Blog Post
PreK Bits - "Q" is for Quiet
by ryanikoglu
This week Ms. Rachel presented stories that needed quiet.
SLEEPYHEADS ... where every quiet creature lays their sleepy head. Wait! One little sleepyhead is not in their bed!
Ms. Betsy played guitar and Ms. Rachel led the Quiet/Loud action song "Wake Up You Sleepy Heads".
You can hear the "Sleepy Heads" song on the recording SING IT! SAY IT! STAMP IT! SWAY IT! ... along with more favorite childhood songs!
The SQUEAKY DOOR had a Grandma putting her Grand-children to bed in the big double bed. It was time for quiet.
For more books that find "quiet" try the following favorites:
QUIET BUNNY'S MANY COLORS ... find them in the garden.
The QUIET BOOK ... very thoughtful, lovely prose, and beautiful gentle illustrations.
SHH! WE HAVE A PLAN ... who needs to be quiet?
TIPTOE JOE ... tiptoe to be quiet.
HANK FINDS AN EGG ... on a quiet walk in the woods. What shall he do?
The FAMILY BEDTIME TREASURY: Tales For Sleepy Times and Sweet Dreams ... a treasure trove in one book!
BEDTIME FOR BEAR ... with a "small but effervescent" overnight guest. Delightful storytelling and illustrations!
Find a cozy space.
Good Night!
Sleep Tight.
When you wake up the next day .... sing along with Joanie Bartels and MORNING MAGIC songs.
Blog Post
Thor: Ragnarok!
by PizzaPuppy
Thor: Ragnarok arrives in theaters today, making now the perfect time to revisit your favorite Thor materials! The movie is already generating quite a buzz and has received rave reviews (with a 93% rating, it's currently Rotten Tomatoes' best reviewed comic book film ever!).
A great place to start are the previous Thor movies, including Thor and Thor: The Dark World, as well as his appearances in The Avengers and The Avengers: Age of Ultron. For younger kids who aren't quite ready for the Marvel movies, Thor is featured in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (there are multiple volumes of this series, including Vol. 5 and Vol. 6).
For adult readers, some of the original Thor comics are included in the anthology series The Essential Thor Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3 and Vol. 4. Many of these original stories also appear in The Mighty Thor: Omnibus collection. More recent additions to the Thor universe include God of Thunder Vol. 1 (Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 are also available), Lord of Asgard, Bringers of the Storm, Godstorm, and Thor Vol. 1 (Vol. 3 is also available). Currently, a woman has taken on the title of Thor in The Mighty Thor: Thunder in her Veins.
There are awesome Thor graphic novels in the Teen section, including Wolves of the North and The Lost Gods. A mysterious female Thor has also taken the lead in The Goddess of Thunder and Who Holds the Hammer?.
Kids have a variety of Thor books to choose from as well. Younger children will like gentler Readers such as The Trouble with Thor and These are the Avengers. Older kids can enjoy comic books like Thor: The Mighty Avenger Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, and Mini Marvels: The Complete Collection. Books for kids about the Avengers include The Avengers: The Ultimate Guide and The Avengers: The Movie Storybook. We also have several comic books based on Norse mythology, such as Thor and the Giants and Thor and Loki (also available in Spanish).
Blog Post
Franklin's Flying Bookshop
by manz
Franklin's Flying Bookshop by Jen Campbell reminds you that every once in a while it's nice to read a book about reading. A book that makes you want to shout from the rooftops: HEY EVERYONE, BOOKS ARE SO MAGICAL AND FUN AND AMAZING!
The beautifully illustrated pages and delicate language tell the tale of Franklin, a dragon who loved to read inside his cave. He reads about everything! Stories about electricity, baking, kung fu, vikings, music, and spiders - by firefly light while sipping on tea. One day he ventures out to read stories to others, without much luck - until he happens upon a young girl named Luna who loves dragons and books. They are two peas in a pod who both feel they are "made out of stories."
The story takes a twist, they do some building, and decide to bring their wonderful books to the masses via a flying bookshop perched upon a dragon. It's a great little picture book to read with the kiddos.
Blog Post
"F" is for FOX
by ryanikoglu
Ms Rachel brought FOX tales to Storytime.
In FLOSSIE And The FOX ... Flossie has to get her basket of eggs safely to Ms. Viola’s house.
Flossie doesn’t know what a fox looks like but she figures it out.
During “A-Hunting We Will Go” we found many rhyming things ... "And We Always Let Them Go!"
Finally .... we sang along with the GINGERBREAD GIRL … as she planned a more successful ending to the classic story of the GINGERBREAD BOY.
For more FOXES and more fun tales try these favorites:
HOW TO FIND A FOX ... can she do it?
LITTLE FOX In The FOREST ... a book without words. You use your own to describe the "magical world" the fox leads you to.
APPLES For LITTLE FOX ... This little fox's first mystery!
MY LITTLE FOX ... little fox's first year in the woods.
ROSIE'S WALK ... a classic. Watch the pictures as you read the story....
The TOMTEN And The FOX ... another classic. The little gnome-like Tomten is there to protect the hen house.
SHELTER ... a proverb, as well as a "fox story".
PANDORA ... an imaginary world grows around Pandora the fox, and Pandora gently tends to it.
Blog Post
PreK Bits - "T" is for TOOLS
by ryanikoglu
Ms Rachel and Banjo Betsy worked with TOOLS today.
OLD MacDONALD HAD A WOODSHOP ... and she built a toy farm for the animals to play with!
"Camille (and Johnny) Worked With One Hammer" ... and then they worked with more ... until they went to sleep.
THREE LITTLE PIGS ... each little pig built their own house ... with TOOLS of course!
"Screw it down. Hammer it tight. Built it up. Make it right!"
For more stories with TOOLS try these favorites:
GOODNIGHT LAB: a Scientific Parody ... if you know GOODNIGHT MOON you can love this too.
MY FRIEND ROBOT
TOOLS RULE
MONKEY WITH A TOOL BELT
FROGGY BUILDS A TREE HOUSE
STANLEY The BUILDER
FORT-BUILDING TIME
There are so many parodies of The THREE LITTLE PIGS ... you might like to compare the stories:
THREE LITTLE JAVELINAS ... a bilingual story.
THREE LITTLE PIGS And The SOMEWHAT BAD WOLF.
The THREE LITTLE DASSIES.
Richard Scarry's BEST NURSERY TALES EVER ... and "Three Little Pigs" is one fo the tales.
THREE LITTLE PIGS: An Old Story.
THREE LITTLE PIGS COUNT TO 100.
The THREE LITTLE RIGS.
The THREE LITTLE PIGS ... a turned story by James Marshall.
The TRUE STORY Of The THREE LITTLE PIGS ... from the Wolf's point-of-view.
Who's afraid? Not ME !!
Blog Post
Fantastic Children's Non-Fiction
by -alex-
When Planet Earth Was New - by James Gladstone & Katherine Diemert -
This starkly beautiful picture book introduces very young readers to the geological history of planet Earth. Beginning with the very early development of the solar system, billions and billions of years ago, 'When Planet Earth Was New' shows the earth as it passes through various geological epochs, through the beginnings and the evolution of organic life, and into the human-dominated present. You'll find a great appendix at the end, giving a wealth of additional details. This little gem is a great way to show your child the basics of geological and biological history, years before they will first learn it in the classroom.
Pocket Full of Colors: the magical world of Mary Blair, Disney artist extraordinaire -by Amy Guglielmo & Jacqueline Tourville-
The authors chart the course of the life of Mary Blair, the creative talent behind Disney classics like Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland. Mary's creative instincts and professional ambitions collide with gender discrimination in the highly male-dominated work-spaces of mid-century America. Mary perseveres though, and single-handedly drags the Disney Studios from it's black and white past, and into the lush colors of it's storied golden age.
While there is much to love in this slender book, as and adult, my favorite part of 'A Pocket Full of Colors' is how carefully the illustrator captured the various incarnations of Mary's personal style, from Betty Page bangs, to late 50's June Cleaver pearls, and finally into ultra-trendy 60's Mod. This beautifully illustrated, audaciously colorful picture book is a great way to introduce your little one to biographies.
Yum! MmMm! Qué rico! : Americas' sproutings - by Pat Mora -
Featuring vibrant, warm colors and a playful style, Pat Mora manages to pack an enormous amount of quality content into a tiny little picture book. 'Written as a series of haiku, Yum! MmMm! Qué rico!' teaches kids about the history of many of the great foods that originated in the Americas (chocolate, corn, peanuts, potatoes, and many more). Be sure to check out the fun and informative histories of each food item, always in small print on the left-hand side of every page. Your child will be both educated and entertained.
Poison : deadly deeds, perilous professions, and murderous medicines - by Sarah Albee -
Written for more advanced readers, this book is sure to satisfy kids with a passion for chemistry, history, spy-craft, or maybe just anything morbid. While the author is careful to state that 'Poison' is not an exhaustive index of poisonous materials, at nearly 200 pages, Sarah Albee manages to cover an enormous amount of ground. Your child will learn about how humans have wrangled with chemistry throughout history, focusing on the where, when, and why of how people have come into contact with dangerous chemical compounds. Be sure to check it out!
Crafts
Watercolor Snowflake Art
Sunday January 14, 2018: 1:00pm to
2:00pm
Pittsfield Branch: Program Room
Preschool-Grade 3
Blog Post
PreK Bits - "A" is for APPLE
by ryanikoglu
Ms. Rachel presented an apple theme in Storytime this week.
GOBBLE GOBBLE MOOOO TRACTOR BOOK … the day Farmer Brown slept-in, the animals drove the tractor!
We clapped out letters to the “Apple Bingo” song … A-P-P-L-E !!
APPLE PIE … "Botheration!" That enormous juicy apple is up so high. However can we get it and put it in our pie?"
Fall is apple season and here are more apple books:
APPLESAUCE DAY ... this is the day that comes after you visit the orchard and bring home apples. One more kind of busy....
TEN APPLES UP ON TOP ... a "beginning Reader" title.
FROM APPLE TREES TO CIDER PLEASE ... "Grab the wagon. It's a bright autumn day!".
A APPLE PIE … a traditional apple pie alphabet with illustrations by Gennady Spirin.
APPLES A to Z … and apple alphabet and primer.
TEN RED APPLES .. a counting book.
The SEASONS Of ARNOLD’S APPLE TREE … one year.
FLORENTINE And PIG ... includes recipes for a fine fall picnic!
The APPLE ORCHARD RIDDLE … the class field trip to the orchard.
LITTLE APPLE GOAT … how the trees were planted.
For more Fall related titles … see PreK Bits – FALL stories for 1-6 yrs. Old … an AADL Public List of titles for preschool and young elementary ages.
Public Event
Sensation Stations
Tuesday March 13, 2018: 10:30am to
11:15am
Pittsfield Branch: Program Room
Age 10 Months–2 Years
Public Event
Sensation Stations
Monday February 12, 2018: 10:30am to
11:15am
Traverwood Branch: Program Room
Age 10 Months–2 Years