Looking to hear some great holiday stories this season?  Then don’t miss our last Christmas Storytime next Monday December 21 from 7:00 to 7:45.  You can expect some fantastic holiday stories and songs at this program, and you will love the special Christmas video that will be played on our big screen!

Hope to see you there!

The Association for Library Service to Children has added 20 new web sites to it’s list of hundreds of recommended sites for children under 14.  The complete list includes educational and informational web sites as well as fun and entertaining ones.  Now when the snow really starts coming down and you’re stuck inside, you will have some new activity resources!

I keep meaning to post that I’m writing a column about children’s materials for the MCLS website. I just posted a new one today, “Humbug,” about Christmas picture books. Just 25 days left…

There are a couple of drop-in storytimes coming up at WPL that require no registration at all.  These are great for those of you who don’t know if you can make every storytime, or if you’re just looking for new things to try out.

Drop in during our 3 -5 year old storytimes on Wednesdays at either 10:15, 11:00 or 1:00 through November 4th.  This storytime is a half hour of fun filled with stories, rhymes and your favorite songs by Jason.

Starting October 1st we will have a 2-3 year old drop-in storytime every Thursday until November 5th.  This shorter, twenty minute program, is good for children with little storytime experience.  Come and enjoy stories, songs and rhymes with Jason!

PJ storytime is now twice a month and neither require registration.  Stop in on any of these Mondays at 7:00:  October 5th, October 19th, November 2nd, November 16th, and December 7th.  A half hour of fun in your pajamas, what more could you want?!

We hope to see you here!

There are some new additions to WPL’s YouTube Storytimes that you really should check out!

Watch Miss A’s YouTube debut as she tells the story of the Five Little Mice

As well as Little Bunny Foo Foo, and Two Little Blackbirds

Sing with Jason on I Like to Cry

And make sure you check out his  Head and Shoulders video.

These videos are a great way to bring our storytimes to your home, but as always we would love to see you at the library storytimes too!

Want to learn a little more about your library and how to find materials easier?  Then make sure you sign up for our September program, Library Skills for Kids: Finding Nonfiction.  This five week program will feature fun activities to teach you all about the Dewey Decimal System as well as the parts of a book.

The classes start on Thursday September 17th from 4 to 5:00, and  will take place every Thursday until October 15th.  Ages 7-11 are welcome to come, registration begins on Thursday September 3rd.

See you there!

I have just begun to fully comprehend how much little boys LOVE, LOVE, LOVE books about trucks.  This summer I have been watching my 3 year old cousin one day a week, and we have been devouring truck books.  Since this is a common subject question at the library, I thought I would share with you some of the books that he has really enjoyed!

Anything in the Trucktown series by Jon Scieszka is a hit.  The books have great cartoony art and not a whole lot of text.

I Stink and I’m Dirty by Kate McMullan – silly books which involve a backhoe loader and a garbage truck going through their daily activities.

Hansel and Diesel, The Three Little Rigs and The Ugly Truckling by David Gordon – really neat fairy tales with truck characters.

Trucks Roll by George Ella Lyon – simple rhyming text telling the sometimes silly things that trucks haul.

Matthew’s Truck by Katherine Ayres – a little boy has adventures with his toy truck (I think my cousin liked this one so much because it was super relatable).

Trucks Whizz! Zoom! Rumble! by Patricia Hubbell – in rhyming text it describes all kinds of trucks and the different loads they carry.

Monsters on Machines by Deb Lund -  a group of colorful little monsters make a mess with some aptly named construction equipment and actually clean it up when their done!

Dig Dig Digging by Margaret Mayo – describes work that large trucks do around town and on construction sites.

Dinotrux by Chris Gall – Dinosaurs and trucks, need I say more??

See what you think of these, and as always feel free to ask for help at the Gazebo the next time you’re in the library!

Back to school time is fast approaching and at WPL we want to help you be prepared!  At the end of this month we will be having a special program for children entering Kindergarten.  My First Day of Kindergarten is a 45 minute program with stories and activities that gives kids an idea of what school is all about.  There are two dates to choose from, August 25th at 10:30 or August 26th at 6:30, and registration for these opens today.

Kindergarten here we come!

On Friday July 24th our very own guitar-playing-children’s-librarian, Jason, will be headlining an all ages storytime at Yesterday’s Muse Bookstore!  The storytime will be from 10:30 till 11:00 and there is no registration required.  The bookstore is located at 32 West Main Street in Webster’s village, and we all know this will be a fun time you won’t want to miss.

The following Monday, July 27th,  we have a program at the library for children ages 8-12.  This one is a book discussion about the 2009 Newbery Medal winner, The Graveyard Book.  The program is from 2:00-3:00 and it will help answer the question, what makes this book special?  Make sure you read the book beforehand, you can click here to check our catalog for copies.

Are the parents out there having trouble finding books their kids actually want to read this summer??  If so, you are not alone.  I am sure many parents feel it can be difficult to get their kids reading over the summer months.  For many children “summer vacation” does not mean “take time to do the assigned reading and homework”, but wouldn’t it be nice if summer reading was enjoyable?  Here is an article that might help make it so.  There are tips for making reading fun, as well as book suggestions for this summer.

Another article I came across that addresses summer reading is from area libraries in Riverhead NY.  In this article librarians from five different libraries give their summer reading suggestions for kids of all ages.  Be sure to check our catalog for these great reads.

Hopefully these will help generate some good ideas and you can begin to have fun with your summer reading!!