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.

100 Best Books for Children

Scholastic Parent & Child has named its 100 best books for children.  How many have you read?  What would you add (or remove) from this list?

What a crafty week at the library!

We’ve had a ton of fun crafts at the library this week.  It all started on Saturday, when we had a wonderful Wizard of Oz party …

We made funnel hats, just like the Tinman has.

Cone-shaped hats are easy to make!  Cut a circle out of paper, then cut away 1/4 of the circle.  It should look like Pacman–you can see actual instructions here.  Decorate, roll into a cone, and tape the ends together.

We also made magic wands, just like Glinda has!

These are also easy to make, but they’re easily adapted for more complicated crafts.  I bought colorful popsicle sticks, glitter foam stars with sticky backs, and skinny ribbon.  Cut a few pieces of ribbon, stick them to the gluey part of the foam star, then press the star onto one end of the popsicle stick.  If you want to get really snazzy, sandwich the popsicle stick and ribbons between two stars.  Want to make something more complicated?  Try braiding the ribbons or wrapping them around the popsicle stick in different designs.

During Preschool Story Time, we made fabulous sail boats.

This is another super-simple craft.  We took small paper plates and cut them in half.  Then we cut one side into half again, just like a pizza.  Recycle one of the pizza slices and keep the other.  Glue a popsicle stick to the half plate (also known as your new boat), and then glue it to the pizza slice (which has now become your sail).  Ta da!  That’s a beautiful boat!

So a Walrus Walks Out of a Zoo …

Savage, Stephen (2011). Where’s Walrus? (PreS-K)

What happens when a walrus tires of his life in a zoo?  He searches for new adventures, of course!  This walrus sneaks away when no one is watching, and the zoo keeper must hurry to find the walrus.  On each page spread, you’ll find the clever walrus hiding among fountains, mannequins, businessmen, artists, and more.  He’s not hard to find, but his mischievous grin will have kids talking about what he’s doing and why the zoo keeper doesn’t see him.

This is a wordless picture book, but it involves participation and story telling from young viewers.  The clear, large illustrations make it a great choice for sharing with a group, and the funny situations are wonderful for one-on-one imaginative story telling.  It’s an all-around fantastic book!

Dream Big!

Howe, James (2010). Brontorina (PreK-Gr. 2)

On the outside, Brontorina is a dinosaur (an apatosaurus, to be exact).  In her heart, however, she is a ballerina.  Madame Lucille has only one request of Brontorina: don’t squash the other dancers in her dance academy.  Brontorina plies, jetes, and arabesques with grace! But no one makes ballet slippers large enough, her head gouges the ceiling, and her tail gets in the way.  What will Brontorina and Madame Lucille do?

This is a sweet, simple, often funny story about following your dreams and (sometimes) changing your expectations to accommodate new ideas.

Knuffle Bunny: The Adventure Ends

Willems, Mo (2010).  Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion (PreS-K)

If you’ve been following Trixie and Knuffle Bunny ever since their first book, you won’t want to miss the conclusion of their story.  Trixie and her parents go to Holland to visit Oma and Opa.  Although Trixie and her parents leave the airplane in Holland, Knuffle Bunny does not … and he ends up flying all the way to China!

Now, a lot of things are different in this book.  Trixie is older–old enough to think about everything there is in the world, and old enough to make a choice about Knuffle Bunny.  Without spoiling the story’s ending, this book is a wonderful way to finish the series.