This was a great turn-out and I'm glad I've decided to not take any monthly breaks with this program. Because of our summer reading club theme, Reading Takes You Everywhere, we read a cultural story and did crafts based on that story.
Drum Dream Girl is about a young girl in Cuba who loves to play the drums but isn't allowed because she's a girl. At the end of the story, her talent convinces her community that it's more than okay for a girl to play the drums. There are Cuban, Mexican, and Asian cultural elements in this story so I thought it would be perfect for the program theme and for the slightly older group.
We made drums out of Styrofoam cups, construction paper, and rubber bands. I opted for rubber bands since the ribbon was not too cooperative for me so I knew it would be very difficult for the kids. The group was able to paint their drums using the red and blue colors of Cuba's flag.
Our last craft was making maracas out of plastic Easter eggs, plastic spoons, beans, and masking tape.
Both crafts were just the right amount of difficulty for the group and luckily, we had Easter eggs lying around.
This was my first time incorporating a cultural element to a program and I really enjoyed it and it worked wonderfully.
Dream, drum girl, dream!
For this month's book, I wanted to switch things up a bit and review a chapter book. I was not disappointed with Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's novel about a young girl named Ada and her life with an abusive mother during World War II.
Summary: A young disabled girl and her brother are evacuated from London to the English countryside during World War II, where they find life to be much sweeter away from their abusive mother.
"And even if it felt like Mam hated me, she had to love me, didn't she? She had to love me, because she was my mam, and Susan was just somebody who got stuck taking care of Jamie and me because of the war."
Age Range: 9-12
This was a very enjoyable and engaging read for me, partly because it reminded me so much of Anne of Green Gables with it's historical traits and Ada reminding me of Anne with her bravery and determination. The author has a fondness of L.M. Montgomery and it definitely shows in her own writing. As a writer, I enjoyed how this book proved the point that you can get inspired from other writers and their work and roll with that inspiration to make your own novels.
The descriptions for Ada's abuse from her mother and the feelings she has from them are attention-grabbing and powerful. These types of scenes make the reader fall in love with Ada and want to see her triumph. The relationship between her and her younger brother is also another touching element in this series.
The War That Saved My Life is a wonderful example of character growth throughout a novel. I guarantee you'll adore Ada and want to see her succeed and overcome her disability, her horrible upbringing, and the terror of World War II.
This is a 2016 Newbery Honor Book with additional awards.
In celebration of our summer reading club kick-off, we had a drop-in craft. Our club's theme is Reading Takes You Everywhere so we made a hot air balloon craft.
I needed to find a craft that was relatively easy, unique and fun, and wouldn't be hard to supply for a drop-in crowd. Despite having some concerns that the craft wouldn't be exciting for the kids, this hot air balloon craft fit the bill perfectly. The groups had fun coloring coffee filters and spraying them using water bottles to make the tie-dye/blending effect. Of course, the spraying of the water bottles was everyone's favorite part!
All the hot air balloons looked so pretty and individual that I wish I had a spot in the library to display them, but we have so many nice displays up for summer reading at the moment.
Reading Takes You Everywhere!
This was a class made up of mostly regulars and I really enjoy having this group. We read a short, rhyming flower story by Eve Bunting called Flower Garden and did two easier crafts. Both the book and crafts paired well with their age, but I felt like the parents rushed through these crafts more today.
The group enjoyed painting their cupcake liners to make flowers and had fun playing with the texture of the paper grass and tissue paper. Both of these crafts were great for the kids.
For the cupcake liner flower paint craft, the group had to glue stems, petals, cupcake liners, and paper grass to make their flower scene. Then, they painted the cupcake liners anyway they liked.
For the tissue paper flower die-cut craft, they glued on two different types of flower die-cuts to a half sheet of light blue construction paper and added tissue paper on the flower petals to make their flowers more colorful.
This was a good drop-in craft program that was held a little earlier than previous years to accommodate Spanish families and their separate Mother's Day date. The turnout was pretty good, but I did notice that I might make it a little later next time.
For our crafts, we had a variety to choose from thanks to leftover crafts from previous programs. I had a flower pot craft that was new and a new card craft idea using tissue paper and construction paper with "Happy Mother's Day" printed inside. The extra crafts were Mother's Day crowns, frames, and magnets that were purchased from Oriental Trading.
Everyone had a fun time with their crafts and I was happy to see some older kids getting involved. Everyone's crafts turned out very unique and I love how they add their own touches to them.
Happy Mother's Day!
This is always a fun group and today was no different. Our theme was flowers, so we read My Garden by Kevin Henkes. This is about a young girl who helps her mother with her garden, but quickly imagines how her own garden would be, complete with jelly bean bushes and growing sea shells. The group liked this book and it's one of my favorites to read for a flower theme.
For our crafts, we started off by making sunflowers out of paper plates, construction paper, and mixing red and yellow paint. We also made a tulip flower scene using forks, q-tips, and paint.
The first craft was challenging for the kids because they had to have some patience to let the paint dry and practice their cutting for the flower pedals. It took more time, but the kids did great and I think they liked their end result.
They also had fun using forks pressed in paint to make their tulip flower scene. The crafts turned out well and went a bit longer than usual, but it was good to see the kids taking their time and practicing their cutting and other fine motor skills.
I had a program survey filled out that said, "Miss Denise is amazing" which was really nice and made my day!
I really enjoy coming across picture books with messages I feel are much needed, and this is one of them. Mister Yes by Carmen Gil teaches the message of the need of saying "no." What a great and necessary lesson to teach to children.
Summary: Mister Yes is great at a lot of things, especially tongue-twisters, but the one thing he isn't so great at is saying "no." When he is offered to taste humming bird poop and slug slime ice cream he can't say no and gets a tummy ache. When a salesman wants to sell him an umbrella full of holes he can't say no. When a troublemaker wants him to pull pranks at a supermarket he can't say no. All the while Mister Yes looks in the mirror and is disappointed in himself that he just can't seem to say "no."
With the help of a fly, he has the courage to finally say no to a colleague who wanted him to do his work for him. Suddenly, Mister Yes feels much better.
"Mr. Yes started to feel as if thousands of brightly colored bubbles were bursting in his heart. A huge grin spread across his face, and he felt like he was walking on air."
Age Range: 6 and up
I really don't have anything bad to say about this book, but I do think recognizing it's a picture book for somewhat older kids to comprehend is important.
I really liked how the fly helped Mister Yes get over his fears and caused him to get a "taste" of how saying no would feel.
