Yummy in my Tummy

Now here's a story time that you can sink your teeth into! Starting the week of November 1st, when the trick or treat bags are (hopefully) still full of candy, we'll be talking about FOOD and BAKING and getting ready for Thanksgiving in our preschool storytime sessions. With a theme called, "Yummy in my Tummy" our programmers will present stories and songs about the five senses, children cooking in the kitchen with their favorite adults, and nervous turkeys trying to run away and hide from Thanksgiving cooks.

In Yum Yum! What Fun!, Katie and James are having too much fun cooking up something delicious to notice all the strange guests who stop by. What if one of those "guests" decides to snack on them instead?
Poor little Pea is not allowed any vegetable treats for dessert until he eats all of his sweets in Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Kids who refuse to eat their veggies will relate to Little Pea in this fun twist on this age-old dinnertime problem. We'll also see what would happen if gorillas left the zoo in search of a good lunch in Gladys Goes Out to Lunch by Derek Anderson.

And just in time for Thanksgiving meals, storytime goers will watch the flannel board story of I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Allison Jackson. First she downs a jug of cider to moisten the pie (which really was too dry), then an entire squash, followed by a bowl of salad--and the whole darn turkey! Oh me, oh my!  (Although I have to admit I'm glad to hear "Oh me oh my!" used in this flannelboard story instead of the original "Perhaps she'll die" in the book. I've always been superstitious about saying that out loud when reading to the kids!)

There will be plenty of gobble, gobbles from our little preschool turkeys in songs and stories. Hope to see you at story time!

Operation Record a Story

This sounds like a great idea! Operation Record a Story lets kids hear their deployed military parent read a bedtime story to them. Publications International is donating 5,000 books to the USO and United Through Reading, who will then help military members record themselves reading the book for their children. Recording sites are located on Navy ships and at overseas bases, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan, and at select USOs worldwide. Their kids will receive in the mail both the book and a dvd of their parent reading that book out loud to them. Then they suggest that the other parent or caregiver record the child enjoying the dvd and send it back to the military parent so they can see how much it was appreciated.

Isn't that nice? The simple act of reading a bedtime story to your children, one of the most important things you can do with your child in terms of reading readiness (and just good bonding time!), can be so difficult when that parent is deployed for a long time. This makes it easier to maintain that important bedtime ritual. I imagine everyone in the family would enjoy seeing that dvd, don't you?

The titles include ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, Sesame Street: Together at Heart, Dora the Explorer and Guess How Much I Miss You. There is a fact sheet (pdf) at http://portal.pubint.com/pubint/RAS_Video_panel/Op_RAS_Fact_Sheet.pdf.

Who's Afraid of a Scarecrow?

Right now in the beautiful fall season, with all the leaves turning bright colors and the corn fields turning into seas of brown stalks, he might be hard to find. But soon, after the corn stalks are cut down from the harvest, you'll see him out there again, guarding the fields from birds and animals who wish to eat the crops. It's the scarecrow! And this week in our new storytime sessions, we pay honor to the lonely scarecrow who protects his fields no matter the weather.

Who could be afraid of a scarecrow when we listen to adorable stories such as The Little Scarecrow Boy, written by the beloved author Margaret Wise Brown? In the middle of a field stood a scarecrow who hoped that the animals and birds would be his friends, and guess what? He got his wish in the story of Lonely Scarecrow by Tim Preston. The verses written in many books can actually become a song or action verse, as we discover in the board book, I'm a Dingle-Dangle Scarecrow. The non-fiction selection, Scarecrows, by Calvin Harris, uses beautiful illustrations to help us understand how helpful scarecrows can be to our farmers everywhere!

The theme "Scarecrows" also gives the children a chance to learn their body parts through songs and rhymes about our floppy scarecrow friends and through creative movement and music as we pretend to walk and stand like a scarecrow: straight one moment, floppy the next!

This week's storytimes begin Monday, October 18. You can still sign up your children for one of our storytimes by calling the Children's Department at 330-832-5037. Hope to see you there!

What's a bookmark again?

Once or twice a week I get the chance the work at one of our branch libraries, Belloni Memorial Library, which is in the Fairless Elementary school. It's a busy place, serving as both a public library for the Fairless area and a school library to over 900 elementary students who come into the library with their class once a week. For a few years we've been putting bookmarks out on the counter and offering one to the students after they check out a book. It kind of struck me this week that most children don't have a clue what bookmarks are to be used for. However, as soon as I set that container of bookmarks on the counter, they come running to the desk.

"What's this thing again, Mrs. Brant?" one the students said. Not waiting for my answer (which I've explained over and over again), he turns to his class and shouts "They're free! You can have one!" I think that's more the appeal to them at this age anyway!

So it occurs to me to explain bookmarks to them in their language. Since most children seem to be having more "screen time" on tvs, computers, and videogames instead of books, you need to speak that language. So I held up one of our bookmarks and explained that if you were reading and your mom said to stop, you would need to "pause" the book just like you "pause" your game or dvd. Then when you come back to the book, you can "hit refresh" by opening the book back up where you left off. They nodded like they understood.

Think I got through to them this time??

Jumpstart’s Read for the Record Day

Want to help put a new book in a child's hands just by reading to your own child?

This Thursday, October 7, read Ezra Keats' The Snowy Day and help set a record for the most people reading the same book on the same day. For every copy of The Snowy Day read, the Jumpstart organization (makers of learning games) and We Give Books will donate a book to a child in need. This campaign also kicks off Jumpstart’s yearlong program, preparing preschool children in low-income neighborhoods for success in school and life. You can read more about that at jstart.org.

If you don't have a copy of this book, you can check for it at the library or read it for free online at wegivebooks.org. Make sure to register at that site to get counted for the reading record.

For teachers and homeschoolers, that website also offers different vocabulary and art activities you can do in addition to reading the story to your class.

Show your support for early literacy and read a good book with the rest of us this Thursday! How many can we get to join in from the Massillon area??

It's Fall!

Outside, the temperature is getting cooler. It's "good football weather" as I like to say, meaning here in Ohio we're getting out cozy sweatshirts, making bonfires, enjoying hayrides and picking out pumpkins, and watching football--especially here in Massillon!

This coming week in Storytime at MPL, we're celebrating the beginning of fall with the theme: "Autumn Antics." Autumn continues to offer a special opportunity to read some very simple stories that emphasize the colors, sounds, and smells of the season. We will read some of the following stories in our "Autumn Antics" storytime session the week of October 4th: Ska-tat! by Kimberley Knutson, Mouse's First Fall by Lauren Thompson, It's Fall! by Linda Glaser, We're Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger, Who Loves Fall by Bob Raczka, and When Autumn Falls by Kelli Nidey. Fletcher's favorite tree is changing colors and dropping its leaves. Find out what happens to his tree when the last leaf is shed in the story, Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson.

Looking forward to seeing you all there! The following week we'll take a break from storytimes to get ready for the next session. But you can sign up for the second session of storytimes starting Monday, October 11th by calling the Children's Department at 330-832-5037.

DIY Storytime

If your child is not feeling well or can’t make it to storytime, here's something you can try at home.

It’s your very own do-it-yourself storytime!

Do-It-Yourself Storytime

Start with a movement song or poem. Use one of your favorites or pick one of these:

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (Place both hands on parts of body as they are mentioned.
Repeat and speed up each time.)
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose,
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes!

If You’re Happy and You Know It

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. (clap clap)
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. (clap clap)
If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it,
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands! (clap clap)
Verse 2: stomp your feet (stomp stomp)
Verse 3: shout “Hooray!” (shout )
If you’re happy and you know it, do all three (clap-clap, stomp-stomp, hoo-ray!)
If you’re happy and you know it, do all three (clap-clap, stomp-stomp, hoo-ray!)
If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it,
If you’re happy and you know it, do all three. (clap-clap, stomp-stomp, hoo-ray!)

We're All Here for Storytime
We're all here for storytime, storytime, storytime (slap thighs or clap)
We're all here for storytime, let's get ready.

Can you turn your ears up high? Ears up high? Ears up high? (pretend to turn your ears volume up)
Can you turn your ears up high so you can hear?

Can you turn your mouth down, mouth down, mouth down? (turn fist at the corner of your mouth)
Can you turn your mouth down low, now let's read!


Pick a story to share.
Take time to look at the illustrations as you read. Ask your child to tell you what they think is happening in the pictures first before reading.

Find a favorite CD and dance together to one of the songs. Practice marching around to the music.
For extra fun, use a scarf or tap two spoons together in time to the music. If you have rhythm instruments (tambourine, shakers, play drum), you can use those too.
Pick another book to read.
Maybe your child would like to pick the book and tell you the story this time…
Time for another song!

Then pick a craft to do:

• Make your own picture puzzle by choosing a magazine picture and gluing it onto cardboard (an empty cereal box works well). Cut it into pieces – as many or as few as you want. Then put it back together.
• Make a necklace out of cereal or macaroni. The cereal comes in handy at snack time!
• Make a shaker by putting rice or beans inside a toilet paper tube and covering the ends with cling wrap and rubber bands. Make sure it is tightly covered. Your child can decorate it with stickers/markers.
• Make a sock puppet. Decorate it with markers, buttons or yarn.
• Tear up colored paper or magazine pictures and make a collage.
• Make a long paper chain and use it to count down to a special day (birthday, holiday, grandma visit).
• Make a card or picture for someone far away and mail it to them.
• Draw a tic tac toe board and use different cereals or fish crackers as markers. Eat them when you win!

Sing a closing song (here's one we use at the library at the end of storytime):
This is the way we say good-bye, say good-bye, say good-bye,
This is the way we say good-bye, clap clap clap clap clap! (Repeat 2X)

You can also use some of the fingerplays or songs on the sheets we hand out at storytime each week. These will be familiar to your child!

We hope to see you at the library again soon!