Native American Cultural Fair

The Bellevue Public Library's Native American Cultural Fair was held at the library on Saturday, October 11, 2014.

Headlining our event was award-winning author Joseph Bruchac.  Mr. Bruchac's visit was funded by Humanities Nebraska, Mrs. Carol Gendler, Nebraska Arts Council, Nebraska Cultural Endowment, UNO College of Education, and the Omaha Public Schools Native Indigenous Centered Education Program.  Joe (as he introduced himself) is the author of more than 120 books which include picture books, chapter books, young adult novels, and books for adults.

Joe entertained his audience with a variety of tales from native American tribes.  His wonderful storytelling kept everyone captivated as we laughed and responded to his tales. While photos were not taken of his performance, here are some pictures taken before his presentation and at the meet and greet and book signing that took place afterwards.

Pamela Duncan, standing to the right of Joe, was on hand to provide sign language interpretation for anyone who needed the service.

Ellen Scott from The Bookworm Bookstore was on hand to sell copies of a few of Joe's books following his presentation.  Joe was gracious in making himself available to sign copies of his books, sit and chat with some audience members, and pose for photos.

Following Joseph Bruchac's performance, attendees were invited to enjoy the music of local musician Michael Murphy.  Michael brought a Native American flute, as well as a drone flute to play for his audience.  He also spent time showing children how to decorate their own balsa wood flutes to take home.

Several parents and interested adults stepped forward to help the children.  Some cut lengths of yarn while others helped the children with wrapping the yarn around the flute.

If you are interested in Michael Murphy's music, you might like to purchase one of his CDs, which are available at Rebecca's Indian Trading Post.

Rebecca's Indian Trading Post generously loaned us a table-full of artwork, herbs, clothing, and musical instruments which we placed on exhibit during this event. Regretfully I didn't get any photos of the display.  If any of my readers happened to take a photo of the display, I would love to add the photo to this post!  

Our Cultural Fair also included a puppet show performed by local puppeteer Brian Henning.  The audience arrived and took their seats in anticipation of the start of the show.

Brian Henning, seen backstage before his performance of "Native American Tales", an original puppet show.

In Brian's "Native American Tales", Little Crow's sister, Mourning Dove, tells him several tales she had learned from their grandmother.  The stories included "How Opossum Got Her Tail", "How Beaver Raced Turtle", "How Crow Became Black", and "A Mouse Tale" (a version of the story about an ant and a grasshopper).

I am so grateful to Susan McWilliams, Assistant Professor at UNO College of Education, who contacted me about hosting Joseph Bruchac during his visit to the metro area.  Susan is a member of the Omaha Family Literacy Partnership which worked to bring Mr. Bruchac to town.  Her patience in answering my myriad logistical questions was very much appreciated!  I hope this is not the last time you see her name in my blog, as I would love to partner with her again in hosting an author visit or other activities designed to encourage and celebrate literacy within families!

Trees!

This outreach storytime was presented at Golden Hills Elementary School's Head Start classes on Monday, October 27, 2014.

Books:

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie  Matheson

The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri

Songs:

Everybody Say Hello!
(tune: "London Bridge")

Everybody say hello, say hello, say hello,
Everybody say hello, hello Wesley!

(Wesley is my turtle puppet who pops out of my apron pocket whenever we sing this song.  Then he sits quietly on his rock and listens to the stories and sings along with us.  At the end of storytime he says goodbye to the children, gives them high fives, eats pretend food from their hands, blows kisses, and plays hide and seek!)

Rhymes:

The Apple Star

Take an apple, round and red,
Don't slice down,
Slice through instead.
Right inside it you will see,
A star as pretty as can be!

Before I began this rhyme, I showed everyone an apple I had brought from home.  As I read the poem, I showed what happens if you "don't slice down"...

but, rather, "slice through instead":

When you pull the halves apart, you can see "a star as pretty as can be!"

Way Up High in the Apple Tree

Way up high in the apple tree,
Two red apples smiled at me.
I shook that tree as hard as a I could
Mmmmmm - they were good!

I enjoyed singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "The ABC Song" with the children in both classes today!  Wesley enjoyed all the yummy snacks the children gave him after storytime today!

Each Outreach 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).

Apples!

This Toddler Storytime was presented at Bellevue Public Library on October 22, 2014.

Books:

Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

Songs:

Everybody Say Hello!
(tune: "London Bridge")

Everybody say hello, say hello, say hello,
Everybody say hello, hello Wesley!

(Wesley is my turtle puppet who pops out of my apron pocket whenever we sing this song.  Then he sits quietly on his rock and listens to the stories and sings along with us.  At the end of storytime he says goodbye to the children, gives them high fives, eats pretend food from their hands, blows kisses, and plays hide and seek!)

Wesley had a special surprise for me today at Storytime.  When I reached in my apron pocket I discovered an apple!  I quickly realized it wasn't an ordinary apple - there was something inside it!

Apples, Apples
(tune: "Twinkle, Twinkle")

Apples juicy, apples round,
On the tree or on the ground.
Apples yellow, apples red,
Apple pie and juice and bread!
Apples crunchy, apples sweet,
Apples are so good to eat!


Rhymes:

The Apple Star

Take an apple, round and red,
Don't slice down,
Slice through instead.
Right inside it you will see,
A star as pretty as can be!

Before I began this rhyme, I showed everyone an apple I had brought from home.  As I read the poem, I showed what happens if you "don't slice down"...

but, rather, "slice through instead":

When you pull the halves apart, you can see "a star as pretty as can be!"

Way Up High in the Apple Tree

Way up high in the apple tree,
Two red apples smiled at me.
I shook that tree as hard as a I could
Mmmmmm - they were good!

Open, Shut Them!

Open, shut them,

Open, shut them,
Give a little clap, clap, clap!

Open, shut them,

Open, shut them,

Lay them in your lap, lap, lap!

Waving, waving, waving, waving,

High up in the sky, sky, sky.

Wave to me...I'll wave to you.

Now let's all say goodbye, bye, bye.

We always say this rhyme at least twice, increasing the speed with each repetition!




What's in the Green Box?
(tune: "Sally Wore a Red Dress")

What's in the green box,
The green box, the green box?
What's in the green box,
For us today?

Today I pulled the following things out of the green box:

An applesauce cone:

and a potato masher:

Playtime Activity: Applesauce!

After Storytime we moved out into the Children's area to try our hand at making applesauce.  Everyone pretty much agreed that using the applesauce cone was "A LOT HARDER" than using the potato masher!

This activity proved very popular last year when we made applesauce during one of our Momaha Storytimes.  You can see photos from that event here.

Here are photos from today's applesauce extravaganza:

We went through half-a-roaster-full of cooked apples!

Demonstrating the proper apple-smashing technique!

"Mash 'em, smash 'em!"



Each Toddler 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).

Every Child Ready to Read^® @ your library^®, PLA and ALSC logos are registered trademarks of the American Library Association and are used with permission.

Baby & Me Storytime ~ October 21 & 23, 2014

This Baby & Me Storytime was presented at Bellevue Public Library on October 21 & 23, 2014.

Book:
I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak, illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church

Songs:

Hello, Friends
(tune: "Goodnight Ladies")

Hello friends.
Hello friends.
Hello friends.
We're glad you came today!



Come Along and Clap with Me
(tune: "London Bridge")

Come along and clap with me,
Clap with me, clap with me,
Come along and clap with me,
On a sunny Tuesday/cloudy Thursday.

Additional verses:
Come along and 
tap with me...
dance with me...
wave with me...


Skinnamarink

Skinnamarink-a-dink-a-dink,
Skinnamarink-a-dink-a-doo,
I love you!
Skinnamarink-a-dink-a-dink,
Skinnamarink-a-dink-a-doo,
I love you!

I love you in the morning,
And in the afternoon.
I love you in the evening,
And underneath the moon, oh,

Skinnamarink-a-dink-a-dink,
Skinnamarink-a-dink-a-doo,
I love you!

Rhymes:

I Have a Little Heart

I have a little heart
And it goes thump, thump, thump.
It keeps right on beating
When I jump, jump, jump.
I get a special feeling
When I look at you.
It makes me want to give you
A kiss or two!

Cuckoo Clock

Our activity this week was Hand Puppets. 

Take a look!

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®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).