Blind Date with Books!

I was inspired by some other displays similar to this one that I found on Pinterest.  I thought since February is coming up that I would make this display loaded with hearts and give it a Valentine's Day theme.

Here's what the display looks like:

Each book is wrapped with a copy of the barcode taped  to the front.  The sticker has a silly phrase enticing people to take it on a "date".  Take it home, show it your favorite spot so read, share it with your friends...  At the bottom of the sticker there is a line that reads, "This book seeks_____ lovers."  On the blank line I wrote the genre of the book.

My director also decided to do this for the adults.  We created a book review sheet that patrons (teens and adults) can fill out and be entered in a raffle at the end of the month to win a $15.00 Barnes & Noble gift card.

Bear Den Craft

I stumbled upon this craft idea on Pinterest (which is so easy to do).  It's simple, but cute!  I'm actually making these in storytime tonight.

Here's the link to the original idea.  I made slight adjustments for storytime.

Here's what you need:

• Small Styrofoam bowl
• Small Styrofoam plate
• Pom poms of varying sizes
• Crayons
• Glue
• Hot Glue
• Scissors

I had all my dens cut and hot glued together (bowl flipped upside down and glued to plate) prior to storytime.
The kids will be able to color the outside of their dens and decorate any way they like.
After they are finished decorating they can choose the pom poms (bears) they want to glue inside their dens.
And that's it!

Here's what the finished product looks like:

The books that I will be reading to go along with this craft are:
Old Bear by Kevin Henkes
The Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson

Enjoy!

Teen Book Display

Here's a new book display that I will be putting up in the teen section soon.  I made these signs along with cutouts of coffee cups to sprinkle throughout the display. There are just enough books to create a display with and I'm sure I can dig up a few more to go with this list.  I grabbed any book with a coffee or tea title, or a book in which a coffee shop was a main setting in a book.

Here's what I have come up with:

• Death By Latte by Linda Gerber
• Dead Is So Last Year by Marlene Perez
• The Glass Cafe by Gary Paulsen
• The Latte Rebellion by Sarah Jamila Stevenson
• Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors
• The Teashop Girls by Laura Schaefer
• The Secret Ingredient by Laura Schaefer
• The Espressologist by Kristina Springer
• Vintage Veronice by Erica S. Perl

App Review

Since having the iPads at the library I have discovered there are quite a few apps that I really enjoy using in storytime.  Right now Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App by Disney is a big hit.

The kids scream with excitement when we create our own story and then have it read to us.  Depending on how many children our in storytime I either let them take turns selecting the image on the screen or they stay seated and as a group shout out which item to select.  This app is really cool, before the story begins the Bus Driver comes out and tells the kids he needs some help selecting items before they read the story.  There's all sorts of crazy things to select.  Before the Bus Driver leaves he tells the kids if they see the pigeon they have to shake him to read the story.  The kids go wild when they see the pigeon on the screen.

This is a great interactive story to be used in storytime or just to have at home.

Recycled Paper Flowers

I found this craft after a bit of searching.  I originally saw a picture of these flowers on Pinterest, but there was no link to instructions.  After a little bit of web searching I found this link to origami flowers.  Instead of using origami paper I used the pages from discarded books.  The instructions from the website say to use a 6" x 6"  piece of paper.  I couldn't get that size out of the book I was using so I experimented with a 5" and 4" square.  I personally like the 4" square the best.

You can use a glue stick to glue the petals together or I found that the heavy duty double sided sticky tape that I have here at the library works really well.  For now I have green pipe cleaners stuck through the middle of the flowers for stems, but I will be visiting the craft store this weekend to purchase some floral wire.

I will be doing this craft with the teens for the upcoming Art Club.
Enjoy!

Circus Craft

Here is a craft I made up for a preschool visit I have coming up.  I wanted to make something new besides the usual paper plate animals (which are adorable), the kids already made some in class.  I plan on reading the book Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers which features a penguin who really wants to fly.  The penguin ends up being shot out of a cannon at a traveling show.  I used that as my inspiration for the craft.  Just by using Google images I found a simple cannon to print out on cardstock for kids to color and a penguin that just happens to me nice and round-like a cannon ball!  The penguin is glued to a colored popsicle stick and a slit is cut in the front of the cannon for the penguin to fit through.  The kids can pretend to shoot the penguin out of the cannon.  Here's what the project looks like.  I just made this up so it is super easy to adapt and if you are great at drawing you can have a lot of fun with it.

iPad Apps for the Library

I've had the iPads for a week now and have found so many great apps to use in Storytime and in other library programs.  I took the time to test out every app, my husband had fun helping too.  I found that some of the apps I would definitely use in a storytime setting while others I put on the iPads for parents and kids to use in the children section.  Our plan is to try and get the iPads set up in the library today.  I'll post pictures once that is all set, but for now here our the apps I am currently using and liking.  I will continue to update these lists as time

For kids/parents to use:

• ABC House by Peapod Labs LLC
• Awesome Eats by Whole Kids Foundation
• Baby Aquarium by Kids Place
• BrainPOP Featured Movie by BrainPOP
• Grandma's Garden by Fairlady Media
• Motion Math Zoom by Motion Math
• Motion Math: Hungry Fish by Motion Math
• Motion math: Wings by Motion Math
• Nursery Rhymes with StoryTime by ustwo
• The Opposites by Mindshapes Limited
• PBS KIDS Video by PBS KIDS
• Scribble Press by Scribble Press
• SketchMoo 2 by MOOODFKA LTD
• Smash Your Food HD by Food N' Me
• Sushi Monster by Scholastic
• Tap A Tune by Mindshapes Limited
• Toca Tailor Fairy Tales by Toca Boca AB
• Wheels on the Bus HD by Duck Duck Moose
• Working on the Railroad by Tiger Stripes LLC
• Weird But True by National Geographic Society

To use in Storytime:

• Animal Sounds by Innovative Mobile Apps
• Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App! by Disney
• Feed the Animals by Curious Fingers
• Peekaboo Forest by Night & Day Studios, Inc.
• Toca Robot Lab by Toca Boca AB

Teens: 
(there's only a couple because I haven't met with the teen group yet to see what other apps they would like)

• Icon Pop Quiz by Alegrium
• iMovie by Apple

Winter Wreath

This past Monday I had my first session of Winter Evening Storytime.  I created a fun wreath for kids to make and take home.  The best part is that I only had to go out purchase one item for this project.  Everything else came from my craft supplies at the library.

Here's what you will need

Paper plates with the centers cut out

White tissue paper cut into squares (you could also use different shades of blue)

Glitter (I used silver)

Elmer's glue

Glue stick

Ribbon (any color I chose white)

Hole Punch (if you have one or just use scissors)

Wooden snowflakes (I purchased mine from A.C. Moore for about  $0.27 each)

Blue liquid watercolor and paint brush

white crayon

Hot glue gun

First I had the kids use crayons to put a design on their snowflake and then they painted over it with blue liquid watercolor.  Set aside the snowflake to dry.  Using the glue stick in small areas at a time put it on the paper plate and then scrunch a piece of tissue paper and place it on the plate.  Do this until the plate is covered with tissue paper.  Next, take the Elmer's glue and lightly add a zig zag design all around your wreath.  Sprinkle the glitter on that.  Shake off the extra glitter (it will find its way between the tissue paper).  Using the hot glue gun add a small amount of glue to the front of your wreath and place the snowflake on it.  Decide what part of the wreath you want to be the top and punch a whole in it and attach a piece of ribbon to hang your wreath by.  And you're done!

The kids in storytime had a lot of fun making these.  All of their wreaths came our great and so unique.

Enjoy!

Splat the Cat.

Today I'm sharing my obsession with Splat the Cat, the adorable character created by Rob Scotton.  I love to share Splat with everyone!  When I go on school visits the kids always ask me if I have a Splat book to read.  He's just such an adorable character.  I even have a Splat doll the comes on visits with me now.

Update: SPLAT came for a visit in February 2014!

Here's a few of my favorite Splat books to share:

iPads in the Library

As I mentioned yesterday our library will be getting a few iPads-any day now!  At a recent meeting a fellow children's librarian (Anne Hicks) demonstrated how she uses an iPad in storytime.  I thought it was so cool and cannot wait to get my iPad so I can start incorporating it into my storytimes.  To help us out Anne put together a list of some of her favorite apps to use in storytime.

Anne's Favorite Apps:

• Feed the Animals by Curious Fingers
• Wheels on the Bus by Duck Moose
• Peek-a-boo Halloween by Night and Day Studios
• Robot by Toca Boca
• Animal Sounds-Fun Toddler Games by Innovative Mobile Apps
• Nursery Rhymes with Storytime by ustwo
• Rhyming Words by Grasshopper Apps
• Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App by Disney
• SketchMoo 2 by Mooofka Ltd
• Grandma's Garden by Fairlady Media

Here are a few websites that you can visit to check out reviews of Apps for kids:

www.bestkidsapps.com

www.apps4kids.net

www.kidsbestipadapps.com

Best Books Review of 2012

I know I recently posted some books that I really enjoyed from 2012, but I thought I would share the list the all the Teen Services Librarians from our library system put together.  This list is called Rave Reviews 2012.  I thought it would be fun to end the year by looking back at some great books that have come out recently.  We are currently working our reviews for 2013.  I've created a display for the 2012 reviews and books that have been published in 2012 that I thought were great reads.

Here's the display:

Happy New Year!

Here is a copy of the Rave Reviews 2012: