Here are a few signs I made for our Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Book Displays as well as a few pictures of the displays from our YA and Children's section...
The little text cut-outs are facts about Asia.The publisher file of those was accidentally deleted so I don't have a copy of all included facts to share 😞
The next day the display was slightly reorganized...
I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii, AD 79 was our January 2020 book of the month. For this book club meeting, we had fruit - apples and grapes. I always try to pull a snack inspired by the text and apples were specifically mentioned as being sold in the market.
Our meetings always follow the same general outline: Snacks and discussion then activity/craft.
Mosaic Tiles
The pros: Super pretty!!
The cons: For this craft, our first step was gluing the stones onto our base and letting it dry.
We took the first 10 minutes of book club doing this.
However, the problem started when we had TWO new families come in late, after the group had already glued the stones down and while we were talking about the book/ snacking. I had no volunteers and it might have been easier to manage if I did have help. But those two instances threw this off a tad.
Also, the craft always ends up being 10 times messier than when I do my trial run of a craft.
optional: Q-tips to spread the glue
optional: I knew they wouldn't be dry by the end of book club, so I made cardboard carrying cases for them.
First Step
Glue stones to base. Let dry.
Second Step
Once stones have dried to base, you're ready to grout!
Use the spatula tool thing and spread out the grout around the stones.
Third Step
Using a sponge and water, gently wash away excess grout.
After that, let it dry!
Ok, obviously, that is the most basic general idea. But that's the gist.
If I were to do this book club meeting over again, I would choose a less complex craft.
Something like, the sticker mosaic crafts from Oriental Trading or coloring mosaic style patterns on white ceramic tiles.
Of course, you can always do something with the volcano - to be honest, I forgot why I was so focused on doing mosaics for this.
Click here for my chapter by chapter breakdown of the book.
Animals
Flannel board: Five Fluffy Sheep
Five fluffy sheep were drinking from a trough.
Bah, bah, bah, they said, "This water hits the spot"
One had his fill and so he trotted off..
How many sheep are left, drinking from the trough?
(four fluffy sheep, three, two, one...)
Flannel board: Five Pink Piggies
Five pink piggies sheep were eating from a trough.
Oink, oink, oink they said, "This is good slop"
One had his fill and so he trotted off..
How many piggies were left, eating from the trough?
(four pink piggies, three, two, one...)
SONG: Little Kitten
(Tune: Frere Jacques)
Little Kitten, Little Kitten
Sitting up so tall
Give a tiny meow, give a tiny meow
Share your call, share your call
( Little kitten/ Give an angry hiss…
Big Strong Lion/ Give a mighty roar…)
Action Rhyme: Elephants
A big, grey elephant walks around
Stomping, stomping, stomping the ground.
When it gets too hot, he'll flap his ears
And this cools him down from his feet to his rear.
His tail waggles, he feels so relaxed.
Time to eat, there's a perfect spot of grass.
His grey trunk reaches down to the floor,
Swishing right, then left, the right once more.
He grabs some grass, brings it up to his mouth
And you know what he says?
Mmm Mmm Mmm, that's yummy!
Insects
Rhyme: Bumblebee, Bumblebee
Bumblebee, Bumblebee, flying around
Bumblebee, Bumblebee, what's that sound?
Bumblebee, Bumblebee, come closer so I can hear.
Bumblebee, Bumblebee, whisper in my ear.
Bumblebee, Bumblebee says buzz, buzz, buzz
But tickles my neck, because he's covered in fuzz.
Amphibian
SONG: In the Water of a Shallow Lake
In the water of a shallow lake, (crouch on the ground)
A tiny egg begins to shake. (shaking)
A tadpole hatches and it looks like this (stand up straight with our feet together)
With a giant head, that’s hard to miss. (hands in circle overhead)
But then…
Two Legs, (jump out with two legs)
Two arms, (lower arms)
His tail disappears (shake butt)
What animal is it now? It’s a frog!
Used in Frogs and Bugs Storytime
Community Workers
Song: The Rain Is Falling Down (Mail Song)
(tune: The Farmer In The Dell)
Historical Figures
Action Rhyme: Columbus, Columbus
Columbus, Columbus, sailing the seas (pilot a boat)
Columbus, Columbus, searching for the Indies (look in the distance)
The Nina, The Pinta, The Santa Maria (count with fingers)
Finding land to claim for the glory of Spain. (Superman pose or pretend to plant flag in ground?)
Action Rhyme: Johnny Appleseed
Johnny grabbed his bag of seeds
And he donned his cooking pot hat.
Walking west
He didn't rest
Because planting appleseeds was his quest.
Mythical Creatures
Song: Does Your Dragon Fly Low?
(tune: Do Your Ears Hang Low; by a coworker)
Does your dragon fly high? (Fly hand high)
Does your dragon fly low? (fly hand low)
Does it breathe out fire (flutter hands in front of mouth)
Till you tell it "No, No!" (shake finger)
Does it stomp into its cave (stomp feet)
Looking scary and brave? (make scary face or brave stand)
Does your dragon fly low? (fly hand low)
For an online kids program, I did an author study for H.A. Rey. He was SO interesting and this is what I found...
The most exciting discovery in my research for H.A. Rey was this:
This was such an exciting find! And I definitely think this is H.A. Rey, drawn into his book.
H.A. Rey was very artistic as a young boy. He loved drawing and painting. One of his favorite places to go was the Hagenbeck Zoo. The zoo was near his home in Germany and he would often go for visits with his brother and 2 sisters.
He loved observing the animals - the way they moved, the way they ate, climbed trees or played with each other. Afterwards, he would go home and draw what he saw.
As an adult, for a time, he had a job designing posters for the local circus.
But of all the original seven Curious George books, what made me grab this one?
I had JUST finished reading this book about how the couple escaped Paris on bicycles.
Both H.A. and Margaret were German-born Jews living in Paris in 1940. They decided to flee the city but had no car and the trains had stopped running, so the couple bought bicycles to make their way to safety!
This was an amazing chapter book biography and I would highly recommend reading it or purchasing it for your library.
This program was posted onto the library's Youtube channel and can be seen here