Children’s Book Week at NCPL

by Kate Mutch, Public Services Librarian
Tuesday, October 30, 2007 2:40 PM MDT

Natrona County Public Library will celebrate Children’s Book Week Nov. 12-18 with many good books and fun events for kids and their families.

The 88th annual Children’s Book Week theme is “Rise Up Reading!” Celebrated since 1919, the week is dedicated to spreading the word about children's literature and encouraging the joys of reading.

The ability to read and understand complicated information is important to success in life. Children cannot “rise up” to the challenge of being competent readers without many, many hours of reading practice.

It’s impossible for anyone to read that much without first developing a love of reading.

Storytime at the library is a great way to help children learn to love reading. Your library holds Storytime on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays at the main library include a special lap-sit Storytime tailored for infants and toddlers.

Reading aloud to children at home is another way to head down the path of reading and enjoying it. If you don’t know of any good books to read aloud, your library can help!

Try Peggy Parish’s “Amelia Bedelia” series. Kids giggle as Amelia constantly makes mistakes through her literal interpretation of everything from “pitching a tent” (throwing it into the woods) to “dressing a turkey” (with real clothing).

Deborah Guarino’s “Is Your Mama a Llama?” is a whimsical story filled with riddles and rhymes.

Or maybe you would enjoy Doreen  Cronin’s “ Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type,” the story of a group of cows who find a typewriter and click clack away on it all day long, leaving Farmer Brown notes in an effort to improve their living conditions.

In addition to great books and Storytimes, your library has several special events lined up for National Children’s Book Week. Parents and children are invited to show up in their pajamas for “Bedtime Booktime,” held Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 6:30 p.m.

On Friday, Nov. 16, tweens in grades 4-6 can enter the world of “Warriors,” an acclaimed series by Erin Hunter exploring the adventurous lives of four tribes of wild cats.

The final event of the week is Saturday, Nov. 17, at 10:30 a.m., when local author Gayle M. Irwin will share stories about people helping pets and pets helping people. She will bring her dog, Sage, who is the main character in her book, “Sage’s Big Adventure: Living with Blindness.”

Children’s Book Week is a good time for parents, educators and other caregivers to “rise up” to the challenge by introducing the children in their lives to all sorts of books.

Just like adults, children like books that are new. Some of the many children’s books published this year include Jon Scieska’s “Cowboy and Octopus,” Denise Fleming’s “Beetle Bop,” Michael Robertson’s “Super Little Giant Book of Dragons,” John Butler’s “Can You Growl Like a Bear?” and Mary Casanova’s “Some Dog!”

Find these choices and many more at your library! Please call 577-READ, ext. 2, for information about Children’s Book Week events.

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