Favorite Picture Books of 2009

Well as the year 2009 winds down I thought I would give you a short list of some of my favorite kid's picture books.

Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Rubin and illustrated by Daniel Salmieri

Old Man Fookwire loves birds but his feeling about squirrels istotally the opposite. With fun illustrations and a message about acceptance, this book is a real treat.






Wombat Walkabout by Carol Diggory Shields and illustrated by Sophie Blackall

I don't know about you but there is nothing more adorable than round furry wombats in hats! This counting book explores the different animals of Australia as the wombats go on a journey.






Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett
I told this story for a Busy Hands and Feet program on monkeys. The simple and lovely story of a child and her stuffed animal is one of my new classics for story time.

Chicken Little by Rebecca Emberley

The illustrations are bold and bright and the chicken eyes alone are great. The story is a great read aloud version of an old favorite.






Birds by Kevin Henkes and illustrated by Laura Dronzek
A little girl is happy to discover that she and the birds she sees from her window have something in common. The simple shapes and colors of the illustrations are lovely.

Well, there you have a smattering of my favorites of 2009. I hope your New Year is happy. Diana

Holidays

Well I looked for new CDs in the Children's Room and noted we have very few. When this happens I go straight to Amazon to order. January should bring new CDs as well as books and DVDs.
In the meantime I have decided to have a Holiday Storytime for the kids and families. I will bring books recognizing all the wonderful holidays celebrated throughout the world. Some of the books I will have are:


Santa Duck by David Milgrim





The Shortest Day by Wendy Pfeffer





The traditional Gingerbread Man story

Kwanzaa by A.P. Porter

And The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes by Linda Glaser







And we will sing Jingle Bells accompanied by our own jingle bells.
The storytime is on Wednesday, December 23rd at 10 am. I hope to see you there!

New DVDs for kids

Going off the usual track of books for storytime, I thought I would mention a number of new DVD's that have been purchased for the kids collection.

All of these titles have just been cataloged and are ready for check out. Check our website:
http://www.maclibrary.org/

The American Girl Movie Collection








Magic School Bus: Creepy, Crawly Fun!







Elmo's World: All About Faces









Check these DVDs out from the upstairs part of the Library.
Next week I will post about new Children's music CDs.
Have a great weekend.

Diana

Movin' and Groovin' with Monkeys

Monkeys, Monkeys, Monkeys everywhere. Our last Busy Hands and Feet Story Time focused on what else, MONKEYS!
I read several fun stories and did several songs. My favorite title is a new one by Emily Gravett called Monkey and Me. Such a simple story of a young girl and her stuffed monkey who went to see........

Also I read 10 Little Sock Monkeys by William B. Winburn and Mo's Stinky Sweater by David Bedford.

The songs the kids enjoyed were 3 Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree. This is a song I use to teach kids simple sign language while having a great time. The other song was The Itsy Bitsy Monkey that follows the tune of Itsy Bitsy Spider. I found this song on the website, The Best Kids Book Site Ever.

This was the last of the Busy Hands and Feet Storytimes until January. I will continue to add to the blog focusing on fun preschool books I think especially great. Have a great holiday!

Diana

Winding down

Well, it's that time again when the Emergent Reader Storytime gets ready to take a break. Join in the fun Tuesday, November 17th when our theme will be Thanksgiving. On Tuesday, November 24th there will be a special storytime conducted by high school students.

Below are pictures from our "house" storytime - we have some incredible artists in our group.
The Emergent Reader Storytime will be back Tuesday, January 12th. Same place and time. Thanks to all the wonderful preschoolers and their parents for making storytime fun, creative, and inspiring.

Carol

monsterville

Thanks to all the kids that attended the Emergent Reader Halloween Storytime, your costumes were fantastic! I have never seen such beautiful princesses' before. And how about that G.I. Joe, very cool indeed.

Below are some pictures of the monster necklaces the kids made. We munched on Halloween decorated cupcakes and cookies (back to veggies and fruit next week, i promise), and we read Halloween Sky Ride by Elizabeth Spurr and Mouse's First Halloween by Lauren Thompson.

The Emergent Reader Storytime goes through November 17th and I still have lots of fun stuff planned for the kids, so please stop by.


Carol

Where the Wild Things Are

With the new movie out and interest peaking in the classic picture book by Maurice Sendak I decided to focus on wolves at our next Busy Hands and Feet Story Time. I love the story of Max as he travels for a year on his small sail boat to the Land of Wild Things.

I will also be reading Chicken Little by Rebecca and Ed Emberley. This is new and has exciting, colorful illustrations. Wolf's Coming by Joe Kukla is a story about a surprise for wolf. The funny book, Let's Play in the Forest by Claudia Rueda illustrates what the forest animals do when the wolf is not around. And another classic is The Wolf's Chicken Stew by Keiko Kaska where there is one smart chicken.

We will be donning our "wolf" costumes and howling. Stop on by for lots of fun!

Diana

Meeooww

With Halloween just around the corner what better time than to celebrate all things cat. Come join us Tuesday, October 20th for the Emergent Reader Storytime as we read picture books about cats and decorate cat masks.

Last Tuesday was recycle day. I put all my left over craft project supplies on the table and let the kids go crazy making whatever they could glue, tape, and/or color. We read the funny book Spoon by Amy Rosenthal and the kids snacked on banana slices and granola bars. I think the kids had a great time.

I look forward to seeing you at storytime!

Carol

?????

Well it turns out burlap is great material for making collages. I cut lots of fabric squares, put buttons in bowls, and grabbed some left over felt scraps. The kids really enjoyed this project. Since beginning the fall storytime schedule, the kids have made sewing cards, foam watches, paper mermaid dolls, and now burlap collages. I am still trying to decide what craft I'm going to use for next week, so please check back.

The Emergent Reader Storytime fall schedule is September 15th through November 17th. Tuesdays at 10 a.m. in the carnegie room. Ages 4-6. Please stop by!

Carol

Cooollage...

I got the idea for this week's preschool story time from an old craft book for kids that I had transferred to the McMinnville Library. Using burlap, buttons, felt, and anything else I can find, the kids are going to flex their creative muscles this Tuesday, October 6th as they glue, paste, and tape together everything to make a burlap collage.

Last week the kids made paper mermaid dolls. I had never seen an all red glitter mermaid before, but that's just one of the creative ways the children decorated their mermaids. We read a couple of picture books about mermaids and we snacked on bananas and graham crackers. I tell parents to please put their children in clothes that can get dirty because story time crafts can be a little messy sometimes.

If you have a preschooler that loves books and likes to make things then please stop by. The emergent reader storytime is also a great place to meet other parents. See you soon I hope!

Carol

Mermaids

Thanks for checking out the children's room blog. The Emergent Reader story time is for preschoolers ages 4-6. We kicked off our fall schedule on September 15th with a school theme. The kids worked on animal sewing cards, snacked on orange slices and crackers, and listened to several books about school, including Always In Trouble by Corinne Demas, a funny story about a dog named Toby that gets into trouble and has to go to dog-training school.

The theme for next week's storytime is Mermaids! We will be making paper mermaid dolls and reading books about mermaids, including the ones pictured above. If you love books and making things with your hands, please come join the fun at the McMinnville Public Library.

Carol

Fall Storytimes Resume

With a bit of crispness in the air and the leaves starting to change colors we will start storytimes next week. We are excited to bring back all the storytimes and have some great themes this year.

Here is the Fall schedule:

September 15 through November 20, 2009
Infant Toddler Story Time - for children 3 and younger. A 1/2 hour of fun with stories, songs and finger plays.Caregiver must remain with child.Wednesdays, 10:00 am & 10:45 am (EXCEPT no story timeNovember 11)
Emergent Reader Story Time - for children 4 - 6 years old. For kids getting ready to dive into the world of reading, story telling and literacy. Caregiver must remain in Library.Tuesdays, 10:00 am
Busy Hands and Feet - for children 6 and younger. For kids who like to move. This is a time for both parents and children 5 and younger to explore musical instruments, movement and books. Music, books, and signing! Thursdays, 10:30 am, September 24, October 1, 15 & 29 and November 12
Cuentos En Español - for the entire family. Stories, games, crafts and fun for the whole family - all in Spanish!Fridays, 2:30 pm (EXCEPT no story time November 13)

We hope that you will join us for one or more of these great storytimes!

Where has the summer gone?

It has been a long time between posts. We also haven't had any storytimes during the month of August so I haven't been posting. Storytimes resume again in September. Check out the website for the times and dates of our storytimes.

As our busy summer winds down we begin to think of books for Back to School. Here are a few of my favorites:

Hope to see you at storytime! Diana

An abstract question...

What can you make with tissue paper, crayon pieces, and wax paper? Your very own Kandinsky! Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian painter and is regarded as the founder of abstract art. His paintings are filled with color, motion, and spirit. Tuesday, July 21st the McMinnville Public Library preschool storytime will provide materials to create a wax paper Kandinsky. Bring your imagination and your listening ears, I have a great selection of books to read.

Pastels can be a little messy, but the end result can be bright and energetic pictures. Take a look at the photos from last week's storytime, the theme was Van Gogh's sunflowers.

Whoooooooo's There?

Busy Hands and Feet Storytime at the McMinnville Public Library will celebrate those wise birds, Owls. I will tell a fun story, Owl Babies by Martin Waddell. I saw this presented by Heather McNeil at the Early Literacy conference in EagleCrest this past May. She is a great storyteller. Also I will use music related to night time and animal sounds. Hope to see some of you there, Thursday, July16 at 10:30.

paper, pastels, and preschoolers

Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh used oils to create portraits, landscapes, and still lifes. Drawing from Van Gogh's theme of sunflowers we will experiment with paper and pastels to create a masterpiece! Join us at the McMinnville Public Library Tuesday, July 14th for crafts, snacks, and most importantly books. I have a wonderful selection of new books that I will be sharing with everyone.

Last Tuesday, with Alexander Calder as our inspiration, the kids made mobiles. The kids enjoyed seeing pictures of his sculptures and creating their own floating piece of art. It's amazing what you can do with cardboard and construction paper. Great job everyone!