Do I Have to Go to a Party? -- 5/12/26

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.

Do I Have to Go to a Party? by Jonathan Fenske
No Pants! by Jacob Grant

Books:
How Do You Wokka-Wokka? by Elizabeth Bluemle
How to Party Like a Snail by Nassem Hrab
If You Give a Pig a Party by Laura Numeroff
Maisy's Surprise Birthday Party by Lucy Cousins
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Jane Cabrera
She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain by Philemon Sturges

Craft: Puffer Fish
- Print template onto cardstock or heavy paper

- Cut out pieces (top half of fish, mouth, fins)

- Color pieces

- Glue top half of fish to a recycled cd-rom

- Glue mouth to center of cd-rom covering the point on the top half of the fish

- Glue fins to sides of cd-rom

Extension Activities:

- Ask your child to pick out the perfect party outfit.  Does it change depending on the type of party you are attending?

- Try coming up with additional "ways" to wear pants other than those listed in "No Pants!".

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Ocean Animals -- 4/14/26 & 4/21/26

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.

(There are so many great Ocean Animal books that we did two weeks of this theme.)

I Spy Under the Sea by Edward Gibbs
Secret Seahorse by Stella Blackstone
Plankton Is Pushy by Jonathan Fenske

Books:
Chomp: A Shark Romp by Michael Paul
Don't Worry, Little Crab by Chris Haughton
How to Put an Octopus to Bed by Sherri Dusky Rinker
I Need Pants! by Susan Sweet
I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry
Milo Is Missing Something by Vern Kousky
Ocean Animals from Head to Tail by Stacey Roderick
Sharky McShark by Alison Murray
Tropical Terry by Jarvis

Craft: Squid
- Print template onto cardstock or heavy paper

- Cut out squid's head

- Color squid's head

- Cut 5 strips of crepe paper (about 4-5" long)

- cut each crepe paper strip in half longways

- Glue strips to bottom of squid's head

Craft: Shark

- Color paper plate and fold in half

- Draw on mouth and eye

- Print template onto cardstock or heavy paper

- Color and cut out pieces (fin, tail)

- Glue fin to top of shark along fold

- Glue tail to back of shark


Extension Activities:

- Go on an ocean animal scavenger hunt.  Hide ocean animal stuffies or print out pictures of various ocean animals to hide.

- Have fun with a parachute or a sheet as the ocean creating waves.  Alternate between gentle, soft waves and stormy, crashing waves.  Add ocean animal stuffies or a toy boat to the top of the "ocean" if you have them.

Squid Template --

Shark Template --

Beach -- 4/7/26

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.

Just One Wave by Travis Jonker
Crabby Crab by Chris Raschka
Barnacle Is Bored by Jonathan Fenske

Books:
Beach by Elisha Cooper
Big Family Beach Day by Nina Crews
Chu's Day at the Beach by Neil Gaiman
Duck & Goose Go to the Beach by Tad Hills
Here Comes the Ocean by Meg Fleming
Sandy Feet! Whose Feet? Footprints at the Shore by Susan Wood
Six Sandy Sheep by Judith Ross Enderle

Craft: Starfish

- Print template onto cardstock or heavy paper

- Cut out starfish

- Color starfish

- Fold starfish so lap over each other and smile is one line and glue into place

- Fold legs along dotted lines so starfish will sit a little flat

- Optional: Glue on sparkles

Extension Activities:

- Have fun making waves in either a small kids play pool, bathtub, etc.  Try dropping different items to see how they make different types of waves.

- Try to walk like crabs.  Sit on the floor with legs bent and hand behind you on the floor.  Lift up onto your hands and legs.  Try walking sideways like a crab.  Maybe try racing each other.

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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 Do NOT Eat Children by Marcus Cutler
Nothing Scares a Dinosaur by Jonathan Fenske
Do I HAVE to Go to the PARTY? by Jonathan Fenske

Books:

Dog vs. Strawberry by Nelly Buchet

The Guessing Game by Catherine Rayner

I Am Wriggly by Michael Rosen

Why Won't You Sleep?! by Adam Wallace

The Wrong Book by Drew Daywalt

Craft: Puffer Fish

- Print out template onto cardstock or heavy paper

- Color and cut out pieces (body, fins, spikes)

- Glue fins to side of body

- Glue spikes around top of puffer fish's head

Extension Activities:

- All three books this week deal with fears in some way (monsters, night time fears, social anxiety).  Discuss things you and your child fear.  How do you deal with those fears?  What are some coping mechanisms?

- Nothing Scares a Dinosaur is a beginning reader book.  Have your child read any sight words in the book.  How many words can they identify?  Are there any words they can sound out with phonics?

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Barnacle Is Bored -- 5/2/23

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.

Barnacle Is Bored by Jonathan Fenske
Plankton Is Pushy by Jonathan Fenske
The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen

Books:
Don't Worry Little Crab by Chris Haughton
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Sea Monkey & Bob by Aaron Reynolds
Tropical Terry by Jarvis

Craft: Barnacle
- Print template onto cardstock or heavy paper
- Cut out barnacle
- Color barnacle
- Glue barnacle into cylinder






Extension Activities:

- Have a discussion about boredom.  Poll family members to see what they find boring.  Discuss things you can do to fight boredom.

- All of this week's books have to do with emotions in some way. Talk about different emotions.  Play a game by asking your child to identify the emotions the different characters in a book they are reading are feeling.

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Building Block Award Nominees -- Week 2: September 13, 2022

Story Times are held weekly on Monday and Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am.  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.

Swim, Swim, Sink by Jenn Harney
It Is (Not) Perfect by Anna Kang
Something Stinks by Jonathan Fenske

Books: (2022 Building Block nominee books)

Bear Can't Wait by Karma Wilson

Don't Hug Doug (He Doesn't Like It) by Carrie Finison

Find Fergus by Mike Boldt
It Is (Not) Perfect by Anna Kang

One-osaurus, Two-osaurus by Kim Norman

Roar: A Book of Animal Sounds by Katerina Kerouli

Sharky McShark by Alison Murray

Something Stinks by Jonathan Fenske

Swim, Swim, Sink by Jenn Harney

Wolfboy by Andy Harkness

Craft: Skunk

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

- Cut out a 4" x 2" rectangle from heavy paper or cardstock as skunk's body

- Color pieces (body, head, paws, tail)

- Glue head to top of body

- Glue tail to side of body

- Glue paws as desired

Extension Activities:

- As we do not live by a beach, have your child build a "sandcastle" out of Lego or other building bricks.

- Do a smell test.  Ask your child to identify various scents with their eyes closed.  Possible scents could be food, perfumes, etc.

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Virtual Story Time: Our Favorite Books of 2022 -- 12/28/21

Join us weekly on Tuesdays for an online Story Time featuring books read by Miss Amy.  The video will be available to view for a week before a new online is uploaded.

Click HERE for this week's Story Time video.

Something Stinks by Jonathan Fenske
Not Now, Cow by Tammi Sauer

Books: (New Books of 2021)

Blueberry Cake by Sarah Dillard

Chez Bob by Bob Shea

I'm Sorry by Michael Ian Black

Ship in a Bottle by Andrew Prahin
Vampenguin by Lucy Ruth Cummins

We Give Thanks by Cynthia Rylant

We Want a Dog by Lo Cole

Craft: Cow Bookmark

- Print template on heavy paper or cardstock

- Cut out pieces

- Color pieces

- Glue head to top of body

- Glue bell beneath head

Extension Activities:

- Not Now, Cow is all about seasons and the clothes and activities for each season.  Ask your child to pull out appropriate clothes and/or toys for the season you name.

- After reading Something Stinks, have a smell test.  Ask your child to close their eyes and then tell you what object you have by smell.

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Virtual Story Time: Barnacle Is Bored by Jonathan Fenske -- 9/1/20

 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.

Barnacle Is Bored by Jonathan Fenske

Books:  (Boredom)

Are We There Yet? by Dandi Daley Mackall

Bored! Bored! Bored! by Jill Newton

The Boring Book by Shinsuke Yoshitake

I'm Bored by Michael Ian Black

Let's Do Nothing! by Tony Fucile

Phooey! by Marc Rosenthal

There's Nothing to Do! by Dav Petty

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

Let's Do Nothing! by Tony Fucile

My Think-A-Ma-Jink by Dave Whamond

Craft: Barnacle

- Print out template and color

- Cut on lines around gray spaces to make barnacle's "tentacles"

- Glue into circle to complete your barnacle

Extension Activities:

- Take a poll with your child to see what each person in your family thinks is boring.

- Learn about various sea creatures by checking out a book at the library.

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Facebook Story Time: Plankton Is Pushy by Jonathan Fenske - 5/26/20

This is part of a series of weekly story times offered on Facebook due to the current health crisis.  Each Tuesday, a recording of a story will be posted on Facebook.  It will be available to view for a week before a new story is posted.

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

Plankton Is Pushy by Jonathan Feske

Books:
Clark the Shark by Bruce Hale
Down by the Sea with Mr. McGee by Chris Van Dusen
I'm a Manatee by John Lithgow
          * Books available on Tumblebooks through www.jeffcolib.org.

Craft: Under the Sea Paper Craft
Craft is pictured at left.
- Color a paper plate as the ocean.
- Glue on tissue paper strips or pieces of yarn for seaweed.
- Glue on goldfish crackers.






Extension Activities:
- See how many different ocean animals your child can name (i.e. shark, dolphin, crab, etc.).
- Watch an ocean themed movie such as Finding Nemo, Shark Tale, or The Little Mermaid.
- Make an ocean sensory bottle.  Fill a third of a recycled water bottle with water and add a couple drops or blue food coloring.  Shake to spread the color.  Fill the rest of the bottle with vegetable oil.  You can also drop in some small ocean figures if you have them (fish, stars, etc.).  Seal the bottle by gluing the lid on.

Building Block Award Nominees Story Time: September 17-18, 2018

Books:
Barnacle Is Bored by Jonathan Fenske *
Plankton Is Pushy by Jonathan Fenske *
Spunky Little Monkey by Bill Martin Jr. *

Craft: Monkey Doorhanger
The kids colored a monkey head before putting on a small shaped foam sticker for a nose.  The monkey was then glued to the die-cut doorhanger.  They could write on the doorhanger what kind of monkey they felt they were (i.e. Spunky Monkey, Silly Monkey, Happy Monkey, etc.).

Literacy Extensions:
- This month, is a great time to work on memory recall.  Since it's been a week since we read the first nominee books, ask your child to tell you what each book was about before reading this week's nominee books.
- Spunky Little Monkey is a great book to get a child up and moving.  Use it as a springboard to continue with more movement by playing a game of Simon Says.

Best of 2016 Story Time: December 5-6, 2016

Books:
Barnacle Is Bored by  Jonathan Fenske *
I Am Bear by Ben Bailey Smith *
Is That Wise, Pig? by Jan Thomas *
The Mixed-Up Truck by Stephen Savage *
They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel

Craft: Barnacle
The children colored a cutout template of a barnacle before gluing it into a cylinder.  The legs could be slightly bent to make it look like they were moving in the waves.

Literacy Extensions:
- I Am Bear's humor comes for the odd things he says based on his rhymes.  Practice rhyming with your child.  See how many rhyming words they can come up with.
- They All Saw a Cat demonstrates in its pictures how different animals see something in different ways.  Have your child experiment with that by having them ask various people for the names of shades of colors.


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