Merry Christmas -- 12/23/25

Story Times are held weekly on Monday and Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am. A monthly virtual Story Time is posted the first Tuesday of the month on the library's Facebook page.  It is available to view for one month before the next video is posted.

Click HERE for this year's Christmas online Story Time.

Red & Green by Lois Ehlert
Click, Clack, Ho! Ho! Ho! by Doreen Cronin
Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear! by Don & Audrey Wood

Books:
Don't Let Pigeon Drive the Sleigh! by Mo Willems
The First Christmas by Will Moses
I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas by John Rox
The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats
Merry Whatmas? by Eoin McLaughlin
Silent Night by Lara Hawthorne
The Twelve Days of Christmas by Emma Randall

Craft: Christmas Tree Ornament
This week's craft was a kit purchased from Oriental Trading.  Kids assembled the Christmas Tree Ornament be placing sticker ornaments and star onto tree before tying on a hanger.

Extension Activities:

- Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear! encourages sharing Christmas presents with those less fortunate.  Participate in a Giving Tree or Toy present drive.

- Have a family Christmas movie marathon by watching your favorite holiday movies and specials.

Virtual Story Time: Merry Christmas! -- December 2023

Enjoy this extra virtual Story Time for the holidays!

Each month, Miss Amy records a virtual Story Time that goes along with the monthly theme.  It will be posted monthly in the morning of the first Tuesday of the month.  (The video is available to watch for one month before a new one is uploaded.) 

Click HERE for the 2023 virtual Christmas Story Time.

Red & Green by Lois Ehlert
My Christmas Wish For You by Lisa Swerling & Ralph Lazar

Books:

And Then Comes Christmas by Tom Brenner
A Christmas Goodnight by Nola Buck

Christmas Parade by Sandra Boynton

The First Christmas by Phillips Brooks

This Is Christmas by Tom Booth

Was That Christmas? by Hilary McKay

Extension Activities:

- After reading My Christmas Wish For You, make a family list of things you would like everyone to experience this holiday season.

- Make a simple Christmas tree to decorate.  Fold a piece of green construction paper in half longways and then cut it into a triangle from the top folded corner to the opposite diagonal corner.  Unfold to have a Christmas tree.  Have your child decorate it with crayons, sequins, pompoms, etc.

Leaves -- 10/17/23

Story Times are held weekly on Monday and Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am. A monthly virtual Story Time is posted the first Tuesday of the month on the library's Facebook page.  It is available to view for one month before the next video is posted.

Click HERE for this month's virtual Story Time.

Fall Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall
Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
Fall Is Not Easy by Marty Kelley

Books:
If You Find a Leaf by Amiee Sicuro
A Leaf Can Be by Laura Salas
Leaf Jumpers by Carole Gerber
Leaves by David Ezra Stein
The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger
Lucky Leaf by Kevin O'Malley
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Colandro
A Very Big Fall by Emmy Kastner

Craft: Leaf Necklace
- Print template (at left) onto cardstock or heavy paper.  (You should be able to fit two sets of the template onto one regular letter size paper.)

- Cut out leaves  (We used three leaves per necklace.)

- Color leaves

- String leaves onto a 30" piece of curling ribbon along with pony beads

- Tie string into necklace

Extension Activities:

- Go on a leaf hunt.  See how many different types of leaves you can find.  Can you name what kind of leaves they are?  If not, the library has books on leaf identification.

- Grab some fallen leaves from outside and see what you can make out of them (i.e. Leaf Man).

Back to School: Reading -- 8/8/23

Story Times are held weekly on Monday and Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am. A monthly virtual Story Time is posted the first Tuesday of the month on the library's Facebook page.  It is available to view for one month before the next video is posted.

Click HERE for this month's virtual Story Time.

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
Little Plane Learns to Write by Stephen Savage

The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak

Books:

Animalicious: A Quirky ABC Book by Anna Dewdney

Big Words for Little Genuises by Susan Patterson

Dr. Seuss's ABC by Dr. Seuss

How Do Dinosaurs Learn to Read? by Jane Yolen

How to Teach a Slug to Read by Susan Pearson

I Can Read With My Eyes Shut by Dr. Seuss

Max Can Read by Rosemary Wells

Read the Book, Lemmings! by Ame Dyckman

Craft: Plane Bookmark

- Print template onto cardstock or heavy paper and cut out pieces

- Cut cardstock into a 2-1/2" x 8-1/2" piece strip and color as sky

- Color plane and glue onto bookmark

- Write a word onto clouds (ex - name, READ, BOOK, etc)

- Glue clouds onto sky to spell out word

Extension Activities:

- Go on an alphabet scavenger hunt.  Try to find an object that starts with each letter of the alphabet.

- Practice letter recognition by asking your child to find specific letters on different pages of the book you are reading.

Template --

I Am the Longest Dog: Dogs Story Time -- 6/13/23

Story Times are held weekly on Monday and Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am. A monthly virtual Story Time is posted the first Tuesday of the month on the library's Facebook page.  It is available to view for one month before the next video is posted.

Click HERE for this month's virtual Story Time.

I Am the Longest Dog by Avery Monsen
Rrralph by Lois Ehlert

Books: 

A Dog Named Doug by Karma Wilson

Dozens of Dachshunds by Stephanie Calmsenson
My Dog is the Best by Laurie Ann Thompson
Odd Dog Out by Rob Biddulph

Pretzel by Margaret & H.A. Rey

Sterling, Best Dog Ever by Aidan Cassie

Two Dogs by Ian Falconer

Two Dogs on a Trike by Gabrielle Snyder

Craft:  Longest Dog

- Print template onto cardstock or heavy paper and cut out

- Color pieces (front and back ends of dog)

- Cut out colored squares of paper

- Glue dog together with as many colored squares between front and back end as you like

Extension Activities:

- Visit a local animal shelter and volunteer to spend time with the dogs.

- Learn about different breeds of dogs by checking out a nonfiction book at the library.  Determine which type of dog is your and your children's favorite.

Template --

Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert -- 5/30/23

Story Times are held weekly on Monday and Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am. A monthly virtual Story Time is posted the first Tuesday of the month on the library's Facebook page.  It is available to view for one month before the next video is posted.

Click HERE for this month's virtual Story Time.

Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert
Shark in the Park by Nick Sharratt
There's a Hole in the Log on the Bottom of the Lake by Loren Long

Books:
Bear Came Along by Richard T. Morris
Fish Is Fish by Leo Lionni
Just Ducks! by Nicola Davies
Otters Love to Play by Jonathan London
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Solomon Crocodile by Catherine Rayner

Craft: Fish

- Print template onto cardstock or heavy paper

- Cut out pieces (fish body and fins) and color

- Fold body in half along dotted line

- Fold bottom flaps on body along dotted lines and glue together

- Glue tail together

- Fold fins along dotted lines and glue to sides of fish

Extension Activities:

- After reading the book Fish Eyes, practice more counting by counting the total number of fish in the book, how many eyes are on each page, etc.

- Enjoy a snack of goldfish crackers.

Template --

Flowers -- 4/25/23

Story Times are held weekly on Monday and Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am. A monthly virtual Story Time is posted the first Tuesday of the month on the library's Facebook page.  It is available to view for one month before the next video is posted.

Click HERE for this month's virtual Story Time.

Bloom Boom! by April Pulley Sayre
Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson

Books:
Counting Wildflowers by Bruce McMillan
Dandelion's Dream by Yoko Tanaka
The Happy Day by Ruth Krauss
Have You Ever Seen a Flower? by Shawn Harris
The Hidden Rainbow by Christie Matheson
Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson

Craft: Flower Clip

- Print template onto heavy paper or cardstock

- Color tulip and leaves before cutting out pieces

- Color clothespin as stem

- Glue tulip to top of clothespin

- Glue leaves to bottom sides of clothespin

Extension Activities:

- Plant a small flower garden with your children.  Purchase plants from garden center or check out some seeds from JCL's seed library to plant and grow.  Let your children be in charge of watering and weeding the flower garden as needed.

- Take a field trip to the Botanical Gardens.  

Template --

All About Food: Carrots & Peas -- November 22-23, 2021

Outdoor Story Times are held weekly on Monday and Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am, weather permitting.  (Registration is required to attend.)  Online Story Times will be posted weekly on Tuesday mornings.  (The video is available to watch for one week before a new one is uploaded.)

Click HERE for this week's Story Time video.

Carrot & Pea by Morag Hood
Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert

Books:  (Vegetables)
Bob & Rob & Corn on the Cob by Todd McQueen
Every Color Soup by Jorey Hurley
Green Beans by Elizabeth Thomas
Nope. Never. Not for Me! by Samantha Cotterill
PAR-TAY! Dance of the Veggies (And Their Friends) by Eloise Greenfield
The Pea Blossom by Amy Lowry
Rabbit Food by Susanna Gretz
Rah, Rah, Radishes: A Vegetable Chant by April Pulley Sayre
Scarlette Beane by Karen Wallace

Craft: Carrot Patch (inspired by picture at left)

- Print out template on cardstock or heavy paper.

- Cut out rectangle, strip with dotted lines, and carrots.

- Color strip with dotted lines as dirt before cutting along dotted lines.  (Do not cut all the way across.)

- Glue strip with cut lines to rectangle.  Only glue the sides.

- Color carrots.

- Slide carrots between cut strips to "plant" them.

Extension Activities:

- Create a Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head out of a real potato.
- Have a family Carrot Crunch Contest.  See who can eat and crunch carrots the loudest.  (This can also work with celery.)

Template --

Virtual Story Time: Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert -- 8/18/20

 This is a weekly online story time featuring a book read by Miss Amy on Tuesdays at 10:00 am.  The video is available to watch for one week before a new one is uploaded.

Click HERE  to view the latest video.

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

Related Books:  (Colors)

Blue Goose by Nancy Tafuri

Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd

Every Color Soup by Jorey Hurley

Freight Train by Donald Crews

The Hidden Rainbow by Christie Matheson

I Dream of an Elephant by Ami Rubinger

Monkey Colors by Darrin Lunde

Monsters Love Colors by Mike Austin

Press Here by Herve Tullet

Vincent Paints His House by Tedd Arnold

TumbleBook Stories: (Available through www.jeffcolib.org by clicking on E-Content.)

Red Is a Dragon by Roseanne Thong

Craft: Rainbow Flower

- Color flower's center and craft stick (stem)

- Glue colored strips in a starburst pattern

- Glue flower's center in middle of rainbow starburst

- Glue craft stick to back of starburst

- Glue green leaves to craft stick stem

Option -- Print out a picture of your child and cut into a circle.  Glue to middle of starburst as the flower's center.

Extension Activities:

- Play a game of I Spy looking for items based on colors.

- Go on a color scavenger hunt.  See how many items of each color you can find.

- Sort items (i.e. MMs, Fruit Loops, buttons, etc) by color.

Template --

Facebook Story Time: Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert -- 6/23/20

This is a weekly story time featuring a book read by Miss Amy on Tuesdays on Facebooks.  The video is available to watch on Facebook for one week before a new one is uploaded.

Go to www.facebook.com/JeffCoLibMo and click on Videos to view the latest video.


Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert

Books:
Edible Numbers by Jennifer Vogel Bass
Every Color Soup by Jorey Hurley
Fruit Bowl by Mark Hoffmann
Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming
PAR-TAY! Dance of the Veggies (and Their Friends) by Eloise Greenfield
Rabbit Food by Susanna Gretz
Rah, Rah, Radishes! A Vegetable Chant by April Pulley Sayre
There's a Pest in the Garden! by Jan Thomas
The Turnip by Jan Brett
Veggies With Wedgies by Todd H. Doodler
Zombies Don't Eat Veggies by Megan Lacera


TumbleBook Stories: (Available through www.jeffcolib.org by clicking on E-Content.)
The Lima Bean Monster by Dan Yaccarino
Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Craft: Carrot Shapes Match
- Print off two copies of the template.  (Template at left.)
- Cut out the shapes (triangles, squares, and circles) of one of the templates.  Color shapes.
- Color other template.
- Glue cut out shapes to matching shapes on the whole page.



Extension Activities:
- Go over colors with your child by seeing what vegetables they can name that are different colors.
- Get messy by doing some veggie painting/stamping.  Some great vegetables to use for this are potatoes, corn, carrots, etc.).
- Go on a vegetable scavenger hunt in your pantry.  Ask your child to find various cans of different vegetables.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider (Bugs) Sing-Along Story Time: July 16-17, 2018

Books:
The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani
Spider on the Floor by Raffi *
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simm Taback *
Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert *

Craft: Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
Children colored a lady cutout with slits in her stomach.  They also colored strips of paper with the various creatures the lady swallowed.  The strips were threaded through the slits and glued together to make a circle.

Literacy Extensions:
- After reading Waiting for Wings, visit The Butterfly House to view some of the different butterflies found around the world.
- Add verses to Spider on the Floor using different parts of the body.


Template --

Leaves Story Time: October 23-24. 2017

Books:
Fall Is Not Easy by Marty Kelley *
Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall
Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert *
Leaves by David Ezra Stein
Little Tree by Loren Long
The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger

Craft: Leaf Necklace
The children colored a leaf and two acorns before stringing them onto curling ribbon with pony beads to make into a necklace.

Literacy Extensions:
- Go on a nature walk or drive to look at the different color leaves.
- Encourage creativity by having your child create pictures out of leaves.


Template --

Tip: Use curling ribbon when making necklaces with smaller children.  The ribbon is stiffer making it easier for children to hold it when putting on the beads.  It is also thick enough that the beads will not fall off the ribbon.

Flowers Story Time: April 18-19, 2016

Books:
Dandelions by Mia Posada
Little Seeds by Charles Ghigna
Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert *
Spring Blossoms by Carole Gerber
Ten Seeds by Ruth Brown *
This is the Sunflower by Lola M. Schaefer
What Does Bunny See? by Linda Sue Park *

Craft: CD Sunflower
The craft is pictured above.  First children glued strips of yellow paper onto the CD looping it over the sides to make the petals.  They then colored a 3-1/2" circle and glued it to the center over the petals.  They could then pick either red, blue, or green glitter for me to put onto the center of the flower for them.

Literacy Extensions:
- Go on a nature walk to see what kind of flowers you can find.  This can be done in your neighborhood, local park or botanical area.
- Try growing some flowers.  Pick out either seeds or seedlings together to plant and hopefully grow.


Notes:
This is probably the first time in over 15 years that I have done glitter during story time.  I just hate the mess of glitter.  However this went really well.  The children chose the color and added the glue to the center of the flower while I added the glitter and then shook it off being giving it back to them.

Snowmen Story Time: January 25-26, 2016

Books:
100 Snowmen by Jen Arena
All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle *
Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright *
Snowballs by Lois Ehlert *
Snowzilla by Janet Lawler

Craft: Name Snowman
This week's craft was based on the picture at right.  Each child was given enough paper circle snowballs to write out their name.  They also got a snowman's head to color.  All the snowballs were then glued onto a long strip of paper.

Literacy Extension:
- Practice spelling by having your child spell the names of their family members.
- After reading Snowballs and looking at the back of the book at the various items used to make their snowmen, ask your child to gather a bag's worth of items to use for snowmen.


Template for Snowman's Head --

B - Bears & Books: January 12-13, 2015

Books:
Bears in the Bath by Shirley Parenteau *
Emily's Balloon by Komako Sakai
Hello, Bicycle! by Ella Boyd *
Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert *
The Wonderful Book by Leonid Gore

Craft: Bugs
Our craft this week was based on the picture to the left.  We changed it to make it out of cardstock.  So the bodies were strips of cardstock that were colored and glued into loops.  Kids then also colored two cardstock wings to glue onto the body.

Literacy Extensions:
- Practice letter recognition by having your child point out the "B"s as you read the book.
- Learn about your favorite type of bug.  Is it an insect or a spider?

Leaves Story Time - October 21-22, 2013

Books:
Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall *
Leaf Jumpers by Carole Gerber
Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert *
Leaves by David Ezra Stein *
The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
We're Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger *

Craft: Fall Leaves Tree
The craft we made is very similar to the one pictured at left.  There were two main differences.  We used a quarter sheet of cardstock rolled and glued into a cylinder for the tree trunk rather than a toilet paper tube.  We also glued on different colored leaves instead of using finger paint.

Literacy Extensions:
- Go on a leaf hunt in your neighborhood.  See how many different types of leaves you can find.  Discuss the different colors and how they are shaped differently. (i.e. - We're Going on a Leaf Hunt)
- See what pictures you and your child can make from fallen leaves. (i.e. - Leaf Man)