February StoryTime Themes

Well, yesterday was Groundhog's Day and sure enough, Punxsutawney Phil saw his little shadow, so we're in for another six-weeks of Winter!

For cold-weather storytime themes, here's what's in store for the pre-school crowd on Thursdays this month:

Penguins!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Polar Bears are cool!

Winter is for the birds!!

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Pre-School StoryTime is held every Thursday at 10:30am and 1:30pm in the Upton Town Library. Due to the limited space in the Children's Area, and for craft-planning purposes, we do ask that parents pre-register for this program, on a monthly basis.
(Please specify either morning or afternoon session.)

Happy Reading!

Soup's on!

The theme for last week's storytime was SOUP ... here are a few pictures of our crafty 'chefs' and their pretend-soup creations!

Snowmen@StoryTime!

THANK YOU to everyone who helped make today's storytime such a success!! The theme for today's Preschool storytime sessions was Snowmen, and several moms brought homemade playdough for the craft activity following the stories!

Here are some pictures from this fun event!

January Storytime Themes

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
In the midst of all the chilly weather we've been having, I'm planning some winter-themed storytimes for the 3-6yr old crowd this month!

We'll start off the new year with a session of Snowman stories followed by a craft activity this Thursday.

Later this month our stories and crafts will center around

Soup:

Mittens:

and Chinese New Year!

Please remember that due to our limited space, and for craft-planning purposes, we do ask that you register in advance, on a monthly basis. You may do this by phone, email or in person.
Thanks!

Holiday Books

Click here to read an article from ALA (American Library Association) entitled:

Children's Librarians Recommend Books for the Holidays

It includes the following list of books ABOUT Holidays, and also a list of ideas for holiday gift-giving, for different age groups.

BOOKS ABOUT HOLIDAYS:

(The titles in BLUE are ones I have recently ordered for the Upton Library's collection.)

• Cleary,Brian P."Eight Wild Nights: A Family Hanukkah Tale."Illus.by David Udovic. Rollicking rhymes describe the general chaos along with the warmth and love that occur when hordes of relatives gather to celebrate.

• Compestine, Ying Chang. "D Is for Dragon Dance." Illus. by YongSheng Xuan. Holiday
  This brightly illustrated alphabet book introduces acrobats, calligraphy, and the title dance, among many other appealing aspects of the holiday.

• Dickens, Charles. "A Christmas Carol." Illus. by P. J. Lynch. Candlewick
  This attractively designed edition of the holiday classic, enlivened with full-page, bordered illustrations, would make a good holiday read-aloud edition.

• Krensky, Stephen. "Hanukkah at Valley Forge." Illus. by Greg Harlin. Dutton
  This fictionalized account of an actual meeting between Washington and a soldier celebrating Hanukkah juxtaposes the frigid winter setting with the warmth of the candles.

• Lin, Grace. "The Year of the Dog: A Novel." Little, Brown
  Frustrated by her lack of talent, a young Taiwanese-American girl sets out to find herself and make new friends during the Chinese Year of the Dog.

• McCutcheon, John. "Christmas in the Trenches." Illus. by Henri Sørensen. Peachtree
  A grandfather tells about the special Christmas during the Great War when German and English soldiers sang carols together and celebrated a rare night of peace and friendship. A CD is included.

• Martin, Ann M. "On Christmas Eve." Scholastic
  In 1958, eight-year-old Tess realizes that many children her age don't believe in Santa, but she plans to stay up all night on Christmas Eve in order to ask him to grant her special wish.

• Recorvits, Helen. "Yoon and the Christmas Mitten." Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. Farrar,Straus&Giroux Newly moved to America from Korea, Yoon hears songs and stories at school about a holiday called Christmas, but her parents aren't enthusiastic at first.

• Van Steenwyk, Elizabeth. "Prairie Christmas." Illus. by Ronald Himler. Eerdmans
  While Elizabeth's mom, a frontier doctor, struggles to help a woman with a difficult Christmas Eve delivery, Elizabeth brings comfort to the new baby's sister and brother.