fairy tales galore

Today we delved into the world of fairy tales with "Goldilocks and the three bears" and "The three billy goats gruff" by Janet Stevens, then we heard the whole story about Hansel and Gretel by James Marshall. Boy oh boy were there some bad characters in those stories! Between the woodcutters wife, the troll and that little Goldilocks there was some real trouble in fairy-tale land. We also had some fun with the feltboard and our new feltboard stories. We acted out the three billy goats gruff on the feltboard before we read that story, and talked a bit about how our story was similar to the book. We also had the Itsy Bitsy Spider for the feltboard, and used those pieces with the song, so we got to do the rhyme three times! The kids all had a really good time with the feltboard. Then we had a lot of fun making our own books! Miss Joy had it all ready so the pages were all cut out and counted out so that we only had to get a cover page, have her staple them together, and write our stories. One little boy wrote and drew out the whole story of the Itsy Bitsy Spider, another one drew pictures of his mother and his brother. One girl wrote out and drew pictures for the story of Goldilocks and the three bears and another made up her own story! Everyone made something they really liked! I think since it's getting close to halloween we will have pumpkin stories for the next few weeks! I love Halloween!
Carrots and Broccoli,
and Yogurt kisses,

Dewey Pig

ps, see you next week!

Busy busy busy!

Hi Everyone,

It's been so busy in here with school back in session that I didn't even get a chance to write last week! We've had a program where everyone came and made ponchos like Ugly Betty, there were nearly 90 people here for that one and they ate up 8 large pizzas and 72 cans of soda in under 5 minutes! Then we had to spend some time cleaning up all the things we used to decorate our ponchos, we had sequins, pom poms, beads, felt, buttons and all kinds of other things too. There are lots of photos of the Ugly Betty program on our Flickr account, under the name seminarylibrary, you should go see them, they are awesome.

We had a great storytime last week too, we read Clarence the Copy Cat by Patricia Lakin, The Pink Refrigerator by Tim Egan, and Grandma Lena's Big Ol' Turnip by Denia Lewis Hester. We had a really good time watching Clarence find a way to get rid of the mouse without hurting him, then we helped Grandma Lena pull up her gigantic turnip, and we learned new things with Dodsworth thanks to the notes on the pink refrigerator. After all that we traced our hands and made the cutest cats I've ever seen. There were cats of every color and stripe.

This week in storytime we read all new books. We started with Bear Feels Sick by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman, probably because Miss Joy has been a little bit sick with her asthma lately. She didn't want the kids to worry that they would get sick from her coughing. Then we read Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk. I think next week the kids are going to get a chance to write their own stories just like Sam did in that book. Then we read "Mind your manners, B. B. Wolf" by Judy Sierra. It's about Mr. B. B. Wolf and his experience at the library. He learned to mind his manners and even said "excuse me" when he burped. Of course he almost blew down the library when he burped, but at least he excused himself! I'm thinking that later in the month there might just be a storybook parade, wouldn't that be fun? Maybe next week we will have some more fairy tales, I sure hope so!

See you then!

Carrots and Spinach,

Dewey Pig

Resident Guinea Pig

Seminary South Library

Cows and Cowboys! Yee Haw!

We heard some great cowboy stories today! It was awesome to hear all about cows going to the moon, stubborn longhorn steers and their cowboys and even a cowboy made from gingerbread!
First we read Texas Zeke and the Longhorn (since we are in Texas, after all!) and sang "Old McDonald had a farm", then we read about "Two Cool Cows" who take a trip to the moon wearing the black button-back boots of the Huckabuck kids. That was a really fun story and had a lot to do with the nursery rhyme about the cow jumping over the moon. Next we did "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" which is always entertaining to try to keep up with. The last one we read was "The Gingerbread Cowboy". This is the story of the gingerbread man, only this time he's not just a man but a cowboy, hat, boots and beltbuckle included! That silly gingerbread cowboy leads the rancher and his wife on a merry chase through the desert southwest, but gets gobbled up by the smart foxy coyote in the end.
After we were done we took some fun foam and made little pins to wear on our shirts, they look like cowboy boots!
Next week I think we will have some traditional fairy tales, so stay tuned!

Dragons, Flying Cows and Magic Crayons

Boy oh boy did we go deep into fantasyland this week in storytime! First we heard about Puff the Magic Dragon and his friend Jackie Paper, then we listened to the song about them. It was a very calm and peaceful song, and made me feel all warm and fuzzy...wait a minute, I am warm and fuzzy! Anyhow, it is a beeeeeautiful book and a great song. Then we went on to read about flying cows. I didn't know cows could fly! You will have to read the book to find out for yourself if they really can fly.
After that we read Harold and the Purple Crayon. Harold has a magic crayon and goes on a little adventure...he gets into all kinds of fun then has some trouble finding his way back home. Come check out the book to see if Harold manages to get home!
After all the books were done we got out the rubber stamps and made some bracelets for ourselves! Everyone had a good time today!
Here's a coloring page for you all, feel free to print and color, just make sure you never charge for it!
Thanks,
Dewey

It's Thursday Again!!!!!

Hey Everyone, it's Thursday again and we had storytime today! You should have seen all the kids coming in, all ready for some great stories!
Today was all about "back to school" stories, so we started with "The Wheels on the School Bus" by Mary-Alice Moore, and learned all about the teachers, kids, coaches, and lunch ladies on the bus. Then we sang the song "The Wheels on the Bus go Round and Round". After thatwe read "Don't be Silly, Mrs. Millie!" by Judy Cox. Mrs. Millie uses all kinds of silly words like 'gorilla cheese sandwich' and 'hang up your goats'. The last one we read was "Kindergarten Rocks!" by Katie Davis, where Dexter learns to like kindergarten.
Then we made these cute little bears to wear on a string like a necklace. Everyone had a really good time. I'll put up a picture as soon as Miss Joy gives me one.

Best Fuzzy Friends Storytime!

Hi Everyone, you should have seen the parade of stuffed animal friends coming in the door last Thursday! Nearly everyone remembered to bring their best bedtime fuzzy friends with them to hear our stories about bedtime and best friends. There was a bright pink strawberry bear, a colorful clown and a black and white horse as well as an armadillo with a red bandanna. Of course Miss Joy brought her teddy bear too. We read Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems. Did you know that he has been writing stories for Sesame Street since the 1970s? This one is about his daughter Trixie when she was very small. Then we heard about Daisy and her bed full of stuffed animals that wanted to have a picnic instead of going to sleep, that book is called "Bedtime, Everybody!" and it's written by Mordicai Gerstein. I liked Mouse the best, he tells great stories.
Then we listened to "What! cried Granny" an almost bedtime story. A lady called Kate Lum wrote that one and Patrick, the boy, is visiting his grandmother when bedtime comes around. She says he's supposed to go to bed...but he doesn't have a bed here. I'm not going to spoil the story by telling you how Grandma solves that problem though, you have to read the book to find out for yourself!
Then we celebrated having our best friends with us by drawing a picture of them!
Everyone had a really good time! We will have storytime again next Thursday morning at 10:30am, you should come join us!

very long summer this year

Hi everyone, it's Dewey again!
it's been a really long summer here! We had a great Pirate-themed summer reading program and lots of kids read lots of great books. We had clowns, singers, storytellers and snakes too! we had storytimes and crafts, we had ArtKids and stories, we had lots and lots of fun all summer long.
Now our kids are all getting ready to go back to school and I'm looking forward to seeing the little ones during the day while the older kids are at school. Storytime this week should be pretty good, there are three brand new books all about finding your own happiness. they are Princess Pigsty by Cornelia Funke, That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell, and The Perfect Nest by Catherine Friend. I think they are going to make a rabbit stick-puppet for the craft. You all should come and hear these stories, I was listening when Miss Joy was practicing the other day and they are all really good stories! Soon she will be looking at stories for "back to school".

Pirates and Paper Dolls!

You would not believe the fun that was had here this morning! First Miss Joy Read some great books like "Do Pirates Take Baths?" by Kathy Tucker, "Manana, Iguana" by Ann Whitford Paul, and Ten Naughty Little Monkeys" by Suzanne Williams. We also listened to songs like "Iko, Iko" by Sebastian the Crab from "The Little Mermaid" on the cd A child's celebration of song, 2, This Old Man, and Itsy Bitsy Spider from the cd Favorite Kids Songs. The songs all came from our children's CD After that they made these great paper dolls with all the necessary summertime gear like rubber duckie innertubes, swim fins, shorts, swimsuits and goggles! They were really cool!
You can find the printable paper dolls we made and more at Making Friends.com.
Here's a coloring page for you all to print out and color! (Blogger is again having issues wiht picture upload).

Podcast is ready!

Hey everyone,
the podcast is ready! Put this feed address in your Itunes or other player, and it should download!
http://www.switchpod.com/users/seminarylibrary/feed.xml
If you don't have itunes or another media player on your computer you can go to the page directly, scroll down about halfway, and click on the button that says "listen".
http://www.switchpod.com/p9901.html

Enjoy!
Dewey

Podcast almost ready

Hi Everyone, I told you I'd let you know about Miss Joy's secret project, and it's almost ready. From the amount of fussing going on lately I think there's been a problem with the site where she's hosting the podcast, so it should hopefully be up today. She tried last night and it failed, sadly. She's been working so hard to make it a good podcast and now the host site is down! I'll let you all know when it's available.
In a change from the normal, the ArtKids made paper airplanes yesterday! You should have been here to see all the paper airplanes in the air, they had such a good time!
More soon!

More storytimes have come and gone!

It's been a busy time lately. The kids have been gettting more and more excited about being out of school for the summer. We've had some good storytimes, and have a lot more great new storybooks coming in. We have also opened up the signups for our summer reading program, and the theme is Pirates: Sail for treasure, Read a book!
...time passes in which Dewey argues with Blogger about the uploading of a picture...
I guess the picture will have to come later, when the internet is more cooperative.
In the meantime please check out these really great new books, Miss Joy has been using them in storytime lately and the kids really enjoy them.
Ollie the Stomper by Olivier Dunrea, Comet's Nine Lives by Jan Brett, Fiesta Fiasco by Ann Whitford Paul, The Mixed-Up Rooster by Pamela Duncan Edwards.
We have done some really neat projects lately for the ArtKids program. They have made their own books, made some interesting stick puppets, and some paper-bag bat puppets.
We made cards for our Moms for Mother's day and that was really fun.
Watch this space for a surprise, I've spied on Miss Joy and seen her talking into a funny-looking stick, telling stories. I think she's working on a storytime podcast! I'll be sure to post the links here as soon as she gets them ready.
More soon!
Chewingly,
Dewey

Dog Stories

Hi everyone, Dewey here again. Today there were quite a few kids in my library! They listened to stories about dogs today. There was one about the Iditarod race and a ten-year-old dog named Akiak, but you will have to read the book to find out if Akiak fulfills her dream and wins the big race! The next book we listened to was "Wet Dog" by Elise Broach and David Catrow. It's a hot, hot day and Wet Dog is looking for ways to cool off, let's find out how he beats the heat. The last book we listened to was "Some dogs do" by Jez Alborough. Some dogs do and some dogs don't, but what is it that some dogs do? You will have to read the book to find out! After the stories were done we made handprint wreaths to take home to decorate for spring. They were really cool, we had pink hands and blue hands and yellow hands galore. Here's a hint about our upcoming summer reading club:

busy weekend

Man oh man, we had a whole lot of people in here on Saturday! By 4pm I had given up and was taking a nap. That many people make me tired! Miss Joy told some really good stories this week; on Wednesday she read to us Cowboy Bunnies by Christine Loomis and some other really good stories. Later Wednesday afternoon we made cute little stick puppets for ArtKids, that was a lot of fun. I made a pig! Well, the library is about to close and get quiet so it's about time for my nap, I'll write more later!

Playing Games

Hi everyone! yesterday I discovered a new game that I really like a lot. Miss Debbie was giving me carrots out of a small plastic bag, and I started pulling on it. That was a lot of fun, and eventually I pulled it out of her hands. She let me play with it for a wile, I would grab it and toss it across my space, then go get it and toss it again. I got to play with it for about ten minutes before I started trying to eat the plastic. Of course they took it away from me when I started chewing on it. They gave it back to me for a few more minutes again later in the day. I love that thing!!!!! Here I am showing our visiting librarian, Miss Linda, how to play with the plastic bag. Miss Linda likes to come visit me at Seminary South, she grew up in this neighborhood and told me that she remembers being a kid coming to this library. She even remembers being here and thinking that she wanted to be a librarian when she grew up. Isn't that cool? Now she's a librarian and even sometimes gets to work in her old library!

Happy Holiday Everyone!

Hi, Dewey here, just wanted to wish you all a happy Easter, merry Ostara or Blessed Passover. Whatever holiday you celebrate may it be a joyous one! Last week our kids made watercolor paintings here; I chewed on them to show my appreciation. Miss Joy also gave me an easter egg to play with but I didn't like it very much. It didn't even have any treats in it! They gave away candy on Saturday to all the kids but they didn't give me any. Miss Angela did bring me some seed treats but I don't get to eat them very often since they are like candy for me.

I was sad on Thursday morning because no one came to storytime, and Miss Joy had a good bunch of stories to read. When she went to the community center on Wednesday she read "Super-Completely and Totally the Messiest!" by Judity Viorst, "Don't let the Pigeon stay up Late!" by Mo Willems, and "Hedgie Blasts Off!" by Jan Brett. Jan Brett does the art and the stories in her books, and if you want a coloring page or online activity you should go to her page, she has lots of free stuff for kids. I really like Hedgie, he's way cool! He got to become an astronaut and try to save the Big Sparkler, what an adventure. The kids really liked it too. Of course, the Pigeon is always a lot of fun. In this one the pigeon doesn't want to go to bed, and you have to keep telling him "No!" he can't stay up late. You should have heard those kids yelling "No!" and telling the pigeon "Go to Bed!" I didn't know kids could get that loud!

Back from vacation!

Hey everyone, Ms. Joy is back from vacation and she's been really busy catching up. While she was gone I got a bit of vacation too, I went home with Ms. Angela for an overnight stay and ended up staying for four nights because I was having sooooooo much fun! We watched movies and read bedtime stories, had popcorn and oranges and stayed up late. Of course I got to sleep in too since I don't have to get up at a certain time to go to work. I got to meet Ms. Angela's hamster, Coffeecup, and got to know him a little bit. He's a nice hamster, and gets spoiled all the time just like me. Ms. Angela and her daughter gave me lots of carrots and some seed bar treats too. When she brought me back to the library on Wednesday I missed all the kids so much. Since it was spring break I got to see a lot of them when they came to get books and use the computers. Ms. Joy also keeps crayons, coloring sheets, legos and puzzles for the little ones to play with. Sometimes they bring up the puzzle pieces and try to put them in my space; then I get to chew on them! Ms. Joy scolds me when I chew up the puzzle pieces though so I try to be good. On Thursday there will be storytime again, and I think I saw Ms. Joy reading a book called "Chickens to the Rescue" by John Himmelman. I wonder who the chickens are rescuing? I'll try to listen in to the storytime on Thursday morning and let you know. She did a really cute drawing that's similar to the artwork of Laurel Burch, she was going to have the ArtKids on Wednesday do drawings like that but no one came to make art. Here's the picture she was working on, I snuck it away from her for a little bit, I hope she doesn't find me out!

Dewey has arrived!

Hi! I'm a guinea pig living in the Seminary South Public Library. It's been pretty busy today since it's the first day of spring break. There have been a lot of kids visiting me today so now I'm tired from all the attention. I'm going home this weekend with Miss Angela, her daughter wants me to come spend the night with her. I haven't been able to bite anyone today since Miss Joy keeps warning them that I will bite their fingers, darn it. She did say that she would take some good pictures for me though, since I can't go with her to Big Bend. I'd rather stay here and talk to the kids that come in than go camping anyway.
You should have seen the cute pins the kids made in story time last week, they were little rabbit faces! It is spring time here in Texas you know. It's getting to be time for my nap, I'll write some more next week!
Guinea Pig Kisses and Good books to everyone,
Dewey