For the past couple of weeks, we've been up to monkey business at Circle Time! We've read books about monkeys, and sung songs and rhymes about them as well. Some favorite monkey-themed books include: Five Little Monkeys Jumping On the Bed, written and illustrated by Eileen Christelow; Caps for Sale, retold and illustrated by Esphyr Slobodkina; Two Little Monkeys, written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Jill Barton; and Monkey and Me, written and illustrated by Emily Gravett.
We've also had fun learning some monkey-themed songs and rhymes. Here are a few favorites:
10 Little Monkeys Climbing in a Tree
1 little, 2 little, 3 little monkeys,
4 little, 5 little, 6 little monkeys,
7 little, 8 little, 9 little monkeys
10 little monkeys climbing in the tree!
Five Little Monkeys Jumping On the Bed
Five little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”
(Continue on, counting down the monkeys (i.e. 4,3, 2,1)
Monkey See, Monkey Do
I clap my hands (clap, clap, clap), monkeys do too (clap, clap, clap)
Monkey see (clap, clap, clap), Monkey do (clap, clap, clap)
I stomp my feet…
I wave my arms….
I jump up and down….
I turn around….
I sing a song….
I hop on one foot….
I give a yawn....
In 2010, a provocative New York Times article contended that the picture book was in trouble as parents pushed their kids towards more text-heavy volumes and away from books with lots of illustrations. Since then, picture book lovers have pushed back. They've taken every opportunity to show why picture books are important to children of varying ages, from the very young to those who can easily read on their own. Last August, Candlewick Press went one step further, launching a year-long campaign to highlight the continuing educational importance of the picture book. Titled We Believe in Picture Books!, the Candlewick effort consists of one video per day in which a librarian, author, illustrator or teacher provides yet more reasons why picture books make great reading. In the latest video, Karen MacPherson, children's & teen librarian at our library, offers some thoughts on why picture books are wonderful for all ages.Check out the Candlewick videos:
Looking for the Best? Look for the Bear! .
They're called hybrid books and kids love them. They're books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the Dork Diaries and the Origami Yoda series. Read on for more discussion of why kids love these books, as well as a look at some great new hybrid novels:
Children's Corner: 'Stick Dog' and other fine new hybrid books for kids - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Our next Comics Jam program will take place on Monday July 15 at 7 p.m. Kids and adults are invited to this special night-time edition of our popular program, led by comics guru Dave Burbank. At Comics Jam, we read comics together on the big screen in the Children's Room, then Dave concludes the program by taking drawing requests from the audience. It's amazing to watch him draw art on demand! No registration necessary for this fun program.
Three previous winners of the Caldecott Medal, given annually by the American Library Association to the best-illustrated book of the year, have just published wonderful new books. We've got them at all the library, so check out these reviews Children's Corner: 'The Favorite Daughters' and other new gems from Caldecott winners - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and then come check out the books at the library.
Our monthly Bedtime Stories program will take place tonight at 7 p.m. No registration required for this half-hour program of songs, fingerplays and stories that is perfect for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and their grown-ups!