library rainbow

I'm sure this is a sign spring is here.

Raising Hell at the Dog Park

Josie on the left, Margo on the right

Margo on the left, Josie on the right in the next two pictures.

And this wild, ferocious thing is Margo.

Victory

I don't work on the adult side of the library very often, perhaps a couple hours a week at most.  As much as I enjoy working with adult patrons, especially the elderly, it is always a relief to be back on the kid's side of the library where I can do things like sew a puppet back together without too much ogling.

Yesterday I happened to be in the adult area right as we opened the doors.  As I sat at the desk and awaited scary questions about taxes, I watched two elderly gentleman enter the library.  They didn't notice each other at first, but when they finally did, their slow walking turned into what I can only describe as frantic shuffling.

With a sigh of defeat, one of the gentleman stopped, leaned on the desk I was sitting at to catch his breath, and hollered at the other man, "Oh hell Jim, you've got me beat today."  

The other man turned around just long enough to flash a smile before quickly snatching that day's newspaper.

the kangaroo who wouldn't budge

My toddler storytime last week was mostly about dragons.  Both storytimes were packed and pretty darn rowdy.

After we sang our hello song, Lisa Loeb's version of the ABCs, and did our quieting down fingerplay, we read Dragon Was Terrible.  The kids were absolutely entranced by this book and I had a swell time reading it.  In the book there are posted signs asking for help taming the dragon.  I had a lot of fun reading those signs in a silly, official voice.

After we read Dragon Was Terrible, I brought out the parachute and we did some basic warm up exercises with the parachute - lifting it high, walking in a circle while holding it, and shaking the crap out of it.  Then we threw shapes onto the parachute (I used plushy squares, triangles, and balls).  As we tossed the shapes onto the parachute, I asked what shape and color each one was.  This took time, but everyone really enjoyed it.  We sang the popcorn song and then made a popcorn sandwich, which is my favorite way to put the parachute away.

We read/sang Puff the Magic Dragon but it was a bit of a flop because not too many knew the lyrics (my heart is still mending from this).  In the future I plan on having the lyrics up for books we sing too.  After Puff the Magic Dragon, we barely had time for the hokey pokey and stamps but we squeezed them in somehow.



Something I've been doing differently this storytime season is the inclusion of puppets, and their role is primarily to say hello and goodbye to everyone and hang out with me while I talk about the literacy skill of the week.  We talk about six literacy skills at my library system, and an animal represents each of these skills.  Each week I've been bringing in a different puppet and there have been a few kids who very much prefer saying hello to a puppet rather than a grown-up.  I also really enjoy the company of the puppet while talking about the literacy skill of the day.

Last week I brought the kangaroo with me.  The kangaroo has a little joey in her pouch and is arguably the cutest puppet out of the six.  After I stamped everyone's hands I brought out the kangaroo again and then sat down on the floor and invited everyone to come say hi.  Three of the toddlers came over and we talked about the different parts of the kangaroo, including the special joey.  The kangaroo received many pets and hugs and all the grown ups were enjoying the delight and curiosity of the toddlers as they played with the kangaroo.

Suddenly, and I do mean suddenly, one of the toddlers wrapped an arm around the kangaroo with surprising strength, and attempted to bolt for the door with the kangaroo.  He didn't make it too far because I was still attached to the puppet.  But that wasn't even the best part.  The toddler, having stopped dead in his tracks due to the unknown extra weight of the puppet (me), looked at the kangaroo with absolute bewilderment.  He let go for a second, and with all eyes on him, including those of the other two toddlers, he wrapped both arms around the kangaroo and bolted for the door again.  After his second failed attempt to bolt, he sat down on his bottom and gave the kangaroo a long, contemplative stare.

I quickly thought of a distraction and flipped the kangaroo around to show off its long tail.  Much to my relief (and who knows, perhaps the kangaroo's too) this seemed to repair the friendship between the boy and kangaroo and gentle hugs ensued.

And to think I was insecure about kissing the goat

Last week I had two storytimes.  Two!  Because my coworker was on vacation, I gladly took her baby storytime in addition to my toddler storytime.  I had so much fun!  Because I had two storytimes this week, there will two whole storytime posts!  Happy birthday to you!

We'll begin with baby storytime!

After the last time I subbed for baby storytime, I vowed to do some more research, and I am proud to say that the research paid off.  

We began storytime with the hello song - good morning to you sung happy birthday style.  After our hello song, we did the Five Little Hotdogs fingerplay, which was one of the big hits during fall storytime season.  I had planned for this storytime to be mostly about food as well, but more about that in a minute.

We sang Lisa Loeb's ABCs song, which gave a big brother a chance to show off during my first storytime.  We had some yucky weather and iffy road conditions so my first storytime was small - two familes comprised of two babies, a toddler, and a mom and dad.

For the first storytime, there wasn't any need to do a quieting down fingerplay because they were very mellow.  My second group, which turned into a family storytime due to the weather and schools being closed, had about 15 kids ranging in age from babies to a couple seven-year-olds.  They not only needed the first quieting down fingerplay, but we also took a lot of deep breaths.  

The first book doesn't really have anything to do with food, but I happened to read it for the third time just days before storytime and knew I had to include it.  The book, Littles, continues to grow on me each time I read it and is a real heart-melter.  

After Littles, we read How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food (but only in the first storytime), and it was the favorite book.  The second group was way too rowdy to sit through two books in a row so we moved on to the next thing on the agenda.

This is where the storytimes turned into two completely different experiences.  For the first storytime I did something I've always been curious about but have never had a chance to try.  I found two lap bounces I instantly fell in love with - "Acka Backa Soda Cracker" and "A Hippopotamus Got Up On a Bus" and spent an afternoon practicing them with our goat puppet.




There was one large problem, however.  Each time I came to the part where I needed to kiss the goat I'd look around to see if anyone was looking, and even if nobody was, I would nearly faint with anxiety and start the rhyme over.

Because there were two babies and a shy toddler, it was the perfect opportunity to try the lap bounces.  The toddler belonged to dad, who was holding his baby brother.  The dad included big brother in both lap bounces even though he had his hands full with the baby and big brother was sitting next to him.  After dad lifted the baby, he tickled big brother.  When dad gave the baby kisses, he also gave big brother kisses.  But the most beautiful part happened during the hippopotamus lap bounce.  Dad squished both kids at the same time, and baby and big brother lit up the entire room with their smiles.  It was amazing.  Meanwhile the mom and her baby were having a blast.  

And to think I was insecure about kissing the goat.  Thankfully, during the storytime, when it mattered most, I was able to kiss the goat with no problem.  

I believe I can officially say I have graduated to the puppet-kissing tier on the sky-high ladder of youth services.

After the lap bounces, I handed out scarves and we did the popcorn rhyme.  We also waved the scarves around and played peek-a-boo a bit before reading our last book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.



We finished up the first storytime with the fabulous slide-and-find board book version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, which we sang to music until the battery died on my laptop.  Thankfully, no one was upset that we had to sing the rest of it without music. 

In the second storytime we most certainly did not do lap bounces.  Thankfully (lots of gratitude in this post), I saw the patrons signing up for the second storytime and quickly modified my storytime.  

We did some scarf warm-ups (waving, brushing the floor, fluttering like a butterfly, putting it on our heads), the popcorn song, and finished with the wave/flap/twirl song.  Instead of wadding the scarves in our fists like we did last season, we tossed our scarves high and caught them when we "stopped" after each verse.  It was a lot of fun.  

Though we did the finger fiddle and took lots of deep breaths, everyone was pretty wound up and we just barely made it through The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  

After we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I made a rookie mistake and told everyone we were going vote on whether we would read Brown Bear, Brown Bear or do the hokey pokey.  I asked everyone to raise their hands if they wanted to read Brown Bear, Brown Bear and breathed a sigh of relief when everyone raised their hands.  Once we finished Brown Bear, Brown Bear however, and I began packing up, the older kids began asking me about the hokey pokey, and as their hokey pokey demands grew louder and louder, I knew there was only way for me to make it out of the room alive.  So we did the hokey pokey.  

It was almost as exhausting as kissing a goat.  

The Lost Letter by Jillian Cantor

The Lost Letter is an incredibly absorbing story that begins with a daughter who inherits her father’s stamp collection when he begins to lose his memory and goes into a nursing home.  The daughter, Katie, has the stamp collection appraised, and an unusual stamp on an unopened letter is found in the collection.  An unopened letter!  With this discovery, the author, Jillian Cantor, introduces the story of Kristoff, an apprentice of a Jewish stamp engraver, Frederick Faber, and Frederick’s family, all of whom lived in a small town in Austria prior to Germany’s invasion.  The Lost Letter continues on this way, alternating between the past and present.  I usually have two books going, but I couldn’t read anything else while reading The Lost Letter.  It was one of those rare books that kept me awake at night, wondering how it would play out.

I normally struggle with books that alternate between stories and narrators, but I thought Katie’s chapters were nice reprieves from the horrors of Kristoff’s life.  Kristoff, who was an orphan, immediately felt at home in the Faber house and soon fell in love with the oldest daughter, Elena.  Cantor does an excellent job describing the hominess and comfort felt by Kristoff as he settled into the Faber home, and fought to earn their respect and love while learning the art of stamp engraving.  Because I cared so deeply for the characters, I was absolutely devastated by the first atrocity of the invasion.  

There was much to keep me awake at night after I’d finally grown too tired to hold the book.  What happened to Elena and Kristoff?  Did they survive?  Were they still together?  Though it paled in comparison to Kristoff’s battles, Katie’s struggle to be there for her father even when he didn’t recognize her, was heartbreaking.  Because she didn’t want to upset him, Katie couldn’t ask him about the unopened letter with the rare stamp.  This was particularly frustrating since he could have provided so much insight into the search for Elena and Kristoff.  

Though I had guesses about the whereabouts of Kristoff and Elena and what happened to them, I was surprised by the ending and appreciate how the mystery was resolved.  If you’re into historical fiction, especially World War II fiction, I highly recommend The Lost Letter.  I’d also recommend this to anyone looking for an utterly engrossing, bittersweet Holocaust mystery.  Included in the Author’s Note at the end, Cantor writes about her research and briefly explains the role stamp engravers played in the fight against the Nazis.  She also gives a nod to Sophie Scholl, who worked with the resistance.

The Yurt

Here is a homemade book one of my coworkers found in a library book.  I have no doubts this writer will someday be famous.

[The title is "The Yurt" and the yurt on the cover is saying, "Hi I'ma yurt."]

Once there was a person named Billy.  He fell in love with a mongolian hutt named Yurt.  The only porblem was Yurt didn't talk to Billy.  Yurt the mongolian hutt didn't talk to anyone realy but Billy still liked Yurt.

One day Billy went to the Mongolian hutt Supply store to buy gifts for yurt when he bout a perfect present for Yurt Finally.  (as he thought) He went to yurt and put his present on top of yurt.  It was a Red Sox baseball hat! (Who likes the Red Sox)

Yurt looked very strange with a hat but Billy thought it looked good.  That day Billy told his friend he was in love with a mongolian hutt.  His friend told him that mongolian hutts couldn't talk or move.  That day Billy put another present on yurt out of grumpyness.

Kaboom

moths on the ceiling

I like to flip back and forth between books and will usually read a chapter at a time from each book.  

Seconds after I read about moths on the ceiling in one book, I read about moths on the ceiling in a totally different book.  Totally spooky.

shelving books

One of our current activities at the library is to pretend you're a librarian and help us shelve books.

It's the stuff of dreams, folks.    

I took pictures of book spines and also found some online.  I then laminated them and added some velcro to the backs.  Easy as pie.  Making the felt bookshelf, however, was a nightmare.  Sewing took too long, all glues refused to stick, and felt glue tore the skin from my fingers.  But it was totally worth it.

let's avocuddle

Sadly, my storytime was canceled last week due to foul weather.  I've now got an extra storytime plan just in case I need it so that's something to be thankful for.  

This week we celebrated Valentine's Day, and it was marvelous and lovely.  I started both storytimes by walking around the room with a small bubble machine while singing the mega hit, "one little, two little, three little bubbles..."  Both storytimes were puzzled by the bubbles and the toddlers mostly just stared at me blankly.  I was just beginning to think the bubbles were going to be a big, fat dudorama when one little girl plopped herself on the floor and began kicking and stomping the bubbles while shrieking with happiness.

Both storytimes were small so I was able to try out my second hello song, which is great for small storytimes. It's to the tune of Happy Birthday with these lyrics: "Good morning to you, good morning to you.  Good morning friend (insert name here).  Good morning to you."  I sing this song to my oldest golden retriever every morning, and it always gets a few tail thumps, which she doesn't give out for free anymore due to her old age, so I had a feeling it was going to be a winner.  I used the ASL signs for good and morning for this song and then pointed to them at the very end.  The toddlers had this expression on their faces that translated to, "Oh no she's going to say my name. Oh no!" and then, when I said their name and pointed to them, the expression quickly changed to, "Wow. She said my name.  My name."  And then a huge smile would light up their faces.  It was fantastic.

After our hello songs we sang Lisa Loeb's version of the ABC song, which is the traditional melody.

We also did this lovely heart fingerplay before the "Open, Shut Them" fingerplay.



In both storytimes we read two books back-to-back because everyone was doing such a great job paying attention.  We read, Love is You and Me by Monica Sheehan and Hugs & Kisses for The Grouchy Ladybug.  I taught them the ASL signs for happy, give, love, share, and together.  They enjoyed both books and liked the sign for "happy" best.

Next we read Valentines together.  I found this Valentines printable as inspiration and created my own version by making origami heart envelopes with washi tape.  I also swapped out the dove for porcupines.  The toddlers stared at me open-mouthed and were obviously engaged but didn't answer any of the questions I asked about the colors of envelopes, the types of animals, or how many envelopes were left.  This was my first attempt at a felt/magnetic board since last spring when I accidentally messed up the order of colors for a felt board rhyme and was so tramatized I had nightmares about it.  I definitely feel better about felt/magnetic boards after this experience and am ready to try something else.  This is good news because I have a couple more planned for this storytime season and have already made them.  



After we read the Valentines we did a mediation activity from the pack of flashcards I found on Amazon  - Mindful Kids and it was a HUGE hit.  I think it's fair to say it was the favorite activity of the day.  Basically we took a few deep breaths and roared like lions when we exhaled.  Then we tapped thumbs/pointers/middle/ring/pinkie fingers together five times apiece. Watching the parents help their kids do this activity nearly made me cry.  I'm a total sap so this was food for the soul for me.

After the finger fiddle activity, I realized I was out of time in the first storytime so we quickly sang a very appropriate tune about getting ready to go outside and play in the snow.  Though it is a toasty 50 degrees today, there is another snowstorm expected for tomorrow.  The song is sung to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell and goes like this: "I'm putting on my coat. I'm putting on my coat. Brrr brrr it's cold outside. I'm putting on my coat."  This verse is followed by mittens, hats, and scarves.  One boy laughed out loud when I pretended to put my hat on.  He thought that was the funniest thing.  

In the second storytime I had enough time to read the third book, How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You.  We talked about the ASL sign, "I Love You" and how it's different than the ASL sign for love.  Because I had such small groups for both storytimes I left the door open in the hopes more people would show up.  In the second storytime I kept seeing a dad and his daughter peeking into the room, but they were never together.  Finally, with supreme casualness, the little girl walked in, sat down on the floor, and looked at me expectantly.  Seconds later, dad came in and joined her.  They came in right before I read the third book, and the little girl didn't take her eyes off it. 



We finished with the hokey pokey and our goodbye song and everyone picked out stamps of their choice (I brought four this time).  I found a stamp with avocados and the words, "let's avocuddle" underneath it while at ScrapsKC over the weekend.  It was pure fate with Valentine's Day this week so I bought it and hoped for the best.  In my second storytime, while I was explaining the stamp options, a parent looked at her son and said, "Oh I bet you're going for the avocados stamp."  The little boy was so stinking thrilled by that stamp he asked for it on both hands. 

This is sorta what it looks like  

But he was still hungry

Here is a fun bulletin board we had up at my branch for the last couple months.  Originally, I only put up the front and back feet.  One morning I came in and the caterpillar had like a thousand more feet.  One of my awesome coworkers spent a happy evening making caterpillar feet to surprise everyone.  

During the caterpillar's stay on our wall, kids colored all his favorite food and then picked where they wanted the food to go.  Black pie, anyone?

Ms. I Didn't Even Want Your Love and her sidekick, Ms. Sad Eyes

Robert somehow managed to capture both Josie and Margo's unique expressions in one picture.

Josie's face, on the right, is such a dopey, doofus, lover face and then there's Margo's face, with piercing, questioning eyes that look directly into the most hidden corners of your soul.

Josie is saying, "Oh please come play with me. I will be the most perfect puppy and cuddle you to death if you please come play with me."

Margo is saying, "You're not coming out here to play with me, are you?  Well then shoo, mister. Run along now."

you never know when you're going to need a steam roller on your farm

Last week I had my first toddler storytime of the winter/spring season and was delighted to see so many familiar faces at my storytime.

My favorite moment happened at the very beginning while I was introducing myself.  When I pointed to myself and told everyone my name, one of the toddlers, who was a regular last fall, shouted, "we know you," in a sassy tone that totally meant, "move it along, lady, we have books to read and songs to sing."

Because my storytime about vehicles was my favorite from fall, I decided to start this season with that theme.  We read two books, "I Drive a Snow Plow" by Sarah Bridges and my favorite (and arguably the crowd's favorite book from last fall), "Old Macdonald Had a Truck."

We began with our hello song, which is the "Hello Friends, hello friends, hello friends, it's time to say hello" song.  A caregiver requested this song last fall, and also mentioned she would like to see more American Sign Language at storytime.  This song includes four ASL signs, is short and sweet, and a popular choice at other storytimes so kids are fairly familiar with it.  After we sang our hello song, I mentioned we would be learning a couple ASL words each week.  I also let everyone know I was available for feedback after storytime and more importantly, I would have stamps too.

We sang our ABCs the good ol' fashioned way but will be experimenting with different melodies each week so that we can turn "LMNOP" into five letters instead of one.

Next we pretended to be choo choo trains with this fun rhyme:




Our first quieting down fingerplay was "Open, Shut Them."  For the winter/spring season, this will be the quieting down fingerplay for the first book.



We read, "I Drive a Snow Plow," and while it wasn't a favorite, it did engage a few kids.

  
After the first book, I brought out the bean bags and we had fun with the usual exercises we do with shaker eggs and scarves.  I tried an exercise that involved dropping the bean bags into a hula hoop using different parts of our bodies - hands, elbows, knees, head, but that was a flop.  Not everyone was ready for this and one girl plopped herself in the middle of the hula hoop and refused to budge.  It turned into a bean bag free-for-all, but I was able to salvage it by cutting out the hula hoop part of the activity.  My second storytime had a few babies so I didn't even bring out the hula hoop.  One girl, who was my shadow and a regular from fall storytime, helped me pick out where we were going to put the bean bags next.  

For our next quieting down fingerplay I tried a meditation exercise, and plan on trying out different ones until we find one we like.  My inspiration came from a pack of flashcards I found on Amazon  - Mindful Kids.  It wasn't a favorite so we'll try something different next week.  

It really didn't matter whether anyone calmed down prior to reading "Old Macdonald Had a Truck," because everyone absolutely loves this book.  There's always a caregiver who has it memorized and helps lead everyone else into a rousing, silly song about all the heavy machinery used by the same man who has a ton of farm animals (because you never know when you're going to need a steam roller on your farm).

We totally ran out of time in both storytimes and didn't have time to sing "The Wheels on the Bus," which was a damn shame, but I was the only one who knew about it, so no tears were shed.

We did sing the hokey pokey acapella style, and they were thrilled with that.

We finished by singing the matching goodbye song that goes with the "Hello Friend" song we began storytime with.  

After storytime I stamped everyone's hands and one boy's belly.  I was totally prepared for this though.  I had a giant Magic School Bus stamp that was about the size of three toddler hands and therefore, wouldn't work as a hand stamp.  Last fall a few kids wanted their bellies stamped so I brought this stamp in the hopes that someone would want their belly stamped.  The little boy and his mom thought it was hilarious and giggled about it while mom tried to blow on the stamp to dry.  It was a great way to end storytime.

Dear Whoever gets this book,

I love finding notes in books.  This one is particularly lovely.

January Favorite Reads Part Two

The Lost Letter by Jillian Cantor (adult fiction)

There will be a longer review coming soon but for now I will leave you with this quote: "If only Herr Bergmann, or the Fuhrer, were to know that their stamp plate was being made by a Jew, and a woman. Kristoff took pleasure in the thought that they wouldn't know. As if this tiny thing, this small act of rebellion would change anything."

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett (teen fiction)

I really like the characters in this book - snarky and funny Mink, who thinks she's aloof but isn't, jerkface Porter, who's really just a sweetie with a marshmallow heart, best friend Grace, who is friends with everyone and takes crap from no one, and Mink's father, who is caring but respectful of Mink's space (I visualized him as Bob Saget). This may have something to do with the fact that I'm in the middle of watching all eight seasons of Full House (because I'm a sucker for punishment). Mink's dad really is a Danny kind of guy for those of you who like that character from Full House. Though the plot was predictable in every way imaginable, I still enjoyed watching it play out, and I wasn't disappointed there weren't any surprises. I think Bennett does a great job with capturing Mink's inner thoughts and writing some steamy stuff without it sounding cliched or making me feel uncomfortable (if there's too much PDA, I can't stop rolling my eyes, and this makes reading difficult). If you're looking for something funny and romantic with interesting characters and fun, spirited bantering (including the inner thought variety), I highly recommend Alex, Approximately.

Butterfly Park by Elly MacKay (picture book)

MacKay's illustrations transport you straight to the world where the Butterfly Park is and the little girl who's trying to fill it with butterflies. I appreciated how the community came together "with boots and gnomes and wagons" and helped plant a garden to attract the butterflies.

10 Years of Gratitude Journaling Part 2

I always thought journaling or writing a diary needed to be a long, narrative piece about your day.  Gratitude journaling helped me realize it was about jotting down the most important, positive moments of the day.  Two or three things is better than nothing.  This particular entry is one of the most wordiest I've written, but there was so much I wanted to remember about this day.

This next entry, 7/2/11, comes from my first journal:

January Reads

January was a good month for reading so this will be a double post.  I read lots of decent books, mostly about Eleanor Roosevelt, so if you're looking for someone to follow you around spouting facts about her, I'm your gal.  The biographies were good, but this is the list of books that were stellar (sorry, Eleanor).  Enjoy.

The Modern House Bus by Kimberley Mok (adult nonfiction)

A majority of The Modern House Bus focuses on a handful of house buses, how they've been converted to meet the needs of the families/individuals who live in them, and reasons for choosing a house bus lifestyle. There's a tiny section at the end that offers helpful advice for converting your own house bus if you are curious about doing so. While I will never convert a school bus into a portable house, I love the idea of one day taking my home on the road to travel the world and so I'm always thrilled to read about different styles of traveling. I enjoyed the pictures immensely and appreciated all of the clever storage solutions and beautiful craftsmanship. My only complaint is that there just wasn't enough day-to-day information, but thankfully a few of the families/individuals have blogs about their journeys.

Here is a picture of my favorite - a school bus cottage:

We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins (picture book)

Totally hilarious spin on the golden rule. The pictures are wonderful. Lots of dinosaur drool and evocative expressions. Totally morbid, but in an educational, classy way.

Taste of Home Healthy Family Favorites (adult nonfiction)

The saucy beef with broccoli is amazing and just as good, if not better, than my family's favorite Chinese takeout.