Display: Blind Date with a Book

My director decided for the month of February to create a "Blind Date with a Book" display upstairs in the adult area. All staff are to pick five books and wrap them up, and write the barcode on the outside. I thought it would be fun to do something similar with the kids books downstairs!

I chose 16 books to start, all from my "J" (chapter books) section, and I tried to choose ones that are part of a series or at least have more available by the same author. This will hopefully get kids interested in a new author they might never have tried before. Some of the ones I chose are Frindle by Andrew Clements, Redwall by Brian Jacques, Magyk by Angie Sage, and Clementine by Sara Pennypacker.

Inside each book is a "Rate Your Date" bookmark for kids to fill out and let me know what they thought of it. As an incentive for kids to participate in this, each time they turn in a bookmark their name will be entered into a drawing for a prize on or around March 1.

There was quite a bit of prep work for this display, in choosing the books, looking and typing up read-alikes, wrapping them, setting their status to "display", creating the header. But I really like making displays, and I think this one will be lots of fun!

"Don't judge a book by its cover!"

"Check out a wrapped book, take it home, and unwrap it. Show it your favorite spots to read. Get to know each other. If you hit it off, introduce it to your friends! There won’t be any awkward feelings if you don’t like your date, but you might find the match of your literary dreams!"

"Fill out the “Rate Your Date” card inside the book, and turn it in by March 1 to be entered to win a prize!"

Lots of ideas for this display were found on Pinterest.


Edited to add: Two days after putting up this display, 14 of my 16 books are already gone... Guess I have to find some more!!! 

Storytime: M is for Moon and N is for Night

Age: 18-36 months (coloring page instead of craft), 3-5 years (with craft)
Time: 30 minutes

This school year in storytime I decided to use the alphabet to give me inspiration for themes. I'm needing to double up a few weeks so that we finish when we're supposed to... This week, M is for Moon and N is for Night!


1) These Are My Glasses - Laurie Berkner
My current opening song that we sing acappella every week. I start by asking them to show me their glasses and their book so that they remember the signs. We sing it through twice, then I'll ask them to quietly put their "books" in their lap.

These are my glasses (make the letter o with each hand)
And this is my book (hands together)
I put on my glasses (put "glasses" over eyes)
And open up the book (open book hands)
Now I read read read (hold book up in front of face like reading)
And I look look look (put glasses over eyes and look around room)
I put down my glasses and… (lower glasses)
WHOOP! Close up the book. (clap as if closing a book quickly)


2) Mystery Box
This week I printed a picture of the moon that I put in the box.

3) Kitten's First Full Moon - Kevin Henkes

You can't really go wrong with a Caldecott winner like this one. I think it went over the heads of the younger kids, but at least they stayed focused on it since it was our first book.

4) Song - Moon Moon Moon - Laurie Berkner

This one is on Laurie's Victor Vito CD. I started with the motions from Sunflower Storytime, and then changed a few...

Moon, moon, moon (form arms in circle over head) 
Shining bright (wiggle fingers like they are sparkling) 
Moon, moon, moon (form arms in circle over head) 
My night light (act like turning off a light) 
Moon, moon, moon (arms in circle over head) 
I can see (point to eyes)
Moon, moon, moon (form arms in circle over head)
You’re taking care of me (hands over heart) 

Look up, it’s the moon (point up with right hand and look up) 
Look up, it’s the moon (point up with left hand and look up) 
Look up, it’s the moon (point up with both hands)
Up in the sky (wave arms back and forth over head)
It’s big and round (make circle with arms over head) 
And I have found (thumbs to chest)
That it looks just like a pizza [lemon] pie! (make circle with hands in front of you, then take a bite)

5) When You Look Up at the Moon - Allan Fowler

I wish this book was a little bigger in size, but it has great photos of the moon, astronauts, and earth, with easy-to-understand text.

6) Hey Diddle Diddle

I have this classic rhyme as a flannelboard, so I handed out the pieces to the kids and had them come up when we said their part. Then we said it a second time while I pointed at the pictures. When we said the line "the cow jumped over the moon", I stopped and asked them, "can a cow really jump over the moon?!" and they all said no. So I said "haha that's just silly! and look, the little dog laughed..."

7) Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

"What else do you see up in the sky at night along with the moon? Stars!"

8) Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! I'm Off to the Moon! - Dan Yaccarino

This was probably my favorite book of the day. Only a sentence or two on a page, simple rhymes, and somewhat-real pictures (a lunar rover, the capsule's splashdown, etc. all in cartoon form). We had some older kids with us because it was a snow day for the schools, so I even had 3rd grade boys laughing at things (mostly the pictures of the kid's spacesuit...).

9) Song - Wimoweh (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) - Laurie Berkner

From her Whaddya Think of That CD. I asked the kids what they usually did when it was dark/night time. Sleep of course! So we found comfy spots on the floor to sleep during the slow verses, and then jumped up and danced with egg shakers during "wimoweh".

10) Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown

Ahh, every parent's favorite bedtime book. (well, it actually took this parent awhile to warm up to it [I preferred her Big Red Barn for the longest time with my first child]). No storytime about both the moon and night would be complete without this one.

11) M/N is for Moon/Night coloring page (18-36 mo.) or M/N is for Moon/Night craft (3-5 yrs)
I found a Goodnight Moon coloring page for the younger kids. For the older ones we just stuck with gluing for their craft. A black piece of paper, white M and N, wax paper moon (which looked really cool if it got a little crinkly during gluing!), and little stars from a previous craft.

Other moon/night ideas:
Papa Please Get the Moon for Me - Eric Carle
And If the Moon Could Talk - Kate Banks
I Took the Moon for a Walk - Carolyn Curtis
Moongame, Moondance, etc. - Frank Asch
Good Night Gorilla - Peggy Rathman
The Moon Might Be Milk - Lisa Shulman
The Moon - Seymour Simon
The Very Lonely Firefly - Eric Carle


**Side note about this storytime -- my husband and I are big astronomy buffs, so this has been my favorite storytime yet this year! Unfortunately it was also my smallest attendance (yucky weather, snow day at the schools), so I was really bummed I didn't get to share it with more kids. :(  BUT I'm excited for our science-themed summer reading program coming up, I am definitely going to do an astronomy storytime one of those weeks!

Storytime: L is for Ladybug

Age: 18-36 months (coloring page instead of craft), 3-5 years (with craft)

This school year in storytime I decided to use the alphabet to give me inspiration for themes. So this week, L is for Ladybugs!


1) These Are My Glasses - Laurie Berkner
My current opening song that we sing acappella every week. I start by asking them to show me their glasses and their book so that they remember the signs. We sing it through twice, then I'll ask them to quietly put their "books" in their lap.

These are my glasses (make the letter o with each hand)
And this is my book (hands together)
I put on my glasses (put "glasses" over eyes)
And open up the book (open book hands)
Now I read read read (hold book up in front of face like reading)
And I look look look (put glasses over eyes and look around room)
I put down my glasses and… (lower glasses)
WHOOP! Close up the book. (clap as if closing a book quickly)


2) Mystery Box
This week I had a Beanie Baby ladybug that I put in the box.


3) The Very Lazy Ladybug - Isobel Finn

The longest of our books today, this one kept the kids' attention with the bold pictures of different animals.


4) Song – We are the Dinosaurs - Laurie Berkner
This song has nothing to do with ladybugs. But the kids love it. Even my 18-month-old walks around at home, stomping her feet and saying "march! march!"


5) Let's Read About Insects: Ladybugs - Susan Ashley

Hurray for toddler-friendly non-fiction books! I did paperclip and skip the pages on the ladybug's life cycle... but it was good for the kids to see real photos, since it's currently winter and they probably have no clue what a ladybug looks like!


6) The Lovely Ladybug
This was a fun little rhyme I found from Kathryn. I've never done folder stories before, I think I need to add more to my collection! The younger kids had fun telling me the color name when I showed it to them, and I had the older kids guess the color based on the rhyme before revealing it.

Let’s play a ladybug color game, I’ll give you rhyming clues 
If you know it, say the name of each color that I use! 

The first color for our buggy fellow 
Is the color of sunshine - it’s the color yellow. 

Frogs in the pond and a fresh snap bean 
Did you guess the color green? 

The sky above and the ocean too 
Such a beautiful color, it's the color blue. 

Strawberry ice cream, come on now, think. 
You are right! It’s the color pink! 

Grapes for jelly on a P B & J
Purple is the color we say! 

 Pumpkins or basketballs rolling by 
 Orange is the color that we now spy. 

Fluffy clouds and the moon at night 
Did you say the color white? 

Roses that grow in a garden bed 
Are this beautiful color, the color red. 

Ladybug, ladybug up in the sky 
Thanks for the fun and now we say, “Goodbye!”


7) Can You Make a Scary Face? - Jan Thomas

I think the parents got more of a kick out of this book than the kids (especially the younger group), but they all did what the book said!


8) Song & Rhyme Cube
This week we rolled I'm a Little Teapot, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and If You're Happy and You Know It.


9) Ten Little Ladybugs - Melanie Gerth

Love love love this book. My copy at my house has a broken spine from being read (and stepped on...) so often. I'll admit (and I said this to the parents too!), the very first time I read this book I wondered what the heck was happening to the ladybugs...


10) L is for Ladybug coloring page (18-36 mo.) or L is for Ladybug craft (3-5 yrs)
I found on Pinterest the exact look I was going for with this craft. I didn't put it on a background though, and used a brad to attach the wings to the body so they could move. The dots are fingerpaint!

Other ladybug ideas:
The Grouchy Ladybug - Eric Carle
Ladybug Girl - David Soman
Five Little Ladybugs - Karen Henley (too much like 10 Little Ladybugs above)
Little Ladybug flannel 
Pretty Ladybug flannel song

Storytime: K is for Kangaroo

Age: 18-36 months (coloring page instead of craft), 3-5 years (with craft)

This school year in storytime I decided to use the alphabet to give me inspiration for themes. So this week, K is for Kangaroos!


1) These Are My Glasses - Laurie Berkner
My current opening song that we sing acappella every week. I start by asking them to show me their glasses and their book so that they remember the signs. We sing it through twice, then I'll ask them to quietly put their "books" in their lap.

These are my glasses (make the letter o with each hand)
And this is my book (hands together)
I put on my glasses (put "glasses" over eyes)
And open up the book (open book hands)
Now I read read read (hold book up in front of face like reading)
And I look look look (put glasses over eyes and look around room)
I put down my glasses and… (lower glasses)
WHOOP! Close up the book. (clap as if closing a book quickly)


2) Mystery Box
I have a big stuffed kangaroo puppet (complete with a pouch and joey), but of course it was too big to fit in my little mystery box. So I put a note inside instead: "I'm too big to fit in this box, but I hope you'll think I'm cute. You'll find me with my baby underneath the parachute!" The parachute was on the counter, covering a box of stuffed animals that I used later.

3) I Love It When You Smile - Sam McBratney

A cute book about a grumpy baby kangaroo. The kids were all giggling at the silly antics of the mother kangaroo.


4) Song – Shake Your Sillies Out - the Wiggles
Jump like a kangaroo! :)


5) Kangaroo Magic for Kids - Judith Logan Lehne & Life Cycle of a Kangaroo - Angela Royston (non-fiction books)

I wanted to show the kids some photos of real kangaroos. I ended up choosing only 3-5 pages from each of these books (didn't get into the entire life cycle...) and narrated them myself.


6) iPad videos - Kangaroos Hop, Blue Mountains National Park & Baby Kangaroos Thinking Outside the Pouch
Since there's nothing like seeing a kangaroo really hopping, I brought down our library's iPad and chose a couple of short videos from Youtube. The kids were fascinated! I'll have to find more uses for our iPad in storytime...


7) Pouch! - David Ezra Stein

I first discovered this book when I received it for my own kids as part of the Imagination Library. It was probably my favorite one of the entire storytime. I elaborated a few words here and there, especially for the younger group, to help them understand what was going on in the pictures.


8) Hop, Hop, Hop Kangaroo
Found here, to the tune of Skip to My Lou.  We hopped/skipped around the room of course. :)

Hop, hop, hop, kangaroo 
Hop, hop, hop, kangaroo 
Hop, hop, hop, kangaroo 
Hopping around Australia. 

Baby in a pocket safe and snug 
Baby in a pocket safe and snug 
Baby in a pocket safe and snug 
Hopping with her mama.

(repeat first verse)


9) Boing - Nick Bruel (3-5 yr only) 

I discovered I had every animal from this book in puppet form! I took the kangaroo puppet in the picture above and pre-filled her pocket with small stuff like crayons, yarn, paper clips, batteries... basically anything I could find around my desk that fit! I had all of the animals in a big box and pulled them out as I read the book.


10) Who Ate All the Cookie Dough? - Karen Beaumont

I think I've mentioned before how I'm a sucker for good rhyming books, and I love a lot of Karen Beaumont's. All the kids in both age groups got a kick out of this one -- they were so into it, and everyone thought the monkey really had eaten all the cookie dough! (one kid burst out "he's lying!!" when the monkey denied it :)


11) K is for Kangaroo coloring page (18-36 mo.) or K is for Kangaroo craft (3-5 yrs)

Hurray for Pinterest! I found the exact idea I was looking for here, and generally did the same thing. I pre-cut all the pieces and just had the kids glue it together, then decorate with crayons.

My 3.5-year-old's version

Other kangaroo ideas:
Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too? - Eric Carle
Little New Kangaroo - Bernard Wiseman
Who Are You, Baby Kangaroo? - Stella Blackstone
Joey - Jack Kent

The Great Book Character Hunt

I've been doing a little searching about ideas for passive programming -- where I set something up and then the program essentially runs itself. Working only 20-22 hours each week, and overseeing all youth services (babies through teens), I don't have a ton of time for active programs (though I'm getting better and my weeks are running more and more efficiently!).

A scavenger hunt seemed to be an easy place to start. I found lots of ideas online, and ended up going with a children's book themed hunt.

"Hidden around the bottom floor of the Alvah N. Belding Library are 10 pictures of book characters. Find each one, write their name on the paper below, and turn it in. Correct guesses will win a prize from our treasure box!"

"*All pictures can be found on the bottom level of the library, in places accessible to everyone while the library is open (not in the bathrooms, club room, etc.)* This edition of the hunt ends on November 30."

(all of our kids books are on the lower level of the library and the adult books are on the main level)

Then I hid ten pictures of common book characters! They were in easy spots like on the shelf endcaps, and in hard spots like under a table. I included the location/call number of each character, so kids could go and look up the character's name if they didn't know it already.

I ran this hunt for a month. Whenever I was working I just let the kids turn in their forms directly to me and choose a prize (old Summer Reading trinkets) right away. When I wasn't there, the kids put their forms in a big container by the display.

When the day came that the hunt was over, I removed all of the character pictures and re-designed the display.

"THANK YOU to all who participated!!! If your list is taped up on the window, please take it down and bring it to a library staff person to get your prize! "

Those who had turned in their form to the container while I wasn't around got their paper taped to the window. They could then still turn it in and receive a prize from the treasure box.

Overall I think this passive program went amazing. I had about 40 kids turn in a paper, which is huge for us. Even though it was geared toward elementary age kids, it was fun to see even the teenagers get into it just so they could get a prize. I was always willing to give hints if needed ("you're looking for number 3? she's hiding on one of the bottom shelves in non-fiction...").

I will probably do this again in the spring, maybe in April or May during our transitions from school-year to summer reading. Or maybe I'll do it throughout our Summer Reading Program. It only took a little bit of prep work, and then I got to enjoy some interactions with kids that I normally wouldn't have.

What are some of your favorite passive programs?