Summer Reading Program 2023: Touch a Truck!

The rain held off and we had a successful Touch-a-Truck event last night at the Gordon-Nash for our first Summer Reading Program family event. 

Kids visited each vehicle to hear from the driver about how his or her work helps our community. The town's grader and the NHDOT trucks help to keep roadways safe for cars and people. After the Waste Management truck collects trash from the big green WM bins, some of it gets turned into electricity! The police cruiser and the fire truck help with safety in our town. When the fish raised at the fish hatchery have grown, the hatchery truck delivers them to New Hampshire rivers and lakes and lets them free. The tow truck had a big flat bed on the back - long enough to move a disabled car or small truck to a garage for repair. And other big vehicles help with building or repair projects in our community.

Thanks to the following businesses for their vehicles, for their knowledgeable and patient drivers and owners, and for the small gifts to help kids remember this special event.

New Hampton Public Works Department

New Hampton Fire Department

New Hampton Police Department

New Hampshire Department of Transportation

New Hampton Auto Towing & Recovery

New Hampton Fish Hatchery

Waste Management

Jeremy Hiltz Excavating, Inc

The New Hampton School

2022 Summer Reading Program, with Oceans of Possibilities!

We at the Gordon-Nash Library are so excited to offer this year's in-person, Summer Reading Program to area children and families. Our Tuesday evening family programs and our Thursday Storytimes are all ocean or water-themed. We have reading logs and stickers so kids can easily track reading progress. Wednesday LEGO time is back, with the addition of a few STEM programs. And we'll be holding an end-of-summer raffle with fabulous prizes generously donated by our local businesses.

Details are below - email or call with questions. Be sure to bring your kids to sign up. Keep an eye on this page for updates, Like our Gordon-Nash Facebook page, and look for weekly emails. We can't wait to see you and your family at the library this summer!

2022 SUMMER READING PROGRAM AT THE GORDON-NASH LIBRARY:

OCEANS OF POSSIBILITIES!

Saturday, June 18 or June 25: 11:30-1:30: Kick-off event to SIGN UP for the Oceans of Possibilities Summer Reading Program. Wear your pirate gear, take some pirate selfies, make a pirate craft, pirate games, books, and activities - and maybe some treasure! Pick up reading logs & stickers to track reading progress, and earn a ticket for our end-of-summer raffle with fabulous community-sponsored prizes!

Tuesday Night Family Events 

• June 28: Special Build-a-Bear type workshop, by invitation only, for the first 20 kids to sign up for the Summer Reading Program after June 17. 

• July 5 at 6pm: Movie Night: “Oceans” rated G. Air-conditioned, downstairs at the library.

• July 12 at 6pm: Whales & Seals Storytime, with Hands-On Interactive Experiences Led by Marine Docents From UNH. On the lawn under the maple, across from the library. Bring a blanket and bug spray.

• July 19 at 6:30pm: MiniBoats Across the Ocean: How a student-made boat sailed across the Atlantic (and how to follow other miniboats now at sea!). Presentation with Sheila Adams & Students from Rye Middle School. Downstairs at the library. 

• July 26 at 6:30: Aquatic Critters from The Squam Lakes Science Center. On the lawn under the maple, across from the library. Bring a blanket and bug spray.

• August 2 at 6pm: Movie Night: “The Little Mermaid (Rated G) - the interactive/sing-along version! Air-conditioned, downstairs at the library.

• August 9 at 6:30: Melodious Zach’s Seaside Review. Back by popular demand, Zach Benton with songs, comedy, skits, and friends from the ocean. On the lawn under the maple, across from the library. Bring a blanket and bug spray.

• August 16 at 6:30: Ice Cream Social on the lawn under the maple, across from the library. Bring a blanket and an ice cream topping to share!

Wednesdays: Drop in LEGO or STEM programs from 4-5pm, upstairs in the library.

Thursdays: All-ages Storytime from 10:45-11:45. Ocean-themed stories & a craft & fun with your friends. 

For questions or additional information, call or email

Christine Hunewell, Children’s Program Coordinator

chunewill(at)newhampton.org

___________

Please support our raffle donors! 

Jeremy Hiltz Excavating, Inc ● Store#2369 Tilton Walmart ● Rossi’s Italian Ristorante & Pizzeria ● Subway of New Hampton ● White Meowtain Grooming ● Pinnacle Kitchens ● Newfound Coin & Jewelry ● Twin Designs, Home of Diane the Turtle ● New Hampton Community School ● Lafayette Family Resort-Wells, ME.

The Gordon-Nash Library at New Hampton School

69 Main Street, New Hampton, NH 03256

603-677-3740

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!

For Independent Learning: The New Hampton Nature Trail

Today was a beautiful Spring Wednesday, and I took my first walk of the year on our New Hampton Nature Trail. I walked the trails, I did some of the exercise stations, I sat and read my book, and I took lots of photos. What a great place to relax, rejuvenate, and learn!

All along the trail, there are woodland flowers and plants, many with tiny signs giving the name of the plant.

There are little streams and even a vernal pool, with lots to notice! Can you find the eggs?

Look at this long tree trunk! Do you suppose creatures live here?

What sort of bird made this nest in the grasses?

A beautiful walking trail - right in our own community! 

Don't forget the importance of social distancing! But get out!

The New Hampton Nature Trail website has maps and lots more information! Here's the link!

And here's a not-so-great video. Next time, I'll remember to turn my phone!

Online Resources for Families

It's been only a the few days since schools have closed, many businesses have shuttered, and we've all begun to practice "social distancing", but in that short time period so many online resources have become available for children! It's amazing!

These are in no particular order and may move around on the page. I'm checking and adding more links as I find them. 

Stay tuned. 

~Chris

Lauren Tarshis reads aloud her book, I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic

Good Night with Dolly
Dolly Parton of the Imagination Library reads books, "all carefully chosen for their appropriate content at this moment in time."

Read-Along with PBS Kids

Read, Wonder, and Learn! Favorite Authors & Illustrators Share Resources for Learning Anywhere – Spring 2020

Storyline Online

The Big List of Children’s Authors Doing Online Read Alouds & Activities

Eric Carle reads "A Very Hungry Caterpillar"

Educational Resources & Activities for Kids Ages 6 – 8

The Parents Guide to Google Classroom

Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems

Draw Everyday with Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Storytime from Space

Jarrett Learner's Activities

Scholastic Learn at Home

Engineering Activities for Kids (when Under Quarantine)

Unite for Literacy: e-books for beginning readers

Bedtime Math

Mystery Science

Science Mom & Math Dad

Brainpop Videos

Time for Kids

Squam Lakes Association's "SHARE LEARN ADVENTURE"

Learning at Home Resources While Social Distancing from The Genius of Play

Skybrary by Reading is Fundamental - free one month membership, $4.99 monthly thereafter

Magic Tree House Printables and Activities


Finally, I'm passing along this little song. I love it, and I bet kids would, too.

B-HVS Holiday Celebration

Again this year, I was invited to be a part of today's Holiday Celebration for the students at Bridgewater-Hebron Village School. I brought holiday books from the Gordon-Nash and a few special ones from my personal Christmas collection. Students were able to listen to a read-aloud, draw, color, or browse books on their own. Favorite books were If You Ever Want to Bring a Pirate to Meet Santa, Don't! by Elise Parsley and The LEGO Night Before Christmas illustrated (with LEGO!) by Amanda Brack. Also a hit was The Night Before Christmas illustrated by B-HVS's Administrative Assistant, Mrs. Hunewill, when she was a Newfound third grader.

It was wonderful to see so many of our former Storytime patrons at their school! Thanks to Ms. Connor at B-HVS for inviting the Gordon-Nash to be an important part of this memorable school tradition.

Welcoming Library

This month in the Children's Room, we have displayed the Welcoming Library, a wonderful children's book collection about new neighbors.

Read Across Newfound

This week, I was invited to Bridgewater-Hebron Village School as part of their annual Read Across Newfound week celebrating books and reading. I was a guest reader in Mrs. McLean's second grade classroom. I read two books to the second graders, both about animals. The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen is one of my favorites, based on a true story about a ship full of circus animals that sunk in the North Atlantic. This book is fiction, though, and we talked about what made it so - the funny animals, the humorous story, the characters in the book. Next we read Out of the Woods by Rebecca Bond, also based on a true story from the author's family. It involved humans and animals seeking shelter in a lake, and we briefly talked about the likelihood of such an event happening as depicted in the book. Before I left, I gave each student an animal bookmark to color. The students were a wonderful audience with good insights into each story. Thanks to B-HVS for giving me this outreach opportunity for fun with great kids!

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. 

Summer Reading Program: Week 1

The first week of our Summer Reading Program is in the books! We had a successful kick-off celebration with ice cream courtesy of the Common Man Restaurants followed by an amazing performance from Magic by George. We have so many questions about how the magician did some of his tricks, including suspending one of our young patrons in the air! Wow!

Thursday's Storytime was music-related, with stories like Bugtown Boogie by Warren Hanson, about a child who happens upon an all-night dance party in a tree trunk in Bugtown. We also read Bats in the Band by Brian Lies, with bats setting up an concert in an empty theater. Our last book was Froggy Plays in the Band by Jonathan London, where Froggy forms a marching band in hopes of winning a prize in a community parade. Our craft was maracas, made with plastic eggs and spoons for handles. We filled the eggs with rice, popcorn, or beans, depending on what sort of sound we wanted our instruments to make. Then we taped the eggs to the bowls of the spoon and wrapped it with lots and lots of masking tape. We decorated the tape with crayon to make the maracas colorful! Then we danced and shook our instruments to some lively music! We had so much fun, there was little time for photos.

Our first Movie Night was a success, with several families enjoying popcorn and the movie Coco.

Our Drop-in Lego time found four friends, ready to share and build with Lego. A big thank you to the Kane Family for their donation of a huge new set of bricks for the library!

Kids are returning their reading logs and adding musical sticker-notes to our bulletin board staff for books read. It's only the first week, and already I'm wondering if we just may run out of room! If we do, we have a Plan B. So let's keep having reading fun!

Finally, here are two readers with prizes from the Prize Bowl - a recorder and a cowbell to take home along with the maracas they made! There's going to be lots of music in this household!

Why Read? Celebration

Each June the Friends of the Gordon-Nash Library sponsor the Why Read/Why Write essay contest at the New Hampton Community School. Gretchen Draper, New Hampton resident, Gordon-Nash Friend, and teacher-consultant for the National Writing Project in NH, organizes the contest which is open to all fourth and fifth graders at the New Hampton Community School. The theme of the library's Summer Reading Program is the basis for the writing and drawing that the students do, and, after judging, their finished work is displayed at the library during the summer months.

This year, students wrote about why "Libraries Rock!" Books, CDs and DVDs, programs, after school program connections, and helpful staff were some of the things students wrote about in their essays. Writers also created posters to accompany their essays. Judging was very difficult this year - there were many wonderful ideas and well-worded essays.

An assembly was held at the school, where all writers received a Certificate of Participation and a Why Read Why Write bookmark. First place winners in each grade level were awarded their choice of book purchased by the Friends. Students' essays and posters will be on display upstairs at the Gordon-Nash during the Summer months. Stop in to see them!

Crazy 8s: Sound's Pitch and Volume

In Math Club this week, we investigated pitch and volume in sounds. We began by experimenting with the sounds made when we blew across the top of a fat milkshake straw. After we practiced blowing across the top to produce a sound, we placed the bottom of the straw in a cup of water and noted how the pitch of the sound changed.

Then we taped milkshake straw of various heights together to make a "pan flute"! It really worked, with the longest straws making a lower pitched tone and the shorter straws making a higher pitched one.

Before we left Math Club, we played our flutes as loudly as we could from different distances. We measure the volume of the sound in waves using a sound meter on an iPhone. Before we left, we packed up our pan flutes so we could make music at home!