What Was Read: Stories in the Park, Week of June 24

Summer Events are in full swing here at Wissahickon Valley Public Library! We started our Stories in the Park Series on the week of June 24. Ms. Tegan is going to two parks this year!

• On Tuesdays at 10:30 AM until July 30, I'll be at Wentz Run by the playground.
• On Thursdays at 10:30 AM, until August 1, I'll be at Oxford Park by the playground.

 What We Read (note: you can count these titles in the summer reading log if your child attended).

• One Dark Night by Lisa Wheeler ; illustrated by Ivan Bates - JJ WHE - On a dark night, when the moon disappears, Mouse and Mole get lost and hear something! What could it be?
• Let's Dig and Burrow by Anna Nilsen ; illustrated by Anni Axworthy - (Request) - What animals like to "Dig and Burrow" in this story?
• Underground by Denise Fleming. - JJ FLE - Under the ground, there is lots to see. What do you see?
• Monday The Bullfrog - This puppet is a book! The book is in his mouth! Monday the Bullfrog is a hungry frog and he eats lots of yummy-to-him things.

What We Did

• Sang my favorite opening and closing songs: "If You'd Like to Hear a Story" and "The More We Read Together" 
• At Wentz Run, I shared a little rhyme about a Little Mouse who hides behind a rock, tree, hedge and hill. We played two rounds, but had to stop because the wind kept winning.
• At Oxford, we sang "Ten Little Earthworms" to the tune of a popular song.
• We acted like little mice with a rhyme called "Walk Little Mouse."

Join us at the parks this summer where we'll sing songs and read stories!

*Please note, on July 9, I will be at Morris Arboretum, but Miss Sally will be there to read stories!

Baby Story Time - May 2 - What Was Read

Touch! Smell! See! Hear! Taste! Senses were our theme in Baby Story Time on May 2.

Baby Story Time at Blue Bell is a story time session geared specifically toward babies (ages 6 months to 23 months). We'll read stories, sing songs, chant rhymes, and play with baby! Baby Story Time is also an event for parents and caregivers to learn about early literacy skills to help prepare baby for reading as well as to help foster a love of reading.

What We Read

• Show Me! by Tom Tracy ; pictures by Darcia Labrosse.
• What can baby do? Mommy points out body parts on baby. We pointed out the parts as well during the story.
• Animal Sounds! by Tad Carpenter
• Can you say what an animal says? Clever flaps lift up to reveal even more of the animals.
• I See by Helen Oxenbury.
• What does the baby see? Words highlight what is shown on the page.
• I Touch by Helen Oxenbury. 
• What does the baby touch? Words highlight what is shown on the page.

What We Did

• Sang "Heads, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes" and pointed to the body part
• Recited the bouncing rhyme "Trot, Trot, to Boston"
• Recited rhyme where we pointed to the body parts and senses that match them.
• Sang my favorite opening and closing songs: "If You'd Like to Hear a Story" and "The More We Read Together"

Early Literacy Tip

• Vocabulary – Words! Words! Words! We are constantly surrounded by words from advertisements to people talking. To a baby, words are very important and they hear a lot. There are steps babies generally follow when learning how to talk and read. It is important to start building a vocabulary early, even before babbling starts. Think of your baby as a sponge and introduce new words and try to be more descriptive to help add to a baby’s vocabulary.
• Example - Talk! Talk! Talk! Talk to your baby. Narrate the day or talk about what is going on or think out loud as you make a meal and they watch. Use “I feel,” “I hear,” as jumping off points to introduce new words and reinforce old ones. Talk in specifics in an attempt to identify things. Baby doesn’t always know that “it” means the chair or phone.

What Was Read - Story Time for May 1

Miss Tegan (that's me! *waves*) covered for Miss Michelle on Wednesday! The crowd today was fantastic. My "theme" was music as Miss Michelle and I were doing musical things that day. Here's what I read:

Pigs Rock! by Melanie Davis Jones ; illustrated by Bob Staake.:- JJ JON
Everyone comes to see the Pig Rock Band! Listen to them rock and listen them them sing. What happens though when their tour bus takes a detour?

The Croaky Pokey by Ethan Long. - JJ LON
We tried this book as a combination activity and story! Participants stood up and performed the Croaky Pokey as the story moved along. What was happening on the pages? The frogs weren't the only ones in the pond...


Up, Tall and High! : [But Not Necessarily in that Order] by Ethan Long.: - JJ LON
Three short stories in this book about birds that are up high, stand tall, and fly high. Each story has a flap that adds to the story.

We sang a few songs as well including "Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" (which I sped up and forgot part of! OOPS!), "If You'd Like to Hear a Story" to start off, and "The More We Read Together" to finish up story time.

Keep on Reading!

New Kids Reads (September 27)

Have you signed up for WOWbrary yet? WOWbrary is a weekly newsletter that recaps all of the new books we have at the library and are ready for you to check out. WOWbrary covers all genres and ages, so be sure to check it out. We have a few new things just for kids this week.

New Picture Books

• The Bully Goat Grim : a Maynard Moose Tale: by Willy Claflin; Illustrated by James Stimson - JJ CLA
  
• Because You Are My Teacher by Sherry North; Illustrated by Marcellus Hall - JJ NOR
• Happy Birthday, Tree : a Tu B'Shevat Story by Madelyn Rosenberg; Illustrated by Jana Christy - JJ ROS
• Monsieur Marceau by Leda Schubert; Illustrated by Gerard DuBois - JJ SCH (This is actually a picture book biography.)
• Applesauce by Klaas Verplancke - JJ VER (This interesting story shows both sides of a parent and when the child is sent to his room, he's determined to find another, better dad, but may learn that the one he has may just be the right one.)

New Chapter Books

• Of Giants and Ice by Shelby Bach - J BAC
• Violet Mackerel's Brilliant Plot by Anna Branford; Illustrated by Elanna Allen - J BRA
• Ungifted by Gordon Korman - J KOR
• Flying the Dragon by Natlie Dias Lorenzi - J LOR
• Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead - J STE

That's it for this week! Be sure to stop by to pick up these great titles. Or click the title to place a request!

Keep on Reading.

Library Catalog will be ofline Sunday

• Scheduled maintenance for the MCLINC catalog and library system will begin on Saturday Jan. 7, at 5pm and end late Sunday night or early Monday morning.
• [This means:] On Sunday (Jan. 8), please bring your library card to the library to borrow items. We will not be able to access your account if you do present your card.
• During the maintenance period the MCLINC catalog will be unavailable [This includes the online catalog at home].
• We will not be able to renew materials or access your information.
• The catalog should be available again late Sunday night or early Monday morning.
• Internet access at the library will be unaffected; therefore there will be no interruptions to searches on remote electronic databases, such as the POWER Library, Reference USA, etc.