Next week is National Library Week.  I live and work in Chelmsford and am very grateful for  the tremendous support this library receives from the townspeople.  I remember riding on a float during the 4th of July parade several years ago.  It was the library’s float, and people kept yelling, “We love the library!” all along the parade route.

Lola is a little girl who loves going to the library every Tuesday with her mom. She loves storytimes, and singing – especially Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  After I read this book, I taught everyone my version of the song using American Sign Language.  It has lots of signs.  People in my weekday storytimes know these signs already, so they helped me lead the song today.

We read about Fabulous Frogs next. The text is by Martin Jenkins and it is illustrated by Tim Hopgood.  Isn’t that fabulous – someone with that name illustrating a picture book about frogs?

This is not a story.  It’s an introduction to some fascinating frogs that live all over the world.  The book starts with a Huge goliath frog that sometimes eats other frogs.  It shows us very colorful poison arrow frogs that have deadly poison in their skin.  The presentation was beautiful enough to read in a large room, but I highly recommend sharing this book one-on-one to take advantage of all the information in the fine print.

Our next 2 books were about vehicles:  and 

The final book I shared was for the dads.  Many day-to-day moments in a child’s life are examined.  “When you wake up from a bad dream and you call out, Daddy! Your daddy could say, ‘Shh! Just go back to sleep.’ But he doesn’t. He comes to your room right away and sits beside you until you fall asleep again.”  The cumulative effect is stunning.

I wanted to read it to say “Thank You” for all the kindness and patience and love that dads give to their children.   ~Maureen

This week we read books about pockets! Click on the book covers below to find each title in the library catalog.

It was snowing outside, so we had a small group at the preschool storytime.  The children who came, however, were great listeners.  I was able to read longer books about friendship today.

Jane Yolen and Mark Teague just published their 10th book in the How Do Dinosaurs… series.  Jane sets up her stories really well – talking about possible bad behavior only to reverse it midway.  This time the dinosaurs were really nasty to their friends.  I was a bit concerned.  But the last half of the book was lovely. Mark Teague’s illustrations are so fabulous it’s easy to think these are imaginary dinosaurs.  Not true.  The Kaatedocus, Masiakasaurus, Dilong and Chialingosaurus (and many others) are all real names for dinosaurs.

Next we read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst.  This is one of my favorite picture books, but most times the groups are large and the children are young, and I don’t read it in storytime.  Today’s group was very attentive.  Alexander’s day is a series of bad happenings – some his fault, some not.  He wishes he could escape to Australia, but his mom assures him at the end of the book that some days are like that, “even in Australia”.  One of the moms asked about a sequel, which I couldn’t remember.  After storytime, I remembered the first sequel: Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday.  I never enjoyed it as much and had completely forgotten about it.  There have been 2 other books as well.  The original was published in 1972, and the most recent was published in 2014!  Read them all, and tell me if you disagree that the first is still the best.
     

I read Waiting by Kevin Henkes once again, because the dog continues to wait for the snow each day. And it is a lovely book about inclusion.  5 characters grace the cover of the book, but by the end there are 10 of them “And they were happy together, waiting to see what would happen next,

Finally, I read an Elephant and Piggie book, because they are such great friends.  This one starts out with Gerald and Piggie teaming up against someone big. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone familiar with these books that misunderstandings are clarified and things are harmonious by the end of the story.

I look forward to our next storytime together, but unlike the dog, I am no longer waiting for the snow.

~Maureen