Summer Reading Program Is Over!

Well, sort of.  We have really enjoyed our time being involved in the 2 Summer Reading Programs this year.  It has been such fun going to the one library once a week to spin the wheel to find out how many books we can take out. Amelia was often seen picking books off the table without really noticing what they were about.  I tried to find at least a few books that were focused on another country or culture as the theme was "One World, Many Stories." One favorite was The Boy in the Garden by Allen Say

I didn't realize how much Tabitha liked it until she asked to take it out again.  The story is set in Japan. We first get to read the folktale "The Grateful Crane" which is a tale that Jiro's mother had told him.  When Jiro is visiting Mr. Ozu's special garden he finds a lifesize bronze crane, and after being embarrassed by his father and Mr. Ozu, finds himself in what he thinks is the woodcutter's cottage from the story.  Suddenly a woman appears, as had happened in the story his mother told him, a woman whom he thinks is the crane.  We discover with Jiro that he was dreaming, but are left to wonder as the last page shows a crane flying off in the distance.

Anyway, we enjoyed getting to take out 7-10 books each week and then they got to spin the wheel for a prize.  We used these books to earn dollars to spend at our local Summer Reading Program.  The girls have purchased some great items (a huge bottle of bubble with a circular wand, little tin boxes- one Hello Kitty, one Dora, a sticker book, a couple of pens, to name a few). And they received a free book each week they attended.  

Each week there was a different presentation.  The first week we got to see many different animals.  And the second week we learning about keeping the waters in our rivers clean.  I already posted about those weeks back in July.  We also got to see Bruce Weaver for the first time and his puppet show.  He had friends from all over the world, keeping with the theme.

The children also got to listen to a storyteller telling stories from all over the world.  Unfortunately his stories were a little over the head of most of the children there.  The following week the librarian's friend who lives in South Africa was there to teach us about South Africa, introduce us to some different foods for snack and have us make a drum out of foam cups.  The children each got to take home a photo of an animal from Africa.  The girls chose a giraffe and an elephant.  And last week we learned about geocaching which is like treasuring hunting with a GPS.  We actually got to follow along with her GPS unit to find a geocache that is hidden in the park right next door to us.  Here is a link to the official site if you are interested in more information.  I also looked into Letterboxing when I heard some of the parents discussing it. It is similar to geocaching, but you use clues instead of a GPS and you mark a logbook with a homemade stamp representing yourself or your family.  Once again, here is a link to a site for Letterboxing in North America.

This week we celebrated the Summer Reading Programs with parties.  There was food and a duck pond and face painting at the one.  Then we went to the local librarian's house for dinner, bringing with us a dish to pass.  So of course the girls and I made cookie bars today.  They were supposed to be cookies, but the consistency was off, so I threw them in a pan and baked them, then cut them into bars.  They were really quite good.  We enjoyed hot dogs or sloppy joes or both, plus some baked mac and cheese, cucumber salad and beans.  The children were able to play in the bounce house and then make REAL S'mores.  Unlike our microwave ones we had last week, which I just realized I never posted about.  Oops.

The great thing is, we get to continue reading for the rest of August to earn dollars.  They are not closing the "store" until the beginning of September.