Dig that Dirt!

Move that truck!

Here is a preview of summer fun at the library!
Dig Into Summer Reading kicks off with Tip Tip Dig Dig.  This very colorful book by Emma Garcia has me digging in the dirt with some heavy duty trucks.
Just check 'em out!

If you are not familiar with this book...let me introduce you.  The story opens with a two page illustration of a terrible mess - a dump of a mess - what can we do with it?  Tell me!  What do you see?  What do you think?  What shall we do? Truck drama, who knew?

Well just maybe we can get a digger and DIG DIG DIG!  Can you do that with me?  What does digging look like? Should we stand up?  And what do we say?  Let me hear you say it!  LOUDER! DIG DIG DIG!

Do you like trucks?  Well, here comes another one!  A Mixer!  Let's Mix Mix Mix!!  Move your body like a mixer!

Would you like to see the rest of the trucks 

in this book?  

Do you know their names?

Alright, Big Gigantic TRUCKS!  

Get Digging! Get Rollin' and Move on out! 

You've got a job to do!

Okay - there's more...grab a scarf, the same color as your favorite truck in the book and we'll  read it again...and  you get to make the sound of your truck and move your scarf all around!! You get to be a GIGANTIC LOUD TRUCK!  A truck cacophony to drive us a bit crazy!  Can YOU dig it?  Yes you can!

And let's add a video to the mix...the Driving My Tractor video, brought to YouTube by Barefoot Books and Steve's Songs.  (Book by Jan Dobbins and David Sim)  It's a wonderful ride through a color-filled farm.  

Anyway you look at it...color is coming...monster trucks, dancing scarves, adventure play land or a happy farm.  This week is full of color.  And it is the inspiration to roll us right into our (not quite completely planned but still coming at you) Dig Into Summer Reading at the library!!!

P.S. (Piper Script): We are thinking BIG!  

Flannel Friday and Chicken Little

Chicken Little by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberely

Spoiler: Feathers make Fox sneeze!
(thank goodness)

Here's how my life the story goes!
(borrowing from Rebecca Emberley)

Once upon a time a lovely lady discovered books, children and a little silvery black dog. She was very happy. On Wednesday when she was doing nothing, her "usual pastime,"something "hit her on the head"  And being the very "excitable" and "prone to foolishness" person that she was - off she ran with a "very scrambbled noggin' " and absolutely no plan!

Hmmm, maybe I have my stories confused.  Not surprising!

Let's start all over again.
There's a really great story about Chicken Little and the anxious little flock that follows him:
Henny Penny
Ducky Lucky
Goosey Loosey
Turkey Lurkey.
There is an acorn and a very crafty FOX cave
Oh, and a cute cloud umbrella
"OMGoodness, OMGracious" are generally part of the story along with "the sky is falling"

Maybe you would like to tell the story? Oh, go on, give it a try!  I'll  help a little.

One day....

(not the brightest chicken in the coop)

(and was knocked senseless)

(...awk, bonk, into Henny Penny)

(awk, bonk, into Lucky Ducky)

(awk, bonk into Goosey Loosey)

(awk, bonk, into Turkey Lurkey)

( omg, omg, the sky is falling. run for your lives!)

(ut-oh)

NOOOOO

WAIT!  STOP!  Piper says we need to go to the book - hold on

(Maybe you should close your eyes!)

(Oh no, quick! Open your eyes!  Quicker!)

Totally yucky cave.  Is it a cave?

(Watch out, here it comes!!

Here come the feathers)

(Whew - we made it)  God Bless that sneeze!

(happily ever after.  THE END!)

 I think I took over your story.  Sorry :(

(Like Chicken Little, I am very excitable!)

P.S. (Piper Script)  Look at my idea:

 Chicken Little: the Sequel

A.K.A. Don't Let the Chicken Have an Acorn!

Oh, the actors guild mandated that I let you know  

the part of the acorn was played by:

Everyone else" played" themselves

Okay, go read the book with your little one and come back and tell the story again.  

OMGoodness, OMGracious...where have I been?  My niece informed me about Ed Emberley fabrics!  So very cool for a librarian who likes to wear aprons.  Oh yeah.  Click this link

Thanks for visiting Piper Loves the Library.

Do you have a fav Emberley book?

Please let us know, we love hearing from you.  

  

Hats on my Head

26 Acts of Kindness 

This week began with a blizzard, or was it last week ended with a blizzard?  However you look at it, there's a great deal of snow in CT and it has totally messed with my mental calendar.  So, what day is it??  It's today.  A gorgeous, creative, colorful, beautiful day.  A day to honor a teacher from Sandy Hook Elementary School.   In memory of Rachel D'Avino I knitted a funky, crazy, happy hat for a Special Education instructor in Connecticut.

Oh but the knitting didn't stop.  I knitted all week, that's what we do in a blizzard in New England.  Well, we bake too!  Anyway, you may or may not know that the Blizzard of 2013 had a couple of names.  The National Weather Channel named the storm Nemo and WFSB the local CBS affiliate named the storm Charlotte.

The name, Charlotte Bacon, is at the top of my 26 Acts of Kindness list.  I had not decided on a action to make in her memory until they named the storm.  A one of a kind wholloping storm in Connecticut should have the name Charlotte?  I guess so.  A name we will remember.

In memory of a lovely 6 yr. old student who loved dresses and school  - I knitted hats for a pair of little girls, sisters.  The older loves dressing up, and the younger is just 3 months old.

I'll put them in the mail on Monday.  

Act of Kindness # 16

In honor of Rachel D'Avino, Teacher

Sandy Hook Elementary School

Act of Kindness #17

In honor of Charlotte Bacon, Student

Sandy Hook Elementary School

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The Sky is Falling!

This just in:  

Flannel falls from sky in Farmington!

I know that sounds a bit bizarre - but take a look at our lead character today.  It's Chicken Little, "not the brightest chicken in the coop" according to the talented father/daughter team  Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley, author and illustrators.  

It really doesn't take much to get this little chicken, Chicken Little, to go overboard.  Sentences like: "Oh my goodness, oh my gracious!" make this story so much fun.  Everyone has to say it with me, say it loud!

Oh my goodness

Oh my gracious

The sky is falling

The sky is falling

Check out this line:  "Momentarily they ran into Loosey Goosey" The words are perfect!  Oh but the artwork is beyond, it's over the moon!  (Books like this just make you write sentences using "over the moon"!)  

I am still working out these characters. OMGracious, I just don't know if I want Chicken Little on a paint-stirrer-stick.  I actually think I will make two Chicken Littles!  Wow, imagine the drama!!  

In the book, when Chicken Little is "knocked senseless" by an acorn, his eyes fill with stars...and I plan to create a layer to reflect that.  But wait...let's back up - KNOCKED SENSELESS!  Honestly, how perfect!

I will post the completed version next week.  In the meantime, get your umbrellas ready, do you have yours?  Hold on tight.  We need to "run for our lives"!  But be careful or BONK! AWK! You may bump into Henny Penny!  

Thanks for visiting Piper Loves the Library. Check back  for the completion of this story. And please leave a comment - Oh my goodness, it makes us so happy!  

What's on the L?

Selections from the Edge?

Let me begin by saying this is a post w/o Piper!

Yesterday I realized that many of my fellow bloggers include a "what's on the nightstand" or  "I am currently listening to_____ and I'm reading ____ feature" on their blogs. I like seeing what everyone is reading.  Be it juvenile or teen or even the grown-up adult world of novels, it always interests me.

Each time I read "on the nightstand" on anyone's blog I automatically picture my nightstand.  I do not even attempt to consider what anyone else's night stand looks like.  Wood, metal, rattan, glass, drawers, no drawers...nope, I just see mine.  I do understand "the nightstand" as a figurative usage but still...I make the mental image, and it is always mine.  But the funny thing is - you can not fit any books on my nightstand!  I think I intentionally have small nightstands with big lamps so I don't mess them up.  Add a clock and a box of tissues and that takes care of it! (I am grateful to Kleenex for decorative square boxes)

Maybe I could start a feature called The Piles at the Edge (of my bed).  I am famous for them.  The piles of books start next to my nightstand - oh, but that is only the beginning, fiction, non-fiction, periodicals, etc.   And if truth be known, I have book piles in each room.  Oh, maybe not the guest room.  My guests are welcome to make their own piles!!

My latest nightstand/edge/ reading/pile is now on the L.  As in my L-shaped sofa.  That far away other end  with the soft white blanket and the brown velvet pillows will, from here on in, be referred to as the L.  I will only clear off the L when company comes.  And then it will be a pile on the floor!

So, what's on the L?  Audio books! (mostly audio books) Why oh why do I generally save them  for car and plane rides? There are many library patrons who reserve audio books for long trips.  But honestly people, shouldn't I be the one thinking outside the box? It is delightful to have someone read to me while I knit, cook or craft.  I believe I give the book it's proper due while listening in the house.  Less distractions.  (knit 1, purl 2, knit 1, purl 2).

Listening to a book is relaxing, try it.  Oh and please know it counts as reading!  There is no need for you to confess to your friendly librarian that ..."well, I didn't really read it, I listened to it".  But on the other hand if you listened to a book that was amazing...you know how sometimes the audio copy is an AMAZING gem...please tell us. We want to listen too.


Now this link, Your Brain on Books, is worth a read today, my thanks to the lovely librarian, Linda Williams for highlighting it.  Just what I needed to confirm mental images and listening to books.  If your child's reading skills, language skills and/or attention span need improvement, please read aloud or listen together. Listen to a book together.  Slow down and do it together. (did I say that enough?) Set your e-reader to read aloud or borrow books on CD from the library and listen from the computer or any sound system.  Start small, one chapter.  Dads, (not picking on you, just making a suggestion) - borrow a Mike Lupica, (yes the ESPN Mike Lupica), audio book and listen to a sports story with your son or daughter.  And if hands are fidgety, listen at the coffee table with paper and crayons or better yet, a bowl of ice cream!

Okay, one more thing:  On the L : just completed adult fiction Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and teen fiction Karma by Cathy Ostlere.

Warm Kindness

26 acts of Kindness
Warmth

This is the tiniest hat I have ever made.  It is difficult to judge scale here...but believe me...this is a newborn size.  This hat will go to a baby born just before the Blizzard of 2013. (a snow-white pom-pom reminder)  He is a first born, first grandchild and brought sweet baby love a month ahead of schedule.

I have not met this family, only heard of their joy.  I will need to tag team some of my family to get this hat delivered.   Wear it in good health little one.  

I read that the beautiful Noah Pozner was the Light of Life in his family.  And now a little family welcomes their new light, their new life to warm their hearts and I will honor you Noah.  

26 Acts of Kindness # 15

In memory of Noah Pozner

Student, Sandy Hook Elementary School

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Hi-Ho Flannel Friday!

Clip-Clop
  Written and illustrated by Nicola Smee

Now this is a perfect book!  As tempted as I was to create my own twist on this - I couldn't. After many many readings of Clip-Clop, Jingle-Jingle and Splish-Splosh, (all by Nicola Smee) each character, polite and willing, is so simply, wonderfully defined.  No-sir-ree,  no changing "these guys"up!

Just look at them:

They look like they'll jump off the cover!  Yes?

While the characters remain the same, I did change up how I manage the story.  I want "my" Mr. Horse to move... up and down and slow and fast!  And faster! 

(you know I love those paint-stirrer-sticks)

I want Mr Horse to say "Up you get" to Cat and Dog and Pig.  And have them get on up!

I want Duck to call out "Don't leave me behind"

And with everyone on... Mr. Horse will clip-clop

(while the children clap-clap)

"Faster, faster"  Hold on tight!  Clippity-cloppity!

(while the children clappity-clappity faster and faster)

Whoa!  Oh no, we're falling off!

(Fancy mini-clothespins!)

CAN WE DO IT AGAIN? 

(and my mind hears, mommy? daddy? again?!)

Hi-Ho Flannel Friday!!!

P.S. (Piper Script) If you liked this book you should check this link, click here .  I love Mrs. Smee and Mr. Horse with the farmyard animals.  Let's all go to England to visit her!

Construction info and tips:  I generally use black felt to back all the pieces. For pieces like these, that will travel at high speeds, I suggest using the stiff felt for backing.  I then added a layer of cardboard to Mr Horse and with book tape added the paint-stirrer-stick so he could fly like the wind!   

Sometimes you have to work with what you have...and I had glittery mini-clothes-pins, (would have used plain ones) I Tacky-glued each rider to a clothespin for easy on and off.  

Many thanks to Kari Ann, who used to blog on mystorytimelife, for the idea to flannelize this book..  It only took me 10 months to get it done! Now I can barely wait to put the paint-stirrer-stick in a child's hand and let him make Mr Horse go up and down and all around.  Yee-ha!!!