New Non fiction Children's Books

How Long is a Day?  by Claire Clark

I can't even express how much I love the Pebble Books by Capstone Press!  Big pages!  Bright colors!  The information is written on an easy level to share with younger children.  I love reading these books to my 7 year old.  I enjoy take a informational subject and sharing it with her before bed time.  Often she will then re-read it on her own, spending more time on each page, and looking at each picture and section of the page.  This kind of book makes teaching to your child about a science concept fun and almost sneaky!

How Long is a Day? is broken down into 4 chapter, What Is a Day?, What Makes a Day?, The Parts of a Day?, What Lasts a Day?.  All great questions that you can ask your child before and after you read each section.  I love that each pages has bright colors, and vivid pictures.  Perfect for capturing a child's attention or for reading at Story Time.

If you are looking for this book at the Honey Brook Library, it can be found in the non fiction book section, call #529.1.  Stop in and we will be happy to help you find it!

What's Coming Up at the Honey Brook Library??

Friday, Dec 7, 2012 - Elves Night Out  7 -8 pm
Join us for a holiday story, crafts, and snacks. For ages 4 & up.  Registration is required & limited to 50.

Tuesdays, Jan 8- Feb 12, 2013 - Raise a Reader 10 am - 10:30 am.  A free 6 week program for children 0-36 months.  Children must be accompanied by an adult. Rhymes, fingerplays, lots of music and books.  Give your child a wonderful start to becoming a great reader. 

Wednesdays & Thursdays, Jan 23 - May 2, 2013 - Story Time with Miss Jennifer at 10 am. Enjoy stories, songs, and crafts at the Honey Brook Library with Miss Jennifer.  The same story time is held both days. Best suited for preschool age children ages 3-5, but all ages are welcome. For info call 610-273-3303 or email jspade@ccls.org.

Saturday- Jan 26, Feb 23, March 23, & April 27 - Tweens & Teens
3-4 pm "Favorite Books & Pretty Nails".  Join us  at the Honey Brook Library to share some of our favorite School Age & YA books while we paint and design on our nails.  For ages 8-16.

4-6 pm "Gaming Night".  Bring along your DS, Ipads, or any hand held game system, or take a turn on our XBox Kinect at the Honey Brook Library. For ages 8-16.

YA Teen Read Week!!

Oct 14 kicks off YA Teen Read Week "It Came from the Library"....(picture oozing, creepy words). If you are looking for some new reads, check out our Young Adult (YA) section.  Hunger Games, Twilight, City of Bones, I am Number Four, & Matched to name a few good YA books.  If you haven't read some YA yet, you are missing out on some great books!! Then join us on Sat Oct 20 from 5-7 pm for some monster tricks and some yummy treats to celebrate Teen Book Week! For ages 12 & up.

Fall is here - What's going on at the Honey Brook Library??

Story Time with Miss Jennifer
Enjoy songs, stories, and crafts at the Honey Brook Library for preschool story time! Help your child get a head start to being a great reader.  Wednesdays & Thursdays at 10 am from Sept 19 - Dec 6, 2012.

The same story time will be held both days.  Best suited for preschool age children, but all ages are welcome.
Fish Castle Music Program
An interactive kids program of song, movement, and musical instruments.  Cost is $5 per family per session.  This program is on Tuesdays, October 9, 16, 23, & 30 at 10 am.

Lego Club
Our Lego Club has started up again.  This social club is for children who are in grades K-5th grade and gives them an hour to build with Legos and hang out.  It is held once a month, and there is a sign up sheet located at the library's check out desk. 

Reading for the Love of It!
Join us every other Saturday from 2 -4 pm for help in picking out interesting school age fiction and non-fiction books.  This program runs from now til June 2012.  Check back for some special event days.  Sponsored by Target.

Teen Review Notebook
Have you notice a notebook sitting on the table near the YA section?  Can't find something new to read?  Inside this notebook is book reviews on our favorite YA novels.  These reviews are done my Miss Jennifer and Ms Nancy, and by YA readers.  Check it out the next time you are in the library and write your own review of your favorite book.

Pheaa Program
Join us on Saturday, Oct 6 from 2-4 pm with Michael Burke from Pheaa.  He will be here to answer all your college money questions.

Dream Big - Summer Reading Recap!

A look back at what we having been doing at the Honey Brook Community Library all summer!

Phil Witman brought in baby possums that he rescued when the mother was hit by a car.  They are about 4 weeks old in these pictures.  He plans to release them back into the wild.  This was part of our "Nocturnal Animals" for Nature Mornings. He had them in a pouch and then tucked into a box.  So cute!!






There are 4 baby possums in that sack.

 

 

Fish Castle Music Program

 Cyril and Catherine lead the toddlers in song













Picking out a musical instrument

Someone loves the ukelele!

Cyril and Catherine - Fish Castle Music group

Deciding on an instrument is hard!











Playing inside the "Fish Castle"

                                        

   Stories in the Shade

 

Making stepping stones

 Decorating stepping stones

                                                      

      Here are a few the librarians made.








Lots of summer fun at the library!!

Miss Jennifer
Four of Spades

How We Are Spending Our Summer.....

So.....what have you been doing this summer??  Here are some pictures of what we have been doing at the Honey Brook Library for our Dream Big! summer programs.

Nature Mornings - Thursdays at 10 am.

Fish Castle - Tuesdays at 10 am

Gaming Nights at the Library

There are 2 weeks of summer programs left.  Come join us!


Miss Jennifer
Four of Spades

Star Wars Invades the Honey Brook Library!!

This Sunday, July 15, 2012.  Click the link below for information about this exciting event!

http://www.berksmontnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20120614%2FNEWS01%2F120619883%2Fstar-wars-players-coming-to-honey-brook

Star Wars invades the Honey Brook Library from 1 -3 pm.  Bring a blanket or chair for seating in our tent.  Temperature will be hitting 89 degrees, so bring along a cool drink for you and your family.  Car pooling is recommend.  We are expecting 200 people or more.  Come early!  We will be starting promptly at 1 pm.

STAR WARS is coming to the Honey Brook Library!!

Are you a Star Wars fan?  Do you know that Tatooine has 2 suns?  That Hans Solo really did fire first?  Then you will want to join us on Sunday, July 15, 2012  when the Empire invades the Honey Brook Library!

The Library will be hosting a Star Wars meet and greet with the 501st Legion, Garrison Carida Division Star Wars characters from 1-3 pm.

Join us for Star Wars trivia and Q & A.  Bring your camera to take pictures with the Star Wars characters.

We will be having a costume contest for kids 0-5 yrs old and 6-12 yrs old. We have some cool Star Wars prizes so be creative!  All ages are welcome to dress up.  We will be in our finest Jedi outfits defending the library from the Empire's rule.

We were told to expect about 200 people, so this will be held in a tent in front of the library.  You will want to bring a chair or blanket. Car pooling is recommended or park at the Honey Brook elementary school and walk over.

We are sooooo excited to have this event be a part of our "Dream Big!" Summer Reading for 2012.  I am a Star Wars geek by marriage, and I am so glad that we can bring this event to the Honey Brook Library!

Stop in and register to attend this event, and of course....."May the force be with you".

Miss Jennifer
Four of Spades

Dream Big! 2012 Summer Reading Program

Dream Big! is the theme for the Summer Reading Program for 2012. The Summer Reading Program begins on June 9.   As soon as I saw the theme name and art work by Brian Lies, I loved it!  Brian Lies' "Bats in the ....." series is one of my favorites.  The art work he creates is fantastic and adds so much to the story.

 As soon as I saw the graphics for the summer, I got on a bat kick.  Did you know that the bats in PA have something called "white nose syndrome"?

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/hunting-fishing/white-nose-syndrome-now-threatening-pennsylvania-bats-327534/

So I started collecting plush bats and bat info for a display board.  I was quite happy with the results.  These "hardy mammals have survived for about 50 million years, & bats play an important ecological role in the environment. A bat can consume 25 percent of its body weight in flying insects during a night's feeding. In Pennsylvania alone, bats collectively eat tons of insects each night, impacting agriculture and the spread of insect-borne disease, not to mention backyard comfort."  So when you see my bat display in the children's section of the library, you will now know why it is there.  Cause bats are important!!

We have lots of activities planned for this summer. Registration is required.

Let's Read Math on Mondays, June 18-July 30 at 1:00-2:00 pm for grade 1-3

Fish Castle Music Program  on Tuesdays, July 10-31 at 10:00 -11:00 am for ages 0-5.  This program has a $5 fee per family per session.

Pajama Story Time - Dream Big! on Tuesdays, July 10, 24, & August 7 at 7:30 - 8:00 pm for ages 4-10.. Wear your pajamas!

Gaming Night on Tuesdays, July 3 17, & 31 at 7:30-8:30 pm for ages 8-16

Stories in the Shade on Wednesday June 27 - August 8 at 10:00 -11:00 am for ages 2-5, but all ages are welcome! Bring a blanket, this program is outside in the grass. Library is closed July 4.

Reading Buddies on Wednesdays, June 27-August 8 at 11:00-11:30 am.  Library is closed July 4.  Sign up to be a reader or be read to. All ages

Nature Mornings on Thursdays, July 5- August 2 at 10:00-11:00 am.  7/5 is bugs, 7/12 is reptiles, 7/19 is bats, 7/26 is solar system, and 8/2 is nocturnal animals, for ages 4-12.

Crafting with Ms Nancy on Fridays, June 29 - August 10 at 3:00 - 4:30 pm for ages 10-adult.

Fundamentals of Drawing on June 28 and August 2 & 9 at 4:00-5:00 pm for ages 10 & up.

Star Wars Meet and Greet with the 501 Legion
Sunday, July 15 1-3 pm
Costume contest for the kids age 0-12.
Car pooling is recommended. 

 





 

Lego Club

Did you know that the Honey Brook Library has a Lego Club for kids K-5th grade?  Here is how we got started.
To start the Lego Club, we put up signs "looking for lonely Legos" at the library.  With donations, grants, and lucky staff yard sale finds, we had enough to start the program in the Fall of 2011.  Here came the tough part,  how to make it work?

I asked asked several Mom friends who had been to Lego Clubs at other libraries what they did, and I also went online to read other library blogs about the clubs.  Here are the basic things that I learned. 
1. Limit the class number
2. Make sure the people who sign up, actually show up or they forfeit coming to the next session
3. Give them a theme
4. Put what the kids make on display

So I had these grand plans of setting down ground rules and going over acceptable behavior and stuff like that during our very first session.  What I forgot is that this age range of kids go to school.  They are not the toddlers and preschoolers that I have for Story Times, who wander around the room and talk whenever the mood hits them.  These are kids who sit down and know how to complete an assignment.  Yay for me!

I set up the work tables for 10 children with an individual building board at each spot. I split the Legos into two tubs and put in the tubs in middle of the two tables.  I explained to them, we would have a theme each time and then free play.  At each spot, I folded an index card in half and stood them up like a tent.  After each child finished, I had them write a title or description of what they made, along with their first name and grade.  Then I had them follow me to a different spot in the library, and put their creations on a display I made.   The display is towards the front of the library so that people coming and going can view them.

After the structured time, the kids had free play time with the Legos.  Their choice was to keep building at the tables or they could sit on the floor with more Lego tubs that had boats and dragons in them.  The Lego dragons were a big hit.  A great yard sale find! The dragons got their imaginations flowing.  Of course, dragons need to fly and I permitted them to fly as long as they were walking with them in our small library.

The clubs have been a great success and I have had a lot of great positive feedback from the parents.  Our Lego Club will be taking a break in this summer, and be starting up again in September 2012. 

Fish Castle Music at the Honey Brook Library

I decided to try something new at the library and try my first program that had a fee for our patrons. Fish Castle is a children's music program run by the wonderful Cyril and Catherine. I was a little worry about the attendance because of the fee. Boy, was I ever wrong!

We have had 2 of the 4 sessions we have planned and the response to the first 2 sessions has been fabulous!! We had 16 kids for the 1st session and 13 for the 2nd session. My goal for any program at our small library is 8-12 kids. The parents who I spoke to had no problem with the small cost for a music program.

Catherine and Cyril (Fish Castle) had the kids wonderfully engaged & the kids all seemed to be having a wonderful time. I mistakenly thought I could have some alone prep time while they were doing their thing. Instead, I couldn't stop singing along or I would have to stop and see what they were doing. Parents immediately started begging me to bring them back to the library again for a program, so they are booked in July as a part of our "Dream Big" Summer Reading Program




So happy that I took a leap and tried something a little different for our little ones. It has been a great success1

Miss Jennifer
Four of Spades

The Hunger Games! Our Library Program

So what did you think of The Hunger Games movie?? Third highest opening for a movie ever! Best opening weekend for a non-sequel! See more info here:
http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/03/25/box-office-report-hunger-games/

The day after the movie opened, we hosted a Hunger Games program at the Honey Brook Library for ages 12 and up. To our excitement, it was the most that we have had a pre-registered for an event that was for this age group.



The hour long program was divided into to a game and a craft. The kids were divided into to 2 teams. Then they did a relay tag team scramble to choose items from the Cornucopia. (I must admit, that gathering the items for it was quite fun!) Next they came up with a name for their team. We had the "Mockingjays" and the "Trackerjackers". I read a story to them in which they got points for the items that they each picked from the Cornucopia. The game was a quite fun and was won by the Trackerjackers!



The story I read is found here:
http://www.bethanymediacenter.com/Cornucopia-Challenge.html

The kids really enjoyed the game which made me happy! Next came the craft. We had printed out pictures of the Mockingjay in different sizes and they could cut and paste them onto pins, magnets, and necklaces. The pins & magnet were made by placing the picture inside of a bottle cap and then glues a magnet or pin back onto the bottle cap. They were a big hit with the kids.





What I enjoyed the most about the program, was talking to the kids about the book and the movie. Most were obsessed with it, and they told me a lot of their likes and dislikes. I started to realize that this is the first time that most of them ever saw a movie that was from a book they read and loved. They were very critical of small changes, and things that were left out. Probably a first for them. They could quote most of the book, and were annoyed when a phrase was said, but my a different character. It was quite fun to see them so passionate!

I was really excited to have the program and was so happy that it went really well. We had requests for a similar program when the next book "Catching Fire" comes out. Yay!




Til next time,
Miss Jennifer
Four of Spades