All library locations will be closed on Thursday, July 4th for Independence Day.
Posted on Thursday, December 10, 2015 by Hilary
What could be better than a book with a digger? A book with bigger and BIGGER diggers!
The last of our featured Missouri Building Block nominees, William Bee’s “Digger Dog,” fits that bill. Youngsters love the repetitive phrases and will be “reading” along as Digger Dog strives to unearth the world’s biggest bone with his fleet of diggers. The book’s surprise ending will have them asking you to read it again and again. Continue reading “2015 Missouri Building Block: Digger Dog”
Posted on Thursday, December 3, 2015 by Hilary
Attention dog lovers! The tough little bulldog in David Ezra Stein’s “I’m My Own Dog” will grab your heart, and its inner monologue will tickle your funny bone. This pooch is quite content to curl up at its own feet and fetch its own slippers, until that tricky itch that can’t be reached sneaks up. Then the bulldog finds a human to train. You’ve got it: “I’m My Own Dog” comically turns traditional pet and human roles on their heads.
Once you’ve read this book several times and your kiddos have named the dog and learned half the sassy dog’s lines, you may be ready to branch out. We would suggest you try the activities on Candlewick Press’ Publisher site or The Missouri Building Block Award activity sheet. Continue reading “2015 Missouri Building Block: I’m My Own Dog”
Posted on Thursday, November 19, 2015 by Kristy
In “Down by the Barn” by Will Hillenbrand, a dog happily drives a clunky blue tractor around a farm. Hitched to the tractor are two wagons, which the dog uses to collect a scarecrow and an array of baby farm animals. When the wagons are packed full of critters, the dog makes a stop at a school bus full of excited children. The story ends on a sweet note, with the scarecrow reading a book aloud, sharing a story with all of the children and animals.
The text is simple and contains repetitive phrases (Puff puff, clank, clank, moo, moo, and OFF WE GO!), adding new sounds to the end of each phrase as baby animals hop into the wagon. “Down By the Barn” is bursting with cheery art and onomatopoeic text that begs to be orated by all, making it a wonderful read aloud.
Continue reading “2015 Missouri Building Block: Down By the Barn”
Posted on Thursday, November 12, 2015 by Hilary
Dragons are fierce and mighty and SCARY- or are they? The lovable red dragon in David Kirk’s “Oh So Brave Dragon” is the scared one. Afraid of what terrible beasts might lurk in the woods, the dragon roars his loudest roar. Frightened by the ferocious sound he hears, the dragon bands with the little forest animals to roar back and scare the beasts away. Only the little yellow bird and the readers recognize that there is no monster; little dragon is making the entire ruckus and scaring himself. This is NOT a quiet read. Your young ones will be roaring along in no time.
Continue reading “2015 Missouri Building Block: Oh So Brave Dragon”
Posted on Thursday, November 5, 2015 by Amy
“Hooray for Hat!” is a fun, brightly colored picture book that follows animal friends as they go from being grumpy to being happy, all thanks to wonderful hats! The simple text and the animals’ facial expressions let us clearly know the animals’ moods throughout the book. Brian Won, both the illustrator and author, begins the book with a gray elephant waking up grumpy. What will change his mood!? Why, a stack of fun hats of course! Elephant then wants to show his friends his hats and share the joy.
As a gal who hosts lots of story times, I think this book is fantastic! It’s perfect as a read-aloud, boasting large bright illustrations, simple text and the message that it’s the little things in life that can brighten a grumpy mood. Continue reading “2015 Missouri Building Block: Hooray for Hat!”
Posted on Thursday, October 29, 2015 by Jerilyn
In “This Book Just Ate My Dog” by Richard Byrne, a girl named Bella takes a walk with her dog. During their walk, her dog disappears into the gutter of the book (the center seam where the pages come together). Friends and various vehicles come to the rescue only to be eaten by the book. Bella goes in after them but then sends out a note to the reader asking for some help. Continue reading “2015 Missouri Building Block: This Book Just Ate My Dog”
Posted on Thursday, October 22, 2015 by Kristy
The Building Block nominee “Bear Sees Colors” by Karma Wilson allows readers accompany Bear and Mouse on a beautiful stroll through the forest. Along the way they visit their furry friends and discover some of the dazzling colors that nature has to offer. The vivid and charming illustrations practically burst from the pages, and the look-and-find aspect encourages children to thoroughly examine the book to find the colors Bear and Mouse are focusing on.
Continue reading “2015 Missouri Building Blocks: Bear Sees Colors”
Posted on Thursday, October 15, 2015 by Jerilyn
Have you ever taken a song and added your own words? Jane Cabrera does this with “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” As her characters row down the stream, they spot a variety of animals, each making a noise. Have your child make the noise, too. Animal noises are a fun way to practice sounds. This is an early literacy skill—something that lays a foundation for reading readiness.
Children love to move. You and your child could sit on the floor, bottoms of your feet touching the bottoms of his feet. Hold hands and gently pull back and forth as you “row” and sing the song.
Your child could act out the story by pretending that a box or a laundry basket is a boat. Does she have some stuffed animals she could set beside the “boat” and tell her own story? This activity helps with narrative skills and reading comprehension.
Continue reading “2015 Missouri Building Blocks: Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrera”
Posted on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 by Katie
The library is celebrating Latino history with a variety of programs, book displays, special story times and more! One way you can continue this fun at home is to create a rainstick based on those used by the Aztecs. The Aztecs believed that they could summon rain storms by using rainsticks. Originally they were made from pieces of hollow cacti that were dried in the sun. The spines from the cacti were driven into the cacti like nails, and pebbles or other small objects were placed inside. To complete the rainstick, the ends were sealed. When the rain stick was tipped, the pebbles would fall through the tube and bump against the spines. This would create a sound like fa
lling rain.
Now, I’m not going to ask you to go find a cactus for this project. There is a simple, child-friendly rainstick you and your kids can create.
Posted on Thursday, October 8, 2015 by Katie
One of this year’s Missouri Building Block nominees is “Buddy and the Bunnies in: Don’t Play With Your Food” by Bob Shea. This is a fun story about a monster named Buddy who really wants to eat the bunnies living nearby. However, the bunnies have other ideas. They would rather bake cupcakes, go swimming and visit the carnival. What’s a monster like Buddy to do when his “snack” is so much fun to be with?
Here are some ways you can keep the fun going:
Write or act out your own story.
Create your own monster or bunny – either on paper or as a costume. Continue reading “2015 Missouri Building Blocks: Buddy and the Bunnies in Don’t Play With Your Food”