Dig into Reading-June Programming

Summer is just around the corner, and so is the library's summer reading program. Starting June 3th, and continuing until July 27th, children ages 2 to 14 can earn prizes by reading  library books. All they have to do is read one  book, magazine, or audio book and return to the Children's Department, where our teen volunteers will record each book read  on a special card, and eventually earn prizes by every 10 picture books or 500 chapter book pages read.

We will also be having programming during  the summer, too. Here are some programs that will happening next month in the Children's Dept at the Central Library. Please visit Library Events for information and to register.

Mother Goose on the Loose - Tuesdays, June 4 and 18 at 10 am or 11:30 am
Audience: Infants 6-23 Months and caregiver.

Story Time for 2 and 3 yr Olds- Mondays at 10am or 11:30 am
June 3- How Does Your Garden Grow?
June 17-Funny Bunnies
Audience:2 and 3 year olds and caregivers.

Story Time for 4 and 5 yr Olds- Tuesdays at 10 am or Wednesday at  6:30 pm
June 11 or 12-Stories in the Burrow
June 25 or 26-Sprouting with Books
Audience: 4 and 5 year olds.

School-Age-Thursdays at 4pm.
June 13-Ahoy Matey
June 20-Worms are Fun
Audience: K to 5th grade and families



Family Movie Day ( Wednesday at noon)
Patrons can bring a lunch or snack. No red or dark colored drinks!
June 12-Madagascar 3
June 19-Gnomeo and Juliet
June 26-Brave
Audience: All Ages.  Children under the age of 7 must be accompanied by an adult age 18 or older.

Other Programs:
Summer Reading Kick-off- Thursday, June 6 at 2pm-Audience: Ages 2-12
Lego Club-Monday, June 17 at 4pm-Audience: Grades 2-6
Gaming Night-Wednesday, June 19 at 6pm-Audience: Teens 12-17
Board Game Fun- Wednesday, June 5 at 6:30 pm-Audience: Grades 2-6
Merrillville Fire Department-Thursday, June 27 at 11 am Audience: All Ages
Hope see everyone soon. Happy Summer!!

Bookworm List: Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is this Sunday. How will you be celebrating it? Sunday brunch? A gift of appreciation?  Or perhaps you can stop in this weekend and get some books that celebrate Mom. Here are a few recommendations:

-We Love You, Mama! by Arthur Yorinks
-When Mama Come Home Tonight by Eileen Spinelli
-Oh My Baby Little One by Kathi Appelt
-A Little Bit of Love by Cynthia Platt



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Happy Mother's Day!! Keep Reading!!

Storytime for 2 and 3yr olds: Mama and Me at the Beach

With summer coming ( where did spring go? did it ever happen?), today's Storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds went to the beach to celebrate Mother's Day. We listen to two books ( The Big Big Sea by Martin Waddell amd Oh My Baby  by Kathi Appelt) and made a rainbow fish. We also counted some sea creatures and rang some bells.

Here are some of the songs we did in today's storytime:



Five Little Sea Creatures
 5 little sea creatures on the ocean floor, the lobster walked away and now there are 4.
4 little sea creatures living in the sea, the octopus crept away and now there are 3.
3 little sea creatures wondering what to do, goodbye said the starfish and now there are 2.
2 little sea creatures not having much fun, off swam the seahorse and now there is 1.
1 little hermit crab, sad and all alone, he went home and then there were none.

My Special Friend added 4-27-99 Original Author Unknown

Sung to: "Bingo"

I have a very special friend
And Mommy is her name-o.
M-O-M-M-Y, M-O-M-M-Y, M-O-M-M-Y,
And Mommy is her name-o

 Here is a video of the song " A Sailor went to Sea". Enjoy

The Storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds will be back this summer. During the summer, we will have two sessions, 10am and 11:30 am. The programs in June are-

Monday, June 3 at 10am or 11:30 am- How does Your Garden Grow?
Monday, June 17 at 10am or 11:30 am- Funny Bunnies!!

See You Soon!!!

 

Meet Bookston!!!

 The bear in Children's has been named. Meet...
Bookston!!!

Bookston all ready for the Library Gala!!

 Matthew Garcia won the Name the Bear Contest held in April during National Library Week. Bookston sits near the counters by the front desk in the Children's Department ( and has been know to dress up once and a while, as such as this picture here!!)

 Here are some photos of Bookston and Matt. Enjoy!!

Bookston and Matt play with the Busy Box

Bookston so happy to have a name. Thank you Matt.

Bookston and Matt enjoy a book.

Bookston would also like to recommend a few of his favorite books featuring bears:

-The Teddy Bears' Picnic- Jimmy Kennedy
-A Bear named Paddington-Michael Bond
-Little Bear's Visit- Else H. Minarik
-Old Bear- Kevin Henkes

Want to find these and more bear books? Bookston recommends using these keywords-
Bears-Juvenile Fiction
Bears-Juvenile Literature
Teddy Bears-Juvenile Fiction

Come see Bookston Bear and Cecily the Giraffe in the Children's Department!!

Book Review: Stripes of All Types by Susan Stockdale

What kinds of animals have stripes?  And why do they have them?  To hide more easily?  To recognize one another?  To warn enemies to stay away?

Susan Stockdale's Stripes of All Types uses poetry and vivid illustrations to show how animals of all shapes and sizes use their stripes, from a snail's shell to a turkey on the farm. There is also information on all the animals in the book ( and how they use their stripe) plus a fun guessing game at the end of the book. A great book for all ages, they may even be encouraged to seek out the stripes around them!!

Stripes of All Types by Susan Stockdale
Age Range: All ages
***** ( 5 stars)

For more information on Susan Stockdale and her books, check out her website!!

Upcoming Programs in May

Here are some programs that will happening next month in the Children's Dept at the Central Library. Please visit Library Events for information and register.

Story Time for 2 and 3 yr olds- Monday, May 6 at 10 am- Audience: 2 and 3 year olds and caregivers.

Mother Goose on the Loose-Tuesday, May 7 at 10 am-Audience: Infants Birth to
23 months and caregiver (s).

Story Time for 4 and 5 yr olds- Tuesday,May 14 and 28 at 10 am - Audience: 4 and 5 year olds.


Lego Club-Monday, May 14 at 4 pm-Audience: Grades 2-6

Gaming Night- Wednesday, May 15 at 6 pm- Audience: 12 to 17 years old.

Scrabble Fun-Wednesday, May 22 at 6:30 pm- Audience: Grades 2-6

Volunteer Meeting-Tuesday, May 28 at 4 pm and Wednesday, May 29 at 6 pm
 'Tweens and teens, ages 11 (must be 11 by August 2013) through 17, who are interested in volunteering during the library's Summer Reading Program, must attend a Volunteer Meeting in order to sign up. A parent or legal guardian must be present to sign a permission slip at the meeting.  

Coming This Summer- Dig into Reading ( June-July 2012)

See You Soon!!

Storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds: Louie's Bookworm Bash

Today's story time for  2 and 3 celebrated National Library Week. We listened to My Book Box by Will Hillanbrand and Rainy Day Slug by Mary P. Colborn. We also learned about big and small, danced with Walter the Waltzing Worm, and make a bookmark with Louie the Bookworm.


Here is a video for Hap Palmer's song, "Walter the Waltzing Worm". To make  your  very own Walter, all you need is a piece of yarn. Enjoy!

Our last Storytime for 2 and 3 yr old for Spring 2013 is Monday, May 6 at 10 am. We'll start up again Monday,June 3 for Dig into Reading, our Summer Reading Program for this year. More details to come.

See You Soon!

National Library Week is Coming ( Plus Reminder about Tomorrow)

Next week is National Library Week ( April 14-20).This year's celebration is extra special because.... remodeling is done!!! Yes, for the past two years, we have remained open while changes were going on, inside and out! Now, except for some reorganization on the middle and upper levels ( yes the upper floor IS OPEN!!!), the changes are complete. We have new furniture ( including some cozy chairs),  a busy box for the little ones by the NEW Children's Programming Room,  a new area to rent movies and music ( middle level, to the left and all the way in the back). Even the website is being updated. Yes, it may all be confusing, but don't worry we are here to help.

So in children's, here is what we are doing-

 Celebrate National Library Week!- April 15-20 ( All Day)
To celebrate National Library Week, April 14-20, and the new Children's Services Department, special activities have been planned for children and their families.  During the week, children may pick up a passport at the desk in the department, search for Louie the Bookworm, and have their passports stamped with an image of Louie.  Children may enter the 'Name the Bear' and 'What I Like About the Library' contests.  Winners will be notified the following week.

Celebrate Your Library- Wednesday, April 17 at 6:30 pm
  A Family Story Time will be presented in our new Children's Programming Room on Wednesday, April 17th at 6:30 pm.  Please register.

So come check out all the changes (and a book or two!)

Happy Library Week! Keep Reading!!

Quick reminder about tomorrow-
Due the library's private gala, we( the Merrillville Branch) will Closing at 5pm. All other branch will be remain open til 6pm.
 

Storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds: D is for Duck!

Hello, hope everyone had fun with Elmo on Friday and a very good Easter yesterday.


Today's storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds featured the letter D and the number 5 (yes, was in a bit of a Sesame Street mood), so we had stories and songs featuring "D", "5" ( or both.)  We listened to Five Little Ducks  by Ivan Bates, My "d" Sound Box by Jane B. Moncure, and Quack! by Arthur Yorinks. We also made a "D" duck ( letter D decorated like a duck) and pretend to go to the farm and firehouse thanks to Barney the purple dinosaur.

Here are some of the songs we did:

Five Little Dinosaurs

Five little dinosaurs, stomping on the floor
One went away and now there's four
Four little dinosaurs, playing by a tree
One went away and now's there three
Three little dinosaurs, playing by some goo
One went away and now there's two
Two little dinosaurs that weigh a ton
One went away and now there's one
One little dinosaur, under the sun
He went away and now there's none


Can You Show me One ( tune of Can You Kick with 2 Feet?) 

Can you show me one,
One, one
Can you Show me one right now
( Repeat with additional numbers)

 Here is a version of the Peanut Butter and Jelly song.

We have two more storytimes for Spring 2013. They are Monday, April 15 and Monday, May 6 at 10 am in the NEW Children's Programming Room.

See You Soon 

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Hippity Hoppity, Easter's (and Elmo) are on the way

Hello, hope everyone has a good time with Elmo this Friday at 10 am  and a good Easter this Sunday. Enjoy the egg hunting, the chocolate bunnies, and the Peeps!!



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