Willey) from White Mtn. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts came to the library to tell us about the jiu-jitsu he practices and teaches and to show us a few techniques and positions. He told us about the history of jiu-jitsu and what it is and is not used for.

He had his two children there to help him. McGowan actually got his father in a hold that he had to "tap out" of because there was no way he could move. We were really impressed that a kid could do that!

It sounds like it takes lots of hard work, perseverance, and strength to be good at jui-jitsu. Getting different color belts can take a very long time.

It was fun to see what this kind of martial arts is all about! Thanks for your visit, Coach Craig!

Summer Reading Program: Mapping Our Progress

Here's our bulletin board at the halfway point of the Summer Reading Program. Each small sticker indicates a book that's been read. Kids can choose where their stickers will lead them - to a village, a playground, a theater, a pet store...  Notice one reader is walking right up the middle of the river to the mountains!

Staying Healthy

Today we read and talked about some of the things our bodies need to stay healthy, like food, exercise, and sleep. We read No Sleep for the Sheep by Karen Beaumont about a sheep who couldn't sleep because of his noisy barn mates. Murphy Meets the Treadmill by Harriet Ziefert told about a dog's need for exercise after having too many treats from well-meaning people. Finally, David Larochelle's How Martha Saved Her Parents from Green Beans was a funny story about a girl who wouldn't eat green beans until she absolutely had to! Read it to find out why!

To help us have good dreams, we made a dreamcatcher from a paper plate, yarn, beads, and feathers. Each one was different, and beautiful! Sweet dreams!

Summer Reading Program: Yoga for Kids

Cat, cow, downward dog...these were some of the positions kids held in tonight's yoga program with Shannon VanSickle of Holderness. Kids stretched and rolled and balanced in this hour long program that dealt with yoga basics. Shannon began the session by reading aloud The Legend of The Ladyslipper by Margi Preus. In this Ojibwe tale, a young girl shows bravery by setting out in the cold of winter to get supplies to heal her sick people. She loses her moccasins in the snow and ice, and the following Spring, ladyslipper flowers sprout where her footprints had been. 

After the story, Shannon had children retell the story and together they devised movements and poses to show the girl's actions. 

When they were finished, Shannon led kids through some traditional yoga poses and stretches...

...and then into a state of rest and relaxation. It was silent as kids lay on the rug and kept their bodies and minds still. 

Kids loved this program! When the session ended, Shannon distributed interest forms to parents asking about having a weekly yoga program for children. Interested? Call the library and let us know!

Nature Storytime

For today's nature storytime, we read these three books. The Great Big Green by Peggy Gifford is

full of riddles and artwork all about our Earth. There Is a Bird Your Head by Mo Willems is another funny Elephant and Piggie book. My favorite to read was Henry Hikes to Fitchburg by D.B. Johnson. Henry hikes, his friend raises money to take the train, and the question is this: Who has the better trip? 

Next we used three trays full of flowers, ferns, leaves, and stems to make a natural sun catcher. Sticky contact paper was attached to the cut out center of a paper plate, and natural things were stuck to it. Some used petals and pieces to make a scene, others just stuck on what they liked. All were so different and so beautiful when held up to the window!