Ten years ago, director Robert Zemeckis brought Chris Van Allsburg's classic holiday book to the big screen with Tom Hanks as five different characters and the music of Josh Groban and Steve Tyler. The result was... mixed ( while computer animation/ performance capture is amazing it tends come out creepy-looking. Yes, those elves are creepy-looking.) Still, it has become a Christmas classic like Rudolph and It's A Wonderful Life ( and will be airing numerous times on ABC Family next month). Here is my favorite scene from the movie, "When Christmas Comes to Town"(actually it's fan-made, because there are some additional winter/holiday pictures mixed in between the clip). Enjoy!!!
Today was our pre-Thanksgiving program. The kids heard three stories ( Thanksgiving is Here by Diane Goode, ABC I Like Me by Nancy L. Carlson, and Christmas Parade by Sandra Boynton.) We also rang some bells, learned about the letter "T" and and made a turkey picture using our hand print and
decorated with fall leaves.
Here are a few of the songs we did-
Over the River
Over the river and thru the woods,
to Grandmother's house we go.
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh,
thru the white and drifting snow, oh.
Over the river and thru the woods,
o how the wind does blow.
It stings the nose and bites the toes
as over the ground we go.
We Eat Turkey ( sung to tune of " Are You Sleeping?")
We eat tur-key, we eat tur-key.
Oh, so good, Oh so good.
Al-ways on Thanks-giv-ing, al-ways on Thanks-giv-ing
Yum - yum - yum! Yum - yum - yum!
( Other food verses can be added, like pie or stuffing)
Let's Be Thankful
Sung to:
"Twinkle,
twinkle little star"
Let’s be thankful for this day For
our friends and for our play Let’s be thankful; lets be glad For
the food and things we have Let’s give thanks for you and me And
our home and family
Since the start of November, I have been getting into the holiday spirit (actually since Halloween because of the snow/rain mix and Hallmark started the Christmas movies). While the kids were making their turkeys, I played 40 yrs: A Charlie Brown Christmas. Here is the full album, enjoy!!
Our last two programs for 2014 are Monday, December 1 and Monday, December 15 at 10 am.
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays. See you soon!
Here are our last programs of 2014 that will happening next month in the Children's Dept at the Central Library. Please visit Library Events for information and register.
Note- All programs will now be held in the NEW Children's programing
room, located in the NEW Children's Department on the lower level.
Story Time for 2 and 3 yr olds- Monday, Dec. 1 and 15 at 10 am- Audience: 2 and 3 year olds and caregivers.
Board Game Fun-Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 6:30 pm-Audience: 2-5
Mother Goose on the Loose-Tuesday, Dec. 2 and 16 at 10 am-Audience: Infants Birth to
23 months and caregiver (s).
Lego Club- Monday, Dec 8 at 4 pm- Audience: Grades 2-6
Story Time for 4 and 5 yr olds- Tuesday, Dec 9 and 23 at 10 am -Audience: 4 and 5 year olds.
Gaming Night- Wednesday, Dec 17 at 6 pm- Audience: K-5
Children make an Ornament-Thursday, Dec 11 at 4 pm- Audience: K-5
Note- All branches will be closed on Thursday, November 27 for
Thanksgiving. We will be open the day after Thanksgiving, normal Friday
hours.
Stay tuned for our January-February programs of 2015!
One cold winter's day, three little bears bundle up and head to Grandma's. Why? Because it's baking day, it's baking day. After planting a kiss on Grandma's nose, the three put on aprons and help make chocolate cake ( cuz it's great!) And while they wait, they dance to "old time music, soft and sweet/ skippy notes and tapping feet".
This is such an warm and wonderful book, full of happy rhymes and lovely artwork that seems to glow from its pages. And it's even sweeter that the three wrap up the cake pieces to share as gifts than sample themselves ( and that we get a recipe for chocolate cake!) A great read aloud for wintry nights ( and snuggles with Grandma or Grandpa)
Baking Day at Grandma by Anika Denise
Age Range: 4 and up
***** ( 5 stars)
Here is an interview with Anika Denise and her husband, Christopher ( the book's illustrator). Enjoy!
Want more books about grandmas? Here are some suggestions:
For today's storytime , I got some inspiration from a posting I saw last year from the Kids at Cedar Lake Children's Blog and decided to have a day of art, shapes, music and motion. The kids heard Windblown by Edouard Manceau and When will the Snow Trees Grow? by Ben Shecter and learned about shapes through My First Look at Shapes. We also had some fun with bells and made some Windblown-inspired artwork (visit http://www.owlkidsbooks.com/Portals/0/docs/windblown-activity.pdf to get the shapes to make your own artwork.)
Here are some of the songs we did today
Pretty Leaves are Falling Downadded 9-9-98Original Author Unknown Sung to: "London Bridge"
Pretty leaves are falling down, falling down, falling down.
Pretty leaves are falling down, all around the town.
(wiggle fingers)
Let's rake them up in a pile, in a pile, in a pile.
Let's rake them up in a pile, all around the town.
(make raking motions)
Let's all jump in and have some fun,
have some fun, have some fun.
Let's all jump in and have some fun, all around the town.
(jump into circle)
Scarecrowadded
7-29-98Original
Author Unknown
Sung to:
"Teddy Bear, Teddy bear turn around"
Scarecrow,
Scarecrow, turn around. Scarecrow, scarecrow, jump up and
down Scarecrow, scarecrow, arms up high Scarecrow, Scarecrow,
wink one eye Scarecrow, scarecrow, bend your knee Scarecrow,
scarecrow, flap in the breeze Scarecrow, scarecrow, climb into
bed Scarecrow, scarecrow, rest your head
Our next couple of story times are: Monday, November 17 Monday, December 1 Monday December 15
All are at 10 am in the Children's Programing Room.
Today we celebrated Halloween a few weeks early. The kid ( yep, this year was an audience of one parent, one kid, still fun) heard two stories ( Click Clack Boo: A Tricky Treat by Doreen Cronin and Boo to You by Lois Ehlert), had some fun with scarves and a visit from the Five Little Pumpkins ( who will making a stop at tomorrow's Mother Goose on the Loose).
Here are some of the songs we did today-
Pumpkin,
Pumpkinadded 7-29-98Original Author
Unknown Pumpkin, Pumpkin sitting on
a wall,
Pumpkin, Pumpkin tip and fall,
Pumpkin, Pumpkin Rolling down the street
Pumpkin, Pumpkin Trick or treat
Five Little Pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The first one said " Oh my, it's getting late!"
The second one said "There are witches in the air".*
And the third one said " We don't care."
The fourth one said " Let's run, run, run."
And the fifth one said " It's Halloween fun"
Then Woooooo went the wind, and out went the lights.
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.
* In case one feels the use of "witch" is going to be a problem, I have changed it to " There's a chill in the air".
Our next Storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds will be Monday, November 3 and Monday, November 17 at 10 am.
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, Nov. 3 and 17 at 10 am- Audience: 2 and 3 year olds and caregivers.
Mother Goose on the Loose-Tuesday, Nov. 4 and 18 at 10 am-Audience: Infants Birth to
23 months and caregiver (s).
Story Time for 4 and 5 yr olds- Tuesday, Nov. 11 and 25 at 10 am- Audience: 4 and 5 year olds.
Board Game Fun-Wednesday, November 5 at 6:30 pm-Audience: 2-6th grade
Gaming Night- Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 6 pm- Audience: 12 to 17 years old.
Lego Club- Monday, Nov. 10 at 4pm- Audience: 2nd to 6th grade.
Children's Book Week Celebrates Paddington!-Thursday, Nov. 13 at 4pm-Audience: K-5 and families
Today was our second Storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds and we celebrate fall. The children heard three stories ( We're Going on A Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger, My Very First Look at Colors by Christiane Gunzi, and Moon Glowing by Elizabeth Partridge). We also shook scarves to two songs from Johnette Downing's Second Line Scarf Activity Songs CD) and made an Autumn Bear picture.
Here are some of the songs we did:
If
you like the color Red added
8-7-97Original
Author Unknown
Sung
to: "If your happy and you know it" If you like
the color red, Shake your head, If you like the color red, Shake
your head, If you like the color red, Then please shake your
head. If you like the color red, shake your head. Others:
Blue, touch your shoe Black, pat your back Green, bow like a
queen Yellow, Shake like Jell-O Brown, Turn around Pink,
give us a wink.
Five
Little Pumpkins Five
little pumpkins sitting on a gate The first one said " Oh my,
it's getting late!" The second one said "There are
witches in the air".* And the third one said " We don't
care." The fourth one said " Let's run, run, run." And
the fifth one said " It's Halloween fun" Then Woooooo
went the wind, and out went the lights. And the five little
pumpkins rolled out of sight.
This
Is Jack-O-Happyadded
10-22-01 Original Author
Unknown
This is Jack-O-Happy. (Make happy face.) This is
Jack-O-Sad. (Make sad face.) This is Jack-O-Sleepy. (Put head down
on hands.) This is Jack-O-Mad. (Make mad face.) This is
Jack-O-Broken Into pieces small Baked in a pumpkin pie (Hold
hands out to serve pumpkin pie.) That's the best of all. (Rub
tummies.) YUM! YUM
Our next Storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds will be Monday, October 20 at 10 am. Children can come in costume if they want because this will be our Pre-Halloween program.
It's October, and it's my favorite time of year. Why? Because it's time for cozy sweaters, pumpkin coffee and monsters ( Muhahahha)! So of course, we have lots of books ( picture books, nonfiction, and chapter) celebrating autumn and Halloween on display in our ABC and READ boxes.
Here are some of the titles you might find on display-
Real Mummies Don't Bleed: Friendly Tales for October Nights by Susan Whitcher
Halloween Good Night by Doug Cushman
Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody by Michael Rex
A Dark Dark Tale by Ruth Brown
Froggy's Halloween by Johnathan London
Nuts- Paula Gerritsen
Cake Girl by David Lucas
It's Halloween, Dear Dragon by Margaret Hill
Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper
Cranberry Autumn by Wende and Harry Devlin
BTW, for those coming to Monday's Storytime for 2 and 3 yr olds, we will celebrating autumn in the forest ( That's Monday, October 6 at 10 am)
