Chester's Masterpiece!

Chester's Masterpiece is a delightful story written by none other than Chester himself...with "NO help from Mélanie Watt", as he has written on the cover with his red marker...

...however, as you make your way through the book, you will see the sticky notes left by the Canadian author and illustrator, as she tries to assist Chester with his story...

In the end, the two work together to create a fun story. And who knows? Maybe after sharing this book with your youngster, he or she may be asking to write their OWN story!

Click here to see other books about Chester by Mélanie Watt.

Puppet-palooza!

Last Thursday at our Puppet-palooza Event, a group of creative homeschoolers learned about puppets and how to plan and prepare for a puppet show. Everyone got to pick out a puppet, then they practiced different voices and tried to show different actions and emotions with their puppets. Finally, they rehearsed and then performed a puppet show to the rhyme
Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar .




Didn't they do a GREAT job?

Don't forget, Children's Services will be presenting their annual Spring Puppet Show this week! Make plans to attend one of the following performances with your preschool-age children:

Sunday, March 21, 2:00 p.m.
Monday, March 22, 9:30 and 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday, March 23, 9:30 and 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 24, 9:30 and 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 25, 9:30 and 10:30 a.m.

Very Busy Bees

From sunup to sundown, "extra busy" children have an endless supply of energy and remain on the move throughout the day. Ants in Their Pants offers successful and tested techniques to help caregivers, educators, and parents provide the best support to active learners so they can thrive in the classroom and at home. These ideas—from a teacher of both special and general education who is a parent of an extra busy child—provide information on how to help extra busy children use their energy to learn while helping teacher understand children who need to move.
Aerial Cross, MA, holds a master's degree in special education and has over ten years of experience as an educator in both general and special education classrooms.

Spotz at the Library for Story Time!

St. Joseph Regional Burn Center and the Fort Wayne Fire Department came to our Smart Start Storytime last Wednesday. The nice nurses talked to the children about fire safety and a Fort Wayne Firefighter taught us to "stay away from hot stuff!". It was a great surprise when Spotz came and showed us how to "Stop, Drop and Roll"! A great time was had by all!

Storytellers on the Move!

You may have noticed that your favorite programs are not on the Children's Services calendar this week or next. We have taken a break from most of our regular programming so that we can focus our energy on Storytellers on the Move. Storytellers on the Move is a wonderful program, providing children in preschools & daycares throughout Allen County with a storytime program and boxes of books. If you would like Storytellers on the Move to visit your daycare or preschool, please call us at 421-1220 and we will put you on the list for our next outing.

Check out this video about Luis Soriano Bohorquez who provides outreach library services on his biblioburro (Library Donkey) in Colombia.

What are you thankful for?

What are you thankful for? Let us know by posting a comment here.

I am thankful for good books and a fun preschool storytime program! You are welcome to join me for storytime today at 10:30 am. (9:30am for preschool & daycare groups.)

See you there!

It's Letter K Playday!

Calling all preschoolers! Join the fun of Smart Start Storytime at today at 10:30; then grab your grown-up and spend some time exploring the

Letter K
in the Early Learning Center.

Activity stations designed for adult and child play will be set up and available for use throughout the day, until the Early Learning Center closes at 8:00 p.m.

Fractured Fairy Tales Storytime -- This Saturday!

Join us at 11:00 a.m. this Saturday, November 14th as we take a new -- and silly -- look at some of our favorite stories. Families with children of all ages are invited to attend.

After storytime, spend some time exploring the Children's Department. Younger children and their grown-ups may want to spend time in our Early Learning Center; older kids (ages 7-12) can catch a good read in our Reading Tower.

Whatever your age, there's something fun for YOU at the library this weekend!

Family Storytime -- This Saturday!

Join us this Saturday, October 10th, at 11:00am for a monstrously good time! We'll be reading about monsters -- silly, goofy, and wacky monsters -- and after storytime you can decorate your own monster headband! Families with children of all ages are invited to attend.


Family Storytimes are held on the second Saturday of the month in Children's Services at the Main Library.

Jan Thomas Creates Read Aloud Magic

Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas is perfectly written to be read aloud. I used this title in a recent storytime and oh, how the kids laughed at "The tiny TICKLY bug is out of your mouth, but NOW it's in your SHIRT?" They loved the indecisive ladybug and happily did every single thing she told them to do - no matter now silly it sounded.
The timing, the illustrations, and the humor in this book work together to make read aloud magic. Share it with your favorite child today.

Don't miss Jan Thomas' other delightful books including: What will Fat Cat Sit On? and The Doghouse.

It's Letter H Playday!

Visit the Early Learning Center today with your preschooler and celebrate the Letter H! You can make a hand-flower, like the one in this photo, decorate a giant Letter H, and do other activities that are not only fun for you and your children, but also reinforce early literacy skills. For Letter H activities to do at home, click here.

Hats! Hats! Hats! will be our theme at Smart Start Storytime, from 10:30-11:00 a.m. Hope to see you today at the Library!

Back to School

It's almost time for kids to head back to the classrooms! At the Library, you'll find lots of Back-to-School books for kids, like these...


Wow! School!
by Robert Neubecker








or...


First Day Jitters
by Julie Danneberg








For more suggestions, take a look at our Going to School Booklist.

Masterpiece Art Storytime

Yesterday we had a storytime called "Masterpiece Art." We shared stories and songs. We talked about how art is created and about different types of art and artists. And then we created some of our own "Picasso-Like" artwork!

Take a look at some of the art Maeanna, Aly, Olivia, Angela, Troy, Sophie, and Rowan created:





Join us next Wednesday at 10:30 when we'll have more fun with stories! Our theme will be "C is for Crayons!"

Masterpiece Storytime

Join us for Smartstart Preschool Storytime at 10:30 today to celebrate masterpiece art!

We'll practice one of the six early literacy skills as we read, sing and play. Don't miss the fun.

Summer Reading Program Events

This week in Children's Services at the Main Library:

Monday, July 27th @ 11:30am - Team Read (registration required)
Tuesday, July 28th @ 2pm & 7pm - Adzooks Puppets!
Wednesday, July 29th @ 10:30am - SmartStart Preschool Storytime: Imagination and Make Believe
Friday, July 31st @ 10am - Babies & Books
Friday, July 31st @ 10:30am & 11am - Toddler Time
Saturday, August 1st from 8am to 12pm - Visit us at the Barr Street Market on the corner of Wayne & Barr Streets to dig dinosaurs.

Remember that the Summer Reading Program ends this week! Be sure to bring in your reading sheet by 6pm on Friday, July 31st.

Summer Reading Program Events

This week in Children's Services at the Main Library:

Monday, July 20th @ 11:30am - Team Read (registration required)
Monday, July 20th @ 2pm - Interactive Storytelling
Tuesday, July 21st @ 7pm - Adzooks Puppets!
Wednesday, July 22nd @ 10:30am - SmartStart Preschool Storytime: Piece By Piece
Wednesday, July 22nd @ 7pm - Babies, Books and Brain Development
Thursday, July 23th from 10am to 12pm, 2pm to 4pm & 6pm to 8pm - Wii Read
Friday, July 24th @ 10am - Babies & Books
Friday, July 24th @ 10:30am & 11am - Toddler Time
Saturday, July 25th from 8am to 12pm - Visit us at the Barr Street Market on the corner of Wayne & Barr Streets to fly away with butterflies.
Saturday, July 25th @ 2pm - BINGO on the Plaza

Finger Painting was Fun!

Our "Finger Painting Fun" program last Thursday was a blast!


Not only did we paint, we read a messy painting story titled "I Ain't Gonna Paint No More" by Karen Beaumont, we learned about actual finger painting artist, and we also looked at some finger painting techniques!

Click here to see if the Finger Painting Program is coming to a branch near you!

Interactive Storytelling Photos

Great fun was had by all at our Interactive Storytelling Program in Children's Services! Kids were a-dancin' and a-singin', and some even had a chance to be a part of the stories!



If you missed this program, don't fret! We'll be repeating it at the Main Library next week on Monday, July 20th, at 2:00 p.m, or you can still catch it at some of our branch libraries -- click here to view the schedule.

Silly Stories, Silly Fun!

Don't forget to join us tomorrow for Smart Start Preschool Storytime! Our theme will be...

Silly Stories, Silly Fun!

Be ready for all kinds of silly, wacky stories and rhymes and some crazy crafty fun, as well! It all starts at 10:30am, Wednesday morning, July 15th, in Children's Services at the Main Library.

Summer Reading Program Events

Monday, July 13th @ 11:30am - Team Read (registration required)
Tuesday, July 14th @ 7pm - Wii Love Games!
Wednesday, July 15th from 9am to 8pm - Letter 'S' Play Day in the Early Learning Center
Wednesday, July 15th @ 10:30am - SmartStart Preschool Storytime: Silly Stories, Silly Fun
Thursday, July 16th @ 10:30 am - Interactive Storytelling
Friday, July 17th @ 10am - Babies & Books
Friday, July 17th @ 10:30am & 11am - Toddler Time
Saturday, July 18th from 8am to 12pm - Visit us at the Barr Street Market on the corner of Wayne & Barr Streets to grow a paper flower garden.
Saturday, July 18th from 8am to 12pm - ACPL GT Wii Tournament (Mario Kart: ages 6-11) Preregister here.