My Puppet Friend, Wesley

Children who regularly visit the library are very familiar with Wesley, my puppet friend who joins me for Toddler Storytimes.  Recently I visited Miss Jenny's Head Start class at Golden Hills Elementary in Bellevue.  The children were excited to meet my friend - and he was excited to meet them!!  Before he came out of my apron pocket (his favorite place to snuggle up for a nap), I gave the children some clues to help them learn more about Wesley.  Here were the clues:
* He is green
* He has 2 front legs and 2 back legs
* He has a tail
* He lives in a shell

Have you guessed what my friend Wesley looks like??!!
Well, here's a picture of him outside his home near the marsh at Fontenelle Forest:

Yep!  He's a turtle!  He has been coming to storytimes with me for about 12 years now!  If you'd like to meet Wesley, the best time to spot him is at Toddler Storytime on Thursday mornings at 9:15 AM!!

Baby& Me Storytime Parent Letter

This is the letter parents, grandparents, and caregivers receive when they attend my Baby and Me Storytime at the library.

Welcome to Baby & Me Storytime

at the

Bellevue Public Library!

I am pleased you have joined us for storytime.  Whether you attend every week or sporadically, I hope you will come away having enjoyed sharing stories, songs and activities with your infant! 

Nationally-known author and teacher Maren Schmidt  says “The road to reading begins at birth, not at kindergarten or first grade. Reading is being able to understand written language. Written language is based entirely on the spoken word.”  Each Baby & Me Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read.  The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read @ Your Library, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).

Unlike most other Storytimes offered at our library, Baby & Me has very few rules!  I know from my own experience that babies can be very unpredictable, so I tend to just “go with the flow” and I hope you will feel comfortable in doing the same.  Also unlike other storytimes, I do not expect your infant to spend much time listening to me – I want this to be a time for you and your child to enjoy talking and cooing, playing, and singing.  My role is to lead and encourage.  So I encourage your participation and enthusiasm during storytime! Join us in singing along on songs, reciting rhymes, doing the actions to fingerplays and other activities, and responding to the stories being read!

I invite you to visit my blog (http://StoriesRhymesAndSingalongTimes.blogspot.com) to see an overview of each week’s storytime, including the words to all our songs, poems, fingerplays and rhyming activities.

                            Mrs. B. (Alice Boeckman)

            Children’s Services Librarian

    Bellevue Public Library

      Bellevue, Nebraska

                                             alice.boeckman@bellevue.net

          402-293-3157