Because we couldn’t do a real-life escape room this year, we have created a virtual escape room. It can be enjoyed by one person alone or a family working together. Kids 10 and up (or maybe a little younger given how clever you readers are) can enjoy!
Big thanks to Casey’s for the donation of 50 frozen treat coupons! The first 50 kids to pick up their packets this week (starting Monday at noon) will get a free treat!
Our theme this week is everyday heroes. It’s a good time to think about who you admire and how you can be a hero yourself.
Pre-readers:
Week five with Marguerite and Penny
Five Green and Speckled Frogs song
Readers:
Week five with Marguerite and Penny
Who Was book printable lesson plans and activity sheets
Teens and Tweens:
Week five with Marguerite and Penny
Want to add to your city? Download more templates. Build Your Own City challenges
It’s week four! This week our theme is royals and knights. There are lots and lots of great books on that topic, so now’s a good time to check them out.
Pre-readers:
Week four with Marguerite and Penny
Here are some sing-along versions of this week’s songs:
Are You Sleeping, Brother John?
Readers:
Week four with Marguerite and Penny
Teens:
Week four with Marguerite and Penny
More marshmallow and toothpick building challenges
Welcome to week three! Can you believe we’re almost half-way done? This week we’re doing some projects related to mythology and tall tales. Do you have a favorite?
We do still have some week two packets. Look in the box behind week three.
Pre-reader:
Week three with Marguerite and Penny
Want to give your Little Red Riding Hood some friends?
Little Red Riding Hood, wolf & woodcutter crafts
Reader:
Week three with Marguerite and Penny
Anansi the Spider book read aloud
Anansi the Spider old time animated video
There are lots of examples of gnome and fairy gardens online. Here are a few tutorials that might be helpful if you decide to make one.
How to make a fairy/gnome garden
Teen:
Week three with Marguerite and Penny
These aren’t exactly the same as our solar distiller project, but very close:
Solar distiller from large and small bottles
Solar distiller from a bottle and a can
Solar distiller from several bottles
We hope you are all enjoying Imagine Your Story. If you’re looking for books of fairy tales, myths, talls tales, wizards, princesses and imagination, we hope you will appreciate this list by book type. These are all books we have in our library. Come in and check them out!
Barton, Chris. Shark vs. Train.
Bentley, Dawn. Ten Tiny Fairies: A Fairy Tale Counting Book.
Brett, Jan. The Mitten: A Ukrainian Folktale.
Runnells, Treesha. Ten Wishing Stars.
Saltzberg, Barney. Beautiful Oops!
Soman, David. Ladybug Girl Dresses Up!
Wells, Rosemary. The Itsy-Bitsy Spider.
Braun, Eric. Pecos Bill Tames a Colossal Cyclone.
Brett, Jan. Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella.
Bruchac, Joseph. The First Strawberries: A Cherokee Story.
Burleigh, Robert. Flight of the Last Dragon.
DePaola, Tomie. Strega Nona: An Old Tale.
DiPucchio, Kelly. Dragon Was Terrible.
Disney. Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Forest, Heather. Stone Soup.
Garland, Michael. Miss Smith’s Incredible Storybook.
Gay, Marie-Louise. Any Questions?
Hoberman, Mary Ann. Very Short Tall Tales To Read Together.
LaRochelle, David. The End.
Long, Ethan. One Drowsy Dragon.
Marshall, James. Red Riding Hood.
McCourt, Lisa. Granny’s Dragon.
Moncure, Jane Belk. A Dragon in a Wagon.
Pichon, Liz. The Three Horrid Little Pigs.
Prelutsky, Jack. The Wizard.
Ray, Jane. The Apple-Pip Princess.
Rubin, Adam. Dragons Love Tacos.
Soman, David. Ladyburg Girl and Bumblebee Boy.
Steptoe, John. Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale.
Thomas, Shelley Moore. Take Care, Good Knight.
Tolhurst, Marilyn. Somebody and the Three Blairs.
Tucker, Kathy. The Seven Chinese Sisters.
Underwood, Deborah. Interstellar Cinderella.
Willems, Mo. Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs.
Blackaby, Susan. The Ugly Duckling.
Conlon, Mara. Dragon’s Pancake Party.
Disney. Welcome to Royal Prep. (Sofia the First)
George, K. Spark.
Kilgras, Heidi. Cinderella’s Countdown to the Ball.
Low, Alice. The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches.
Meadows, Daisy. Pet Fairies series.
Neubecker, Robert. Days of the Knights.
Schwartz, Alvin. Ghosts!: Ghostly Tales from Folklore. J ER 398.25 S
Winkelman, Barbara Gaines. Pinocchio’s Nose Grows.
Baker, E.D. The Frog Princess.
Barnhill, Kelly Regan. The Girl Who Drank the Moon.
Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl series.
DiCamillo, Kate. The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread.
Ferris, Jean. Twice Upon a Marigold.
French, Jackie. My Dad the Dragon.
George, Jessica Day. Dragon Slippers.
Hale, Shannon. The Princess in Black.
Healy, Christopher. The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom.
Krulik, Nancy E. Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo series.
Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted.
Lewis, C.S. The Chronicles of Narnia series.
Meadows, Daisy. Jewel Fairies series.
Norton, Mary. The Borrowers.
Osborne, Mary Pope. Magic Tree House series.
Paolini, Christopher. Eragon.
Riordan, Rick. Percy Jackson & the Olympians series.
Rodda, Emily. The Key to Rondo.
Ryder, Chloe. Princess Ponies series.
Shulman, Polly. The Grimm Legacy.
Sutherland, Tui. Wings of Fire.
Kibuishi, Kazui. Amulet series.
O’Neill, Katie. Princess Princess Ever After.
Ostertag, Molly. The Witch Boy.
Powell, Martin. The Elves and the Shoemaker: A Grimm Graphic Novel.
Sell, Chad. The Cardboard Kingdom.
Sutherland, Tui. Wings of Fire: The Graphic Novel series.
Adeyemi, Tomi. Children of Blood and Bone.
Albert, Melissa. The Hazel Wood.
Amerie. Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy.
Cho, Kat. Wicked Fox.
Delaney, Joseph. Last Apprentice series.
De Lint, Charles. The Blue Girl.
Froud, Brian. Good Fairies: Bad Fairies.
Funke, Cornelia. Inkheart.
Green, Sally. Half Bad.
Hartman, Rachel. Seraphina.
Meyer, Marissa. Cinder.
Myers, Edward. Storytelling.
Riggs, Ransom. Tales of the Peculiar.
Van Risseghem, Kristin D. The Masquerade, an Altar & a Fairy.
Finch, Mary. The Three Billy Goats Gruff. J 398.2 Fi.
Goble, Paul. Buffalo Woman. J 398.2 Go.
Hamilton, Sue. Monsters. J 001.94 Ha.
Kerns, Ann. Wizards and Witches. J 133.4 Ke
London, Martha. Gnomes. J 398.2 Lo.
Myths and Legends of North America: Canada and the Northern United States. J 398.2 My
Resnick, Jane Parker. Original Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm. J 398.2 Re OVERSIZE.
Wizardology: The Book of the Secrets of Merlin. J 133.4 Wi OVERSIZE.
Zelinsky, Paul O. Rumpelstiltskin. J 398.2 Ze.
Our all virtual summer reading program continues. This week our projects are about storytelling and make-believe.
We still have a limited number of week one packets so if you couldn’t make it in last week, come on in. We have ordered more supplies, so if you need a supply packet of crayons, scissors and glue stick, they will be available soon. Remember, you will use these supplies all summer long and then they are yours to keep.
Pre-reader:
Week two with Marguerite and Penny
Baa Baa Black Sheep on YouTube
Two Little Blackbirds on YouTube
Reader:
Week two with Marguerite and Penny
Not exactly the same as our project, but similar enough to be useful if you’re looking for inspiration: Making a maze with straws on YouTube
Teen:
Story Layers project from the Hirshhorn Museum
Welcome to Summer Reading Program 2020!Remember that we are not doing in-person programs this year. Refer to previous entry for more details. Instead, each week there will be a new packets of worksheets, coloring pages, crafts and activities for pre-readers, readers, and teens.
Feel free to drop by the library whenever is convenient for you and pick up your packet from the entryway. A few notes:
Pre-reader:
Week one with Marguerite and Penny
Reader:
Week one with Marguerite and Penny
Fire-Breathing Paper Roll Dragon Video
Note that this demo uses a hot glue gun. If you choose to do so, please use a hot glue gun only with adult supervision.
Teen:
Week one with Marguerite and Penny
Rabbit too easy? Try this:
Hello readers! This year’s summer reading program is going to be different than the past, but we will be doing fun things, don’t worry! We won’t have any big gatherings. However, we will be producing online content and distributing packets with worksheets, crafts, coloring and other fun stuff every week!
FAQ:
How do we sign up?
You can call the library at 507-744-3977 starting on June 8th. Or, if you prefer, sign up online here. Please do register so we know how many kids are participating.
Will there be reading logs?
Yes. We will include a reading log in your first weekly packet. Or download a copy here.
You can use this to keep track of your achievements. However, the library will not be keeping track of your progress, so there’s no need to return the logs at any point.
Will we still be able to earn prizes?
Yes and no. We won’t be giving out prizes based on how many tasks you complete. The good news is, we will be distributing prizes in some of your weekly activity packets. Everyone’s a winner!
Will you be having big events like the pizza party?
No. We will not be doing any large gatherings this summer.
What about crafts and other activities?
Instead of gathering together to create crafts and work on other projects we will package up weekly kits with crafts, worksheets and other fun stuff arranged by age group. You can pick up your kit at the library at a time that is convenient for you. Please take only one packet per kid per week. We encourage you to share your finished projects on our Facebook page.
What about craft supplies?
We will offer separate packets of crayons, glue sticks, and scissors that you can pick up anytime. Crafts will include most of the items you will need. A few projects may require some materials that hopefully you have at home (like flour or toilet paper rolls).
Which packet should I take?
There are three categories of packet and reading log: pre-readers, readers and teens. We recommend pre-readers for 0-4, readers for 5-10 and teens for 11+. This should help to assure that the materials are the appropriate level of interest and difficulty.
Will the library be open?
Yes, the library will be open for limited hours for browsing and pickup of materials and use of computers. Social distancing will be in effect.
Hello library friends. We hope you are all doing well. Restrictions are slowly loosening, but the world is still different and likely will be for a long while. Thanks for letting us continue to be a part of your lives.
Library update: We continue to do no-contact pickup in the lobby. If you want to request items or have questions, give us a call at 507-744-3977. More updates when circumstances change.
Summer reading update: There will be a summer reading program, but it will look very different. What won’t be different is the fun and learning. Look for an entry with more details coming soon.
Meanwhile, here are some more fun things to do right now in the real word and the virtual world.
Real world stuff:
I know a lot of you are taking regular walks, especially now that the weather seems to be changing. One fun way to entertain kids on your walk is to make a bracelet of duct tape, sticky side out, and attach pretty flowers and plants you find. Check out The Kitchen Pantry Scientist for more information.
Fun for little hands on a warm day is this activity that may be familiar to attendees of our Hands-On Science group. Put a few small plastic toys in a freezable container, cover in water and freeze. When you’re ready, take them out to the lawn on a sunny day along with some water and tools like eyedroppers or squeeze bottles. Kids will love melting them free. Little Bins for Little Hands has more specific ideas.
The outdoors is great for messy crafts, like squirt gun painting, acrylic paint sun prints, and DIY yard Yahtzee.
Shop local! Maybe consider a gift certificate if your favorite business is not open yet.
Online stuff:
These virtual walks in Yellowstone National Park are beautiful and relaxing.
When you’ve done all of your jigsaw puzzles and visited the library’s puzzle exchange so often you’ve done all of those, too, but you still have a hankering, check out JigZone for free online puzzles.
Learn to dock a spacecraft with this Space X simulator.
See Prince and the Revolution “live” in concert on YouTube and donate to COVID-19 relief.
Check out these cool new juvenile non-fiction titles we just added!
And remember, you can always see what titles we’ve added recently by clicking on “New arrivals.”