Cookie Monster! Elmo! Gothca!!

National Library Week fun!

 

Click! We gotcha!  What can I say?  Get Caught Reading is more fun with monsters!   Cookie Monster...Elmo and surprise!  What?  There's Big Bird!  What!  Big Bird!

This post is a follow-up to the initial idea of providing a photo opportunity and photo bomb surprise at the library for National Library Week.  You can connect to that post here.

This idea will go down in the books as a big hit!  Staff took the photos on the patrons' own phones.  Patrons emailed their photos to me.  We did ask parents to sign photo release forms.  It's all good.


Lots of laughing, smiling, giggling.  Everyone wanted in.  Some serious, some so sweet...
.. and some wanted Cookie Monster to eat!
                                                                            

                        
                                                                   
  

I'll be displaying the photos around the library to keep the excitement alive.  It's a great day at the library when the conversation is about reading with your children. 

Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Elmo will visit your library...if you come pick them up and return them.  We're in West Hartford, CT.  And we're good with sharing!  Bring your library card.

We'll get many more photos tomorrow because I'm the #Saturdaylibrarian.  Looking forward to it.  Stop by and smile!

 P.S.(Piper Script) This little lady has the right idea...you need a puppy with a monster!  Read with Piper!  

~ xo

 

Spring into the new books

Look! Look! Denise Fleming has a new book!

Twenty-eight years of children's librarianship and I would like you to know that Denise Fleming is one author who never ever disappoints in children's picture books. (25 years of children's books)  She hits the mark again and again with her words and her amazing art.  Her books have been quietly demonstrating diversity before the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign began. I only point this out because she is an accomplished, smart woman, author, illustrator, artist who is way ahead of the trends.  Actually, she's trend-less.  She writes and creates from a love of color, nature, children and kindness. And just so you know - all four of those come in all colors!

Her book trailer is absolutely adorable, please click here.  You don't want to miss this book. I'll purchase multiple copies for my little branch library. Ms Fleming is a featured author on our summer reading lists.  This new title is perfectly timed.  Yay and thank you!

For the inside scoop on Denise Fleming and more on her new book which hits the stands tomorrow,  take a look at Dylan Teut's fabulous interview with Ms Fleming on his blog, Mile High Reading
Please check out her creative website click here
And don't miss Denise Fleming Studio on FaceBook.

P.S. (Piper Script):  Colors, clothing and a best friend DOG!!  You know I love it!   

published 1991

Flannel Friday Chick Week! Cheep, Cheep, Cheep!

Here a chick, there a chick...

Chicks, listen up! Shake a tail feather!  It's chick week.  We're loud! And plentiful!  Birds of a feather...and all that!!

Lucy Cousins book, Count with Maisy, Cheep, Cheep, Cheep! inspired chickens in every story time this week.  

My plan: a white hen with blue dots, like Maisy has!
My flannel supply: green or pink with white dots. Bummer. Balk! Balk! Balk!  I really wanted a blue and white mama hen named Dottie!

Plan B:
Pull out the flannels in all the colors I "was feelin" and start from there.  And that's how I have a blue hen with paisley patterning. The baby chicks are rather traditional.  They probably get fancy feathers later!

Count with Maisy has flaps to lift and chicks to place on the flannel board now.  Participation heaven.  A chick week "must have" is Chicken Little.  I adore telling this story

 

And we added the book The Cow who Clucked from one of my most favorite author/illustrators, Denise Fleming.  I love reading aloud the moment when the cow is ultimately defeated and ..."and she headed for the barn" I hold that page for a few extra beats.  Drama!  You gotta know when to hold 'em!  The next page is equally as dramatic...don't say a word for about 8 seconds!

Our Yoga for 2 attendees had time to make their very own Chicken Little.  I have this saying...color like you mean it...and using the oil pastels surely gets a lot of pigment on the paper.  Satisfying color, much more fun than markers.  One of the little Yoga chicks wanted to make her Chicken Little ((((crazy))))  I think she succeeded!  This is my "kinda" art!

P.S. (Piper Script): Jane's Chicken Little story telling rendition is pretty shout-out ((((Crazy)))).  "Oh my goodness, oh my gracious...the sky is falling....run for your lives!!!"  

Drama....chick!

Flannel Ducks! You Know You Want Them!

Quack! Quack! Quack!

 We started our week celebrating the 75th birthday of Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings. This book was so perfectly marketed 75 years ago - one week into Spring.  And so it began with a conversation about Make Way for Ducklings and we just kept adding more ducks!

A little white duck went swimming in the water.  Little Duck, little Duck hid behind a big truck!

We painted a little line of ducks with our fingers - make way for our ducklings!  And we read books with ducks in the story.

I am now in the process of making ten little chicks.  Next week will be chick week.  Chick week, love that. Love the spotted hen as well.  She'll be with her babies on the flannel board.  Oh yeah!

Spring stories just make me happy.  Now if the weather in CT would cooperate.  Snow in the forecast for the weekend.  Not cool.

But this kid...in Duke Gardens ...way cool.  Maybe he'll find spring ducklings!

P.S. (Piper Script)  Tres chic!  Chick Week!  Should we start with Chicken Little?  
                                In it's entirety... this story could be terrifying!!