Helping Your 1 to 2-Year-Old Get Ready to Read

Parents and caregivers -- you've heard you should read to your toddler, do you feel you have no idea where to start?  Are you wondering how you can get your active little person to sit down and read a book?  Come to the downtown library Monday night, and learn how simple and fun it is to get your child ready to read.   You'll learn more about the Five Practices:

• Talking
• Singing
• Reading
• Writing
• Playing

...and how they can teach your child about letters and language and sounds and books -- and get them ready to read!  All attendees will receive a free gift and certificate of completion, and door prizes will be given away.  At the end of the program, we'll do a brief tour of the Children's Department and the Early Learning Center. 

Ready to Read -- Toddlers!

Monday, October 10, 2011

7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

(Next month, November 14, from 7-8:00 p.m., there will be a session for parents & caregivers of preschoolers, ages 3 to 5.  Feel free to come to both sessions!)

Babies and Toddlers and Books!!

Fridays are exciting days in Children's Services. Why? Because it's Baby & Toddler Storytime day! We have storytime for Babies -- newborn through 18 months -- at 10:00 a.m. on Friday mornings, AND we have storytime for Toddlers -- 18 months through 3 years of age -- at 10:30 and 11:00 a.m.

If you have a baby or toddler, we hope you'll join us for storytime. And be sure to get them started on the Summer Reading Program! Sharing books with babies is important -- and fun!

We're Counting Down the Days...

...till June 6. That's the day we've been waiting for! The day the Summer Reading Program starts!! Woo hoo!! We can hardly wait!!

Have you checked out the


Summer Reading Program website yet?
You'll find lots of great info there, like WHO can participate, HOW to get started, WHEN things are happening, and WHAT gifts kids and adults can receive. Coming soon, kids will find some fun interactive games and online stories, as well as a place to submit their own stories and artwork!

Gifts? Did I mention gifts? Yes, I did, and here's the scoop:

At Sign-up, children will receive a voucher for a FREE Tincaps baseball ticket.

Upon completing Level One, pre-readers (babies, toddlers and preschoolers) will receive an FREE egg shaker toy; readers (kids who can read on their own) will receive a FREE throw-yo toy!

Upon completing Level Two, children will receive a FREE tote bag!

Upon completing Level Three, children will get to pick out their own FREE book!

Adults may participate as well. Starting Monday, June 6, adults 18 and older may pick up a Reading Partners bookmark, complete 6 of the 14 reading activities with a child, and fill in and return the bottom portion of the bookmark to any library location for a chance to win a FREE $100 gift card to Walmart, Meijer or Target.

It's all about reading! It's all about fun! And it's all happening at the Allen County Public Library this summer! We hope to see YOU and your family!

What Did YOU Do Today?

In Baby Day! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace, a baby goes about the normal activities of her day, eating, getting dressed, playing and napping.

Try making up a story with your young children about their day -- what color shirt did they choose to wear? What did they eat for lunch? Did they go for a ride in the car?

Activities like these help develop narrative skills, which include the ability to tell and understand stories.

A beautiful and elaborate alphabet book

A is for absolutely adorable! Beloved artist Gyo Fujikawa teaches toddlers
their alphabetin a picture-packed A to Z.
Each letter is illustrated by a multitude of marvelous things to help build a child's vocabulary, including chicks, chocolate cake, and cuckoo clock for C

and moon, mouse, and monkey for M.

As always, Fujikawa has created a charming collection of cute children

and huggable animals

of all kinds.

Pre-Reading Skills

There are six early literacy skills that your child must master before beginning school in order for them to become proficient readers. Once you know what the skills are, incorporating them into your daily interactions with your child is easy!
Bringing your child to the library for storytime is one easy way to reinforce those pre-reading skills. We explain briefly what the skills are and then we model using them in fun and exciting ways!
Join us every Wednesday morning and Friday morning for storytimes at the downtown library!
Our storytimes are fun and they really will help prepare your child for reading!
Please join us!

Smart Start Storytime for Preschoolers
Wednesdays at 9:30 am for preschools, daycares and other groups
Wednesdays at 10:30 am for children and their adult caregiver
Storytimes for Babies
Fridays at 10:00 am
Storytimes for Toddlers
Fridays at 10:30 am
Fridays at 11:00 am

Language and Literacy Begin at Birth!

Children begin learning about language and literacy from the moment they are born -- and these early experiences affect their ability to learn to read as they get older.

Check out this 5-minute video, provided by Zero to Three, that demonstrates some of the ways early experiences affect children's language and literacy development.

Storytimes at the library are developed to reflect these important experiences. We offer storytimes for babies, toddlers and preschoolers as a fun experience for young children, but more importantly, to provide adults with ideas and information to help them provide these experiences for their children when they are not at the library.

Questions? Ask us -- we'll be more than happy to help!

Babies and Books!

Did you know that every Friday morning, we have three storytimes for babies and toddlers at the Main Library?

Did you know that all of our Branch Libraries also provide storytimes for babies & toddlers?

Have you ever wondered WHY we dedicate so much time to children this age? Well, we want to tell you why!

Come to Babies, Books and Brain Development and find out...
**WHY reading with babies and toddlers is so important
**WHAT kinds of materials and resources the library has for your baby
**HOW you can help your children learn to LOVE books and reading from a very early age

Babies, Books and Brain Development
Monday, August 23, 2010
7:00 p.m.

**All participants will receive a free gift and a certificate of completion. **

And again: Jim Gill Will Perform on the Plaza!

We cannot believe we get to host the wonderful, fun, amazing and captivating musician Jim Gill at the library! We keep pinching ourselves!! Honestly, this is a musician we dance to regularly in our story times ~ Silly Dance Contest anyone?
Click on the link above to watch Jim in action!

Jim Gill will be at the main library, performing on the plaza for four shows:

Friday July 23 2:00pm AND 7:00pm
Saturday July 24 11:00am AND 1:00 pm

Summer Reading Program: Babies and Toddlers and Preschoolers - Oh My!

Do you have a baby, toddler or preschooler in your home? Are they participating in the Children's Summer Reading Program? If not, bring them in today to get started! That's right - little ones can join in the reading fun when a grown-up or older child reads to them.

Need some book suggestions? Check out our Baby Boosters Kits for Kids - they're full of great books to share with babies and toddlers.

Visit us at Barr Street Market Today

If you visit the Barr Street Market today, please make sure to stop by the Allen County Public Library's booth. We are there every week and always have a new and exciting craft for the kids to do ~ and like everything at the library, it is always free!!
The Barr Street Market is a lovely downtown event that happens every summer! There are food and non-food vendors and wonderful acoustic entertainment.
We hope to see you there!

babies and toddlers storytimes today

There are six early literacy skills that your child must master before they begin school in order to become proficient readers and literate adults. By bringing your child to one of our storytimes, these skills are being introduced, modeled and reinforced. All while we are dancing, singing, rhyming and reading! Come join us for a FUN-FILLED storytime every Friday morning!

Babies 10:00 am
Toddlers 10:30 am
Toddlers 11:00 am

National Playground Safety Week

This week is an opportunity for families, community parks, schools and child-care facilities to focus on preventing public playground-related injuries. More than 200,000 children (that's one child every 2 1/2 minutes) require emergency room treatment due to playground injuries every year.
Visit the Playground Safety website to learn more.

Babies and Learning

There are many ways to help children thrive in their earliest years of life. Babies in the Rain explains the theories behind the best practices for infant and toddler care as well as preferred methods for doing so. In a personable, humorous voice, Jeff Johnson shares his own stories about the amazing ways infants and toddlers learn. He offers valuable information on how to spend quality time with young children by building strong emotional environments, nurturing meaningful relationships, and promoting child-centered, age-appropriate learning.

Reading Babies!

Read to your baby, start early & read often. Celebrate reading by visiting the library and attend baby storytime whenever you can.

Today at the Main Library we have:

Babies and Books at 10AM
Toddler Time at 10:30AM & 11AM

These programs are always a lot of fun, join us!

"Firsts" can be difficult for little ones: first sleepover, first day of school.

Introducing adorable Kevin!

Bold graphics, friendly faces and a toddler's-eye view make Kevin a must for little ones just beginning to explore and understand their world.

Bear Hunt Tomorrow at the Library!

We're going on a bear hunt during Toddler Story Time!

If you feel brave, please join us at 10:30 or 11:00 Friday morning!

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.

Baby and Toddler Story Time

Dancing, singing, rhyming, finger plays, and of course, books!

Our story times are perfect for active babies and toddlers!

Baby Story Time 10:00 am

Toddler Story Time 10:30 and 11:00 am

Every Friday at the Main Library

Spend some quality, fun-filled time with your baby or toddler!

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