These outdoor, summer storytimes are held weekly at Washington Park in Olde Towne Bellevue. We use a shady spot along the Franklin Street side of the park for this 30-40 minute program which starts at noon. Everyone is invited to bring lawn chairs or a blanket as well as a picnic lunch to enjoy while I read stories.
Each child in attendance gets to take home a prize of their choice!
Here are the stories I shared for Summer 2018:
June 4:
Little Lost Cowboy by Simon Puttock and Caroline Jayne Church
Ribbit! by Rodrigo Folgueira, illustrated by Poly Bernatene
Prairie Chicken Little Jackie Mims Hopkins, illustrated by Henry Cole
June 11:
I Am Not a Chair! by Ross Burach
This Book is RED by Beck and Matt Stanton
My Pet Wants a Pet by Elise Broach, illustrated by Eric Barclay
June 18:
If I Built a House by Chris Van Dusen
Hammer and Nails by Josh Bledsoe, illustrated by Jessica Warrick
Dragon Was Terrible by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated b y Greg Pizzoli
June 25:
Rained out!
July 2:
It's Monday, Mrs. Jolly Bones! by Warren Hanson, illustrated by Tricia Tusa
Horseplay! by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jim McMullan
I'm a Duck by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Will Hillenbrand
July 9:
A Busy Creature's Day Eating! by Mo Willems
Who Am I? An Animal Guessing Game by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud by Lynn Plourde, illustrated by John Schoenherr
July 16:
But The Bear Came Back by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Dan Taylor
Shake the Tree by Chiara Vignocchi, Paolo Chiarinotti & Silvia Borando, illustrated by Silvia Borando
Life on Mars by Jon Agee
This Park and Read Storytime was presented at Washington Park on July 17, 2017.
Books:
Because I Stubbed My Toe by Shawn Byous
The Wonderful Book by Leonid Gore
If Kids Ruled the World by Linda Bailey, illustrated by David Huyck
This Park and Read Storytime was presented at Washington Park on July 10, 2017.
Books:
Big Bear, Small Mouse by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman
The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex
One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree by Daniel Bernstrom, illustrated by Brendan Wenzel
This Park and Read Storytime was presented at Washington Park on July 3, 2017.
Books:
Simpson's Sheep Won't Go to Sleep! by Bruce Arant
Share, Big Bear, Share! by Maureen Wright, illustrated by Will Hillenbrand
The President and Mom's Apple Pie by Michael Garland
This Park and Read Storytime was presented at Washington Park on June 26, 2017.
Books:
Bears Make the Best Reading Buddies by Carmen Oliver, illustrated by Jean Claude
A Squash and a Squeeze by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
If I Built a House by Chris Van Dusen
This Park and Read Storytime was presented at Washington Park on June 19, 2017.
Books:
Mudball by Matt Tavares
The Sheep Who Hatched an Egg by Gemma Merino
Mighty, Mighty Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
This Park and Read Storytime was presented at Washington Park on June 12, 2017.
Three intrepid families joined me for storytime, despite the possibility of rain! We had just started our second story when we began hearing thunder, so we moved to the pavilion for the rest of our stories. The drops started falling as we were packing up and heading to our cars! My thanks to Raylee's and Aria's mommy and Daddy for helping tote all my storytime stuff across the park!
Books:
Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman, illustrated by Ben Cort
Poor Louie by Tony Fucile
Wake Up! by Helen Frost, illustrated by Rick Lieder
This Park and Read Storytime was presented at Washington Park on June 5, 2017.
Books:
Go Sleep in Your Own Bed! by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Lori Nichols
Dr. Potts, My Pet All Have Spots! by Rod Hull, illustrated by Miriam Latimer
Anywhere Farm by Phyllis Root, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Monday morning dawned with news of a tornado watch extending all the way to 6 PM! Despite this forecast, it was actually fairly comfortable outside, even with the high humidity. Everything looked to be going well until I reached Washington Park...
Within seconds of starting to lay out prizes, I was surrounded by MOSQUITOES. As I told the staff back at the library, "I'm not exaggerating. The mosquitoes were the size of squirrels!" (Please note: the mosquito shown below does not accurately represent the size of the mosquitoes at the park. The ones we swatted away were actually BIGGER! Haha!)
Needless to say, those who arrived realized immediately that this was not a good time and place for a picnic storytime! The children quickly picked a prize, then we all hurried to the shelter of our vans!
We have one more week of Park and Read Storytime: next Monday, July 7. We'll keep our fingers crossed!
~ Mrs. B.
Books:
Wake Up, Rupert! by Mike Twohy
Crankenstein by Samantha Berger, illustrated by Dan Santat
Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians by Jackie Mims Hopkins, illustrated by John Manders
This Park & Read Storytime was presented at Washington Park in Olde Towne Bellevue on Monday, June 23, 2014.
Books:
Tom's Tweet by Jill Esbaum, illustrated by Dan Santat
Down By The Barn by Will Hillenbrand
The Children Who Loved Books by Peter Carnavas
Each Park & Read 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®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).
