Mmm … pumpkin pie!

Pumpkin pie is one of my favorite treats this time of year.  Why not make a yummy-smelling version out of paper?

 

All you need is some orange paper, a paper plate, some pumpkin pie spice, and a cotton ball or bit of fiberfill stuffing.

1. Glue an orange circle to the paper plate.  The plate is your pie crust, and the orange circle is the pumpkin filling.
2. Spread a thin layer of glue on top of the orange circle.  Sprinkle a bit of the pumpkin pie spice on top of that.  (It smells delicious!)
3. What’s pumpkin pie without whipped cream?  Glue a bit of cotton to the center of your newly created pie.

Depending on how much spice you use, the pie will continue to smell lovely for quite a while.  Enjoy!

 

Retelling Stone Soup

September was Hunger Action Month, and a mom approached me about doing a series of special library storytimes focused on food and hunger.  She had the idea to include a food drive for the local food pantry, which was a wonderful way to tie learning and action together.

The other awesome idea this mom brought to the storytime was a hands-on retelling of Stone Soup, complete with her homemade set of props (see below).  It’s such a simple story: hungry travelers stumble into a village that doesn’t have much food.  Everyone is carefully guarding what little they have, and no one will share with the hungry travelers.  What to do?  Make stone soup, of course!  Three stones in a bubbling pot of water (and some clever prodding from the travelers) inspires the villagers to share a little of what they have to make a satisfying meal for everyone.

Instead of reading the story from a book, we all got involved with the tale!  I found a pot and three people in my stash of flannelboard figures, and then there were the stones:

Stone soup: complete with embellished stones!

The photo quality isn’t great, but each stone has a different soup ingredient painted or stickered to the stone.  Each child gets a stone (or two or three) and plays the part of a villager.  “Oh gee, this soup would be so much more delicious with salt and pepper!” And up comes the salt and pepper stone.  By the end of today’s two retellings, the kids were flocking to the cook pot to share their bounty.

What a great way to bring the story to life!

Many thanks to Carrie at Crafty Moms Share for suggesting today’s storytimes and shaping them into something great.

Elmo at the library on Monday!

Monday, April 23 at 11 AM.  Ages 2-6. Elmo will lead a special storytime for preschoolers! Meet this wonderful Sesame Street character in person, and enjoy exciting stories and activities.

The Titanic

This weekend marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.  If you’d like to learn more about the tragedy, or read a story set during its fateful voyage, then we have the books for you!

Lassieur, Allison (2012).  Can You Survive The Titanic? An Interactive Survival Adventure (Gr. 3-5)

You are a passenger on the most spectacular ocean liner ever built the Titanic. When the ship hits an iceberg and begins to sink, it’s going to take more than luck to survive. Will you, try to save lives as a member of the ships medical crew? Protect the children of your wealthy employers? Experience the disaster as a 12-year-old boy with inside knowledge of the ship? Face the life or death dilemmas of the most famous shipwreck in history. You choose what you’ll do next. The choices you make will either lead you to safety or to doom.

McPherson, Stephanie Sammartino (2012).  Iceberg, Right Ahead!: The Tragedy of the Titanic (Gr. 3-5)

Learn all about the history of the Titanic, the night of the sinking, and the discovery of the wreck.

 

Korman, Gordon (2011).  Unsinkable (Gr. 3-5)

The Titanic is meant to be unsinkable, but as it begins its maiden voyage, there’s plenty of danger waiting for four of its young passengers. Paddy is a stowaway, escaping a deadly past. Sophie’s mother is delivered to the ship by police – after she and Sophie have been arrested. Juliana’s father is an eccentric whose riches can barely hide his madness. And Alfie is hiding a secret that could get him kicked off the ship immediately. The lives of these four passengers will be forever linked with the fate of the Titanic. And the farther they get from shore, the more the danger looms.

Osborn, Mary Pope (1999).  Tonight On The Titanic (Gr. 1-3)

Titanic trouble! Jack and Annie are in for an exciting, scary, and sad adventure when the Magic Tree House whisks them back to the decks of the Titanic. Is there anything they can do to help the ill-fated ship? Will they be able to save anyone? Will they be able to save themselves?

Happy Spring!

It’s the first day of spring, and it truly feels like a glorious return of warm weather.  In honor of the day, here’s a fantastic book.

Fogliano, Julie (2012).  And Then It’s Spring (PreK-3)

Winter ends, leaving nothing but brown earth all around.  There aren’t many colors–maybe some blue in the sky–but there’s the hope of seeds and plants and wonderful green things.  Waiting for those flowers, however, is almost unbearably difficult.  Maybe birds ate all the seeds.  Maybe bears came along.  Or, just maybe, the seeds are waiting for exactly the right moment.

This is a sweet picture book for sharing again, and again, and again.  It’s a delightful reminder that, no matter how hard it is to wait for something, the reward is always worth the wait.

Forget March Madness …

… in the world of children’s literature, March is all about School Library Journal’s Battle of the Kids’ Books.  Beginning this week, notable children’s/YA authors will judge showdowns between two books at a time–bracket-style, just like basketball.

Tomorrow’s battle is between Amelia Lost and Anya’s Ghost.  Check back each day for a new pair of books, and keep an eye on those brackets.

Calling parents!

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center is looking for parents or legal guardians of children between the ages of 2 and 6 to participate in a survey about children, books, and reading.

If you have a child in that age range, head over to take their survey!  It’ll take about 20 minutes, and you’ll be eligible for a $50 Amazon gift card.

Click here for the survey.

A great holiday craft

During today’s After-School Crafts, we made some great gift boxes out of recycled materials.  It was a lot of fun, and it’s really easy!

That’s a toilet paper tube, painted and wrapped with a bit of ribbon.  Inside, you can hide a little gift: some candy, a small toy, or even a note.

To turn your tube into a box, simply bend the ends of the tube, making two flaps on each end.  No cutting, no taping, no staples.  Add a bit of ribbon to make sure the flaps don’t pop open.

If painting is messier than you like, you could glue some paper (wrapping paper, maybe!) around the tube before folding the ends over.  Stickers are a nice touch, too.

Ta da!  You have a beautiful gift box that you can use and reuse.

Wildlife, Typography, and Numbers, oh my!

I love books that make me see new things in the world.  I also love the art of letters, numbers, and the way they look.  Naturally, I also love these two books:

Werner, Sharon (2009). Alphabeasties and Other Amazing Types (Gr. 4-6)

An A can be tall or short, thick or thin, slanted or vertical.  That A can have a lot of personality!  This book makes animals out of letters: an alligator is made from round and nubbly lowercase a’s along with some sharp and pointy uppercase A’s (teeth! eek!).  The design of each animal is fascinating, and there are plenty of factoids at the bottom of each page.

Werner, Sharon (2011).  Bugs by the Numbers.  (Gr. 4-6)

As if animals and letters weren’t enough, there are also bugs and numbers!  That praying mantis on the cover really is made of numbers!  The numbers give interesting facts about the insects, too.  A page-spread about butterflies has eggs made from 1’s, a caterpillar made from 2’s, a chrysalis made from 3’s, and a full butterfly made from 4’s.  Four life stages, clearly numbered.  Other insects are made from numbers that highlight a fun fact: fleas can jump 150 times their own height.  Those fleas are made from (you guessed it!) 150’s.

Books I’m excited about right now …

I love the start of a new school year.  I love the new pencils, new notebooks, new crayons … and new books!  Here are a handful that I’m particularly delighted to share with you.  Stop by to see them for yourself!

Picture Books
Battersby, Katherine (2011). Squish Rabbit (PreS-K)

Squish is a little rabbit who is hard to see and hard to hear (it’s how he got his name, after all).  He sees wonderful things, but no one listens to his stories.  He invents several friends, but none are just quite right.  Will he find a real friend to share his wonderful ideas?

Bardhan-Quallen, Sudipta (2011). Hampire! (Gr. K-3)

There’s a dangerous fiend lurking on the farm, leaving glistening red droplets on the grass each night.  Duck braves the danger to forage for a midnight snack, nervously watching for … THE HAMPIRE!  Much like in James Howe’s Bunnicula, the Hampire is not quite what he seems.  This funny book will keep readers nervously giggling until the silly end.

Readers
Arnold, Ted (2011). Fly Guy vs. the Flyswatter (Gr. K-2)

If you haven’t discovered Fly Guy yet, take a few minutes to start this  series for beginning readers.  It’s all about a fly named Fly Guy.  He’s a perfect pet for our lead boy: Fly Guy can even say his owner’s name! (Buzz.)  In this installment, Buzz’s class is taking a tour of a fly swatter factory, and Fly Guy is predictably upset.  As he rescues a beleaguered fly from a swatting robot, Fly Guy causes plenty of mayhem and plenty of fun for Buzz’s class.

Schoenberg, Jane (2011). The One and Only Stuey Lewis (Gr. 2-3)

Stuey is a worrywart.  He tries to miss the first day of second grade  to avoid spilling a terrible secret (“I’m still wicked slow at reading.”)  He tries not to sign up for soccer because his big brother is better at it.  He tries to skip the last day of second grade so that it won’t end.  The most obnoxious person in his class becomes a surprising friend, and his teacher calmly finds solutions to all of Stuey’s biggest fears.  This is a wonderful option for children who are stepping into longer chapter books.

Novels
Riordan, Rick; Adapted by Robert Venditti (2011). The Lightning Thief: the Graphic Novel (Gr. 5-9)

Based on the novel of the same name, this graphic adaptation features Percy Jackson as he discovers that he’s a demigod–his mother is human, but his father is the Greek god, Poseidon.  With an evil plot underfoot to let chaos rule the earth, Percy and his newfound friends must travel the country on a quest.  The original series shouldn’t be missed: it has humor, suspense, action, and a rock-solid rendition of Greek mythology.  Grab the graphic novel for a quick introduction to the series or for a refresher before Riordan’s Son of Neptune is released next month!

Carman, Patrick (2011).  Floors (Gr. 4-6)

10-year-old Leo Fillmore has lived in the Whippet Hotel for most of his life and knows many of its secrets–and this hotel has plenty of secrets!  It’s a wacky, zany place with rooms that are giant pinball machines, exact replicas of Central Park, ponds and caves, and more.  There’s also a mystery afoot: the owner has been missing for 100 days, and someone is sabotaging the hotel.  Leo is entrusted with saving this remarkable hotel, but can he manage it in only two days’ time?  This is a great choice for fans of Roald Dahl and Louis Sachar–or for anyone who likes their mysteries flavored with a smidgen of the impossible.