Dinosaurs (and Food) -- 6/16/26

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.

I'm Hungry! Tengo Hambre! by Angela Dominguez
Cookiesaurus Rex by Amy Fellner Dominy

Books:
Groovy Joe: Ice Cream & Dinosaurs by Eric Litwin
How Do Dinosaurs Their Food? by Jane Yolen
Regina Is Not a Little Dinosaur by Andrea Zuill
T. Rex Time Machine by Jared Chapman
Tea Rex by Molly Idle
When Dinosaurs Walked the Earth by Sean Taylor

Craft: Folded Dinosaur Puppet

- Print template onto cardstock or heavy paper

- Cut out pieces (dinosaur, tongue)

- Color pieces

- Glue tongue inside mouth

- Fold mouth in half

- Fold back above dinosaur's top teeth

- Fold back below dinosaur's bottom teeth

Extension Activities:

- Make and decorate dinosaur cookies.  What is the perfect decoration for dinosaurs in cookie form?

- Discuss the difference between herbivore and carnivore dinosaurs and what they eat.  Ask your child to plan a menu for both types of dinosaurs.

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Adventures on the Road -- 6/4/24

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.

Are We There Yet? by Dandi Daley Mackall
Let's Go for a Drive! by Mo Willems
Moo! by David LaRochelle

Books:

Mrs. Armitage: Queen of the Road by Quentin Blake

Number One Sam by Greg Pizzoli

Sakes Alive! A Cattle Drive by Karma Wilson

Toot Toot Zoom! by Phyllis Root

Tulip Sees America by Cynthia Rylant

The Tweedles Go Electric by Monica Kulling

Vroom! by Barbara McClintock

Craft: Car with Driver Puppet

- Print template onto cardstock or heavy paper

- Cut out car and cut slit along driver's window

- Color car

- Decorate top of craft stick as driver

- Slide craft stick through slit 

- (Optional) - Glue craft stick into place

Extension Activities:

- Play a road trip game in the car such as License Plate BINGO (how many different states license plates do you see) or the Alphabet Game (find the letters of the alphabet on roadside signs).

- Plan a road trip using a map.  Ask your child to find the best route between two cities on a map.

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Dive In! Oceans -- 3/12/24

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 to view this month's Virtual Story Time.

I Spy Under the Ocean by Edward Gibbs
Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea by Jan Peck

Books:

Don't Worry, Little Crab by Chris Haughton

I Am the Shark by Joan Holub

I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry

Plankton Is Pushy by Jonathan Fenske

Scuba Bunnies by Christine Loomis

Tropical Terry by Jarvis

Turtle Tug by Michael Slack

Craft: Seahorse Puppet

- Print template (at left) onto cardstock or heavy paper

- Cut out seahorse

- Color seahorse
- (Optional) Glue on sequins

- Tape straw to back of seahorse to turn into puppet

Extension Activities:

- How many ocean animals can your child(ren) name?  Encourage pretend play by having them act like the various ocean animals.

- Enjoy an ocean snack.  Dye some icing blue using food coloring.  Then spread onto a graham cracker.  Add goldfish crackers/pretzels to the graham cracker to make an ocean scene you can eat.

Dive In! Rivers & Lakes -- 3/5/24

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 to view this month's Virtual Story Time.

There's a Hole in the Log on the Bottom of the Lake by Loren Long
Bear Came Along by Richard T. Morris
Otters Under Water by Jim Arnosky

Books:

Captain Small Pig by Martin Waddell

Otters Love to Play by Jonathan London

Pond Babies by Cathryn Falwell

Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Iza Trapani

Sally and the Some-Thing by George O'Connor

Somewhere in the Bayou by Jarrett Pumphrey

Craft: Otter Puppet

- Print template

- Color and cut out pieces (head, legs, arms, baby otter)

- Color bag

- Glue head to bottom of bag

- Glue baby to otter's stomach

- Glue arms to hold baby otter

- Glue legs to bottom of bag

Extension Activities:

- Take a nature walk by a river or lake.  What kind of plants, animals, etc do you see?

- Learn more about otters.  Check out a book about otters from the library.  Or watch this YouTube video about otters.

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Facebook Story Time: Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin - 6/16/20

This is part of a series of weekly story times offered on Facebook during the time we are unable to do in-person story time at the library 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.


Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin

Books:
Bruno, the Standing Cat by Nadine Robert
Cat Nap by Toni Yuly
Cat Secrets by Jeff Czekaj
Cat Up a Tree by John Hassett
Cats Are Cats by Valeri Gorbachev
Grumpy Cat by Britta Teckentrup
Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are You Waking Up? by Bill Martin
Love That Kitty! by Jeff Jarka
Pete the Cat series by Eric Litwin and various other authors
Stack the Cats by Susie Ghahremani
They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel
          * Books can be placed on hold for checkout at www.jeffcolib.org and clicking on the link for the catalog.


TumbleBook Stories (Available through www.jeffcolib.org by clicking on E-Content.)
Caillou and Gilbert by Joceline Sanschagrin

Craft: Pete the Cat Puppet
- Color Pete's face before gluing to bottom of the paper bag
- Cut two strips of yellow paper (6.5 inches x 2.75 inches) and glue to side of bag for Pete's shirt.  (You can fold down the top inside corners to make a collar if you like.)
- Put on four stickers to hold shirt closed.



Extension Activities:
- In Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, readers count the buttons on Pete's shirt.  Practice counting by having your child count various things on their clothes (i.e. stripes on shirt, pockets on pants/shorts, etc.).
- Practice dexterity and hand coordination by having your child practice buttoning shirts.
- Did you know Pete the Cat was a real cat?  Learn his story and how he came to be featured in books by visiting the website petethecat.com/pages/bio.


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Otters Story Time: January 21, 2020

Books:
Otter Out of Water by Kathy-Jo Wargin *
Stop Snoring Bernard by Zachariah Ohora *

Craft: Otter Puppet
This week's craft is pictured at left.  The kids colored a baby otter cutout, an otter face, and four paws before gluing all pieces to a brown paper bag to turn into a puppet.




Extension Activities:
- Stop Snoring Bernard uses snoring sound effects throughout the story.  Ask your child to participate with the reading by providing the sound effects.  Incorporate other sounds effects as appropriate.
- Otters love to swim and play in the water.  Take a winter field trip to an indoor swimming pool.


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Building Block Nominees Story Time: Week 2: September 16-17, 2019

Books:
Beware the Monster! by Michael Escoffier
Can I Be Your Dog? by Troy Cummings

Craft: Dog Puppet
Kids colored a dog face, ears, and tongue before gluing them to a paper bag to make into a puppet.

Extension Activities:
- Can I Be Your Dog? is told through letters.  Have your child write a letter to someone.  If they are not able to write yet, have them draw pictures to tell a story in the letter.
- Beware the Monster can be a little scary for younger children.  Ask your child for ways they could "beat" the monster to help them combat any fear they might have.


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Elephant & Piggie: I Love My New Toy! Story Time: July 1-2, 2019

Books:
Bath Time by Eileen Spinelli
The Boy Who Wouldn't Share by Mike Reiss *
I Love My New Toy! by Mo Willems *
What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night by Refe Tuma *
Where's My T-R-U-C-K? by Karen Beaumont

Craft: Dinosaur Puppet
This week's craft was based on the picture at left.  The children colored a head, eyes, teeth, arms, and legs cutouts before gluing them to a paper bag to turn into a puppet.

Extension Activities:
- Learn more about dinosaurs.  There are a lot of great books at the library to check out about dinosaurs.
- Where's My T-R-U-C-K uses spelling instead of words to tell the story.  Read another story substituting the spelling instead of a word and see if your child still understands the story.

Imaginary Animals Story Time: April 22-23, 2019

Books:
Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas *
Clara and Asha by Erick Rohmann
Emma Kate by Patricia Polacco *
Still a Gorilla by Kim Norman *
There's a Wocket in My Pocket by Dr. Seuss

Craft: Gorilla Puppet
This week's craft is based on the picture at left.  The kids colored a gorilla head cutout and glued to a jumbo craft stick.  Then a pipe cleaner was twisted around the craft stick to make the gorilla's arms.

Extension Activities:
- Encourage your child to get up and move by acting out the various types of activities from Still a Gorilla.
- This week's letter is "I".  Have your child point the letter "I"s as you are reading books.


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Building Block Award Story Time: September 4, 2018

Books:
10 Little Ninjas by Miranda Paul *
Bunnies!!! by Kevan Atteberry *
Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos *

Craft: Bunny Puppet
Children colored cutout ears, eyes, nose, and teeth before gluing to a paper bag to turn into a puppet.



Literacy Extensions:
- Come up with your own version of 10 Little Ninjas asking for suggestions for different types of characters.
- After reading Mustache Baby, discuss different activities and what makes them good or bad behavior.

The Croaky Pokey (Movement) Sing-Along Story Time: July 30-31, 2018

Books:
The Croaky Pokey by Ethan Long *
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle *
If You're a Monster and You Know It by Ed Emberley *
Stretch by Doreen Cronin

Craft: Frog Puppet
This week's craft was based on the picture at left.  The kids colored eyes, tongue and hands before gluing to a paper lunch bag to turn into a puppet.


Literacy Extensions:
- This week's story time was all about movement.  So get up and moving.  Go to a park playground, take a walk, do some simple yoga together, etc.
- Both of our song books this week took familiar songs and revised them just a little.  See if your child can revise a familiar song from an animal's point of view. 


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Tigers Story Time: February 26-27, 2018

Books:
Beware of Tigers by Dave Horowitz
Cats Are Cats by Valeri Gorbachev *
It's a Tiger! by David LaRochelle *
Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown

Craft: Tiger Paper Bag Puppet
This week's craft is based on the picture at left.  The main different we made was that instead of all the individual facial features, the children were given one face (including eyes, nose, stripes, ears, etc) to color and glue onto the bag.  They also got to paws to color and glue onto the bag.

Literacy Extensions:
- Learn more about tigers.  Check out a nonfiction book about tigers from the library to learn more about them.
- Go on a field trip to the zoo to view the tigers.


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Naughty or Nice? Meals Story Time: November 6-7, 2017

Books:
Badger's Fancy Meal by Keiko Kasza
Froggy Eats Out by Jonathan London
How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? by Jane Yolen *
I Will Not Eat You by Adam Lehrhaupt
Sylvie by Jennifer Sattler *
Ten Hungry Pigs by Derek Anderson *

Craft: Triceratops Puppet
Children colored a triceratops head and two feet before gluing onto a paper bag to turn into a puppet.

Literacy Extensions:
- All of this week's books feature animals eating.  Research what these animals really eat by checking out some nonfiction animal books at the library.
- Some restaurants will give tours of their kitchens to groups of children.  Check with your favorite local restaurants and see if they are willing to do this for your child and their friends.

Notes:
This is the first in a series of story times on being Naughty or Nice.  As you read the stories with your child, have them point out the naughty behaviors and the nice behaviors.


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Rhyming Story Time: August 24-25, 2015

Books:
Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox
Here Comes the Big, Mean Dust Bunny! by  Jan Thomas *
I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont *
I Dream of an Elephant by Ami Rubinger *
Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas *

Craft: Rhyming Dust Bunny Puppet
Our craft this week is pictured at left.  Crepe paper strips about 5" long were cut in half longways to make thinner strips.  The strips were glued to a paper lunch bag.  Eyes, a nose, and two ears / horns cutouts were glued to the puppet for features.

Literacy Extensions:
- Practice rhyming with your child by asking them to come up with rhyming words for the word you supply (i.e. cat, fat, rat, etc.)
- Read rhyming books with your child.  See if they can supply the rhymes at the end of the line / page.