By Staff
Since 1919, educators, librarians, booksellers, and families have celebrated Children's Book Week during the week before Thanksgiving. This year, it will be observed Nov. 14-20, 2005.
Children's Book Week encourages young people and their caregivers to discover the complexity of the world beyond their own experience through books.
One way to celebrate this occasion is to visit your local library. The library offers many programs aimed at encouraging a love of books and reading among children.
Preschool storytimes are held on Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Books from “Around the World” will be featured Oct. 26 through Nov. 30. Sports will be the theme of “Where the Action Is!” Jan. 4 through Feb. 8. “ABC's” is the focus Feb. 22 through March 29. And children will explore a variety of careers in “When I Grow Up …” beginning April 11 and running through May 17.
The children's department staff has many fun activities planned in November. “Curious George” will be the star tonight of the Nov. 10 evening storytime which begins at 6:30 children. And every child can “Read a Book - Be a Star” during the reading program which will run throughout the month. For each book children read, they may enter a raffle for prizes to be awarded at the end of the month.
Also, Thanksgiving crafts will be available in the children's department all month.
Of course, the most important way parents can encourage young children to grow up to be lifelong readers is to read to their children on a regular basis.
The following are a few of the fall and Thanksgiving themed books in the children department - perfect for curling up with a child on a chilly November evening.
Buster And The Giant Pumpkin by Marc Tolon Brown
Buster sends postcards to his friends back home when he goes to Oregon and learns about pumpkins.
Gooney Bird and The Room Mother by Lois Lowry
Gooney Bird Greene, an entertaining second grader who introduces challenging vocabulary words and tells “absolutely true” stories, finds a surprise room mother to bring cupcakes for the Thanksgiving pageant.
Little Tom Turkey by Frances Bloxam
Tells the story of a young turkey eager to grow up, but first he needs to learn what wild turkeys need to know. Includes factual information about wild turkeys.
I Know It's Autumn by Eileen Spinelli
A rhyming celebration of the sights, smells, and sounds of autumn, such as pumpkin muffins, turkey stickers on spelling papers, and piles of raked leaves.
Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins by Dianne Ochiltree
Rhyming text and illustrations demonstrate how many pumpkins it takes to fill a wagon and how quickly they add up each time the number is doubled.