Monkey See Monkey Do

Unfortunately, I don't have the chance to do storytimes very often as a teen librarian, but I'm always on the lookout for great resources for my coworkers in the Children's Department.

If you're a visual learner, you'll appreciate StoryBlocks, a website created by Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy that provides videos demonstrating fun songs and rhymes that parents, educators, and librarians can use to help the children in their lives become great readers - long before they ever enter school.

Finger Puppets Fun

After seeing another great flannel post on Mel's Desk, I begged my cousin Jess to make me some finger puppets. On Saturday I got the best surprise package in the mail filled with finger puppets. The blackbird finger puppets are for the rhyme "Two Little Blackbirds" but I am sure I can find another rhyme they can be used for as well.

The black bats are from Mel's Halloween version of "Two Little Blackbirds" called "Two Little Black Bats." Jess made me enough that I can have a pair and the teen moms or dads can have a pair when we do the rhymes. Last week's early literacy practice was talking to your child and we were working on understanding the concept of object permanence. These finger puppets arrived just in time so we can continue building on that lesson.

I am excited to use these in storytime, because whenever we use the regular finger puppets the kids love it, so I am sure they are going to like these new ones.

Check out Mel's Desk for the pattern and rhyme

Spotlight: Portland Public Library Teens

Teen Read Week is coming up so I have been thinking about teens and libraries, and wishing I still worked with teens on a day-to-day basis. The theme this year is "Picture This" and my friend Justin Hoenke is doing rad things with teens at the Portland Public Library in Portland, Maine that I wanted to spotlight.

I asked Justin what his mission is with the teens and here is what he had to say:
"Everyday, teens are using the Portland Public Library to create, share, and remix their lives in unique ways. We here at the Portland Public Teen Library believe it is part of the library's mission to collect these awesome works."

LOVE this! Seriously, I am inspired by this. Justin created a site via google for his teen space,  Made by Teens,  If you are considering doing music or any "non traditional" library projects with teens, check it out. I love that libraries are great avenues for music with teens (see Ady's blog post about her teen music group "Project Unknown" at the Logan Heights Library).

There are so many different projects to create with teens that speak to the "Picture This" theme of Teen Read Week, what are you up to??

New crowd pleaser just in time for Halloween

I am seeing lots of Christmas books as I am ordering for the system right now, but I will steadfastly ignore those in favor of the holiday at hand. And although Halloween is more than a month away, this little gem came across my desk this morning and I had to rave about it.

 This is the third Mouse adventure from Judy Cox (Cinco de Mouse-O; One is a feast for Mouse: a Thanksgiving Tale) and it is just as great as the other two. The pictures are fantastic, and there is so much happening on each page that the book begs to be re-read and explored often. I particularly enjoyed seeing the world from Mouse's angle. He is so cute and I love how he reacts to the Candy! Added bonus on the cute factor: Mouse wears little blue glasses! He reminds me of my 22 month old nephew who just got blue plastic frames and is constantly waddling about getting into things.

This is one I am going to be putting on display October 1st , and will definitely be recommending to families.