Tell a story at home! It's the Enormous Turnip!

Miss Julie has created beautiful felt figures for telling the story "The Enormous Turnip" I took photos of them, in story sequence, and we made a slideshow so that it is like a stop motion animation. It's on the right hand sidebar, where it will stay, and you can click on it any time! If you click on it more than once, you'll get to a larger version of it where you can run the slideshow and control the page turning interval yourself.

She found the basic pattern for the figures in The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra.

Grown ups, you can watch it with the children, who can tell the story along with the animation. Narrative skills are an Early Childhood Key Learning Area as defined by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

I think that storytelling with a slideshow is a neat idea :) Not only is it fun to watch at home, but we were thinking that if you had a great big group of children to tell a story to, you could use a projector and tell the story that way!

When I was taking the photographs of the felt figures, there were two little girls who were very interested in what I was doing. We talked about it, and as I was at the beginning of the story they helped me to tell it! When it came time to pull the turnip, I would focus the camera and we would all count "1! 2! 3!" and I would snap the picture.

Me: Did he get the turnip?
Them: no!
Me: Who comes next?
Them: The grandma!

and so on. We had fun!

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a Puppet Show!

It's a special shadow puppet show!

Join us on Monday, March 17th at 6:30pm for a shadow puppet show! We'll have folk and fairy tales from a very special country... can you guess which one?

Passport to the World: Israel is this Saturday!

Hey Everyone! Join us this Saturday at 2pm for another Passport to the World program!

This Saturday we will visit Israel along with a special guest! Come join us and bring along your library passport. If you haven't been to a PTW program yet, you'll get your passport on Saturday and you can start collecting your stamps!

UPDATE: Miss Julie asked me to mention that the craft will include building a city, and if you can, bring some lightweight recyclable material such as cereal boxes, muffin mix boxes, etc. She said that 2-3 inch sized boxes are especially good. We've already got some materials that practically everybody in the library collected for us. Thanks, everybody!

I can still hear the trolley! I miss you Mr. Rogers!

It's been a long time since I listened to Mr. Rogers singing "Won't you be my neighbor?" But wow! I listened to it this morning and I had to look around me to see where the trolley was! Not only can you read the words on the PBS website, but they also have the recording of the song AND the sheet music! I couldn't believe it! The sheet music!

I have a strong personal fondness for Mr. Rogers. In fact, he's my hero. Many years ago when I used to be a checker at the Food Gallery (it's gone now) he came through my line! I saw him waiting his turn and caught his eye and he gave me a smile. I think that my eyes got really big! I don't quite remember, since from that moment on I was a bit starstruck! Not to mention in a hurry to get everyone else checked through. I was the speediest checker I ever was that day. But just for the people ahead of Mr. Rogers. Because when I got to his order I checked his groceries very, very slowly. He wasn't in a hurry! He stood and listened and smiled and radiated a peaceful friendliness that I can still remember and enjoy. I wish I would have stepped out from behind the conveyor belt and given him a hug. Even though I didn't, I've decided that his smile and his words were warm and huglike, and we can all have that anytime we see his picture, or read his books, or watch his show. I suspect that he was the kind of person who didn't have to meet you first in order to consider you his friend.

I can't speak for him, but I always got the idea that Mr. Rogers loved all his neighbors and felt that everyone he met was a neighbor. But I feel a little extra proud that the library is literally and physically right here in his neighborhood! We are just down the street from where he used to record Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and just down the street from where he used to live!

Mr. Rogers would have been 80 years old this March 20th. To celebrate his life we're participating in offering family activities that are part of "Won't You be my Neighbor?" Days. We're not the only ones with something to offer! The Visit Pittsburgh website has a complete list.

Come to the library on March 18 for our Won't You Be My Neighbor Family Storytime at 6:30. Right here in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood!

What's it like to be a firefighter?

Inspector McCrea brought this lighter firefighter jacket for us to try. The real firefighter coats are much heavier!

We Love Community Helpers!

So today at storytime we did a little "Behind The Couch Theater" with our gorgeous Firefighter Finger Puppets! One of the firefighters told me that she would rescue me! Thank goodness!

We also sang our brand new song about when you should call 911. Thank you Miss Laurel and Miss Kathy for help with the lyrics! We made this up last week and I think it will be on the Billboard Top Ten any day now!


911 Song (to the tune of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm")


What should you do in an emergency?
Dial 911
If you need some help cause it’s smoke you smell,
Dial 911
With a sniff sniff here and a sniff sniff there,
Here a sniff there a sniff everywhere a sniff sniff
What should you do in an emergency?
Dial 911

What should you do in an emergency?
Dial 911
If you need some help cause someone’s hurt,
Dial 911
With an ouch ouch here and a ouch ouch there,
Here an ouch there an ouch everywhere an ouch ouch
What should you do in an emergency?
Dial 911

What should you do in an emergency?
Dial 911
If you need some help from a friendly cop,
Dial 911
With a help help here and a help help there,
Here an help there a help everywhere a help help
What should you do in an emergency?
Dial 911

What should you do in an emergency?
Dial 911
If you need some help know where you live,
Dial 911
With an address here and an address there,
Here an address there an address everywhere an address
What should you do in an emergency?
Dial 911

We'll Miss you, Miss Elizabeth!

We loved having Miss Elizabeth work with us at the library! When she graduates from library school she'll go back to Trinidad and work in one of the libraries there. We should have a librarian exchange program! For one of the libraries right on the beach!

All in favor say aye!