Boom Chicka Rock

This has been a fun week at the library! We've been making mice finger puppets as our craft during programming, then the kids have been "helping" me tell the story with their puppets. Today I got to help out with one of the teen programs and we did henna tattoos. That went over very well and we even tatooed some of the moms!

But the best part of the week has been the chicks. We've had chicken eggs in an incubator that we've been candling (holding over a light to see their development) and they were due to start hatching this past Monday. The first two busted out overnight and one hatched before our very eyes today. We have five more eggs waiting to hatch and we have six duck eggs due to hatch around July 15. The little ones are so cute and have been quite popular. Patrons have even been calling to see if they've hatched yet! I'll have pictures of them (and my crafts) in the next few days.

Article Alert!

*NOTE: Another of my internship requirements is to read articles and provide abstracts/comments in my blog. When you see an entry entitled "Article Alert!" it's going to feature an article abstract.

Smith, Vicki. Disappearing Children's Books (2006). School Library Journal. 1 June 2006. School Library Journal. 24 June 2009 .

• Vicki Smith's article discusses the lack of good fiction novels written for children ages 8-12. Smith also tries to get readers (specifically those who evaluate children's literature) to define what a children's book really is. The article discusses the fact that many recent releases seem more directed to the young adult audience or to young reader's with a higher reading or comprehension level. What are we to do to keep the attention of reader's who aren't quite part of this group?
• This is an issue I noticed while compiling lists of books for this age range for a couple of class assignments over the past few semesters. Many of the novels that claimed they were suitable for ages 8-10 didn't seem like they were and I could not for the life of me figure out how a novel could be suitable for ages 7-18. Children not only read at different levels but mature at different rates too, and the two things may not correspond at all. This is an issue I'll continue to think about and keep an eye on.
  

Olivia Forms a Band

First week of the internship went wonderfully! The remaining programs at the other branches went quite smoothly, save for one little boy who was a bit rowdy but mom was there to remove him. I was very impressed, and even a little surprised, at how many of the parents stayed for the programs and even helped out with crafts.

I've also helped out with checkouts and checking in books. I haven't done any shelving yet, other than materials I've just quickly looked over, but I'm going to ask about that this week. I've spent a lot of my time gathering materials for the next programs I'm leading and trying to sort out crafts to make. This week- finger puppets!

The Remarkable Farkle McBride

First two official days of internship complete, yay! I worked half a day yesterday and went to do the program at the Eminence branch of the library. I had two very nice boys who came and we read The Remarkable Farkle McBride by John Lithgow and made egg shakers (maracas out of Easter eggs). Let's say that everyone had a great laugh when the popcorn kernals we used to fill the eggs exploded everywhere....

Today was a full day at the library, first at the Main branch then a trip out to the Brooklyn branch for programming. I spend part of this morning coming up with a new craft idea for next week's programming and I think I had a success! I'll post pictures of my grand craftiness in a few days.

Went out to the Brooklyn branch this afternoon, where I had 13 kids and three moms for the program. I switched it up and read Olivia Forms a Band by Ian Falconer today (it seemed to be better suited for the age group that was there). Everyone was very excited about their egg shakers and the moms helped with gluing the eggs together and cleaning up. I was just thrilled that they stayed for the program, helping me out was just the icing on the cake.

Three more days this week, three more branches...how will things go?