Apple Picking Time

At Thursday Storytime, we read stories about apples. Apple Trouble by Ragnhild Scamell was about a hedgehog who got an apple, and then other items, stuck to her spines and she couldn't fit in her new home. Ned's New Home by Kevin Tseng told about a worm who lived in an apple that was starting to rot. The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall shows an apple tree in all seasons as a family waits for the apples so they can make a pie. Our last book, Ten Apples Up On Top, is a funny book by Dr. Seuss about friends who can balance tall piles of apples on their heads!

We cut open an apple and were surprised to see the star inside made by the apple seeds! Then we collaged a big paper plate with all sorts of red materials - construction and tissue paper, ribbon, yarn, foam - to make the plate look like an apple. Some chose to put seeds in the middle of their apples. A twisty stem and a leaf finished the project. See?

Caterpillars & Butterflies

Recently, I attended an event for Children's Librarians, and was able to choose a free picture book to take back to our library. I loved Caterpillar Dreams by Clive McFarland so much, I was anxious to bring it to Storytime so I could read it to kids! Henri, the caterpillar, was determined to fly and go on an amazing adventure - and he does! Check out the book to find out how! We also read Don't Worry Bear by Greg Foley, about Bear who is concerned as a small friend changes his form. Our last book was an old favorite: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This book is beautifully designed and illustrated, and children love it.

After a quick demonstration of symmetry, we made a butterfly with a craft stick body and beautifully decorated wings. We used stickers, tissue paper squares, foam shapes, wiki-stixs, crayons and markers to make the plain wings so colorful!

Kindergarten is Back!

New Hampton Community School Kindergartners are again walking to the Gordon-Nash Library once a month, as weather permits. We at the library are so excited and happy to continue this collaborative tradition!

After a quick tour of the library, we read this funny book about a gardener trying to save his crops from clever, hungry rabbits. We loved Muncha, Muncha, Muncha by Candace Fleming!

Then we watched as Kindergarten teacher Judi Bird demonstrated how to choose books from the shelves. She picked a few books to take back to kindergarten so students could read them during class. Next time, everyone will choose his or her own book to take back to kindergarten!  

I was so excited to see these kindergartners that I forgot to take a picture! Here they are, going back to school! We can't wait until you come back in October!

Good Friends

Our Storytime books today were all about friends and friendships. There are so many books in out library about friends, it was very hard to pick! But first we read Help! A Story of Friendship by Holly Keller, about a mouse in trouble and the friends who help her out. We read Bear Feels Scared by Karma Wilson, about a bear who was alone and frightened one night during a storm. Can you guess who helped Bear out? We read Virgil & Owen by Paulette Bogan, about a penguin who wants his new friend to have only one friend - him! Will You Be My Friend by Nancy Tafuri told about how a bird and a bunny became good friends. And Yo! Yes! by Chris Raschka was a quick story with just a few words but very expressive illustrations. We could almost tell the story just by looking at the pictures!

Then we made paper dolls of our friends. We decorated a paper person with yarn hair, a marker nose, and googley eyes. Then we added clothes, like shirts and skirts and pants. Some of us decorated the clothes with stickers and circles or stars and some added belts to the pant. One child even made her father - with a beard!

Thank yous - and a favor

The 2017 Summer Reading Program numbers are in! The most important ones are listed here.

So many generous businesses and organizations contributed to the success of this year's program. If you visit them, a word of thanks for their support would mean a lot - to the businesses, to the volunteers, and to us at the library.

The Common Man Restaurants

Hannaford of Bristol
The Friends of the Gordon-Nash Library

Jeremy Hiltz Excavation

Jordan's Ice Creamery 
Laconia SWAT

The Newfound Teachers' Union

NH Department of Transportation

The New Hampton School

The New Hampton Fire Department

Rossi's Italian Ristorante & Pizzeria 

Subway of New Hampton

Wellington State Park

&

Emily

Many thanks as well to the patrons and parents who provided ice cream, vehicles, programming costs, and more. Thank you to busy families who came to our Tuesday night programs or Thursday Storytimes. Finally, thanks to the parents who made sure their kids read over the summer and encouraged them to be "kind kids". You all helped us to Build a Better World at the Gordon-Nash!

In the Garden

Lots of young gardeners came to this week's Storytime, and we read three funny books about growing things. Muncha, Muncha, Muncha by Candace Fleming was a funny story of a gardener who was trying to save his vegetables from three bunnies. Up, Down, and All Around by Katherine Ayres was about vegetables that grow up, down, and all around! The last book, Carrot Soup by John Segal was about a rabbit who tended his carrot crop all spring and summer, but in fall, they all disappeared!

In some of our books, we saw a scarecrow - and that's what we made for a craft!

We Love Bugs!

Our books this week were all related to bugs! Here are the stories we read. 

Then we made an insect craft. The insect's base was a drinking straw. A piece of pool noodle was threaded on for the insect's abdomen, a pom-pom was glued on for its head and, between those two body parts, three pipe cleaners were twisted to make a throax with six legs. Reinforcements were big insect eyes and foil wings were glued to the throax area. It was a great looking insect with all the right body parts!

Then we snipped the back end of the straw with scissors to make it look like the tapered back of an insect. And when we blew into that part, the vibrations made a buzzing sound - like an insect!