LEGO Time

This summer, we've had several Tuesday afternoon drop-in LEGO times, where kids (and adults!) can stop in and build with their friends. Mr. Dowal has been available for questions - and ideas, and even Mrs. Blackey has join in on the fun! It sure is great to be together and building again! We have one more session on Tuesday, August 10. Maybe you could join us?

Storytime: Tales & Tails of the Forest

 

At our Tails & Tales Storytime this week, we read these stories of the forest and books with woodland animals as characters. 

Then we used a paper bag base for a design of an animal of the forest. With construction paper and our imaginations, we made the animals we wanted. And what a variety of woodland critters we had!

Ben's Book Review

Dog Man: Mothering Heights 

by Dav Pilkey

 

This book is very good, I like it a lot!

 
My favorite part is Chapter 4 when Dog Man transformed into a robot! It's fun, funny and silly.
 
It has all the same people from Book 1 including the Nurse Lady!
 
This is why kids should read it! And it is now loved around the world! (Hint: Look at the cover on top of the book title!)

Summer Reading Program update: Our First Storytime!

Our first Thursday Storytime since winter of 2020 - and we had so much fun!! It's wonderful to have children in the new space listening to stories and doing crafts after being there by myself for so many months!

Our weekly "Tails and Tales" will all be related to animal distinctions and habitats. This first week: Tales & Tails from the Zoo: Lions & Tigers & Bears - Oh My! We read A Sick Day for Amos McGee about a kind zookeeper with a special relationship with his animals. We also read Zoozical about zoo animals who put on a special show for the town.  For our craft, we made a lion or tiger or bear and had pictures taken in front of the appropriate tail. See?

Sign up for Summer Reading!

 

GORDON-NASH LIBRARY At New Hampton School

2021 SUMMER READING PROGRAM

The Gordon-Nash Summer Reading Program for kids is back - and it's in person! This year's theme is "Tails and Tales" so you know there will be an animal focus! The Summer Reading Program encourages children to read over the summer months when they are way from school and formal learning. At the library, we have "Tails & Tales" forms for readers to help them track minutes they've read (or been read to) each day. We suggest 15 minutes per day for beginning readers and 30 minutes for more fluent ones, but would also be willing to set individual goals with your child. We have adapted forms for very young children who are read to or for older readers who would rather record book titles than minutes read. We offer small incentives for children to check in with us on their progress throughout the summer weeks. And we're working on an end-of-program raffle with chances to win books and gift certificates. Finally, kids do not need to read books exclusively from the Gordon-Nash - they can borrow books from friends, from other libraries, or they can read online. If your child wants a Gordon-Nash library card, all we need is parent information. 

Our weekly Storytime will also follow the "Tales & Tails" theme, with stories and a craft every Thursday from 10:45-11:45 downstairs in the new Children's Room.  

June 24: Tails & Tales from the Zoo: Lions & Tigers & Bears - Oh My!
July 1: Tails & Tales from Home: We 🖤Our Pets!
July 8: Tails & Tales from the Farm: E-I-E-I-O!
July 15: Tails & Tales from the Forest: Goin’ on a Bear Hunt!
July 22: Tails & Tales from The Jungle: Lions & Tigers & Monkeys (oh my!)
July 29: Tails & Tales from the Sea: A Whale of a Good Time

August 5: Tails & Tales Menagerie: Animal Requests from YOU!

More great news! We'll also have several drop-in, free-build "LEGO Times" for elementary age kids - and, as a LEGO resource, GNL volunteer Mike Dowal will be back! Sessions will be Tuesdays from 4:30-5:30 - on June 29th, July 6th and 20th, and August 10th (or 11th). 

To enroll your child in the Gordon-Nash Summer Reading Program, come visit us at the library, call us at 677-3740, or email us at library@newhampton.org. We're so happy to be back in business again and we look forward to seeing you all at the library! 

Summer Reading Program - Evening Events for Families!

GORDON-NASH LIBRARY At New Hampton School

2021 SUMMER READING PROGRAM

I am so excited to announce that this summer, we will again be able to gather for family programming as part of the Gordon-Nash Library's "Tails and Tales" Summer Reading Program. Our evening family programs will be held outside, under the maples on the lawn of the New Hampton School campus, directly across the street from the library. We could not ask for a more beautiful or convenient outdoor setting. Our presenters are excited to again perform for live audiences and all four have kindly scheduled rain dates in case of inclement weather. All programs will be held from 6:30-7:30. We ask that you bring chairs or blankets, bug spray if necessary, and water if you like. We hope you will come and join us for the fun.

Tuesday, June 22nd 

Steve Blunt, Musician
Fun, upbeat songs that tickle the funny bone, warm the heart, and delight the imagination - with lots of audience participation. For young and old alike.

Steve has been one of our most popular presenters in the past. We're so excited to have him returning!  

Tuesday, July 13th
Lindsay & Her Puppet Pals

Lindsay brings her larger than life Puppet Pals to child and family audiences across New England. Filled with silliness, active audience engagement, and memorable characters, this series of charming short stories will delight the young and the young at heart!

A New Hampshire native, Lindsay also is a return performer. The puppets she designs and gives voices to are amazing! A great show for kids!

Tuesday, July 27th
Melodious Zach!
Melodious songs and music, whimsical comedy, and science-fantasy.

He grew up in the Newfound area, went to local schools (and the GNL Summer Reading Program!), and now singer and songwriter Zach Benton is back! He's also now an actor, filmmaker, author, and a One-Man Band. As seen on NH Chronicle, Zach's shows are fun for all ages! I can't wait!

Tuesday, August 3rd.

Squam Lakes Science Center "No Two Tails Alike"
An animal's tail can serve as a rudder when swimming, help with agility during flight, or can even function like an extra hand. Meet live native wildlife ambassadors as a naturalist from the science center tells tales of the tails of some of New Hampshire's native wildlife. 

Always a favorite show with kids (and adults)!  This will be our final family event of the summer - so be sure to come and see what New Hampshire "tails" the naturalists will be bringing to share!

Time to Plant!

 This week's take-home craft is a kit for starting sunflower seeds. In the take-home kit, you’ll find a paper cup, a small bag of potting soil, and an envelope. Inside the envelope are some spring stickers and four sunflower seeds. Use the peel-and-stick stickers to decorate the outside of the cup. Then plant the seeds in the cup and put it somewhere where your child can water it and watch the plants grow. After a few weeks, move them to the garden or to a bigger pot. They can get tall pretty fast!

Alternatively, you can plant them directly in the ground. They should germinate at about the same rate with the warm weather we've been having. I think I'll add a plant marker to the kit!

Spring!

I think it's finally Spring! Those trees that had flowers last week are getting leaves this week! Hooray for Spring!

This week's take-home craft is a flower arrangement on a cup. Each flower is made from two white circles, colored or cut, with a pipe cleaner glued between them. Twisty pipe cleaner stems make the flowers look "Spring-y"! The cup can be decorated using the special-cut paper in the kit. A cute spring arrangement for someone special!

Happy Spring!

Poetry, and a Poet-Tree!

April is Poetry Month and April 29th is Poem In Your Pocket Day - a day to carry a favorite poem and to share it with others. Since I can't share a poem from my pocket this year, I'll share one of my favorites with you here on the blog. 

I love Jack Prelutsky (what kid doesn't?) and this is one of my favorite poems by him - perfect for Spring weather! You can read it here...or listen to it here (sung by one of my favorite musicians Natalie Merchant!)... or watch an animated version here!

It's a very silly poem, but I like it because it's cleverly written - and it's about ice cream!

And, since it's Poetry Month, this week's take home craft is a Spring (Poet) Tree! Up until a few weeks ago, many trees here looked like this one:

Now, after a few weeks of warm weather and a little rain, some trees look like this:

Lots of trees get flowers in the Spring. Sometimes they're green so you think they must be leaves - but if you look carefully, you'll see tiny or odd-shaped little flowers that appear before the leaves. Take a walk, and go look at a tree! See how it's growing. 

Then, make your own Spring tree with our take-home kit: a paper plate, a sturdy brown paper trunk, and some thin strips of brown paper to snip or tear into branches. You can color the plate first if you want, or make some grass, or a blue sky. Then make the tree and add tissue paper "flowers" or "leaves" with the tiny tissue squares in the kit. A little Springtime for your wall or your refrigerator door!

Frogs - and Toads!

Frogs! Have you seen them yet? Have you heard them at night? This week's take-home craft is a frog puppet. The folding of the paper for the puppet is a bit tricky at first, and there are simple directions in the kit for you adults to follow and to practice. But once you figure out how easy it is to fold one, you can make as many as you want - and turn them into other puppet animals, or even puppet people! I will definitely be making this versatile puppet base with kids over and over. I bet with some brown paper (or maybe a piece of a paper bag), you could even make a toad puppet at home. So call the library or email us if you want a take-home kit!

Speaking of frogs (and toads), here's one of my favorites as a quick read-aloud for this week. If you want to read more of this Frog & Toad Treasury, it's available for Curbside pickup!  And if you want a factual frog book for kids, check out Frogs by Gail Gibbons. We have the book at the library, and there's a good video of it here.