Don't buy valentines – come and make your own at the Library on Feb. 11! Thanks to the Friends of the Takoma Park Md. Library, we'll have plenty of supplies for young participants to create lots of valentines. We'll also offer ideas, but you are free to use your own creativity as well! To ensure that we have enough supplies for everyone, please register by calling 301-891-7259 or emailing children's librarian Karen MacPherson at library-programs@spambob.net. Please put valentines in the subject line. This program is appropriate for all ages, with parent help for the littlest ones.
Come on Monday, Feb. 4 from 7:30-8:30 to hear some hilarious stories about Nicholas, the mischievous schoolboy who's been called the Dennis the Menace of France. These books, written by Rene Goscinny, are particularly great for reluctant readers. Participants should be in kindergarten or older, however, as these aren't picture books. Register by calling 301-891-7259 or emailing library-programs@spambob.net (put Nicholas in the subject line, please).
Created by author Rene Goscinny (author of the Asterix books) and illustrator Jean-Jacques Sempe nearly 50 years ago, Nicholas is a cult figure in France, beloved by adults and children alike for his exuberance, curiosity, and innate ability to both delight an annoy his parents and teachers. The Nicholas books have been translated into several other languages, but never into English until two years ago when Phaidon Press began publishing English translations of the Nicholas books. Four volumes are available so far, with several more to come.
We decided that it might be fun to share Nicholas with our library's young readers, and so we will hold a Nicholas At Night event on Monday, Feb. 4, from 7:30-8:30. We've even got a larger-than-life cardboard Nicholas figure to inspire us, on loan from the publisher. On Feb. 4, we'll introduce young readers to Nicholas and his gang of friends and then read some of the funniest Nicholas stories. We may even do a "Reader's Theater" production of a story if participants are willing. We'll also have Nicholas pins, stickers and coloring pages to give out to participants.
Calling all kids ages 5 and up! Come to the Takoma Park Md. Library on Jan. 14 from 7-8:30 to learn how to make a shadow puppet and then put on a show based on one of Aesop's fables.
Registration is required for this special program, as we have space for only 20 participants. Call 301-891-7259 or email children's/teen librarian Karen MacPherson at library-programs@spambob.net.
Daniel Barash of the Silver Spring-based Shadow Puppet Workshop will lead our program. Daniel will open the program by putting on a short demonstration of shadow puppetry, an art form in which shadows are cast on a lit screen to tell a story. Then he'll work with kids ages 5 and older to help them make their own shadow puppets. Once the puppets have been created, the kids will use them to put on a show focused on one of Aesop's fables.
Because the kids will be working with scissors and doing some complicated cutting, we ask that all participants in this part of the program be ages 5 and up. But we will welcome people of all ages to come for the final performance, which will take place around 8:15, once the kids have finished creating their puppets and then had a chance to practice with them.