Caterpillars & Butterflies

Today we read about caterpillars and butterflies and attempted connections between these two creatures. We began with the favorite The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Some Storytimers joined in with naming numbers, types of food, and with repetitive phrases as we watched the very hungry caterpillar turn to a beautiful butterfly! We also read Don't Worry Bear by Greg E. Foley, about a bear with a caterpillar friend who forms a cocoon and emerges as a moth. Our last story was my favorite, Caterpillar Dreams by Clive McFarland, about a caterpillar who, with the help of some friends, goes off on an exciting adventure!

Then we made both a caterpillar and a butterfly! We used liquid glue to attach pompons to the caterpillar's craft stick body, them set the creation aside and showed patience as we waited for the glue to dry.  While we waited, we used glue sticks to stick tissue paper squares on the butterfly's wings and added eyes and pipe cleaner antennae to both critters. Some of us with hang these creations on the kitchen refrigerator with magnetic tape for the back!

Have YOU seen caterpillars and butterflies this summer?

Crickets!!

One of the sounds of summer's end is crickets chirping in the evening into the night. Today we read stories about them and talked about how we can listen for them, perhaps even in the daytime! We started Storytime with The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle, a story about a little cricket who grows into his voice. Then we read Cricket Song by Ann Hunter, about a boy who listens to the sounds of crickets as he falls asleep and other creatures in community get ready for the night. Our last book was I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe, a story about a small cricket who has been convinced that he's ugly and the surprise that lets us all know how beautiful he and his song really are.

We made crickets from cut out paper legs (six of them, of course!) and head and a paper plate body. We covered the paper plate with green tissue paper squares and glued on the body parts. Red reinforcements worked for eyes and gold pipe cleaners made the antennae.

This young Storytimer even made her cricket smile!

Summer Reading Program Numbers

The Summer Reading Program totals are in! Please be sure to thank our sponsors - and the Friends of the Gordon- Nash Library - for their part in making the program such a success this year. Thanks especially to the children who did the all that reading and to the parents and caregivers who encouraged them!

Here's a link to a bigger version of this infograph.