Groundhog Day: Books, Craft, and Shadow Art!

It's February! Will Groundhog see his shadow? We have groundhog books and a groundhog craft kit for your children available Curbside. Call or email for a kit to make your groundhog puppets. Add your own flashlight for some Groundhog shadow fun! And speaking of shadows, there are some really neat ideas for shadow art at this website....easy to do with a lamp and some toys. I bet kids would love it - check it out! 

Look! A happy young patron!! Thank you for the photo!

A Polar Bear in the Snow

For Martin Luther King Civil Rights Day

Here's a link to a six minute read-aloud (not mine) of a fabulous children's book about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  

What "big words" does your family have? Here's an online template where your child (and you!) can list, define, and print some "big words" of your own! 

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/bigwords_book/big_book_template.pdf

If you'd like to borrow this book, just let us know!

Penguin Project!

 A new take-home craft this week! All materials are in the bag for your child to make a paper penguin, complete with googly eyes, icy-colored sequins, and a fish dinner! Since this is not at all what a real penguin looks like, there are also links to two short made-for-kids videos of penguins you can watch with your family. In addition, below are a few penguin titles you might want to check out. So email or call if you're interested and we will put your book and kit requests in the curbside bin at the lower level entrance. By the way, we still have a few painting kits from last week!

Flight School by Lita Judge. Little Penguin, who has the "soul of an eagle," enrolls in flight school.

Little Penguin Gets The Hiccups by Tadgh Bentley.  A little penguin enlists the help of the reader to get rid of his major hiccups.

Love, Mama by Jeanette Bradley. When Mama leaves her young penguin Kipling, he knows she'll return home soon - yet he still can't help but miss her.

Penguin and Little Blue by Megan McDonald.  For Penguin and Little Blue, home is far, far away and they are missing it and all their feathered friends. But how can they escape show business to reach Antarctica?

Playful little penguins by Tony Mitton. While enjoying a full day of their favorite activities, a group of young penguins helps a baby seal that has been separated from her mother.

Virgil & Owen by Paulette Bogan. Virgil the penguin finds a polar bear and tries to claim it as his own, but the polar bear wants to splash with the terns, slide with the seals, twirl with all the penguins, and be called by his name--Owen.

Penguins! by Gail Gibbons. Describes the habitat, physical characteristics, and behavior of different kinds of penguins.

Penguins. by Seymour Simon. Penguin facts from an acclaimed science writer and detailed photos from expert photographers. A book geared to older children, but you could read and discuss with a younger one.

The Mole Family's Christmas

Elf!

This week's take home craft is a hanging holiday elf to decorate your refrigerator or a bedroom door! Inside the kit are shapes for a head, tunic, arms and legs, a hat and other elf elements, including some extra paper and cotton for your creative kid. The directions are included, a guide to how your child might put the pieces together, but this week, there is no picture model for kids to follow. For your reference only, here's the pieces and how they could be used. 

Here's a sample of the directions in the kit:

The small yellow U-shaped pieces could be pockets on the elf’s shirt or tunic! Do you want one, or two, or zero pockets? Maybe you could add some buttons for his shirt and some toys or Christmas items sticking out from his pockets (if he has them!). There’s some extra white paper in your kit if you want to draw things and cut them out - or you could just draw with crayons or markers right on his shirt.

We have a dozen kits available on a first-come, first-served basis. Call or email and we'll get your kits to you through curbside pickup.

A Pirate Christmas

I love this book. The illustrations are so detailed and clever. If you get a chance, borrow it and read it to your kids up close. Very sorry about the orientation of the camera...try to view it at full screen. 

If some child knows the answer to the question I pose about halfway through the story, could you post it in the comments, please? 😉Thanks.

Christmas Tree Craft

For this week's take-home craft, we’re making a simple two-sided Christmas tree decoration. There are three steps to this craft - covering a cardboard triangle with foil, collaging over the foil with tissue paper, and finally bedazzling the tree with jewels and sequins. Your child will need glue, scissors, crayons, and some patience (or help!) turning a gold disc into a tree topper. Directions and all the materials are included in this week's take-home craft kit. Give us a call or email to let us know how many kits you'd like to pick up curbside. Quantities are limited! That said, we have a couple of Advent calendar chain kits left from last week - and we even have a leftover moose kit if you'd like to make a Christmoose! 🤣

Let us know too if you'd like some holiday books - we have lots!

December Holidays!

Does your family celebrate a big holiday in December?  There are lots of special days!  Hanukkah starts December 10th, Las Posadas begins December 16th, Christmas is December 25th, and Kwanza starts December 26. The Yule, or the Winter Solstice (the longest night of the year!) is December 21st. And there are more! This week’s craft will help your child see the number of days left until your family's BIG DAY!

Kids connect lots of colorful or sparkly loops, with one for every day of December leading up to your holiday. Each day, they remove the bottom loop. When the loops are gone, it's time to celebrate!

Contact the library for your kit(s), available to pick up from the Curbside Bin. December starts tomorrow!! 

Read Aloud: The Ugly Pumpkin

 I just love this book. Every year when I read it, I laugh all over again. It's pretty short - I hope you and your children like it, too. Post a comment, and let me know your family's reaction.